Welcome to the family!
“Welcome to the Family!”
(I just love the sound of that, don’t you?)
Greetings from YOUR church office – Sean’s computer, specifically!
I know that a couple of days have passed since we had our 101 Class, but we’re still so excited about your participation and pledge of devotion to Christ and His Local Church. Rick Warren wrote, “The church is indestructible and will last for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it. The person who says, ‘I don’t need the church,’ is either arrogant or ignorant. The church is so significant that Jesus died on the cross for it.” Isn’t that powerful to think about? That’s why we’re so excited about your decision to ally as family and co-laborers in the Kingdom!
Also, the staff is very excited about you and your family and we can’t wait to see how you will collaborate with God to bring Him glory and take your place in building the Kingdom of God.
WHY THIS E-MAIL?
First, to rejoice with you! The Church of Jesus, the Body of Christ, is not an afterthought or accident. Ephesians 3:10-11 says “to His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” YOU and YOUR church are a part of the grand scheme of God to bring great glory to himself. The Church, alone, is authorized and empowered to develop and deploy his mission. I’m so glad WE get to do this together!
Second, to REMIND you. Everybody at Grace is excited about your decision to join in membership and to celebrate this, we’re going to throw a special party and recognize you THIS coming Sunday. You should be getting a letter in the mail but suffice it to say that THIS SUNDAY we’ll INTRODUCE YOU to the rest of your brothers and sisters, as you to COME FORWARD and RECEIVE A GIFT, then at 12:15, we’ll have a NEW MEMBER LUNCHEON over at the Children’s Building!
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Check your email for an RSVP. Make sure you put the number of people who will be in your part.
Wait – did you say, “come forward”? Yes! I know: we’re all pretty private these days (and truth be told you won’t be shamed for not coming forward); but we all made a promise to support each other. How can we do that if we don’t see who we are? Give it a try – it’ll be okay!
Third, to INFORM you. We have TWO ways in which you can get become more a part of the hyper-text fabric.
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We have a New Member Facebook Page that I encourage you to join.
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And then, because your church is big, we’ve utilized a pretty sophisticated and powerful “software as service” site called graceNET. It will enable you to communicate with every member, with church leaders and help you become situationally aware of all the activities and groups we have at Grace.
TO GET STARTED: Just follow these instructions:
and follow directions!
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Use your E-MAIL for your password (although you can use another name if you share e-mail with a family member).
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For safest means of password protection, please use a password that is at least 8 characters long and includes a numeral and a Capital letter. Write it down and keep it safe.
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ex: Member5hip
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See how there is a capitol "M" and used the numeral "5" for an "s"? Clever! BUT don't use that password!)
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UPDATE: go to the “edit profile” selection on the right side.
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Once logged in, click on “Go to my Profile” on the right.
Here’s a video to get you started! -
If you want, you can upload a picture you like of yourself – although you’re welcome to keep the one we put in for you.
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Write up your descriptions.
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Set your preferences – the default preferences are very safe, but you can choose to get less e-mail updates, if you want.
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Remember, as long as you guard your password, this is "mil-spec" safe!
Explore! At first, you’ll be limited in your groups but you can still search for groups and ministries and – before you know it – you’ll be on your way!
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If you have trouble, just call Sean @ 575-317-4658!
That's all! I've interfered with your life long enough! Have a great day and e-mail back to the rest of us to let us know you're on-board. Again: WELCOME to the Family!
Sean and the Grace Family