Grace Gatineau

We gather to study God's word together to see the riches of grace that are found in the person of Jesus.

(Ephesians 1:6)

One of the reasons we gather is to learn about God’s grace. The scriptures teach us that God’s love is not something we can earn through good behaviour, nor does his love lead him to ignore all the wrong we have done. Rather, God shows his love by graciously paying for all the damage we have caused, so that through Jesus we can be restored to God and one another. That is the gospel of grace, and it is the essence of the Christian faith, which is the major theme of the Bible. But if we are honest, it seems too good to be true. So we gather together to study the scriptures, ask tough questions, and encourage one another. The two weekly avenues for this are small group bible studies and Sunday worship, which includes expositional preaching of the Biblical text.

We are a diverse group of messy people, but by God's grace, we are learning to love one another just as Jesus has loved us.

(1 Peter 4:8-10)

Jesus tells those in the church to love one another, and that requires us to practise the grace we believe. This is no easy task! People are messy. In the blended community of Gatineau, with our multiple cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the chances for miscommunication and unmet expectations is multiplied. We hurt each other, we say and do the wrong thing, and it is natural for us to quickly take offence and write people off. However, grace has the power to change this. Only through experiencing his grace can we be a community that loves one another. So we strive to practise this gracious love inside the church.

The good news of God's grace is meant to be shared, since his grace abounds for many. 

(Romans 5:15-17)

We aim to share grace with the city around us. Our doors are open to the sceptic, the curious, the disillusioned, and the cynical to come and see for themselves what Christianity is really about. This happens not just in our formal gatherings, but also in the way the members of our community are to be salt and light in their relationships at work, school, and with their neighbors.