Preparing for Your Visit to Grace Bible Church
General Information for All Gatherings
Service Times: Every Sunday morning, we have a worship service at 10:30 a.m., with Core Seminar classes that meet at 9:30 a.m. beforehand. On most Wednesday evenings, we have a prayer service at 6:00 p.m., with a fellowship meal at 5:15 p.m. beforehand.
Location: All of our gatherings take place at 1720 University Avenue, Oxford, MS 38655 (click here for directions). Our building is attached to and directly behind Pitner Office Supply, which faces University Avenue. To make finding it a bit easier, we've included an image of our main building below.
Parking: Parking can be more difficult at certain points during the year, especially on Sunday mornings. So, we have created the following graphic to show (1) in green, where we have permission to park along University Avenue and Bramlett Boulevard: the three lots next to Grace, Origin Bank, Chaney's Pharmacy, Oxford CrossFit, Spa at La Rousse, and Bette's Flowers; (2) in blue, public parking lots within walking distance, though we don't have sole rights: Armory Pavilion, Oxford Public Library, and Oxford Skate Park; and (3) in pink, lots that we ask visitors to not park in out of respect for their owners: University Shopping Plaza directly across the street (i.e., in front of Walk-Ons, Little Caesars, and UPS), Dunkin Donuts, Burger King, Taco Bell, Autozone, Community Donuts, and Exxon—if you park in any of these lots, it is at your own risk. We have handicap spaces, as well as first-time guests and new/expecting mothers spaces in our main lot. We have parking signage at our property, Origin Bank, and Chaney's Pharmacy to direct visitors where to go. When you arrive at Grace, a parking attendant (wearing a neon vest) will help direct you as well. Once the three lots at Grace are full, our parking attendants will help point you toward the available lots across the street.
Sunday Morning Specifics
Core Seminars: Formerly known to most as "Sunday School," Core Seminars are meant to foster the congregation’s growth in biblical knowledge and application of biblical truths to all of life. This is primarily achieved in the context of communal learning, conversation, and engagement. We offer Core Seminar classes for children (ages 2 to 11), youth (ages 12 to 18), college students, and adults from 9:30 to 10:15 before the worship service on Sunday mornings. Every age group has a class that goes through the whole Bible on a 3-year cycle. Along with the Bible Overview course, we often offer various other courses on specific books of the bible, systematic theology, or practical topics. Teachers are lay members, elders, and pastors at Grace, who regularly meet for training, feedback, and preparation. To learn more about our classes, click here.
Childcare and Children's Classes: So that parents can enjoy the worship service and take part in our adult classes, we offer the following for children. For children 2 and up, we have classes for them that meet during the 9:30 hour on Sunday mornings. In these classes, children will typically have a Bible lesson and other related activities; for children under 2, we offer childcare during the 9:30 hour. For the worship service at 10:30, we have childcare for children 5 and under. Sign-up takes place at the counter to your right after walking through the main entrance. To ease the process, make sure you sign up for a Kid Check account beforehand. Once your child enters Kindergarten, we ask that you take your children into the worship service with you. Therefore, if your child is 5 or older and attends a class during the 9:30 hour, you'll need to pick them up from 10:15 to 10:30 to stay with you from there. For families who need it, we have accommodations for children with special needs through our Emma's Friends ministry. To learn more that and other matters regarding our children's ministry, please click here.
Worship Service: Our service consists of elements that aid us in the worship of God, primarily prayer, singing, the reading of God's Word, preaching, and the ordinances (the Lord's Supper and baptism). We also utilize liturgy elements like creeds, confessions, and catechisms in our orders of service. A greeter at the main entrance or one of the auditorium entrances will give you a bulletin (i.e., worship guide) upon coming in, which outlines all that we will do. Our services normally last around 60 to 75 minutes.
Music: As for the music, most people would characterize our worship music as "contemporary" due to its style and form. However, our goal is not to keep up with every popular “church music” trend in order to market ourselves as “contemporary,” nor is it to preserve musical traditions through the singing of hymns. Rather, our goal is to worship God. All true worship is participatory, so we seek to help everyone sing as the main instrument of our service. Our goal in the music is to select songs that combine biblical doctrine with powerful, affecting, and poetic wording; such songs have been called “theology on fire.” Some of the songs we use were written three years ago, and some were written more than three hundred years ago. However, our prayer is that everyone who attends Grace can learn from, sing, and enjoy the songs chosen.
Preaching: As for the reading and preaching of God's Word, that is the main element of our service and is, in and of itself, an act of worship. We typically preach straight through books of the Bible, as we think this is the best way to learn “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). It also keeps us from skipping difficult and uncomfortable subjects. The Bible is the primary way God has chosen to reveal himself to mankind. We desperately need to know God personally and trust his grace. Therefore, our preaching is centered on God, who he is, what he is doing in the world, and how we can know him. Nevertheless, our prayer is that our preaching is highly relevant to your life. We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most relevant thing in the world, and applicable to all areas of life (e.g., money, sex, relationships, work, children, etc). Yet, when we refuse to preach God’s word, and instead feel it necessary to give merely “good advice” about how to get through life, we fall into the error of weak, uninspired teaching. Click here to see and hear more of what Grace Bible Church believes and teaches.
Ordinances: As a Baptist church, we believe there are two ordinances: the Lord's Supper and baptism (to see what we believe about each, click here). On the first Sunday of every month, we celebrate the Lord's Supper together and welcome all Christians who actively trust in Jesus Christ to take the Lord’s Supper with us. As for baptism, when someone professes faith in Christ, and the church finds that testimony to be credible, we baptize the new believer by immersion during a Sunday morning service, which normally coincides with them joining the membership of our church.
First Sunday Fellowships: On the first Sunday of every month, our members and visitors are invited to join us for a fellowship meal in the church gym (i.e., fellowship hall). This fellowship consists of finger foods, hors d'oeuvre, and desserts. For anyone planning to attend, we ask that you bring something to share and leave it in the kitchen before the worship service for our fellowship team to organize. If you have children in childcare, be sure to pick them up before coming.
Wednesday Night Specifics
On most Wednesday evenings, we have a prayer service at 6:00 p.m. at the church. Before the service, we share a meal, which we start serving at 5:15; the cost is $7 for adults, $5 for college students, and $4 for children 11 and under, with a family maximum of $25. You can pay by cash, check, or Venmo. The service starts right around 6:00 and includes a couple of songs, a short sermon from one of our pastors or members (typically in a New Testament epistle), and time in corporate prayer. That is, the church voices public prayers on behalf of our congregation. Members are also invited to submit requests for us to pray for the night of each service.
For children from newborns to age 11, we have children's activities that take place during the 6:00 service. For participating children from 3rd to 6th grade, we have Bible Drill practice on Wednesday nights at this time.
These Wednesday night services take place from August to December and January to April. We take a break during the Christmas and summer seasons. For the spring of 2024, we will meet every Wednesday from January 31 to May 1 (except for March 13, which is Spring Break) and will be walking through the book of 1 Peter together.