Religious Rappin' in Roseville Hits YouTube

e thi summer has hit YouTube with a religious musical message that is gaining it popularity. 

Since debuting the video in late June and showing a portion of it at Sunday worship services on July 22, the YouTube video has already snared close a 1,000 hits, according to Jason Stonehouse, lead pastor at Grace Church Roseville.

Stonehouse shared with Roseville Patch the story behind the YouTube video "Grace Church Livin The Dream":

"A church's values are like the DNA, they describe the characteristics that distinguish one church from another. One of Grace Church's seven values is "Having fun in what we do." You don't need to attend many services or events to discover the pervasiveness of this value.

"From clips pulled from some great movies, to banter during the news of the church, to creative events and programs and of course sermons that incorporate humor, real life stories with deep Biblical truth and teaching. Grace is a fun place to be. 

A few on the church's ministry team decided they didn't want to keep one of the best kept secrets of the church to themselves. So in typical, "Grace fashion" they developed a rap and produced a video to go along with it.

The funny thing about this is none of these guys are rappers, they don't even listen to the art form! Yet through their creative attempts have captured some of the values and attributes of the church and put it into song.

The video debuted in late June at one of the Wednesday night events for junior high and high school students. Then on July 22nd, a portion of the video was shown during a Sunday morning worship service.

Already with close to 1000 hits on YouTube, this video is picking up some traction and getting the word out about a church on the rise in the Twin Cities: Grace Church Roseville.

The rappers in the video are: Pastor of Student Ministries Mark Allen (MA); Lead Pastor Jason Stonehouse (J-Stone) and Worship Intern Ryan Mattson (R-Unit)."

Grace Church Roseville at he corner of Hamline Ave & B2 in Roseville (right next to Roseville Area Hig).  The church has Sunday services at 9 and 10:45am. For more information, visit http://www.extendgrace.org