"Here On Sunday Morning Is The Best Place I Can Be"

Intern Jeff Schlieder’s Report on the 2019 Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference

Two weeks ago, Kyle Houlton and Jeff Schlieder travelled to Orlando to join with pastors and wives from 32 different nations across Sovereign Grace Churches. Below is Jeff’s report of what he took away from the conference:

Good Morning,

My name is Jeff Schlieder, intern here at Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana. Pastor Kyle has asked me to share a few words about the experience we had last week at the annual Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors Conference. This was a gathering of pastors, church leaders, and wives not only from across North America but from all over the world. We heard the Word preached powerfully, we sang in English – and in Spanish too, we listened to the Scriptures read from in 17 native tongues, and we spent time together in rich fellowship. We breathed the air of the gospel and the days spent at the conference were filled with the aroma of Christ.

All in all, to sum up my experience, I would say that I went across the country only to be reminded that right here on a Sunday morning is the best place I could ever be. Truly, at the conference we were reminded that for his own glory, God has redeemed sinners and called them into his family, the church, so that when we gather together each Sunday as a congregation, we are bearing witness to the wisdom and glory of God. It is no exaggeration to say that on this side of the fall, the gathering of the local church is the closest thing to Eden we will experience until we enter into the new heavens and the new earth. 

As we gather each and every Sunday and hear God speak, share in the Lord’s Table, witness baptisms, and fellowship together, God is present in our midst and we catch a glimpse of heaven. What a privilege! My hope is that you too would catch a glimpse of that and see what is happening in our midst as the very expression of the wisdom and glory of God.

All that said, the greatest thing I took away from the conference was a renewed love for the church. More importantly, a renewed love for this church.

So thank you church, thank you for sending us, thank you for being the church.