If you've never experienced 4th of July in DTSA, you should take the next chance you have. Fortunately, we're planning on spending the holiday together as a church family and any and all of our neighbors are invited. 

Games, Swimming, Barbecue and Fireworks

Head over to the Houlton abode as early as 12:00pm. We'll break bread together. We'll swim, play games, have activities for the kiddos and just generally enjoy one anothers' company. Then, once the sun has dipped below the horizon, we'll all trek up to the top of a parking garage and watch the sky light up with 360 degrees of pyrotechnics. If you'd like to bring a dish or if you need directions or any more information whatsoever, email kyle@sovgraceoc.org. 

Don't show up at 5:00pm on Sunday, July 1 at Heninger Elementary. If you do, you won't find Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana there. 

New Time, Same Place

Our new service time will be 10:30am, every single Sunday. Bring your friends. Tell your neighbors. The joy of Jesus will continue to spread in DTSA as we text this next big step as a neighborhood church. 

We began as a small group nearly two years ago. Then, in November, 2017, we launched Sunday evening services at Heninger Elementary. Now, by God's grace, kindness and provision, we're moving to morning services!

Sunday, July 1 @ 10:30am

Same place, different time. We could hardly be more excited.

We know that evenings have been particularly difficult for some to attend. If you fall in that category or if you know somebody who does, from here on out, we'll be meeting at a more conventional Sunday morning time. Praise God with us for His grace in taking the next step. 

This next Sunday is Father's Day. It's a day to honor and thank the fathers in our lives. It's a day to thank God for His wise design of the family and for His gift of godly Fathers. It's a day to celebrate and thank our Heavenly Father Himself. 

At the same time, the fathers among us and in our neighborhood need prayer to lead well - to lead their homes as servants of their families and servants of God. For these reasons, at next Sunday's service, we'll worship together like all other Sundays; there will be singing, preaching and fellowship, but we'll spend an extended time of worshipping God through prayer. As always, guests are welcome. Encourage anyone you know - anyone who is a father, who has a father or who has lost a father - to come, pray for and thank God for dads. 

Read Through The Story Without Verse Or Chapter Breaks Here

It might be hard to believe, but we're already halfway through the short book of Ruth. Called "The classic love story of the Bible" and "one of the greatest short stories ever written". Whatever else it might be called, if nothing else, it's a book that is thoroughly permeated with God's hidden hand of mercy, reminding us of His constant redemptive activity in the lives of those who belong to Him. Over the next couple weeks, take 30 minutes and sit down with this book at least one more time. Reacquaint yourself with the characters. Reacquaint yourself with God's mercy. 

Free and Family-Friendly Fun

We love opportunities to meet our DTSA neighbors and to celebrate the city that God has given us to live and build our lives in. This Saturday at noon is the 5th annual East End DTSA Block Party. It starts at noon and goes into the evening. It’s free. It’s family friendly. It’ll be packed with our neighbors. 

Participate In How Our City's Money Is Spent

This next Thursday, the City of Santa Ana will be giving a budget update at 9:30am at Hector’s on Broadway. As a church, we want to be involved in and aware of what the real issues are in our city. Because we want to see Jesus redeem the residents of our city; to spread the joy of Jesus spread where joy is least present. This budget meeting is an opportunity to do just that. To be active participants in our city. 

Subscribe To The Newsletter

You'd be hard-pressed to find a week in Downtown Santa Ana when nothing is going on. From art walks, to festivals and carnivals, to farmers markets, to packed-street foodie events, to family friendly movie nights, there is rarely a quite night in DTSA. The upshot of this for a small church is that there are ample opportunities to meet and mix it up with our neighbors. It can be difficult, though, to know what's coming up next. 

Downtown, Inc. has been working to resolve that issue for DTSA folks for the last three years by publishing a weekly newsletter. If you want to be the first to know what's happening every week in DTSA, subscribe to the newsletter and start clearing your calendar to head down to DTSA. 

Ruth is a short book. But its brevity does not at all equate with limited value. We could spend far more than 6 weeks as a church in the book of Ruth. Whether you're just looking to follow along outside of Sundays or looking to dig a little deeper for extra nuggets of Gospel gold, here are a few resources to plumb the value of the book for all it's worth:

• Ruth: A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper (book, 145 pages)
• Faithful God by Sinclair Ferguson (book/commentary, 160 pages)
• The Gospel, the Book of Ruth and Adoption (discussion)
• More Than a Love Story (article)

Friday, June 1

In 2018, we'll be spending the first Friday of every month fasting and praying together. Church members who fast for all 12 Fridays (all 11 since we missed January) will be invited to a year-end party to celebrate the answers to our prayers. If fasting is new to you, here are some instructions. 

Also, since the first Friday conveniently intersects with the month's first small group meetings, our small groups will meet at 6:00pm for those who are able to make it by then (at their respective locations) to break the fast and share a meal together, followed by a time of prayer and discussion together at 7:00pm. 

This month, we'll be praying for the outreach efforts of our small groups. Some things to consider praying for:

• Pray for courage and compassion to move toward our neighbors in love
• Pray for wisdom to see and move on opportunities
• Pray for leadership from among the congregation to spearhead opportunities
• Pray that we would keep the Gospel in clear focus as we seek to extend compassion and love toward our neighbors
• Pray that God would extend His grace toward our neighbors through Jesus and save them
• Pray that God would spread the joy of Jesus in DTSA through our small groups