Approved For Funding. Approved For Partnership.

For the past year, Sovereign Grace Santa Ana has been functioning as a church, yet, technically is a “campus” of Sovereign Grace Church of Orange. They’ve been our lifeline for many needs, they’ve supported us with funding and they’ve been the “umbrella” church under whom we’ve operated.

At this year’s Pastor’s Conference, after Kyle submitted a 40 page prospectus describing the location and vision for a church in DTSA, we applied to be recognized as an official Sovereign Grace Church plant. What are the implications of approval?

• Approval gives us the means to move toward becoming an independent congregation

• Approval initiates a church plant grant from Sovereign Grace Churches, assisting us to take the next steps as we grow as a church

• Approval formalizes our partnership with the churches in Sovereign Grace Churches and secures us into a family of churches granting us support, accountability, relationship, training, etc.

The big news: We’ve been approved!

How should you respond to this news? Praise God for the work that He’s doing in Santa Ana! If you’re a member of Sovereign Grace Santa Ana or have been praying for Sovereign Grace Santa Ana, this large step is a result of God’s grace particularly through you. Thank you for your Gospel partnership.

Thursday, October 11 @ 7:00pm

If you’re a man, high-school-age or older, head over to the front patio of the 4th Street Market this Thursday evening for our monthly men’s meeting. It’s a meeting where men learn to talk like men about God. We learn how to disagree well. We learn and are reminded about what God’s Word says about what it means to be a man. We learn how the Gospel shapes our manhood. They’re meeting you don’t want to miss.

Church Partnership Built on the Foundation of the Gospel

From Tuesday to Thursday, October 2-4, hundreds of pastors, wives and other members from Sovereign Grace Churches around the globe converged on Orlando, Florida for the 2018 Pastors Conference. The theme was “servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:5). We worshipped together, heard God’s Word preached and spent all hours of every day and night covering with brothers and sisters from around the world. It refreshed weary pastors and strengthened the resolve of all to continue in faith in God’s calling of Gospel mission.

Kyle was privileged to give an update on the progress of the Gospel in Downtown Santa Ana. We also heard many other updates, including that 13 churches have been planted in the last 3 years in the United States, more than 30 churches in the Philippines and dozens in India are pursuing adoption with Sovereign Grace Churches and that 19 different nations were represented at the conference.

All messages from the conference can be found here.

The Next One Will Be On Sunday, December 2nd

We love our DTSA neighbors. We enjoy food. By the time our Sunday morning services end, nearly everybody is hungry for lunch. For all of these reasons and more, every other first Sunday, we’ll be enjoying a “picnic in the promenade” together after church. It’s “BYOL” (bring your own lunch) and “BYOFC” (bring your own folding chair). The 2nd street promenade is located at 2nd street and Broadway. We had our first one this past Sunday and had a blast together. It’s just another means for us as a church to “spread the joy of Jesus in DTSA”.

Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana exists by God’s grace through the partnership of other churches. One of those churches is Sovereign Grace Church of Tucson, Arizona, where Kyle and Kelsey Houlton moved from to live in Santa Ana. This past Sunday, we had the privilege of hearing from that church’s senior pastor, Derek Overstreet. He preached from Titus 3:3-7 about the God-glorifying doctrine of grace alone.

Listen to the message here.

Friday, October 5

This year, we'll be spending the first Friday of every month. 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. 

Women Talking Like Women About God

Our monthly women’s meeting takes place this Thursday in DTSA at the Houlton apartment at 7:00pm. Any and all women, high-school-age and up are welcome to join for an evening of robust discussion at a level that any guest or long-time attendee can engage in. Coffee, tea and light snacks will be provided. No need to bring anything else but your self and a Bible. We’ll have extras even if you don’t have one. For questions or directions, contact Kelsey Houlton at kelseyraeann@gmail.com.

A New Church Positioned To Serve Its Hurting City

Grace City Church, led by Joshua Earl, was scheduled to launch their first Sunday service on Sunday, September 23. Little did they know when they decided on that date that a hurricane would have swept through the city less than two weeks prior.

Wilmington, North Carolina has been ravaged by Hurricane Florence. Most of the church were able to evacuate. The city they’ll be returning to soon, though, will be in dire need of restoration, lacking resources, yet filled with grieving people. Though Grace City is a small, new church, God has positioned them to do Gospel ministry in their city in an impactful way. Pray for our brothers and sisters as they respond to the devastation in Wilmington.

To learn about their specific prayers requests, read this blog post written by Joshua Earl, published on the Sovereign Grace Churches blog.

Sunday, October 7 @ The 2nd Street Promenade

Oftentimes on Sundays, once we’re dismissed from the service, our time together has only just begun. We have a church full of people who love one another and love their neighbors. We want to provide ample outlets for that love.

We’re excited to announce that:

On The First Sunday of Every Other Month

We’ll all head over to the 2nd Street Promenade immediately after church to have lunch amongst our neighbors. Here are the details:

• It’s “BYOL” (bring your own lunch). If you forget your lunch or your favorite lunchbox isn’t clean, there are plenty of great restaurants right there and you can even get some great food at the Farmer’s Market that lasts from 11-3 every Sunday!

• It’s optional - but we highly encourage coming!

• Bring some folding chairs - unless you like sitting on bricks, bring something to sit on; a blanket at least.

• Expect the Lord to build existing relationships and create new ones with our neighbors

Downtown Santa Ana - Friday @ 7:00pm

East Santa Ana - Friday @ 7:00pm

Our small groups encourage genuine relationships within the church. Each group meets in a home, splitting their time between singing, praying, and discussion. It’s all centered around God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus.

Children are welcome at these meetings, but if it’s your first time, please let the host know ahead of time that you’ll be bringing children, so that we can adequately accommodate. All of our groups welcome guests, so feel free to bring a friend or two.

If you’d like directions or more information, email kyle@sovgraceoc.org.