Baptisms are the biggest celebrations in our local church. They're a public demonstration of what God has done in a new Christian's life by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
If you've never been baptized or even if you were baptized as a child and you consider yourself a Christian and you'd like to be baptized, email kyle@sovgracesantaana.org to begin the conversation.
Jeff Schlieder has been serving for the past 8 months as the first intern at Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana. The role he’s occupied is one which serves the purpose of evaluation - it’s a period when the church has the opportunity to watch and experience a person’s gifting in order to determine how God might be calling that individual to serve a particular role in the church. We’ve wondered if God has called Jeff to be a pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana. And we believe it’s a task given to the local church to assess the calling and gifting of a potential pastor.
So far, we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback. We’re grateful to God for the work that seems to be evidenced in his life. However, we won’t assume we’ve heard everything from you. Before Jeff is proceeded on to the next stage of being positioned as a leader in our church, we’re giving you a final opportunity to provide your assessment of his leadership, character and influence in the church. Maybe it’s nothing but good and providing evidence of God’s grace. If so, go ahead and tell us. We want to be prudent where we need to be prudent and celebrate where we can celebrate.
This is the third month of our 2020 Hospitality Challenge. Hopefully over the past few weeks, you have been thinking of different people you could share a meal with. We want you to be able to use both your home and your time for the glory of God and the good of our Santa Ana neighbors.
The first couple months of the challenge have already had a positive impact on members. Click here to read a testimony.
Why are we doing a hospitality challenge? Because it’s one of the best ways to get to know and love new neighbors. Author Tim Chester says,
“Few acts are more expressive of companionship than the shared meal… . Someone with whom we share food is likely to be our friend, or well on the way to becoming one.”
In this, we’re simply following the model of Jesus, who used food as a means for effective Gospel ministry:
“Jesus spent his time eating and drinking—a lot of his time … His mission strategy was a long meal, stretching into the evening. He did evangelism and discipleship round a table with some grilled fish, a loaf of bread, and a pitcher of wine.”
Out of ideas of who to invite into your home? Consider inviting one of your neighbors next door or down the street from your home. Don’t know any? Look for opportunities to introduce yourself to one or two of them in particular this month.
If you’ve been visiting Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana for any length of time, we’d like to invite you to our upcoming “Starting Point” class. It’s a class that takes place immediately after church on Sunday, March 15th. Lunch will be served. It’s an opportunity to learn about the particular beliefs of our church and what those beliefs look like in practice in the life of our church together and with our community. If you’d like to attend, please register here or at the link above.
Our third annual communion service was a wonderful time of singing, listening, sharing, loving and remembering. A break from our normal order of service, our annual communion service is an entire Sunday celebration centered around the Lord’s Table. We share an actual meal together - many thanks to the hands that prepared the food, decor and everything else - and then together, we took the bread and the cup in remembrance of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood.
Listen to the message of the Bread and the Cup from last Sunday here.
If you’d like to join a small group, visit a small groups or have questions at all, please contact office@sovgracesantaana.org
If you’ve been visiting Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana for any length of time, we’d like to invite you to our upcoming “Starting Point” class. It’s a class that takes place immediately after church on Sunday, March 15th. Lunch will be served. It’s an opportunity to learn about the particular beliefs of our church and what those beliefs look like in practice in the life of our church together and with our community. If you’d like to attend, please register here or at the link above.
By recommending a new book every month, we’re recommending resources to you that help you to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18). It is not required that you purchase or read these books. They’re mere recommendations to assist you in choosing good books that help you to make the best use of the precious time you have.
March’s book of the month is “Surprised by Suffering” by R.C. Sproul. If you haven’t yet experienced deep suffering, all you have to do is live long enough. This is a difficult reality of living in a fallen world, awaiting the return of Christ. Yet, God’s Word promises His good and redemptive work not only through our suffering, but even in the midst of your suffering. If you’re currently experiencing the pain of adversity, pick this up and immerse yourself in the truth of God’s Word. If you’re not currently experiencing suffering, pick this up and ground your hear and mind in the Gospel to prepare for the moment when trials unexpectedly come.
This Saturday, March 7th is Santa Ana’s fourth annual Boca de Oro (Mouth of Gold) Festival of Literary Arts & Culture. This event has free writing and arts and crafts workshops, panel discussions, author talks and performances on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. throughout Downtown Santa Ana.
For more details, visit the event’s website.
