ACTS GIVES US THE TIMELESS TRAITS OF THE CHURCH

“If Jesus were here today, He would _________”. How many times have you heard someone say something like this? When we say things like this, it reflects that in order to know how Christians should live, what the Church should be or what the Church should do, the only option we have is to speculate at what Jesus would say or do if He were with us today.

But the point of the book of Acts is that Jesus was on earth, He gave His Church a specific mission, built His Church through His Spirit in a specific way and, as an eternally living Savior, has never told us to do Church differently. We don’t have to guess at what the Church is or should be doing. We have the book of Acts. Listen to last Sunday’s introduction to Acts to learn more.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

CLASS IS IN SESSION

We’ve planned a series of online classes to answer pressing questions:

When should we engage in civil disobedience?
What does the bible say about racial reconciliation and gender identity?
What should I do when I disagree with other Christians about important political issues?

It’s time for Summer School. Come hear the pastors engage with the bible on these topics. Bring your questions.

The titles for each class are below.

JULY 28
CHURCH AND STATE: DECIDING WHEN TO SUBMIT OR REBEL.

AUGUST 11
POLITICS: MATTERS OF WISDOM, CONSCIENCE, AND LOVE.

AUGUST 25
CRITICAL THEORY: RECOGNIZING AN UNFAMILIAR WORLD VIEW.

We’re teaming up with Sovereign Grace Church of Orange. All church members and regular attenders from both churches are welcome. There’s no registration or homework. We’ll send the Zoom link out to our church directories beforehand.

Contact the church office with your questions or if you aren’t sure you’re in our directory.

LET’S CONTINUE TO BE A CHURCH THAT PRAYS

Keep sending us your prayer requests. We’ll keep sharing them (annomously) and share other guidelines for how you can be praying during the week. It’s important to know how to pray for one another and to ask the Lord to guide us, sustain us and encourage us each individually in this season.

1. Pray for the effectiveness of the preached Word as we begin a new series in Acts this week

2. Pray for those teaching Summer School classes - that men and women from Sovereign Grace Churches of Orange and Santa Ana would be served by the subject matter

3. Pray for parents of young children who are preparing for another semester of home schooling

4. Pray for families who continue to experience financial challenges

5. Pray for those who have been exposed to the virus in any capacity

6. Pray for Seth’s move on Saturday

7. Pray for Omar and Sandi as they prepare to be married on August 2

8. Pray for the requests of individuals who have shared them on our church Slack prayer channel. If you have questions about how to be added to this, email office@sovgracesantaana.org

   KEEP SENDING PRAYER REQUESTS TO PRAYERS@SOVGRACESANTAANA.ORG.

STARTING POINT - DATE TBD

A TWO-HOUR CLASS DESIGNED TO HELP YOU LEARN ABOUT THE LIFE AND BELIEFS OF THIS CHURCH

REGISTER HERE

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 where you can learn about what we believe, what those beliefs look like in the life of the church and how you can become a part of the community of Sovereign Grace Santa Ana. Once registration fills up, we’ll coordinate a date for the class.

Lunch will be served. If you’d like to attend, please register here or at the link above.

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SERVICE AT THE HOULTON HOUSE

LUNCH PROVIDED

JULY 20TH-26TH

Every Tuesday we will be publishing a blog to share what is going in the life of the church for that week! We hope that this serves you and helps to keep you updated.

THURSDAY, JULY 23RD: WOMEN’S MEETING

• 7:00pm, Location TBD. If you have questions, please send an email to office@sovgracesantaana.org.

SUNDAY JULY 26TH: SERVICE AT 10:00AM AT THE EBELL CLUB

• Meeting Room - Outdoor Courtyard

OUR MONTHLY WOMEN’S GROUP IS THIS THURSDAY

7PM | LOCATION TBD

If you have any questions about this meeting, please email office@sovgracesantaana.org

Our Meeting Space Within The Ebell Has Gone Outdoors (For Now)

Last week Governor Newsom updated the CA guidelines for places of worship, which you can read here. In order to be in compliance, the Ebell Club graciously let us host our service in the courtyard this past Sunday and will continue to do so until the guidelines change. In light of this, we have created a new list of Ebell Outside Rules, to help us continue to be good stewards of our meeting venue.

Ebell Outside Rules

1. Please stick to the turf or sidewalk and avoid walking in the planters. Parents, please keep an eye on your kids and ensure they are following this rule too.

2. Please bring your own shade whenever possible. It’s summer. It’s hot outside. We want to try and make the service as comfortable as possible for you. If you have beach umbrellas or an EZ Up that you can bring on Sundays, please do.

3. Moms with strollers- We will be creating a designated stroller parking zone at the Ebell to ensure the walkways are not too crowded. Please look out for signs on Sunday and ask the Ushers if you need any help!

We thank God for the provision of not only an outdoor meeting space but a beautiful one.

The Wilderness Is A Place Of New Beginnings

Things end in the wilderness. Old habits and patterns end. Standards of living come to an end. “The good times” as we knew them often evaporate into past as we walk into the wilderness. But as visible as what’s ending is in the wilderness, God is often using it to create new beginnings. Such was the case with our salvation. Such was the case with Paul when he was converted. Such may be the case for you in the wilderness you’re walking through.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

FRIDAY AT 7PM

Our small groups are moving back to Zoom this week, in part, to reduce person-to-person contact in the midst of a spike in cases and while doing so, to prioritize our Sunday meeting in-person. Look to your small group leader to send out a Zoom link or invitation.

If you have any questions or concerns about small groups or need an address, please send an email to office@sovgracesantaana.org.

LET’S CONTINUE TO BE A CHURCH THAT PRAYS

Keep sending us your prayer requests. We’ll keep sharing them (annomously) and share other guidelines for how you can be praying during the week. It’s important to know how to pray for one another and to ask the Lord to guide us, sustain us and encourage us each individually in this season.

1. Pray for those who are once again furloughed or out of work because of recent imposed restrictions

2. Pray for those in our community who have contracted COVID and who have friends and family members with the virus

3. Continue to pray for Gospel racial reconciliation in our community

4. Pray for opportunities on Saturday to meet and get to know our neighbors in the French Park neighborhood

5. Pray for those who are walking through personal wildernesses

6. Pray that God would continue to give our church the courage and perseverance to speak the hope of Christ into one anothers’ life situations and those of our neighbors

7. Pray for the requests of individuals who have shared them on our church Slack prayer channel. If you have questions about how to be added to this, email office@sovgracesantaana.org

   KEEP SENDING PRAYER REQUESTS TO PRAYERS@SOVGRACESANTAANA.ORG.