In the middle of a brief break from the book of Colossians, we opened up our Bibles together to Psalm 139. We encountered a psalmist, David himself, who asked God to search him, knowing full well what God would find wickedness. Find out how and why David would make such a request of God and how he could even have the audacious hope to, as a result, be "led in the way everlasting".
This past Sunday, we had the pleasure of hearing God's Word preached from Riley Spring. Riley and his wife both hail from Sydney, Australia. But they currently find their home in Louisville, Kentucky. Their home church and a church dear to us, Sovereign Grace Sydney, has sent Riley to be trained and equipped for pastoral ministry at the Sovereign Grace Pastor's College. His time there has clearly been effective; he served us well as he reminded us from Isaiah 40 of the God who is both mighty and merciful in the midst of our suffering.
Please pray for Riley as he finishes up his year at the Pastors College. Riley also hopes and aspires to be used by God to do something that we can really get behind: to plant another Gospel-proclaiming church. Pray also that God would give Riley and his wife clear direction, guidance and courage as they get closer and closer to planting a church in Parramatta, Australia.
In Colossians 2:16-23, Paul, the author of Colossians, identifies a danger that threatens the health of the church and exposes that danger for what it is, helping us to identify it and turn instead to Christ.
We love it when we get the chance to learn from one another; when we're discipled by our friends. This last Sunday, we had the opportunity to hear God's Word preached by Jeff Schleider. As he taught from Colossians 2:6-15, we were reminded that Christians need Jesus as we continue our walk just as much as we needed Him at the beginning of our walk. He alone gives us our best life no matter where - or when - we are.
As we continued our series in Colossians - a book concerning the new life of a small church in Colossae - we discovered this last week just how much the new life of this church was worth to Paul, the author of Colossians. In Colossians 1:24-2:5, we find that it was worth every bit of suffering that he had experienced. Listen to the message to find out not only why, but also how Paul is able to say "I rejoice in my sufferings ..."
YOU DON'T NEED SOMETHING NEW. YOU NEED SOMETHING TRUE.
This past Sunday, we continued our series in the book of Colossians with Col. 1:15-23 and learned what is the best safeguard against the problems of this life: an intelligent appreciation of the doctrine of Christ. In layman's terms? A deeper understanding of who Jesus is. Jesus is the Creator, Sustainer, Head and Reconciler of all things. The more well-acquainted we are with His reality, the more equipped we are to face the problems we'll encounter in our lives.
This last Sunday, we opened up a new preaching series in Colossians together and discovered, what, of all things he could say, were the Apostle Paul's first words to the church at Colossae. As was Paul's pattern, we learned that giving thanks to God for the evidence of His grace at work through the Gospel took priority of place. This pattern and priority helps us to know how we ought to address one another.
Jesus has promised His presence to be with us in the mission He's called us to. He's also given us other local churches with whom we have the privilege of partnering with. We're committed to them. They're committed to us. This is the kind of partnership you want your local church to be a part of. God will spread the joy of Jesus through Downtown Santa Ana through it. To learn more about the contours of our partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches,
God has given His Church a job description; it's what each church has been designed and called to be doing in the world. This job description is the mission of the church. That mission is to multiply and mature disciples. At Sovereign Grace Santa Ana, we pray that God would give us the courage, compassion and faithfulness to do just that among our Downtown Santa Ana neighbors.
This last Sunday, in our 5th message in the series describing the 7 Values we share with all Sovereign Grace Churches, guest preacher Dustin Smetona helped to answer the question, "who leads the local church?". Biblically, we believe that Christ leads the Church and has appointed pastors to lead in local churches until He returns. To learn more about Biblical eldership or even if you yourself wonder about a calling to leadership in the church, check out the following resources:
What Does Gospel-Centered Leadership Look Like?
