How You Respond To The Reality of Death Tells Your Neighbors How Real Your Jesus Is

Death is the great equalizer. In a fallen world, its reality constantly looms. Sometimes, though, we’re more aware of it than at others. When faced with death, whether actual or potential, how do you respond? The First Century church at Thessalonica were tempted to despair at the death of their loved ones. Why? Because they misunderstood the implications of the resurrection of Christ. We, likewise, must understand - what death is, what Jesus’ resurrection means for us, how steadfast His hope is and what grieving should look like for a Christian in the face of death. This is a subject which has extreme relevance in these days. Listen to this week’s message to learn more.

If you missed tuning into this week’s livestream, you can listen to the sermon here.

Keep Sending Pictures of Your Household Worshipping Together

This was our first Sunday apart from each other. We missed you terribly. We’re grateful to the Lord, though, for modern technological advances that allow us to worship together despite the inability to meet in person. Thank you for sending photos and videos of your household worshipping together to photos@sovgracesantaana.org. We loved seeing them. This will be what services look like for at least another few weeks, so keep sending them along to remind your brothers and sisters of the voices that are joining together with them as we sing, listen and pray on Sunday mornings. Take a look at a few photos from this first livestream Sunday.

If you missed tuning into the first livestream, you can listen to this week’s sermon here.

We Remembered And Proclaimed

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.

His Body Broken. His Blood Shed.

Listen to the message of the Bread and the Cup from last Sunday here.

Holiness - A True Sexual Revolution In A Sexually Permissive World

This past Sunday, Jeff Schlieder preached from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 - a passage which deals with the temptations to sexual immorality present within the first century church at Thessalonica. While the “sexual revolution” taking place in our modern world might seem at times like a new level of normalization of sinful behavior that the world has never seen the likes of, the reality is that sexual permissiveness has often been the norm in our fallen world throughout history. It certainly was in First-century Greece, even more-so than today.

What is truly revolutionary, though, is the standard of purity, the standard of marital fidelity, the standard of holiness introduced into this fallen world through God’s Word. This standard is no mere written list of rules, but is based ion our very union with Christ and in the Trinity itself. Take an hour out of your day and be reminded of the Gospel reality that the whole you is called to holiness.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Everyone Will Stand Before God’s Judgment

At the end of 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul summarizes his prayer for the small church in Greece by asking that the Lord would make them “increase and abound in love”. The reason he prays this is “so that [their hearts may be] established blameless in holiness … at the coming of our Lord Jesus”. In other words, Jesus’ future return is a motive for growing in love right now.

An Outward Badge Demonstrating An Inward Reality

While Jesus’ atoning death completely bore God’s wrath for anybody who has believed in Him, genuine love for others demonstrates that one has actually believed. It’s an outward badge confirming an inward reality. Listen to last week’s sermon to learn more about this and to learn what it means to “increase and abound in love”.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Suffering Will Come. When It Does, Where Will You Turn?

The New Testament is clear that among the many experiences a Christian can expect during the course of following Christ, one very real expectation is that we will suffer for His name. When those moments do come, what is our hope? Where should we look for comfort and encouragement? Listen to this week’s sermon from 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10 to learn about the miraculous power of the average local church to support one another through suffering.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

God Loves The Church

In 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, the Apostle Paul expresses intense affection toward the church in Thessalonica that might seem disproportionate given their lack of size, influence, etc. This transparent moment in the writings of Paul teaches us something fundamental about the local church - that it is precious because it’s precious to God. The men and women who comprise each local church are “blood-bought” treasures to the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28) who gave His very life to call them His own. The implication for us? We ought to love and treasure and prioritize what God treasures. Love your brothers and sisters in the local church.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Christians have been unified around a central story for millennia. Through this story, God has built His Church. He established and kept the local church in first century Thessalonica. He’s done the same with Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana. Listen to last week’s sermon from 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 to learn how God calls men and women into His Church and then sustains them, deploys them and grows them, even through seasons of deep suffering.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

Are You Looking For These Marks?

In 1 Thessalonians 2, the Apostle Paul engages in a curious section in which he defends … himself. Why is this included in our Bibles? On one hand, because in the face of intense opposition, his readers were tempted to doubt that Paul’s ministry and thus, his Gospel and their salvation were bogus. On the other hand, it’s there because it gives us an insight into what genuine ministry from God looks like. In this week’s sermon, Jeff Schlieder identified multiple marks of a genuine ministry that you should look for in your leaders. You should encourage and pray for these marks in our church’s future leaders. When all is said and done, these marks are ultimately a reflection of the Head of the Church Himself - Christ our Lord.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.

What Should Impress Us In Other People?

As Paul begins his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, he does so by offering thanks to God - thanks to God for something about the men and women at the church. Word of this same “something” had spread all the way to Macedonia and Achaia and the rest of the region. In this week’s sermon, we explored what it is that is worthy of fame in God’s kingdom; what it is that should impress us in other people. What we discovered is that people themselves shouldn’t impress us at all, but what God has done and is doing through people. We should be impressed by what magnifies the fame of God.

Listen to this week’s sermon here.