A Dinner That Represents The Life We Share

On Sunday, March 10, don’t forget to change your clocks to reflect Daylight Savings Time. Also, don’t forget to change our Sunday service time in your calendar to 5:00pm. We’ll be celebrating our annual communion service. We’ll sing to God’s glory. We’ll fellowship to God’s glory. We’ll also eat to God’s glory.

Not only will we share in the eating of a meal. We’ll share in the preparation of the meal. This is an event that requires all hands on deck. Whether you’re a single or a family, sign up to bring one of the needed dishes or items on March 10th.

Sign up for a dish/item here

A New Nation and Race - Spiritually Defined

From September through December of 2018, 5 men from within Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana underwent a 6-session course titled “the preachers club”. Any man who aspired to or even thought about growing in the gift of preaching and teaching was invited. For four months, through discussion, reading and actual sermon preparation, the members of this “club” grew in their understanding of the craft of preaching God’s holy, inerrant Word. Whether or not these men become pastors; whether or not they each preach the sermons they’ve written, God is glorified as members of this local church seek to grow in their gifts for the building up of His church.

This past Sunday, we had the treat of hearing God’s Word preached from one of those men - Mike Alvarez. Listen to his sermon from 1 Peter 2:9-12.

Listen to the sermon here.

A Lot of Great Opportunities Are On The Horizon …

The regular patterns of fellowship with one another in the church through hospitality, small groups, and the building of individual relationships are where the life that God has created in the local church is most visibly seen. However, interspersed within these moments are special occasions - to grow, to learn and to simply have fun as a church. There are a number of these coming up between now and mid-summer, so get your calendars out and get these dates locked in!

Annual Communion Service

• Date: March 10th, 5:00-6:30pm

• Location: Heninger Elementary School

How To Use Your Words To Build Up Your Friends

• Date: March 15th, 7:00-9:00pm

• Location: First United Methodist Church of Orange

• Details: Childcare provided. Register Here.

Women’s Brunch

• Date: March 30, 10:00am-12:00pm

• Location: 1710 Heliotrope Dr.

Loving Your LGBTQ+ Neighbors

• Date: April 26th, 7:00-9:00pm

• Location: Chapel of Orange

• Details: Childcare NOT provided. Register here.

Women’s Retreat

• Date: April 11-13

• Location: Mt. Kare, Wrightwood, California

• Details: Register here.

Refugio Camping Trip

• Date: July 8-15

• Location: Refugio State Beach Group Camping Site

• Details: Register by emailing cardcasa1@gmail.com, indicating 1) # of campers and names 2) # of vehicles. Trailers count as vehicles 3) Which nights you’d like to camp

An even easier way to keep these events and others like them is to subscribe to our church calendar. You can do so here.

Service Time - 5:00pm

The morning service is cancelled.

Come Sunday evening on March 10 for a service that has become a tradition in our sister church in Orange and is becoming a tradition at Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana.

Communion represents what binds us together as a local body of Christ. It serves as a stalwart reminder of where our hope lies. During this annual celebration, we devote an entire service to remembering Christ in this way and turn what is usually a small cup and a tiny cracker into an entire meal taken together.

Each family and member will have the responsibility of helping with food, so be on the lookout in the next couple weeks for individual assignments.

We Want To Be As Good At Saying Goodbye As We Are At Saying Hello

We Don’t Always Get To Keep Our Fruit

As a church plant, we have the privilege of building relationships deeply that are founded o the Gospel. We have the joy of welcoming neighbors who have become brothers and sisters. Sometimes, though, we have the opportunity to say goodbye as well. Though this can hurt, it’s oftentimes no less an opportunity for joy than in welcoming others.

This next week, one of our dearest and closest friends will be moving back to the Midwest. She’s leaving in faith and for the purpose of taking the Gospel to yet another group of people who need it just as much as Santa Anans. This is cause for joy and celebration. Why? Because God is behind it and is working for His glory and the salvation of others. Let’s say goodbye well and allow these to be opportunities to grow in our ability to trust God.

You Came To This Hour For The Glory of God

This past Sunday, as Kyle preached John 12:27-50, we heard the last words of Jesus’ public ministry. The emphasis was on time and glory. Jesus’ “hour” had come. The time had run out to hear the words of the Son of Man. The decision was before them: live for the glory of God or for the glory of man? The same decision is before us.

Listen to the sermon here.

February 7 (Men) and 21 (Women)

Each month, we have a men’s meeting on the second week of the month and a women’s meeting on the fourth week. These are contexts where men and women can grow in godliness together specifically as men and women.Since February started on a Friday, a conflict between small group and men’s/women’s meetings occurred, so our men’s and women’s meeting dates have been changed slightly.

Men meet at 7:00pm on the front patio of the 4th Street Market. Women meet together at 7:00pm at the Houlton home.

Men and women high-school-age and above are welcomed and encouraged to attend. Contact office@sovgracesantaana.org for more information.

We’re 12 chapters into the book of John together in our preaching series. For the remainder of the series, the book “slows down”. The last 9 chapters cover the Passion week and just a few days following Jesus’ resurrection. Through longer books like this one, it’s often helpful to take occasional trips through the entire book to get out of the “trees” and see “the forest”. If you’d like to read straight through, we’ve made a version without chapter or verse divisions designed specifically for reading through long chunks at a time. Spend some time this week and catch a glimpse of the forest of the book of John again.

To Follow Jesus Is To Follow Him On The Hard Road To Glory

There were many who wanted to follow Jesus while He was on earth. As He entered Jerusalem thousands hailed Him as King. They wanted to follow Him as their leader. But Jesus made it clear what exactly it means to follow Him. In John 12:12-26, we discover that following Jesus leads to glory - even honor from God the Father. But it also requires walking a hard road. And Jesus was about to demonstrate just how hard that road can be. Listen to last week’s sermon to learn more.

Listen to the message here.

Last week, our church had the opportunity to partner with other churches and nonprofits and to serve our neighbors in a couple different ways. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we assisted with the 3rd annual MLK Breakfast hosted by Emmaus Church and attended by many city and county officials, churches and individuals committed to reconciliation within our city. We want to be a part of Gospel reconciliation between people in Santa Ana.

MLK Breakfast and 2019 Point in Time Homeless Count

On Wednesday evening, we participated in the 2019 Orange County Point in Time Homeless Count. It was literally an opportunity to meet and talk to our neighbors experiencing homelessness as we went out until the wee hours of the morning surveying the homeless in order to acquire accurate data so that the county can in turn provide the best and most needed support for those most in need around us.

There Are Other Opportunities All Around Us

We want to serve our neighbors and in turn, we want to tell them where their ultimate hope lies: in Jesus Christ. There are ready-made opportunities to do this all around us. If you have ideas, let us know! Email kyle@sovgraceoc.org.