Baptism is a celebration. Friends and family and church family gather. It’s a celebration because God the Father, through the sacrifice of His Son, by the power of His Holy Spirit is saving men and women from sin. The lost are being found. Baptism is the evidence that this is true.
This last Sunday, we had the joy of witnessing the baptism of Lucy Paz. Check out the pictures and relive the celebration of new life in Christ.
In the fourth and final sermon out of the book of Micah, God elevated our attitude toward the lowly by showing us through Micah 5:1-6 that He often works through insignificant people and insignificant circumstances to accomplish His greatest purposes.
We learn this foremost through the fact that Micah prophecies that God’s Messiah would be born in the most unassuming little town. The breadth of applications that this burins to our lives is staggering. Listen to last week’s sermon to elevate your attitude toward how God might work through lowliness in your life.
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@sovgraceoc.org to begin the conversation.
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, October 13. 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.
Last Sunday, in our third message in the book of Micah, we came across the Bible’s most famous passage regarding “social justice” - Micah 6:8. This verse is used as the basis for service projects, feedings ministries and short-term missions trips around the globe. But it’s important to understand why Micah said these words to the nation of Judah. In Micah chapters 6-7, we discover that in order to have the right motivation to serve the lowly among us, we have to recognize and acknowledge our spiritual lowness; our moral poverty. That realization positions us not as “Saviors” to our neighbors, but humbles us to know that we’re as needy as anybody for God’s grace. Furthermore, when we’ve received God’s grace for our moral poverty, we’re able to do social justice in a way that addresses the needs of the whole person - both physical and spiritual needs.
The participants in this year’s fall class - Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life - discussed last night one of the most vital practices for any believer anywhere in the world - Bible intake. Whether it’s through hearing the Bible, reading the Bible, meditating on the Bible, memorizing the Bible or studying the Bible, being exposed to God’s Word on a daily basis is one of our souls’ deepest needs. Below, we’ve included some resources to help you grow in two particular areas of Bible intake - even if you’re not a part of the class.
The Navigators Topical Memory System
An Approach to Memorizing Longer Passages
Bible.org Scripture Memory Program
The Gospel Coalition’s List of Bible Reading Plans
Ligonier’s List of Bible Reading Plans
ESV’s List of Bible Reading Plans
The “Reading Plan App” - If you’re looking for a way to digitally organize your Bible reading plan
Professor Horner’s Bible Reading Plan - If you’re feeling extra ambitious
Our first annual Festival of Nations was a complete success. The fellowship was genuine and the cuisine was exquisite.
1st Place: Jim and Angie Cunningham - Panang Curry (Thailand)
2nd Place: Peter Robles - Chiles Rellenos (Mexico)
3rd Place: Christopher Erkelens - Chojín (Guatemala)
Beyond the food, we celebrated the significance of our unity in Christ in the midst of our diversity in culture. Read on for a testimony from our own Krista Alvarez:
I grew up in a very non-diverse household and community. I had brief experiences with different cultures through mission trips or service projects. After I married Mike though, I got an introduction to and was now living with someone whose heritage and cultural experience was vastly different from mine. There has been a lot of growth, forgiveness, and time spent learning about each other & our cultural backgrounds these past 5 years!
About 2.5 years ago, Mike really felt a desire to want to explore his Mexican heritage more and at first I just figured, “well I am here along for the ride-but this isn’t going to affect me much. Why do I need to understand the Mexican culture? I’m not Mexican so it doesn’t affect me.” However, in this time, the Lord has really used this desire of Mike’s to grow and stretch us both. Mike and I began to have in-depth discussions about culture, race, identity, how it affects us both and how it will affect our kids. I began to learn about and understand a cultural perspective different than mine - not only that, but I learned to be an advocate and pray for this culture.
In those 2.5 years, we also joined the Santa Ana church plant! After the very first prayer night for Santa Ana, the Lord put a stirring in Mike’s heart to want to be a part of this. For Mike, it was an opportunity to be a part of and serve a culture that he wanted to reconnect with. For me, it seemed like a daunting task - I felt unequipped and unsure. However, I knew that no matter how I felt, I wanted to be open and receptive to where the Lord was calling us. And I am so happy he called us here.
Before I met Mike, the idea of joining a church plant, in a primarily hispanic community would have been something that I thought was great - but not for me. I feared being too white, not understanding the language, and honestly just being in a city that was so different from what I grew up in. But I love our church and our community. I love that our church is such a beautiful depiction of the gospel. People of every tribe, nation, and tongue, coming together to worship the Lord. I’m so thankful to be here and be a part of you all as we seek to spread the joy of Jesus in DTSA and beyond.
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.
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, October 13. 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.
