Weekly Meetings Are Cancelled for December

In the world of agriculture, soil must remain “fallow” once every few years to maintain its fertility for years to come. To lie fallow is to lie unplowed and unplanted for a time in order for nutrients to be restored. In the month of December, we are letting our church calendar lie fallow. Why? Not so that you can pull away from the life of the church, but instead to press into natural and more intimate opportunities to relate to your church family and neighbors. The holiday season is notoriously one of the busiest times of the year. We want to help you to take advantage of the few free moments you have to spend unhurried, unscheduled time with one another and with family for the grand purpose of allowing your heart to be re-fertilized by the work of Christ, fellowship with the saints and companionship with unbelieving neighbors.

What’s Not Cancelled?

• Regular Sunday Services

• Christmas Party on December 6 (Houlton Home. 6:00pm. Please RSVP to office@sovgracesantaana.org)

• Christmas Eve Service (Heninger Elementary. 5:30pm)

If you ever have any questions about church events, you can look to our church calendar, which is always updated to reflect changes to meetings or events.

Subscribe to the church calendar here.

“Always Winter, But Never Christmas”

Yes, Thanksgiving is this week, but this past Sunday, we launched into our 2019 Christmas series. Last year, we met 4 very ordinary members of the “cast of Christmas” through whom God did extraordinary things. This year, we met 5 more members through whom God satisfies our longing. This theme should feel particularly poignant to use after spending months examining the prophets - if the prophets leave us with anything it’s a sense of longing for someone to come and break our cycle of sin - for God to send His promised Messiah. In the first message of the series, we met Gabriel, whom God sent to herald the coming of spring upon a land and a people that had endured a self-imposed long, cold harsh and “Christmas-less” winter”.

Listen to the sermon here.

Longing Satisfied

The Old Testament prophets have taught us to long for a cycle-breaker; to long for a salvation, a relief, a comfort, a rescue that neither we nor the Old testament people of God could provide for themselves. Christmas is the story of the coming of God’s promised Messiah. Christmas is the story of how God unexpectedly - and marvelously - satisfies that longing. This Christmas, we’ll be examining 5 more characters in the cast of Christmas who all teach us how Christmas is a season of the satisfaction of our longing:

Gabriel - A longing for the “fullness of time” satisfied

Herod - A longing for the end of an old and weary era satisfied

The Magi - A longing for the broadening of God’s redemptive plan satisfied

Simeon - A longing for the comfort of God satisfied

Jesus - A longing for the Messiah Himself satisfied

We look forward to spending this Christmas season with you.

The Holidays are Right around the corner

Did you know that your Christmas/holiday Amazon purchases can now help fund our church in a small way? Simply click on this the link below and it will start donating .5% of your qualifying purchases to our General Fund. It doesn't cost you anything. You just designate our church, Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana and use smile.amazon.com.

If you have any questions or want to learn more, contact our admin assistant, Krista Alvarez.

DISCUSSION BEGINS @ 7:00PM

• ENGLISH SANTA ANA SMALL GROUP: HOULTON HOME

• SPANISH SANTA ANA SMALL GROUP: HOULTON HOME

• “EAST SANTA ANA” SMALL GROUP: ERKELENS HOME

Questions? Contact office@sovgracesantaana.org

Come Spend Even More Time in the City

The Gospel is Good News - the best news in all the world, in fact. Its richness is available to those who believe 24/7. While it doesn’t compare to the message of salvation through Christ, free parking in Downtown Santa Ana is remarkably good news. You’ve been waiting for this for years.

Free Parking For The First Two Hours In City-Owned Parking Structures!

Beginning December 1st, the City of Santa Ana is giving everyone who parks in a city owned parking structure, free parking for the first two hours! The life & culture of DTSA is growing and bringing in a variety of different businesses. The city wants to embrace & recognize the diversity of this area and encourage more visitors to come, so they are giving two hours of free parking. This gives you plenty of time to grab a bite to eat, shop the local area or spend time with a friend.

To learn more about which structures will be free, head to this website.

Intern Jeff Schlieder’s Report on the 2019 Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference

Two weeks ago, Kyle Houlton and Jeff Schlieder travelled to Orlando to join with pastors and wives from 32 different nations across Sovereign Grace Churches. Below is Jeff’s report of what he took away from the conference:

Good Morning,

My name is Jeff Schlieder, intern here at Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana. Pastor Kyle has asked me to share a few words about the experience we had last week at the annual Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors Conference. This was a gathering of pastors, church leaders, and wives not only from across North America but from all over the world. We heard the Word preached powerfully, we sang in English – and in Spanish too, we listened to the Scriptures read from in 17 native tongues, and we spent time together in rich fellowship. We breathed the air of the gospel and the days spent at the conference were filled with the aroma of Christ.

All in all, to sum up my experience, I would say that I went across the country only to be reminded that right here on a Sunday morning is the best place I could ever be. Truly, at the conference we were reminded that for his own glory, God has redeemed sinners and called them into his family, the church, so that when we gather together each Sunday as a congregation, we are bearing witness to the wisdom and glory of God. It is no exaggeration to say that on this side of the fall, the gathering of the local church is the closest thing to Eden we will experience until we enter into the new heavens and the new earth. 

As we gather each and every Sunday and hear God speak, share in the Lord’s Table, witness baptisms, and fellowship together, God is present in our midst and we catch a glimpse of heaven. What a privilege! My hope is that you too would catch a glimpse of that and see what is happening in our midst as the very expression of the wisdom and glory of God.

All that said, the greatest thing I took away from the conference was a renewed love for the church. More importantly, a renewed love for this church.

So thank you church, thank you for sending us, thank you for being the church.

New Day & Location for This Month

All women, high school-age and up are invited. This meeting will be a special one as we hear from our very own Cat Roche about how she and Kyle are reaching out into the community around them in Little Arabia. We will spend time in rich conversation & prayer for the Roche Family.

The location for this week’s meeting has changed. Please contact Rebecca Erkelens at bequita_17@yahoo.com for more address and details.

The Message To Wrap Up Our Series In The Minor Prophets

After spending 5 months with the minor prophets, we turned forward in our Bibles to Romans 10, where the apostle Paul answers his critics who are upset to know that their Jewish ancestors failed to be made right with God. Paul’s answer to them paints a brilliant tapestry of what the prophets - and the entire Old Testament, in fact - were all about in the first place. Listen to this week’s message to discover what the prophets were ultimately trying to get across and how that applies to your life today.

Listen to this Sunday’s sermon here.

We’d Recommend You Listen To Two In Particular

This year’s Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference Theme was “Soli Deo Gloria” - a latin term that has been used to signify and remind the Church for centuries that God Alone is worthy of Glory. The five main session messages delivered that theme with Biblical force and, at the same time, deep Gospel comfort. While we’d suggest you take some time over the next couple weeks to listen to all of the messages, we’d heartily recommend members of Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana listen to the following two:

• “Church, Kingdom and Culture” by Josh Blount

What should a local church be doing? Josh helpfully looks to God’s Word to look through the oftentimes confusing array of possible priorities that a church can claim to identify what Scripture calls a local church at any time in history - including our local church - to be spending its time and energy and faith on.

This is particularly relevant for us; in a city with so much need and so many possible directions to spend our energy, we’re constantly asking the question, “what else can we/should we be doing for God’s glory and our neighbors?”.

• “Behold Our God” by HB Charles

  HB Charles looks into the depths of Paul’s benediction in Romans 11:33-36 to refresh our souls in the wonder of the glory and majesty of God. Whether you’ve ceased to be amazed at God’s awesomeness or you simply want to revitalize your wonder at His worth, listen to this tour de force by Mr. Charles.

Listen to all the messages here.