Thank You to All Our Volunteers

• Children’s ministry teachers

• Ushers

• Greeters

• Setup/teardown volunteers

• Audio/Visual tech volunteers

• Worship team members

• “Bringers of the Doughnuts and coffee”

• Volunteers who store and transport Sunday equipment

• Call to worship volunteers

• Preachers and other public leaders

• Small group leaders

• Finance committee members

• Mens and women’s group leaders

• Translators

• Printers

• Communion bread bakers

• Interns

The Apostle Paul compares the local church in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 to a human body. This illustration helps us to see that if only a couple parts of the body are working, the body fails. But when each part of the “body”, which in the case of the local church are the individual members, are working according to their abilities and function and purpose, the body functions and grows.

By God’s grace, Sovereign Grace Church is a healthy, growing body. Every one of the roles listed above is like a “body” part. Hands, feet, noses, ears, eyes, legs, arms. Whatever role you’ve been playing know how grateful the church is for you. You’re serving joyfully and sacrificially to the glory of God and we see it. The Lord sees it and is pleased. It’s a beautiful thing when God’s Church functions as He intended it to.

If you’re not yet volunteering on a service team, we would love to have you join in. Consider which area that would be of interest to you and send an email to office@sovgracesantaana.org to learn more!

This Sunday is Sanctity of Life Sunday

The month of January is “Sanctity of Life” month. In the midst of this month, January 19 is set apart as a special Sunday for the Church to consider and pray for children yet-to-be-born and for mothers who are either considering an abortion or who have made the decision in the past to abort a pregnancy.

This Sunday, Angie Cunningham will have a table set up on behalf of Livingwell Pregnancy Centers where you can learn more and gather helpful resources for walking alongside those who have had or are considering having an abortion.

For more helpful information, check out this website.

The Cost of the Gospel vs. the Worth of Following Christ

The New Testament book of 1 Thessalonians is one written to a small church plant in first century Greece. Over the past year, we’ve reviewed the message of the prophets and beheld God’s miraculous fulfillment of the prophets in Christ. We’ve also considered the glories that await us through the return of Christ and the age to come. Yet as we remain in between Jesus’ first and second coming, we wait. And while we wait, the Christian life can seem downright mundane despite the glorious realities spoken of in Scripture. The book of 1 Thessalonians, however, will teach us to see the miraculous in the mundane.

In the first sermon of this series, Jeff Schlieder preached from 1 Thessalonians 1:1 to identify the miraculous nature of our conversion and the astounding implications of having been recipients of “grace and peace”.

Listen to this Sunday’s sermon here.

Sing A New Song To Our Rock And Redeemer

We are about to dive into a book written to a young church that was planted and sustained on the basis of the Lord’s faithfulness. Our prayer is that this song would serve to express what we know and continually learn to be true about our God’s redeeming work through His Son.

O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer - Listen Here.

VERSE 1 

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer, greatest treasure of my longing soul 

My God, like You there is no other; true delight is found in You alone 

Your grace, a well too deep to fathom 

Your love exceeds the heavens’ reach 

Your truth, a fount of perfect wisdom 

My highest good and my unending need 

VERSE 2 

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer, strong defender of my weary heart

My sword to fight the cruel deceiver and my shield against his hateful darts 

My song when enemies surround me, my hope when tides of sorrow rise 

My joy when trials are abounding 

Your faithfulness, my refuge in the night 

VERSE 3 

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer, gracious Savior of my ruined life 

My guilt and cross laid on Your shoulders 

In my place You suffered bled and died 

You rose, the grave and death are conquered  

You broke my bonds of sin and shame 

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer 

May all my days bring glory to Your Name 

Bilingual Songs

This past year, you might have noticed that from time to time, we’ve sung songs in Spanish and at other times, have included Spanish lyrics on the projector screen. In 2020, we’ll continue this pattern in an effort to serve and love our Spanish-speaking neighbors. These will be songs that we know well as a church that we will take portions in English and in Spanish. 

This Sunday we’ll be singing “All Creatures of Our God and King” & “Grace and Peace” in both languages.

All Creatures of Our God and King (Verse 2 and 3 in Spanish) - Listen here.

Grace and Peace (Verse 2 and Bridge in Spanish) - Listen here.

REGISTER TODAY

Registration is open for our every-other-year Men’s Retreat. The three Sovereign Grace churches of California are joining forces for another weekend of teaching, fellowship, food, and competitions. Our last one was fantastic.

THURSDAY 2/6/2020 TO SATURDAY 2/8/2020
IDYLLWILD, CA
$150/PERSON

Ben Kreps, a pastor from our sister church in Harrisburg, PA, is our guest speaker. Our theme is “The Power of God: How the Gospel Conquers Men.” Young men ages 14 and up are welcome to join.

More details are available on the registration page.

Men, make this investment in your own growth and in our partnership. Ladies, make sure your man gets up there.

Scholarships and financial aid are available. Spots are limited, so secure yours ASAP.

I'M READY TO REGISTER.

LADIES, SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR WINTER EVENT

About once a quarter, the ladies of SGSA gather together on a Saturday to fellowship together and serve our neighbors. The past few months our ladies have been discussing serving in their monthly meetings and have planned a service project for this quarter’s event.

We will be partnering for the morning of Saturday, January 18 with Reunion Family Center, to help with their weekly resource distribution. This is a wonderful opportunity to serve with our ladies and meet other families in our city.

Please RSVP to Krista Alvarez at krista@sovgracesantaana.org. Childcare will not available at the event, however, if you are unable to find childcare, let Krista know and we can find a solution for you.

2020 HOSPITALITY CHALLENGE

This is the first month of our 2020 Hospitality Challenge. Over the past few weeks we have encouraged you to think of friends and neighbors outside the church that you could share a meal. We want you to be able to use both your home and your time for the glory of God and the good of our Santa Ana neighbors.

This is the first, Second Friday of the year.

Why are we doing a hospitality challenge? Because it’s one of the best ways to get to know and love new neighbors. Author Tim Chester says,

“Few acts are more expressive of companionship than the shared meal… . Someone with whom we share food is likely to be our friend, or well on the way to becoming one.”

In this, we’re simply following the model of Jesus, who used food as a means for effective Gospel ministry:

“Jesus spent his time eating and drinking—a lot of his time … His mission strategy was a long meal, stretching into the evening. He did evangelism and discipleship round a table with some grilled fish, a loaf of bread, and a pitcher of wine.”

For questions, please email office@sovgracesantaana.org.

This next Sunday, we begin a new sermon series in the book of 1 Thessalonians. We’ll spend the next 5 months as a church walking through this New Testament epistle written to a church of young Christians.

We’d recommend that you take some time to prayerfully prepare for this series. Pray for the men who will be preaching God’s Word. Pray for the Lord to use His Word to save sinners and sanctify His own. Also, familiarize yourself with the book by taking some time this week to read through it and discuss with those in your household.

We’ve made a version without chapters, verses or headings for you to read through.

ALL MEN, HIGH SCHOOL AGE AND OLDER, WELCOME

THURSDAY, 7:00PM

FRONT PATIO OF THE 4TH STREET MARKET

A Meal with Jesus by Tim Chester

Hospitalidad Evangélica and Cómo practicar la hospitalidad bíblica por la Coalición Evangélica

By recommending a new book every month, we’re recommending resources to you that help you to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18). You do not have to purchase or read these books. They’re mere recommendations to assist you in choosing good books that help you to make the best use of the precious time you have.

January’s book of the month is “A Meal with Jesus” by Tim Chester. As we head into 2020 as a church, we’re making a concerted effort toward inviting our neighbors into our homes and into our lives. This book provides a Biblical basis for the practice of hospitality and describes how the simple act of sharing a meal together with our neighbors positions us to share the joy of Jesus.

“A Meal With Jesus” has not yet been translated into Spanish, so for our Spanish speakers, we are recommending two articles from the Gospel Coalition.

Purchase the book in English here.

Read the Spanish Articles Here and Here.