Every Tuesday we publish a blog post to lay out in one place what’s going in the life of the church for the upcoming week. See below for a snapshot of what’s on the calendar this week:
7:00 pm - Houlton and Erkelens Home
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
On Sunday, as we considered Paul’s experience in Acts 25, we came face to face with the biblical concept and all too real reality of “the fear of man.” What does it mean to “fear” other people? As author and counselor, Edward Welch says, in his very helpful book, “When People Are Big And God Is Small,” “the “fear” in “fear of man”: “…includes being afraid of someone, but it extends to holding someone in awe, being controlled or mastered by people, worshipping other people, putting your trust in people, needing people” in other words, replacing God with people.
Ask yourself, are you struggling with the fear of man? Do you find yourself rising and falling based on the opinions or estimations of others? Do you battle with the thought that those around you are silently judging you? Are you discouraged by your performance or perceived lack of fruitfulness as you find yourself continually making comparisons between yourself and others? Are you agonizing over acceptance, approval, or affirmation from others that you’re hoping to receive?
To face these fears, we need to get down to their roots. To help us do this, Welch outlines 3 fundamental categories explaining the ways in which we experience the fear of man to give us some handles for what is happening in our hearts:
1. Shame fear - We fear people because they can expose or humiliate us. Our IDENTITY is at stake.
2. Rejection fear - We fear people because they can reject, ridicule, or despise us. Our STATUS is at stake.
3. Threat fear - We fear people because they can attack, oppress, or threaten us. Our SECURITY is at stake.
In what ways are you believing other people can undermine or offer you identity, status, and security? Both as it relates to those without and even within the church. How are external threats we perceive from others or internal comparisons we make between ourselves and others gaining control over us? Consider these questions this week. Talk about them with your spouse or a friend. Discuss them in small group.
Face these fears by examining your hearts and getting to the roots of them - but don’t stop there. If the fear of man is believing that other people can give or take those things away from us, ask yourself how believing the gospel of Jesus Christ sets you free from fear. Recall what we heard in Sunday’s sermon and resist the fear of man by resting in gospel freedom. Remind yourselves, that in the gospel, God gives to us an identity, status, and security that cannot be lost. Apply that gospel to your own heart and help each other to do so as well as you have conversations and gather in small group.
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC OR FIND THE FEAR OF MAN TO BE A PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT STRUGGLE, GET A COPY OF EDWARD WELCH’S, “WHEN PEOPLE ARE BIG AND GOD IS SMALL” HERE.
From Sovereign Grace Churches Executive Director, Mark Prater:
On behalf of the Sovereign Grace Leadership Team, I want to invite you to read the first edition of the “Sovereign Grace Churches Journal.” The journal is not a new idea, for our Founder, C.J. Mahaney led in the publishing of a journal that served our family of churches years ago. We thought this was a good time to resurrect his idea with the aim of fulfilling the same purpose he had, which is to serve the pastors and members of our churches in Sovereign Grace. With that purpose in view, the articles in the journal are written in a way to equip our pastors, strengthen the members of our churches, and to help us celebrate the gospel values that we share. Our hope is that the journal will help us to know Christ more, love Christ more, and fortify the gospel partnership that Christ has given us.
The theme of this first edition is, “Christ Our Treasure.” We chose this theme because we, who were once alienated from God because of our many sins, have now been reconciled to God through the death of Christ on our behalf on the cross. In response to this great salvation, we want to be a people who obey Christ, serve Christ, love Christ, and treasure Christ. Our desire is that Christ would be preeminent in all that we do. The articles in this journal, written by Sovereign Grace pastors throughout the world, are intended to help you to do just that, make much of Jesus Christ.
I want to thank each of the pastors who are contributing articles to this first edition of our journal. I also want to thank our Executive Editor, Jeff Purswell, and our General Editor, Jared Mellinger. Jared has done the bulk of the work in assembling this journal, and I thank God for him and his labors on your behalf.
As you read through this journal, my prayer is that every article would help you treasure Jesus Christ with all of your heart, mind, and soul.
PURCHASE OR DOWNLOAD HERE
In Acts 26, Paul has every reason to fear man - to fear those who plot against his life, to fear those making mockery of his faith, to fear the most powerful man in the world, whom he had just appealed to. Yet, Paul proceeds confidently. As Christians, though we don’t often have need to fear attempts against our lives, we easily give into the temptation to fear the judgments and opinions of others. Few temptations are more common or more contrary to the redemptive reality that has taken root in our hearts. Listen to this week’s sermon to learn more about how the truth of Christ makes God big and people small.
As you’ve noticed, every Sunday that we don’t take communion together, we do a public reading together. While at times, we’ll read passages of Scripture or historic confessions, we’re currently working through the Sovereign Grace Churches Statement of Faith. We’d encourage you to study further, so below are the verse references from the portion of the Statement of Faith that we read on Sunday - “Marriage, Sexuality, and Singleness”. If you would like to access the full Statement of Faith, click HERE.
Gen 2:18-25; Eph 5:31-33; Eph 5:25-30; Col 3:19; 1 Pet 3:7; Gen 2:18; Eph 5:22-24; Col 3:18; 1 Pet 3:1-2; 1 Cor 7:6-8; Luke 2:36-37.
All men, high-school-aged and up, are invited. Bring your Bible and come ready to learn and to talk seriously about things that matter. Bring a friend or two if you’d like, as well.
Every Tuesday we publish a blog post to lay out in one place what’s going in the life of the church for the upcoming week. See below for a snapshot of what’s on the calendar this week:
7:00 pm - Schlieder Home
7:00 pm - Fourth Street Market
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
We’re in the process of building and expanding our Sunday morning worship team and want you to consider joining in! Even if you’ve never served in a church this way before or don’t have much experience playing or performing for others, that’s okay. We’re not looking for professionals, performers, or even primarily “worship leaders”. We’re looking for church members who can lend their talents to highlight the most important instrument that is heard on a Sunday morning: the singing of the church.
As Jonathan Leeman says, "The most beautiful instrument on Sunday morning is the sound of the church singing,” and we want you to consider using your musical talents to support us in singing loudly, passionately, and joyfully to God as we gather each and every Sunday morning.
If you are interested in joining the team please:
Contact Pastor Jeff at jeff@crossofgracesa.org and briefly describe: your instrument of choice, your skill level, and your availability to serve.
Stay after church on Sunday, 5/16 to attend a brief informational meeting immediately following the service to learn more about the vision, goals, and expectations of the worship team.
Believe it or not, after over 10 months in the book of Acts, we only have four more weeks in our current sermon series. Our eyes have been opened to God’s timeless plans and intentions for His Church and as we now head into summer 2021, we look forward to our eyes being opened to the beauty of God’s designs and character captured within the Psalms.
As you prepare for the sermon series, consider devoting time to reading through the Psalms. Maybe read a Psalm or two Psalms every day. The Psalms are songs written to give voice to the joys, sorrows and even doubts of our hearts in response to what God is doing in the world. You’ll encounter His grace as you dig deeply into the treasury of the Psalms.
In Acts 24, Paul stood before the governor of the Roman province of Caesarea, accused of multiple offenses. Though he was innocent of all criminal charges brought against him, he openly confessed that he was guilty of one offense in particular - belief in all God has said, including the message of His Gospel. Though you may try, oftentimes in vain, to live without offending others, the reality is that the Gospel is an offense to those who aren’t saved. It’s an offense that Christians shouldn’t shy away from because if we lose the offense of the Gospel, we lose the hope of the Gospel. However, Paul also demonstrates that Christians don’t have license to add to the offense of the Gospel by being offensive in our conduct. To hear more and to press into what this means for your daily life, listen to last Sunday’s sermon.
Beginning Sunday, 5/9 our Children’s Ministry Class will expand from offering childcare for children aged 0-2 to children 0-5. Back in February, we relaunched Sunday morning Children’s Ministry, and by God’s grace and the faithful service of our volunteers, the class has gotten off the ground and is equipped to expand. We’re excited to serve more parents of young children in the church on Sunday mornings by freeing them up to worship together with the congregation and sit under the preached Word in an undistracted way. To serve parents by helping them “fill up” in order to more effectively “pour out” to their kids.
At this point, the expansion of the class does not bring with it any changes for any of the current policies, protocols, or systems of Sunday morning Children’s Ministry. Everything will continue as it has been only with the addition of a few extra kids in the mix.
All parents with children receiving childcare will be asked to volunteer at least once a month. But all others would be welcome to volunteer as well. We hope to expand our volunteer team in order to continue meeting our current needs and prepare for the future rollout of additional Children’s Ministry age groups.
Please direct any questions or volunteer inquiries to Pastor Jeff at jeff@crossofgracesa.org
