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
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
Immediately after church at French Park
We’re resuming a tradition that’s been on hold for nearly two years. The location is different, but the idea is the same: we’re entering into our Santa Ana neighborhood to spend time together among our neighbors. We exist to spread the joy of Jesus in Santa Ana and this is just another way we expect the Lord to accomplish that mission through us.
Here are directions to French Park.
Bring a brown bag lunch with you to church for every member of your household
Bring a lawn chair or folding chair for every member of your household
Plan on walking straight from church to French Park immediately after the service has ended. It’s 200 yards north of the Ebell Club, so no need to drive. You may keep your car parked in the Ebell parking lot.
How do you form convictions? Which convictions are most essential? Should you ever expect any of your convictions to change? In Acts 26, Paul makes his defense before Herod Agrippa and speaks of what he is convinced about. Further, he seeks to persuade or convince his audience. In short, he’s communicating his convictions and wishes that certain convictions of his become those of his hearers. This brief defense proves to be helpful guidance for Christians and leaves no question about where the source and foundation of what we are most convinced of must lie. To learn more, listen to last Sunday’s sermon.
“Fear is one of the strongest human emotions—and one that often baffles Christians. In the Bible the picture can seem equally confusing: Is fear a good thing or a bad thing? And what does it mean to “fear the Lord”?
In Rejoice and Tremble, Michael Reeves clears the clouds of confusion and shows that the fear of the Lord is not a negative thing at all, but an intensely delighted wondering at God, our Creator and Redeemer.”
After taking a break from Picnic in the Promenade due to COVID, we’re looking forward to resuming this bimonthly church event. On Sunday, May 30, take the opportunity to eat lunch with your French Park neighbors. Immediately after the service, we’ll be walking over to French Park to eat lunch and enjoy one another’s company while in the midst of the neighborhood God has placed us in. Here are the details:
It’s “BYOL” (bring your own lunch). If you forget your lunch or your favorite lunchbox isn’t clean, there are plenty of great restaurants nearby in DTSA.
It’s optional - but we highly encourage coming!
Bring some folding chairs - unless you like sitting on the grass, bring something to sit on.
Expect the Lord to build existing relationships and create new ones with our neighbors
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.
