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:
10:00 am - Morrison Park, Santa Ana
7:00 pm - Fourth Street Market Patio
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
Six weeks have already elapsed since May 29, when I began my first-ever sabbatical. It’s now drawn to a close. As we explained at our most recent member’s meeting, our pastoral team approached this sabbatical with deep purpose and intention. It was no mere 6 week vacation. We asked the Lord to accomplish things for the sake of our local church, for the sake of our family and for the sake of our city. There’s more to come, but I wanted to share 4 major takeaways/reflections from this sabbatical with you:
Simply stated, these 6 weeks wouldn’t have happened without you. I had zero church-related responsibilities. Full stop. My mind, heart and schedule were freed up in a way that hasn’t happened in over 8 years. I’m very aware that my rest was made possible by your work. Your faith-filled, God-glorifying, yet hard work. The Lord sees it and I can’t sufficiently express my gratitude - but I’ll try. In the coming weeks, months and years, I want to make it my aim to thank you and to help you increasingly see and praise God for His grace actively at work in every single one of you.
I went into this 6 weeks asking questions like, “Is Downtown Santa Ana still where we’re called as a church?” and “What kind of a church is the Lord positioning us to be toward our neighbors for the next 5 years?”. There’s much more to come on this, but I’m more convinced than ever that in a city where church plants come and go, where anti-Gospel ideology has a deep foothold, where the brokenness of living in a fallen world is worn on the sleeve of most of our neighbors, God has positioned us well to be a faithful witness to His grace through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our neighborhood doesn’t need another flash-in-the pan church plant. They need a long-time presence of faithful Gospel proclamation. Let’s be the next 100 year church in Santa Ana.
I had more consistent devotions, read more good books and spent more prolonged time with my wife and kids than I have in 6 years. I read Providence by John Piper, Men and Women in the Church by Kevin DeYoung, Man of Sorrows King of Glory by Jonty Rhodes, finished rereading the Lord of the Rings trilogy and almost finished reading the Eragon series. I also spent two full weeks giving undivided attention to my wife and kids as we vacationed in northern and central CA. The sudden renewed presence of these three things (1. Consistent communion w/ God, 2. reading as a learner, 3. Substantial attention to family) in my life made me sweetly aware of what I had been missing - and served as a warning alarm to the harm of their neglect. I’m busy. Yes. So are you. I get it. We live in Southern California. But if we use the typical “badge of honor” of busyness as an excuse to neglect our personal relationship with God, we do so to our own harm. If we say we have no time to posture our hearts and minds to be enriched by reading and learning in such a way that our understanding of God and ourselves increases, that our imaginations are stimulated and that God’s Word is more deeply inscribed on our hearts, we do so to our own harm. And fathers and husbands, especially, if we chalk our inconsistent, nominal, typically-impatient, cursory time with our wives and kids to the pace of life we’re keeping, we do so to our own harm - and theirs.
Our small group has grown tired of hearing me talk about how I’m not sure how to pave a way toward consistent rhythms of rest. There is no virtue in consistently talking about a problem unless you walk forward in the obedience of faith to address it. This is especially true because an inability to rest can easily reflect a prideful heart that sees oneself as necessary, indispensable and independent. Yet, the Gospel teaches me that only One is necessary, that I am dispensable (and it’s only by grace that I’ve not been dispensed with, but have instead been called into Christ’s service!) and that I am utterly dependent. This 6 weeks was restful. I have some key ideas for how to prioritize rest and pave a sustainable way forward for our family in the future. But you know what? I’m also keenly aware that you have been serving every Sunday, week in and week out. Some of you, for nearly 5 years. You love our Savior. That love pours out into a robust and hard-working love for one another and for our city. But you need rest as much as I do. I’m coming away with some key ideas to pave a way for a rest-prioritizing sustainable future for our church as well.
More to come. For God's glory. For the joy of our Santa Ana neighbors. For our good.
The latest installment of the Sovereign Grace Journal is here! This collection of articles written by SGC pastors for the pastors and members of Sovereign Grace Churches is dedicated to answering the question, “What does it mean to be a Sovereign Grace church?” The answer that is gladly-given, humbly-elaborated, and joyfully-celebrated throughout the journal is: seven key convictions that shape the ministry of every congregation within our family of churches. We embrace these shared values as faithful applications of biblical principles that guide everything we do as we strive for the glory of God and the good of his church.
We encourage you to take the time to read about the values that make us who we are, unite us in gospel partnership with our sister churches, and keep us on course as we carry out our mission. Celebrate where you see these values practically expressed in the life of our church. Pray for them to shape us more and more.
Do you remember what it was like when the Lord first saved you? When you first came to know Jesus and your life was wonderfully turned upside down? When you just couldn’t help but study his word, seek him in prayer, or share his gospel with others? This question is posed to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7, and to us as well. On Sunday, Pastoral Intern, Jason Roenicke introduced us to the church in Ephesus that was by all accounts a good and faithful church. Yet something was missing: their passion for Christ was fading. They were steadfastly serving, patiently enduring, and vigorously defending the truth, but they were like a lampstand in danger of running out of fuel. They’d grown complacent in a good church and “abandoned the love [they] had at first” (2:4). How can we return to our “first love” for Christ? By reminding ourselves that he’s never abandoned his “first love” for us. Our love for him is revived when we rest in his unchanging love for us.
Announcing our first-ever French Park Block Party! This July, we’re making plans to go into our neighborhood so that we can get to know our neighbors. We’re throwing a party so that our neighbors would catch a glimpse of the joy we have in Jesus. We’ll invite them to join us for tacos, music, and games so that we can show our neighbors how glad we are to be their neighbors.
More details to come. But for now, mark your calendars for a fun night of summer fun, meeting our neighbors, making new friends, and extending God’s welcome to the people of French Park.
We’ve just finished our 6-week sermon series, “The Beauty of the Church.” In this time, we’ve beheld 6 reasons why we should love being and belonging to the local church. Six wonderful sights of her beauty and glory in the pages of scripture which reflect the very beauty and glory of Christ himself. It’s our hope that you’d come away seeing the church the way Jesus sees her. That you’d be freshly encouraged to be the church, serve the church, and labor for the good of the church. That you’d agree with Spurgeon and say, indeed, the church is “the dearest place on earth.”
We don’t want you to miss a glimpse of this beauty! If you missed a week or want to listen in again, you can find the links to the sermons we heard below. Take the time to listen in and behold the beauty of the church as:
The Bride of Christ - The church is beautiful because Christ is beautiful.
The Body of Christ - The church is beautiful because she’s a body built by God.
The People of Christ - The church is beautiful because she’s marked by the love of God.
The Kingdom of Christ - The church is beautiful because she’s present expression of the goodness and beauty of God’s reign over God’s people in God’s place.
A Pillar and Buttress of The Truth - The church is beautiful because she’s been entrusted with promoting and protecting God’s very truth.
God’s Rescue Plan for the World - The church is beautiful because her mission is beautiful.
If you haven’t yet, we encourage you to grab a copy of our June Book of the Month, “Why Should We Love The Local Church?” by Dustin Benge. This book will give you a greater appreciation of just how wonderful it is that we get to be and belong to the local church. It will stoke your affections for Christ and his bride.
By God’s grace, would we continue to be the beautiful church he’s made us to be!
This Friday, the Houlton small group will be taking the OC Rescue Mission Chili Van out into our city to share a meal - and the gospel - with our homeless neighbors. They’re going into our city to speak to our city. If you’re not a member of the Houlton small group, but would like to join the Chili Van outreach this month, let your small group leader and Pastor Jeff know.
Contact Pastor Jeff for more details.
Outside of Sunday mornings, small groups are the most important moment in the life of our church. They are a context where biblical discipleship happens within the church as we connect the truths of the gospel to every aspect of our lives. Each group meets in a home, splitting their time between singing, praying, and discussion. Some groups include young children in their meetings. All groups welcome guests. Carve this time out in your calendar to be refreshed in the gospel and to serve your friends by pointing their lives to Christ.
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:
10:30 am - Morrison Park, Santa Ana
6:00pm - Chili Van Outreach (Houlton Group)
7:00 pm - Small Groups (Schlieder or Erkelens Home)
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
Before kicking off our Summer Park Days next week, we’re joining our sister church, Sovereign Grace Church of Orange, for a park day this Friday. Join us at 10:30am at Morrison Park in Santa Ana for a fun time of fellowship open to everyone. Bring your friends, family, or neighbors and join us as we share in the joy of Jesus! We hope to see you there!
