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 - Houlton, Schlieder, or Erkelens Home
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
Members of the church will be gathering for a casual park day every Wednesday morning. This is a once-a-week hangout to encourage fellowship in the church, meet our neighbors, and “go into our city” to share the joy of Jesus.
Anyone is welcome, whether you have kids or not. Bring a blanket or chair and some snacks and join us each Wednesday at 10am through August 24th. We hope to see you there!
This Sunday Pastor Kyle kicked off our new sermon series in the book of Mark. It’s a New Testament book that, unsurprisingly, introduces us to the story of Jesus. But at the outset, nobody except for John the Baptist really knows who Jesus is. Everybody has an assumption. But Jesus’ true identity and the work He came to do is only progressively revealed through the books 16 chapters, until finally, His progress ends at a cross; a cross that, to everyone’s surprise, reveals Jesus’ identity most truly and gloriously.
First and most importantly, Mark asks, “who is Jesus?” His Gospel teaches us that “who is Jesus” should also be our first question in every situation - a lesson we’ll learn well through our many months progressing through this sermon series.
As we begin this new sermon series in the magnificent Gospel of Mark, we want to help you to follow along. That’s why we’ve given each of you a journal. If you don’t have one yet, ask one of the ushers this Sunday for a copy. This is a book that you can and should bring along with you every single Sunday for the next 9 months or so. Why? Because it’s a Bible/journal, with passages from the book of Mark on every left-hand side of the page and lines for taking sermon notes on every right-hand side of the page. Note taking during sermons helps you to retain what you’re hearing, to listen more attentively and to capture key quotes and phrases that you can then go back and reflect on. It’s a great training tool for kids who are aging out of children’s ministry. It helps them to learn how to listen and what to listen for during sermons. Make this book a priority every Sunday and enjoy filling your heart and mind - and journal - with the truth of God’s Word from the book of Mark.
This month’s book of the month is likely one you’ve read before. It’s the Gospel of Mark. Don’t just pass this by, though. Actually take some time over the new week or two and read through the entirety of Mark once or even twice. Acquaint yourself well with it and equip yourself to maximize this sermon series. To assist you even further, we’ve created an online reader’s version for you just below.
Men's Meeting is a monthly conversations in an informal setting, where "men talk like men" about God. The topics are chosen to challenge the group and promote humble theological dialogue. Open to all guys, 15 years and older. Meets every second Thursday at the 4th Street Market patio at 7:00 pm.
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.
