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:
6:30am - French Park Grass Area
7:00pm - Schlieder Home
7:00am - Cunningham Home
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
Isaiah is a rich yet challenging book. To prepare you for where the Lord is taking us over the course of our sermon series, we’ve put together a short list of resources below:
This past Sunday, Pastor Jeff provided an overview of the entire book. You can find the complete outline here.
If you haven’t listened to the first two sermons from Isaiah, make sure you get up to speed with them. These provide a high-level introduction to the Story (Is 1:1-31) and Structure (Is 1-66) of the book & establish the big themes of the sermon series.
Additionally, we encourage you to check out the following resources to help you grasp the message of Isaiah:
Summaries of the book:
ESV Study Bible - Introduction to Isaiah
Helpful Articles:
Why Study Isaiah? - https://www.crossway.org/articles/why-study-the-book-of-isaiah/
The Gospel in Isaiah - https://www.crossway.org/articles/the-gospel-in-isaiah/
The 5 Movements of Isaiah - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/isaiah-five-movements/
The book of Isaiah is like a mirror. In it, we see Israel’s compromise as well as our own. Through it, we behold God’s unwavering commitment to his weak and wayward people. But it’s also like a maze. It’s difficult to journey through. Filled with ancient hallways, shadowy corridors, and passages that challenge and, if we’re honest, confuse us. But, if we want to be an uncompromising church and take in all we can of God’s uncompromising faithfulness to us, we need to understand how the story of Isaiah works. How it all fits together from chapters 1-66. This sermon is like a roadmap to guide the rest of our time in Isaiah. Make sure to give it listen to be ready to go where the Lord is taking us.
Every six months, we hold a brief members meeting after service which usually lasts about 30 minutes. This meeting is mandatory for all members, but guests are welcome as well. It’s a time to communicate what we wouldn’t communicate on a typical Sunday morning. We’ll look back on what God has graciously done in the last 6 months and look forward to where we believe God is taking us. Come on June 9th eager to hear what God is up to in our church.
Let’s be good neighbors by keeping up to date with what’s happening in our city. Staying informed so that we can pray for the challenges facing our neighbors, know their needs so that we can meet them, and be aware of city-wide events to join in their times of celebration. Take a look at the links below and hit “subscribe” to stay in the know and be equipped to engage our Santa Ana neighbors.
The City Website - Subscribe to Santa Ana newsletters and email alerts, follow on social media, and download the mySantaAna app to keep up to date with what's happening in our city.
Resources to Know & Share with Neighbors in Need - Shelter, Food, and more County-wide resources
Every first & third Friday at 7pm, three different groups meet throughout our city to share in the joy of Jesus, care for one another, and apply the gospel to each other’s lives. Outside of Sunday mornings, small groups are the most important moments in the life of our church. Make it a priority to attend one this Friday.
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:
6:30am - French Park Grass Area
7:00pm - Houlton, Roenicke, and Erkelens Home
11:00am - 3pm - 723 W. Walnut St. Grab a friend & head into our city for a fun FREE community event. Complete with tacos, music, and more! More info here.
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
From Mark Prater, Executive Director of our family of churches:
In 1859, Austin Phelps published a book on prayer entitled, “The Still Hour.” In his book, Phelps writes, “Any unperverted mind will conceive of the scriptural idea of prayer, as that of one of the most downright, sturdy realities in the universe. Right in the heart of God's plan of government it is lodged as a power. Amidst the conflicts which are going on in the evolution of that plan, it stands as a power. Into all the intricacies of Divine working and the mysteries of Divine decree, it reaches out silently as a power. In the mind of God, we may be assured, the conception of prayer is no fiction, whatever man may think of it.”
Prayer is one of the most downright, sturdy realities in the universe, and in God’s wisdom, He includes prayer as a power that is part of His good, sovereign government of the universe. These truths are not only amazing, they also remind us why we need to pray for one another in Sovereign Grace. As God continues His good plan for our family of churches, we don’t sit passively by, rather we pray knowing that God will use our prayers for one another in the best way He sees fit.'
What wonderful truth that is, and so to aid you, here’s some ways you can be praying for us in the months ahead...
Please pray for Bart Lipscomb (Lead Pastor of Christchurch, Texas, and SGC Area Leader for Africa) and Leo Parris (Pastor at Covenant Fellowship, PA) as they head to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to help teach at a Young Adults Conference at one of our Emerging Nations (EN) Candidate Churches, and invest into our leaders that are leading our EN Candidate Churches in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Please pray for safety and stamina in travel, for the Holy Spirit to guide them and for their teaching to be clear, Christ-centered and effective.
Please pray for Rich Richardson (Lead Pastor of Centre Church, AZ and SGC Area Leader for Latin America) as he heads to Guadalajara, Mexico, to lead a Pastors Retreat, May 14th-20th. The focus of this year's retreat, for all the SG Mexico Pastors and those in the ordination process, is the integrity needed for pastoral ministry. Please pray that this would be a rich time of fellowship and teaching for the 50+ brothers who will be in attendance.
Please pray for Bob Kauflin, Joselo Mercado & Fabrizio as they head to Barranquilla, Colombia, May 16-18th for two events sponsored by Sovereign Grace Churches. The first is an event for pastors and music leaders associated with Sovereign Grace. The second is for a broader audience, focussing in on wider topics relating to music and worship in the church. Please pray for safe travel, deep and lasting fruit, and the strengthening of Sovereign Grace Churches in Barranquilla, Santa Marta and Cali.
Please pray for Ed O’Mara (SGC Area Leader for Europe) as he travels to Antalya, Turkey, May 24th-27th, to meet with Sovereign Grace missionaries (names withheld for security reasons) and their local partners. The goal of this trip will be to strengthen our missionaries and help them think through their future steps and ways to serve in Turkey for the glory of Christ.
Pray for the Sovereign Grace Global Leaders Retreat in Rome, Italy, June 4-7, 2024, asking God to equip and strengthen our global leaders from around the world relationally and theologically so they can serve churches and build Sovereign Grace in their respective nations. Pray also for Dave Taylor who will lead this important retreat.
Pray for our current Sovereign Grace Pastors College class, who will graduate in early June, asking God to give grace for their transition back home, and to use their training to serve their church in any way that is needed.
Pray for the WorshipGod Conference, July 24-27, 2024, in Louisville, KY asking God to draw and equip pastors, leaders, musicians, vocalists, tech personnel, and songwriters to return home and serve their churches with theologically-rich, Christ-centered singing every week. Pray also for Bob Kauflin who will lead WorshipGod24.
Pray for the Ark Church in Dnipro, Ukraine asking God to protect them, and to use them to meet practical needs, and to offer gospel hope to people impacted by the war.
Pray for our Sovereign Grace missionaries in Thailand, Turkey, and the Czech Republic (names withheld for security reasons) asking God to continue to open doors for them to share the gospel with unbelievers, and to form church planting teams.
Pray for churches in Bolivia, India, and Pakistan who have recently started the adoption process into Sovereign Grace asking God to strengthen them, and to equip their elders as they pursue ordination.
Please pray that God would continue to stir the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches all over the world, towards local mission and a renewed desire to share the glorious gospel with the unbelievers in their communities and workplaces.
Pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.
...Let us pray for one another knowing that it is one of the most downright, sturdy realities in the universe.
In the days of Isaiah, Judah was a nation on the brink of collapse. We might feel the same way about the state of our culture today. In their day, the prophet speaks to them and says, “The reason for the collapse OUT THERE is because of the compromise IN HERE.” Hypocrisy. Decadence. Empty worship. Misplaced trust in things that were not God to help them get through those troubled times. In our day, what God wants us to hear is: “The best way to respond to the collapse out there, is to address compromise wherever it might be found in here.” The book of Isaiah comes to us here and now, in the challenging world in which we live, to grab us by the shoulders and say, “The way to live faithfully in a collapsing culture is to be an uncompromising church.”
For the first time in the life of our church, we turn our attention to one of the Major Prophets of the Old Testament. For the next few months, we’ll engage in a sustained study of the book of Isaiah on Sunday mornings. A book with passages you’ll find very familiar. Some that you’re used to hearing quoted around Christmas time as we celebrate the One born of a virgin (7:14) to be our “Prince of Peace” (9:6). Others that richly describe and vividly explain how that peace was achieved, like the Servant Song of Isaiah 53. But what comes between chapters 9 and 53? What about 54-66?
These familiar passages which elicit our worship and anchor our souls come in the midst of a larger story. One which finds the people of God back then struggling in ways quite similar to the people of God right now. Finding themselves in a troubled world and tempted to place their trust, set their hopes, and find their security in something other than the Lord our God - the Holy One of Israel. Through the pages of this book, we expect this God to meet us in our proneness to wander from him and show himself to be unwaveringly faithful to us.
Prepare to receive all he has for us by getting a head start on reading Isaiah and checking out this helpful introduction to the book.
