You’ve already received all the info for Celebration CA including a list of FAQs and a special invitation. The ball is in your court, but the countdown clock is ticking. There are only two days left to register!

Register by 11:59pm this Sunday
9/12/2021

Don’t get left in the valley while we’re on the mountain October 8-10. Get yourself registered ASAP. If money is tight, apply for a scholarship by contacting the church office. If you want to be there, we’ll find a way to make it happen.

Huricane Ida has caused considerable damage to the city of New Orleans and the homes and church facilities of our sister churches. Thank you for your interest in helping them in their time of need.

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”
1 Corinthians 12:26 ESV

As we join together to serve them, we ask that you would consider praying, going, and giving. May the Lord use all of us to extend mercy and care to our partners in the gospel.

Pray

Ask God to be merciful toward everyone impacted by this storm. Pray for those whose homes have been damaged. Pray for those displaced from their homes. Pray for those who are facing the loss of work and income. Pray for relief work to be quick and effective.

Go

We may need teams to go and work with our sister church in New Orleans. There are homes to clean and repair and countless other practical needs to meet over the next few weeks. If you are interested in learning more about our work teams, please complete this form.

Give

Lakeview Christian Center, one of the two Sovereign Grace Churches in New Orleans, has established a Hurricane Ida relief fund. Make a contribution here.

“Being a part of the church is what we are. It’s not just a practical thing. It’s an identity thing.”
-Jonathan Leeman

Click the image above or this link for a very helpful 2-minute video on why it’s crucial we remain connected to the church.

*The following post is from our denomination’s Director of Emerging Nations, Dave Taylor. It originally appeared here.

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Matthew 28.18-20, ‘And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The great commission that we have been given as Christians is far bigger than we could have ever asked or imagined... But how wonderful, comforting, and inspiring it is to know that the One who has called us, is always with us, even to the end of the age. What a mission-changing reality!!

With that in mind, here are a few ways that you can be praying for our wider mission in the month ahead:

1. Please pray for our Pastors College in Ethiopia (Trinity College) as the students begin to gather ahead of the 14th September launch. There will be 13 students attending the PC this year, from 6 different countries: Somaliland, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, the USA, and of course Ethiopia. Please pray for Josh Pannell, Dean of the Ethiopian Pastors College and everyone involved in this years Pastors College.

2. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Nepal as they continue to deal with a new surge of Covid-19 cases. Church buildings have been closed for gathering for almost one and half years now, and yet incredibly, the Church itself continues to grow. The Nepali Christians are continually committed to serving the poor and suffering in the name of Christ, and so may we be praying for them in this. May this be their finest hour and may His grace abound to them in these times.

3. Please pray for Songhwan Kang and his church, Lord’s Grace Church in Seoul, South Korea. They have recently moved to a new location as a church and are keen to reach out to their new community. Please pray that God would give their members courage and grace to boldly preach the gospel in this new area, as well as reach into the next generation. Please also pray that God would help them identify and train some church planters who can plant new SG Churches in South Korea in the next 3-5 years, a happy hope and prayer that they continue to carry as church.

4. Please pray for our newly formed ‘Reaching The Unreached Work Group’, which I (Dave Taylor) have pulled together to help myself and the Leadership Team map a way forward for growth, in reaching the unreached in our world. Please pray for great wisdom, faith and insight for us all: Dave Taylor (Lead Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney & Director of Emerging Nations), Brendan Willis (Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney), Pat Tedeschi (Pastor, Greentree, NJ), Tim Kerr (Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church, Toronto), Ken Delage (Pastor, Mercy Hill Community Church, VA) and Leo Parris (Pastor, Covenant Fellowship Church, PA).

May the One who has commissioned us, also give us faith and favour for the road ahead.

Bethany and Israel are wonderful church members who have a two year-old son and 4-month old twins. They’ve just registered for Celebration CA! They want all of you to come. We asked them to share why they’re excited to go, even though traveling up there with three little ones will come with its challenges. Here’s what they shared:

We’re excited to attend Celebration CA next month for more reasons than we can count! But here are the two big ones.

The first is to deepen relationships. We’ve been attending Sovereign Grace Church of Orange for over 7 years now and we know a good number of you. But not everybody. And the people we do know, we could always know better. We want to know and love the saints we sit next to and sing with on Sundays. The retreat gives us two days to do just that!

The second reason that we’re excited is to seek God with you. After we’re dismissed on Sundays we go on to live our lives. We can quickly forget the songs we just sang or the sermon we just heard. But when you’re removed from the hustle and bustle of life and actively commit to a weekend of seeking God, worshipping him, and being among his people…you’ll realize He is exactly what your soul was longing for. Having a break from normal life

We’re not naive. This weekend will be tough for our family. We have twin babies and a toddler. Yikes. We considered the pros and cons. But here’s what we realized:

Our life is crazy anyway. We may as well spend the weekend with friends!

We had some logistical questions and spoke with Pastor Dustin and he answered them. If you’re in that same boat , I encourage you to speak to a pastor first or read the Family Camp FAQ on the blog. Make a decision after you’ve done those things at least, but don’t miss out because of assumptions. I can tell you that there are accommodations for families and individuals. Our pastors have designed this to serve us.

I really hope to see you all there! It’ll be better for all of us if you’re there. Plus, we really need to beat the Santa Ana and Pasadena churches at some games and we will need all hands on deck! We can’t wait to see you in Idyllwild.

Registration is open until this Sunday, September 12th. Secure your spot now.

A Misty-Eyed Moment

On Sunday we welcomed Daniel as a new member. He has grown up in our church and now, as a young man, chose to join the church as a member. We’re so grateful for him and his family! Take a few minutes to read his testimony below and celebrate the grace of God in his life:

Good morning church! Let me just say I wish I could have been up here last week when all the other new members were being introduced, but of course the pastors recognize that I am very special and deserve my own personal time at the podium. Just kidding! Unfortunately, I had come down with a cold and understandably couldn’t run the risk of spreading it.

Today I wanted to share just a bit about what I’ve experienced so far with this church, and to let you know why I am excited to join. Although I am just now being introduced as a member, I’ve actually been in attendance here for about seven years now. And over the course of that time I’ve experienced a lot. As one of the youth, I participated in monthly gatherings where I met a number of people who have become great friends, and whose families I’ve also grown to love. And unlike so many youth events that I had encountered before in my time at other churches, these ones were about more than simply socializing. They often included serious group conversations concerning the nature of God and concepts that are found in the Bible. Conversations that I think played a huge role in shaping my beliefs today and grounding me in my faith.

On top of that I’ve had a great time getting to know you all as a church, whether it’s been through conversations here on Sundays, small group meetings during the week, or meals shared in your homes. It’s been great to see how God is using you to shape my life and other lives around me. And when me and my family family were sick and my dad was in the hospital, you as a church stepped in to offer prayers on his behalf and to provide meals and comfort to us. I miss my dad a lot, and throughout this past year God has continually led me through more challenges than I thought I could handle. But I still trust in his grace to save me and I’m thankful that he has given me this church to call home and these people to call family.

Taste and See

On Sunday pastoral resident Andrew Maples preached his first sermon at our church from Psalm 34. He reminded us not to look for life in the things of earth. But to take hold of the best thing there is: a joyful life in the fear of the Lord. God’s goodness can’t be simply learned about, it must be experienced and savored. And God’s offer for deep joy stands to all those who take hold of it by faith.

Listen to the sermon.

Dive into God’s Word with Us

Join the men and women of Sovereign Grace Church in our 2021-2022 Bible Reading Challenge. You’ll cover the entire bible by May with catch-up days built-in.

If you already have a bible reading plan, that’s great! Keep at it.

But if you want to get started or restarted with your bible reading, now is the time. Use the link below to sign-up and we’ll send you all the info. The deadline to register is this Sunday! We start on Monday.

Sign-up For the 2021-2022 Bible Reading Challenge