Healthy Church Growth
New Member Sunday
On Sunday we welcomed new members into our church body. Craig and Micki were two of the people joining and they shared a brief testimony of how God knit them into our congregation. Take a few minutes to read their testimony below and thank God for the good work He’s doing through you.
Good morning church family! We are Craig and Micki. We have been married 52 years and have three wonderful adult daughters, Gina, Ellen, and Una. Through them, we have seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Our first service at Sovereign Grace Church of Orange was on Christmas Eve 2020. Our daughter and son-in-law, Steve and Gina, started attending and told us they had decided to become regular attendees. Since we moved from La Quinta, we attended church with Gina and Ellen, and their families, which blessed us greatly. While we were thankful to move, we greatly missed our Palm Desert church. Sovereign Grace so well filled the void we were feeling, that from our perspective, God moved us home. Not only are we worshiping with our biological family, which we love, but we are part of the family of this church.
God first used Pastor Mike and Lois to make us feel so welcomed every Sunday. We also immediately appreciated the solid biblical teaching by Eric, Dustin, Mike, and even when our pastoral resident, Andrew came, and filled the pulpit. We felt each one had carefully handled God’s Word so well. We have been especially thankful for the most recent teaching on the Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith.
Soon after our first visit, we became members of Roger and Alice’s not-so-small group. We built friendships and love for those families, which continues today. God used Kirsi, to encourage Micki to be faithfully reading God’s Word, something she has struggled to do since becoming a Christian.
God used Rebecca and Chris along with Wendy and Chris to help us meet many friends at their “Senior Moments” get-togethers. Every time we get together, we laugh, and have so much fun.
As time went on and the Servin’s amazing group continued to grow, we felt God moving us to Bob and Diane’s small group. We have enjoyed sweet fellowship and prayer. We saw God move in the lives of our group members this past Christmas and on through January and February, as we went through the loss of two of Micki’s cousins. With each loss, God used our small group to pray for us and the surviving family members. Both small groups have encouraged our hearts and through every transition, we have felt the Lord’s hand at work in our lives.
To put our reason for joining the church in a nutshell, we love being part of God’s family, and feel at home here at Sovereign Grace Church of Orange.