Pastor Eric preached at our sister church in Aurora, CO this past Sunday. Here's his report...

You would have loved meeting the church in Aurora. These guys love Jesus. Many of them have been with the church for years. I even bumped into a family I hadn't seen since early on in the life of a sister church in San Diego. It was a real privilege to worship and serve alongside this congregation.

We are stronger because of our relationship to them.

One of the highlights of my trip was administering oral examinations for Pastoral Candidates. Men had flown in from all over the Western U.S., but two of them were home grown Aurora guys. And while their test scores are still private, the grace of God at work in them is not.

I met two men who want to serve.

Be encouraged. God is giving our little denomination gifted men and women we can partner with in the gospel. May our congregations be cities on a hill, shining forth God's glory and his gospel throughout Colorado, Arizona, and California!

P.S. What about Nevada?! This trip was the first time I realized there is a big hole in our little world :)

Did you see the info for our church over at the conference this past week? That was all Christopher, Kristin, and Christy. Thank you for helping us tell our story.

Thanks for making us look good!

So where shall we go next? Got a community event in mind? Let's take this show on the road and tell people about the power of God to save.

Community Event

Farmers Market

Art Show

Email the church office with ideas.

Have we ever told you how much we love our city?

Our church loves loves loves! the people and community of Orange, CA. Many of us live in Old Towne Orange and the rest live "on the border".

Well ok, maybe "on the border" is stretching it a bit geographically. But not in our hearts!

We live here. Shop here. Play here. Eat and drink in the restaurants. Participate in the library programs. Go to the summer concerts. Befriend the homeless and marginalized and basically make it our aim to be part of the lives of everyone who calls our town their town. We'll take whatever part of your life that you are willing to share with us.

We love you Orange.

So this is why it's with great pleasure that we say thanks for praying for our lease renegotiations. It's a done deal. We have another 2 years of Sunday services scheduled at the Woman's Club of Orange.

You know what makes our small church in Orange, CA happy? Songs we love being translated into languages most of us can't speak.

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

(Revelation 7:9-10 ESV)

Check out the latest German translation of the Sovereign Grace Music song Show Us Christ.

And FYI...if German isn't your thing, how about Dutch?

 

This is some pretty exciting news from our partners in Mexico. Check out conference they just hosted for leaders throughout Latin America. Please pray for them. We love hearing of the advance of the gospel into the hearts of our brothers and their cities to the south!

Strengthening Pastors in Latin America

Fieles a Su Llamado

Our denomination is known for producing great songs. It's often one of the first ways people learn about us and one of the first comments we receive from visitors.

"We love your music."

But what if there was a new wave of songwriters that grew up alongside the new wave of gospel-centered churches? We would all benefit, wouldn't we? More churches singing better songs.

This is the vision behind Songwriters Camp 2014. Get some of the best songwriters together with future songwriters, put them in a room, and transfer what we've learned to a future generation.

Check out Bob Kauflin's recommendation at worshipmatters.com.

Four months ago, our pastors presented a plan to better manage and maintain our Church Membership Rolls. It's an important document that serves us all. "The second most important book," Garrett Kell calls it.

The directory, if designed and used well, can be one of the most practical tools to helping you and your church fulfill the "one another commands" of the New Testament.

To this end, we have now notified all past members of their removal from our rolls. They have each received this letter and we plan on publishing an update at our next Church Member Meeting (Sunday, June 8, 2014).

If you believe you should have received this letter and did not, we may not have your most recent contact information. Please receive our apologies and contact us if you have further questions.

-From Pastor Eric

Hey Sovereign Grace! I missed you guys like crazy and promise never to be gone again on Star Wars Day. What was I thinking?!

Redeeming Grace Church is doing great out in Palm Desert, CA. It was an honor to rehearse the gospel with them...they are well led, eager to reach their neighbors, and working hard to establish a church in their community. My visit was also a reminder of how good it is to be part of a new church plant.

Churches are planted one relationship at a time.

There's a real sense of urgency when the room is empty and everyone is wondering if a church is "going to make it." It enough to make regular people like you and I go out and invite people to church every week, because if we don't who will? Nobody.

Let's not stop inviting people to Sovereign Grace Church. God's working wonderful things among us. He's saving people, healing broken people, renewing a love for Jesus in old believers, and new believers are packing out classes to learn about Boniface, St. Francis of Assisi, and Thomas Aquinas. What's up with that?

You live in Orange because God is saving Californians.