If you are a recent guest, first-time attender, just passing through, or have been around a couple weeks but haven't yet been to a guest luncheon, then please be our guest! Join us this Sunday, 01-25-14, immediately following the service, for a luncheon in the Woman's Club Garden.
The format is "come-and-go as you please" and kids are welcome. More info will be available at the service on Sunday. See you then!
Next time you see someone new at church, welcome them like you always do and then say "Want to sit together?"
One of the hardest parts about visiting a church is finding a seat. Front, back, down the middle aisle, off to the side and at the end of a row so you can "escape" if things get weird. You know what we're talking about. It's hard.
Wouldn't it have been easier if someone invited you to sit together during the service? If they're not interested they'll tell you so. But nobody is going to say they feel lonely and awkward. And that's how many of us felt when we first arrived.
From Pastor Eric...
My whole family stayed home sick with the flu last Sunday, including me. We have never needed to do this and it turned out to be one of the hardest things I've done as a pastor in a long time. Let me tell you why...
Number 4 made for a weepy pastor on Saturday night.
I have never needed to tap out. I've always been able to push through and preach. And if not for the help of a little virus, I think I would have missed the lesson from "my" sermon last Sunday.
The disciples asked Jesus about their failed attempt to cast out a demon. “Why could we not cast it out?” And Jesus answered “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:28-29 ESV)
Thanks you Lucas for preaching and Dustin for leading worship (did you know we had a sick worship leader too?). I love how everyone kept saying "We will be fine. Stay home." No kidding. That was the easy part.
There is lots to enjoy about the holidays, but if we could (collectively) pick one thing it might be meeting our friend's families.
Thanks for bringing your families to church. There's nothing sweeter than seeing a younger sister tugging on the arm of a dear friend. Or a mother or father who visits us every year or so...it's like a family reunion.
David shared this testimony last Sunday...
My first Sunday here was like nothing I had ever experienced. I was surrounded by some of the most loving people I had ever met and the sermon was drenched in the gospel. I decided that morning that you would be my new home and I never left. That was years ago.
Now God is calling me to serve in the Air Force and it’s difficult to communicate what you have meant to me. I certainly look forward to what God has planned for me in the service. And please pray for me!
Pray that God would bring me other Christians to fellowship with and that together we can be a light to the military community.
Some of you have become like mothers to me, others like fathers and brothers and sisters. Your love for me was part of how God changed me. I won’t soon forget.
I will also miss having the youth of this church running and giving me a hug every Sunday when they saw me. A single man needs to be part of families. It helps ground us. It helps us feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Thank you for sharing with me. I won’t forget this either.
Please keep loving men like me. Make room for us in your lives and this church. God is using you. It makes all the difference.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2Timothy 4:1-4 ESV)
We are also planning for two key guest preachers in March, Ian McConnell and Mark Prater. Ian is our denomination's Director of Church Planting and Mark is our Executive Director. Both have graciously accepted our invitation and we'll be sure to keep you informed of details as their visits draw near.
New Years is a great time to evaluate the past and plan for the future. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." Here are a few resources to get you started.
Spend more time reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on scripture. Tim Challies provides a good roundup.
Develop a commitment to worshiping with the church. There is a strong correlation between church attendance and spiritual health. Here's a list of articles from our 2014 plan.
Our relationship with other christians is often more important than we think. And takes more effort too. Buy this book and resolve to build better friends this year.
Be who God has called you to be: a saint busy with the work of ministry (Ephesians 4), walking in good works (Ephesians 2), always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15). Go here to connect with a ministry team leader.
Invite your friends into your life online. You'll be spending a lot of 2015 consuming media. Check out our free offer to every member of Sovereign Grace Church.
We challenged our members and regular attenders to attend a church service every week in 2014. You can read more about the 52 SUNDAYS challenge here. This article is part of a series of articles about 52 SUNDAYS.
Big thanks to everyone who made it to church every week in 2014! We'll have more to say about you soon.
Here is the final list of all the articles we published. Take a refresher course on why Sundays are so important as we begin a new year.