We announced on Sunday that our dear friend and fellow church member, Mark, was in a cycling accident this past Saturday. Mark and his family are pillars in the church. He serves as one of our Sunday Operations Leaders and his wife and kids are involved all over the place. We love their family. We wouldn’t be who we are without them.

We’re glad to report that Mark is back home from the hospital but he still has a road to recovery ahead of him. He suffered a serious concussion, two fractured ribs, and roadrash on multiple parts of his body.

We invite you to join us in praying that God would heal him and provide for all of his and his families needs as he recovers.

“If one [church] member suffers, all suffer together…”
1 Corinthians 12:26

“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.”
-1 Corinthians 12:18

This past Sunday we welcomed 11 new members into Sovereign Grace Church. We’re committed to them. They’re committed to us. We do this so that we all can experience the benefits of being joined to a local church. Head here to learn more about our practice of church membership.

We’re grateful to God that He continues to strengthen and grow our church.

We wish we could’ve heard from all of them, but we only had time for one testimony. Christian Davis shared the following impactful words during our service:

Hello church,

My name is Christian Davis. Some of you may have heard that my name is Matt, but if you met me after the year 2016, it's Christian. You know who you are. I'm a video editor who currently lives in Tustin and my first encounter with Sovereign Grace was actually against my will.

If you haven't guessed by my dashing good looks, Pastor Mike is my dad... though the beard thing hasn't really worked out for me so far.

My dad was called by God to move down here from the greater Los Angeles area to plant the very congregation that we are all sitting among right now. I grew up here. So, that begs the question, "why am I giving a new member speech in front of you all today?"

The only legitimate answer to that is my own sin.

Not because following the traditions of a good, church-going American constitutes a good communion with Christ, but because my life, since the moment I moved here from Los Angeles, was fueled by anger. I was frustrated at, what I perceived as, my father's hauty pursuit of pastoral ministry was more important to those around me than the cost that came to me as a result of it... the loss of friends, familiarity, security, and, most of all, the loss of home.

And from this rage came a string of poor choices. I let my bitterness consume me. I hurt a lot of people along the way. Some of them are still here... many of them are not. Rather than seeking out Christ, I blamed you, the church, pegging it as the source of my suffering. And I left. I had no intention of ever coming back.

But God is bigger than me. No matter how far I tried to get away from here, the influence of Christ, working through his people, continued to touch my life. I don't mean to play favorites, but there was one person in particular that was instrumental in God's plan. One of the young women of this church, someone who carried the scars of suffering herself, invited me into her life and was patient with me. Through her I became friends with many of you, again and for the first time, and God steered my heart away from death and brought me back here, back to life. And just as our journey on this earth shall end in a marriage, my journey on becoming a member also ended with a marriage. That instrumental young woman, as of April of this year, is my beautiful, wonderful wife, Kara. What a reflection of Christ you are.

Church: the reason I never wanted to join you was because I was convinced that you destroyed my home. The reason I am here now, the reason I am standing up, is to declare that Jesus Christ is my home, and you are all my brothers and sisters in him.

I encourage every one of you here: Never stop reaching out. Never stop being kind. And never ever stop declaring the gospel.

All glory be to our God.

Can you conjure it up yourself? Do you just have to concentrate all your energy to believe?

Adult Sunday School is back in the New City Catechism this week tackling question 35. You can learn more here: http://newcitycatechism.com/new-city-catechism/#35. There’s even a song with the question and answer for you (and your kids)!

Come learn the foundational truths of Christianity with us. Plus, it’ll be smart to get to church early this week on account of the Street Fair!

9:30am
Woman’s Club Gardens

August’s Verse: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

How are you doing this month?

There are only 4 days left in August to complete this month’s challenge. It’s enough time, but you need to act fast!

How to Participate

For memorizing, we recommend you read the verse 10 times then recite it 10 times. Do this each day and within a few days it will stick. Learn more about how to memorize Scripture here and here.

Once you have it memorized, recite it for us before the month is over. You have two options:

1. Record a video and send it to info@sovgraceoc.org. You’re on the honor system. We trust you.
   OR

2. Head to our Welcome Desk on a Sunday morning and recite it to one of the Connect Team members. After you do, send an email to info@sovgraceoc.org letting us know which Connect Team member you recited it to.

Women Talking Like Women About God

Our Women’s Study is an opportunity to delve deeper into theological topics looking for ways these truths can be applied to the unique roles and callings of women.

Tonight, over 30 women have their first meeting. We’re so grateful to all of them (and their families) for making the time to engage. May the Lord use it in the life of our church.

They’re discussing the book Messy Beautiful Friendships by Christine Hoover.

Would you join us in praying that the women of Sovereign Grace Church would strengthen and start godly friendships?

Pastor Eric preached from Genesis 11:10-32 this past Sunday finishing up the first major section of the book. We now take a detour to the book of 1 Peter. Eric summed up this section by reminding us that the pace of our lives is slow, the details of our lives are forgotten, and nobody is perfect. But God is faithfully bringing His plans to pass. He’s using our lives. He’s regenerating the entire cosmos for His glory and our good.

Listen to the sermon.

The Cursing of the Fig Tree
Matthew 21:18-22

A hungry Jesus walks by a fig tree. He sees no fruit and pronounces a curse on it. Immediately the tree withers.

What is going on here? Was he hangry? Just in a bad mood? What gives?

Join us at Sunday School this week as we work to understand the Biblical significance of this event. This is the final week of our special series “The Bible Says What??”

Bring a Bible and a notebook and prepare to engage with us.

9:30am
Woman’s Club Garden

Help Us Help You

Bright and early every Tuesday morning a group gathers at our church office to pray. We know not everyone can make it, but if you can, we invite you to join us.

It’s challenging. You’re tired. You forget it’s happening until it’s too late.

But we want to help. That’s why we’ve set up a text message reminder that goes out on Mondays.

All you have to do is text AMPRAYER to 984-203-6255 and you’ll be added to the list. You can unsubscribe at anytime.

If you want to join us for the prayer meeting, sign up.
If you’re not sure you can join us, sign up.
Even if you know you can’t join us, sign up anyway. It’ll be a sweet reminder that your brothers and sisters are gathering to pray.