This Sunday is week five of Sunday Morning Live. We host a Zoom call at 10:30am which inlcudes member testimonies, prayer, and bible teaching. All church members and regular attenders will receive an email invite. Contact the church office to be added to our distribution list.
This week, we celebrate Mother’s Day and Pastor Mike shares a message from Psalm 139.
We can’t wait to see you Sunday!
“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
-Acts 6:4
Our pastors want to pray to for you. Share with them your needs, concerns, fears, and joys. No need is too big. No praise is too small.
“Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!”
Psalm 34:3
Singing the truth of the gospel is part of our ministry to one another (Col 3:16). Every Sunday morning as we gladly lift our voices together, God uses the sound of our singing to minister to our souls.
While the restrictions of the coronavirus keep us from hearing one another singing, there are a few other ways you can sing the gospel from home:
Listen to our curated Spotify playlist that has all the songs we sing on Sunday mornings and more.
Listen to this “Faith and Family” Spotify playlist created for families by a worship leader and songwriter from another Sovereign Grace Church.
Check out the Facebook Live hymn sings Pastor Dustin has recorded here, here, and here. Keep an eye out for more.
May God increase our anticipation for the day we can again lift our voices together to our Savior.
Life is challenging. For many, life during the coronavirus has become even more so. Fear of the future. Loneliness and isolation. Financial hardships. Anxiety. Depression. Sickness.
God does not intend for us to face these difficulties alone. His Spirit is in us. His word is written down for us. His church is available to us.
Please do not hesitate to contact our pastors if you’re in need of counseling. It’s never too soon or too late to reach out.
Our friends at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation have made a ton of their content available at no cost. CCEF produces biblically faithful, gospel-centered counseling material. They’ve shaped our thinking on the topic profoundly.
Take some time to peruse these articles and videos. Not only will they strengthen your soul, but these brothers and sisters will equip you to faithfully counsel others.
If you’re looking for a place to start, here are a few great options:
On Sunday we were treated to a testimony by Melissa Goins. She’s relocating to Orange to join our church and work alongside Pastor Eric in his role for our denomination. If you missed her testimony or want the chance to read it, take a look below. May God bless Melissa, our church, and our denomination through this transition.
Hello friends! What a privilege to share with you this morning.
I’m a California native, having grown up in San Diego. I am super close to my family. My parents and grandma live in Virginia. But I have one brother who lives in San Diego with his family.
The Turbedskys have been dear friends for many years. We all attended Grace Church in San Diego, where Eric was one of the pastors. I worked for the church administratively, managing the office and assisting the pastors, eventually reporting directly to Eric. The craziest assignment I ever had was definitely working on the church’s building project – keeping contractors on task, getting building plans approved at city hall, and buying building supplies. I know nothing about that world! I still laugh!
Those years were very sweet. Serving with Eric on many projects not only taught me a lot of practical skills like saving time and money and creatively thinking outside of the box, but also life lessons that have served me. Things like “Every email and copy and file makes our mission possible “ and “God requires faithfulness, not perfection.” These things have become part of who I am. They have shaped me in huge ways, and I find myself repeating these same things to others. Connecting admin with gospel mission.
I then moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland to work at the SGC Pastors College. After 4 years in Maryland, I was able to help plant a church in Louisville, KY where I have been for the past 7.5 years, continuing to serve at the Pastors College and very involved in my local church. What I have loved about working at the Pastors College is the big picture view of God’s activity in our group of churches – Sovereign Grace Churches. Families come to the PC from all over – like South Korea, Australia, Colorado. And after a year together, a deep brotherhood is formed, and they all return to build local churches. A relational network grows. Partnership happens year after year. I have loved being a part of it!
So how did I decide to leave a place and job I love?
It all started with a conversation a few months ago. From that first conversation with Eric, I had a strange sense of excitement that I didn’t quite know what to do with. Was God calling ME to meet these needs? It was something I needed to think and pray about. You see, last September I moved out of my apt in Louisville and in with the Kauflin family, allowing me to go home a week every month to VA to see my family. (Such provision to be able to encourage and help them in the midst of family illness and the recent death of my grandpa.)
But God was also slowly preparing me for change, and I had a keen sense that big change was coming, though I had no idea what! I would have guessed He would lead me to land in VA or something like that…Little did I know. One thing led to another and after many, many conversations with a number of people, including my boss Jeff Purswell, we all agreed that God was indeed leading me to Orange! How amazing that I still get to serve Sovereign Grace pastors. He doesn’t waste anything!
Over the years, I have sometimes wondered if God might lead me back to California someday. But I would never have imagined it would be right now or in this way. I am very excited to join you all there in Orange. I can’t wait to get started!
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph. 3:20-21)
Last week we provided a brief update of the work God is doing through our sisters churches around the globe. Yesterday, our denomination’s Director of Emerging Nations sent out an email newsletter with even more details.
You can subscribe and get the newsletter directly to your inbox. It’s a great way to grow in appreciation for our partnership and to find meaningful opportunities to pray and support our shared gospel mission. May the joy of Jesus spread among the nations!
On Sunday Pastor Eric taught from Genesis 13:1-18. He showed us the dramatic change in Abram from chapter 12 to chapter 13. He was a schemer, looking out for his own interests. But now he has repented, renewed his trust in God, and asked God to lead the way. God was gracious to Abram in both chapters. His promise was never withdrawn. It’s the same for us. His unwavering commitment to us is established in the gospel. At any point, we can turn from our self-seeking and say, “Lord, take me where you will.”
The quarantine hasn't slowed us down. As we announced a few weeks ago, Pastor Eric's role in our denomination has changed. And with this change comes help. Sovereign Grace Churches is sending him an administrator.
She has served our denomination in various roles for years. Now she is going to work with Pastor Eric as he leads our denomination in church planting, communications, the Western US region, and the SGC Leadership Team. And best of all Melissa will be joining our church.
We plan to introduce you to her on Sunday. For now, she sends her greetings:
I am eagerly anticipating serving in this new role and getting to build with you all at Sovereign Grace Church of Orange. The Lord has been at work in every single detail. I grew up in California and have family in San Diego. I have a longstanding friendship with the Turbedsky family. I am excited about serving our denomination of churches in new ways. I have a deep affection for your local church and already know many of you. Though the decision has not been simple or easy, I believe he is indeed calling me to join you. So it is with faith in him that I embark on this new adventure. It’s all for his glory! “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Cor 4:7).
Melissa plans to arrive in Orange the first week of June. Please pray for her as she moves across the country during the pandemic. Let us thank God for Melissa and our partnership with SGC and for the great honor it is to play a small part in God's great plan to spread the joy of Jesus to the ends of the earth.