Pastor Eric is spending this week at a retreat in Orlando, FL with the Leadership Team and Regional Leaders of our denomination. What a joy to send Eric out to serve in our family of churches! This is the fruit of your ministry.
Let’s partner with them by praying for God’s blessing on their time together.
On Sunday Pastor Dustin preached from Genesis 33. The trials of life and the temptations to disobey threaten to take us off the path God has set us on. Yet we are confident that God is leading us to our eternal home. His steady hand guides us even in the midst of our own faltering obedience. According to God’s plan, Jesus perfectly obeyed His Father by laying down His life to secure both our forgiveness and our future. We will make it home.
As the city continues to open back up, we’re excited to see community events back on the calendar. The city’s 3rd of July celebration is at 4pm at Grijalva Park. And Concerts in the Park are coming back on July 14th! Grab your friends, your small group, and take advantage of these opportunities to be a light to the city of Orange.
October 8-10, 2021
Idyllwild, CA
“You might think lament is the opposite of praise. It isn’t. Instead, lament is a path to praise as we are led through our brokenness and disappointment. The space between brokenness and God’s mercy is where this song is sung. Think of lament as the transition between pain and promise. It is the path from heartbreak to hope.”
Mark Vroegop
Our small groups are almost finished reading and discussing Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy. Our time in this book has been rich as we’ve studied the often overlooked, yet thoroughly biblical topic of lament. In His word, God has laid out a path for us to walk through pain and suffering. We will be called to walk that path and want to make sure we walk it well, both as individuals and as a church.
Will you join us in praying that what the Lord has taught us from this book would take root in our hearts and in our church?
May God help us be people who are skilled at navigating the space between pain and promise.
Four times each year the executive director of our denomination provides a list of prayer requests for our family of churches. They are below. We invite you to join with us and people all over the world in lifting these up to the Lord.
One of the 7 shared values that shapes Sovereign Grace is that we are a family of churches “united in fellowship, mission, and governance.” We experience “fellowship” in many ways including building relationally, and praying for one another. When we pray for one another as a family of churches, our unity is strengthened as we lift one another up before the throne of grace. To that end, below are the “Sovereign Grace Churches Second Quarter 2021 Prayer Requests.”
Pray that God would give the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities and workplaces.
Pray for Philip Estrada and his team as they plant Mission City Fellowship in San Antonio, TX asking God to provide for them, and give them opportunities to share the gospel in the San Antonio area.
Pray for Carlos Contreras as he leads the Fieles A Su Llamado Conference in Juarez, Mexico July 7-9, 2021. Pray for the pastors and wives who will attend this conference from Mexico and throughout Latin America asking God to strengthen and encourage them.
Pray for our fellow pastors and friends in India and Nepal as they care for people and lead their churches that have been impacted by the COVID pandemic.
Pray for Bart Lipscomb and his family as they transition from Austin, TX to Conroe, TX where Bart will be the Sr. Pastor of Christ Church, a church that was adopted into our family of churches in May 2021.
Pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches Leadership Team as they lead a retreat in June with the Regional Leaders asking God to use the retreat to strengthen, equip and encourage our U.S. Regional Leaders.
Pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.
Thank you for lifting these requests up to God in prayer believing that He is eager to hear and answer our prayers.
On Sunday we shared that our bi-vocational pastor, Mike Davis, will be taking the month of June off from pastoral responsibilities. What’s prompting this break is simply a desire to take good care of Mike and his family. As a volunteer pastor, it’s easy to forget that he needs rest too.
So let’s take good care of the Davises by giving them a real break. If you need a pastor during the month of June simply contact the church office and Pastor Eric or Pastor Dustin will be in touch.
Thank God for the Davises! Let’s pray He refreshes them during this month of rest.
As we’ve been preaching through Genesis we’ve bumped into the practice of polygamy among God’s people. That seems to be at odds with Scripture’s teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:18-25, Matt. 19:4-6, Eph. 5:22-33). But is it? The Bible is commonly critiqued for inconsistencies on ethical issues like this one.
The folks at Desiring God recently published an article explaining what the Bible teaches about polygamy. Let this faithful summary of Scripture inform your mind and reinforce your confidence in God’s word.