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Church Membership Month

February is our Church Membership Month. Each Sunday you’ll hear teaching and member testimonies pertaining to the four aspects that define our culture: joyful, generous, ordinary, neighbors. This week we focused on generosity.

Generosity starts with Jesus. God loved the world and gave us Jesus so that we might have eternal life (John 3:16). This means that we can trust God to graciously give us all things because he gave us his own Son (Romans 8:32). Since we have experienced divine generosity we have every reason to be generous. Consider our Membership Covenant. We commit to “give of our finances to support the congregation, care for the needs of others, and support the work of our gospel partners.” This is the kind of generosity we see in Scripture. It encompasses our whole lives and it is done joyfully and freely (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Think about generosity this week. In what ways can you be generous today? How can you give of your time and resources to help others? How can you continue to grow in generosity? Start by reading the Scripture references above or hit the button for a short article on generosity by a pastor from one of our partner churches.

Thank you for being a generous church.

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We Give So That Our Joy May Spread to Others

Generosity is a defining characteristic of our church culture. Last Sunday we asked Paul and April—two members of our church—to tell us how they have experienced and increased in generosity by being a part of our church. Read what they had to say below.

April:

We’ve been asked to speak on the generosity of this church. For us, this is an easy task. The members of this church have been generous to our family for 6 1/2years. Every single year since we’ve became members, my family has been through life changing events and God has used this church to help us through them all. We could spend an hour talking about  this church's generosity with meal trains, baby showers, grief counseling and more. For the sake of time, I will share with you two examples of how church members were generous with their time.

Most recently, Kirsi, Lois, Sue and Diane were very generous with donating their time to support my family during the six week recovery following my surgery. For six weeks I could not lift or care for my one year old son and needed support ten hours a day. Each of these generous women got on the freeway early in the morning to be at my house in Huntington beach by 7:30am before Paul left for work. They stayed until 5:30pm each day they volunteered. This is generosity indeed. It was heart warming seeing Clark being cared for by women who loved him. It gave me peace of mind and helped me to recover well. Beyond taking care of Clark, these generous women prayed with me, counseled me and even did the chores I was unable to do. God used them in a grand way to serve my family. 

I'd like to mention another chruch member who was generous with his time back in 2016 when we had just joined the Sovereign Grace family. Back then we were newly weds living on Grand St. and Chapman right around the corner. We had just found out that the baby we had been loving for 12 weeks in my womb had passed away. When we were ready to leave the house we took a walk. We ended up at Chapman Univeristy.  We were grieving.  It was painful. We ran into a church member. It was Dustin Smetona. He said, “Hey how ya doing?” Paul responded with an, "Oh, ok" and I burst into tears.  Dustin could have said something like, "Oh man. Looks like you had a rough day. I'll be praying for you. See ya."  But instead he took the time to sit with us, hear us, pray with us and read Scripture. He was generous with his time in order to show fellow members love, care and support.  That's what membership is. It's supporting each other through life's joys and griefs. Life is hard. You dont' have to go through it alone. When you lose a parent or a child you will want to be surrounded by God’s generous and loving people like we have been. 

Paul:

Thank you for being a generous church. Generosity is having open hands. You do not hold onto those gifts God has given you but, in turn, have your hands open whenever others need something. As the body of Christ, you have supported us in so many ways. You have given us your time, finances, and personal property. There are so many of you that have helped us throughout the years.

I’d like to mention one more example of generosity. In 2019 our neighbor had an electrical fire and, sparing many details, it left us homeless. We lost all of our clothes and possessions on the 2nd floor. Many of you generously gave us your clothes. Sue and Les opened their home to us for nearly two months. They freely gave us shelter, food, counseling, and prayer. They were very generous, especially with their Saturday bacon and bagels. Because of them, our burdens were so much lighter and have left us with a lasting reminder that God will always care for us.

I think we are prone to lean on our limited resources. We forget that God, in His great love, works in the hearts of His people to freely give us things we need. I just want to encourage you all that "It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).” Thank you.  

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New Curriculum and New Memory Verse

We are excited to announce our new Sunday morning curriculum. We’ll be switching to the Gospel Project for kids. Our hope is that this curriculum will better serve our kids and families by clearly teaching the gospel in fun and engaging ways. We look forward to introducing it later in the month.

And don’t forget about our Monthly Memory Verse Challenge! Here’s our verse for February:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12

You can view our memory verse schedule here. Start practicing and get ready to recite on the 26th.

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How You Can Pray This Month

God is doing amazing things around the world through our denomination. Our partners are translating gospel resources in other languages and sending them to places like China, Belarus and Korea. We’re getting reports from our churches in the Philippines, Thailand, and Pakistan about the many ways God is moving. A group of leaders just graduated from the Pastor’s College in Australia. The list goes on. You can read about all these stories and more by hitting the button below.

What does all this mean for you? It means you’re a part of something bigger than you. You can play your part in Sovereign Grace Missions by praying for our partners. Here’s a list of our needs:

1. Pray for the Sovereign Grace Leadership Team retreat going on now. It includes our U.S. Regional Leaders, Global Leaders, and a group of future leaders asking God to envision, strengthen, and equip our leaders to serve our churches throughout the world.

2. Pray for Billy Raies, Erik Schmaltz, Philip Estrada and Allen Dicharry as they head to Nepal from Feb 21 - Mar 1 to serve our Key Leader in Nepal—Barnabas. Pray for our partnership and his Pastoral Team.

3. Pray for the 11 young people who started their Young Leaders Internships in SG Australia this month. They are Abella Lick, Georgia Lick , Luke Counsell , Esther Monck , Hollie Roberts, Froilan Samonte, Josh Taylor, Amy Taylor, Marcos Cabral, Hannah Payne, and Sebastian Fasano.

4. Pray for Rich Richardson and the team of 8 SG Pastors who are coming together in Phoenix from Feb 21-22 to talk about SG Church Development in Latin America (outside of Mexico). Please pray for quick camaraderie in the group, for creative ideas, and one heart.

5. Pray for the growing number of Sovereign Grace church members that are seriously considering cross-cultural mission. Please pray for me (Dave Taylor), the Emerging Nations Team, Mark Prater (Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches), and those asking the question. May we together discern the will of God in each of these situations, may His guidance be clear as we seek to reach the ends of the earth for Jesus.

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Ephesians 2:19-22

We gather every Sunday to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed. God's Word is preached and the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts. We expect to encounter Jesus and be equipped to better serve him each week.

Thanks to all who missed the sermon because you were serving during the service. We are grateful for you and couldn't have done it without you. Enjoy listening to the recording.

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Celebrating New Life in Christ

We had the joy and privilege of baptizing Greg and Martin last Sunday. Our church treasures these moments and we’re excited to celebrate God’s saving work in both of these men. You can view all the photos below.

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Church Membership Month

February is our Church Membership Month. Each Sunday you’ll hear teaching and member testimonies pertaining to the four aspects that define our culture: joyful, generous, ordinary, neighbors. This week we focused on joy.

Joy is a defining virtue of our church and our family of churches. The source of our joy is the gospel. We believe that Jesus was the Son of God who lived, died, and rose from the grave to save all those who have faith. Our sin is atoned for and we get to experience the fullness of joy in God’s presence (Psalm 16:11). As we hear and embrace the gospel our natural response is to rejoice! It’s truly good news of great joy for all people (Luke 2:10). This joy is clearly evident in our member’s passionate singing, relationships, and cheerful acts of service.

Make a point to meditate on joy this week. How does the gospel inform your joy? How does the church help make you more joyful? How can we experience more joy in our lives? Hit the button to read an article from a leader in our denomination to help you get started. It’s our desire that God would continue to grow and sustain our joy. We’re grateful to be a part of of joyful church.

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God Has Made Us Glad

Joy is a defining characteristic of our church culture. Last Sunday we asked Chris—a faithful member of our church—to tell us how being a part of the church has increased his joy. Read what he had to say below.

Hello Sovereign Grace,

My name is Chris Jonas and I have been a member of Sovereign Grace Church since 2020 with my wife Bree and daughter Zoe.  

I’m excited this morning to be able to share a little bit of my testimony on the joy that I have being a part of this great church. Back in 2016, I began learning about reformed theology, and I noticed that my priorities on what I wanted in a home church were changing. I remember feeling a heavy conviction and a responsibility to be a part of a church where the pastors would preach the full gospel. Not a watered-down version of the gospel that I became accustomed to. I am overjoyed that conviction carried me to Sovereign Grace Church. Our pastors have led us through the Bible and helped grow my understanding of God’s word. So, thank you pastors for caring for this congregation by preaching and teaching God’s word in fullness and in truth.

For those of you who don’t know, I was born with an inherited blood disease called sickle cell. I spent most of my childhood in and out of the hospital while taking pain medication to manage the discomfort. As I grew, I became dependent on medication. I would take between 15-30mg of hydrocodone a day just to be able to function. This was my normal. But when I found out that we were going to be parents, I knew my normal needed to change. So, I reached out to Pastor Dustin and asked for prayer because I knew this undertaking was going to be challenging. It brings me great joy to share that with prayer from our pastors, and with the Lord’s grace, I am no longer dependent on medication. Even on days when I’m not feeling great and dealing with health issues, I know the Lord is sovereign, which gives me every reason to be joyful.

Now, around the time we became members, we joined Dylan & Christy Sohie’s small group. Only God knew at the time how much I would be blessed by this small group. Back in 2021, I experienced some depression while being over worked and underpaid at my job. I knew I needed to start looking for a better position but feared that a new role would limit the flexibility I had working from home. I intended to work on my resume in the beginning of 2022, but never got around to it. I lacked motivation and couldn’t get myself to lift a finger. During this time, Dylan and I had been talking about a possible position open at his company, and he prompted me to send him my resume… the one I couldn’t get around to updating. The day I finally updated my resume, I noticed that my sister emailed me a job posting for a position at the company I was already working for. On a whim, I decided to submit my resume to that position, and the next day I was contacted by the recruiter and got the job within 48 hours. My new job pays more, gives me the same flexibility, and gives me the work/life balance that I lack in my previous role. I believe that the Lord strategically used Dylan and the prayers of our small group to open a door that became such a blessing to my family and I. Being a part of a small group that prays for me and is there to encourage me in the midst of my trails, really helped me maintain joy even in a season of uncertainty.

God is faithful, church. He cares about us. He cares about our joy. These are all testaments of how being a part of this church has brought me joy, even when I am faced with adversity. James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”. 

Church, we’ve all faced challenging seasons, and some of us might be in one now, but I’m here to encourage you to let God work in your life through this church. Let our great Savior perfect your faith every Sunday by sitting in those seats and let Him strengthen your spirit by considering being a part of a small group. In John 15:11, the Lord says that “[His] joy may be in us, and that [our] joy may be full”. Thank you for listening.