Over the years, I have heard people much smarter than me encourage Christians to think about your sanctification in terms of formative activities and corrective actions.  Formative is the disciplines and habits built into your life – morning devotions, prayer, fellowship, Church attendance, etc. Corrective actions sometimes come directly from the Holy Spirit but a majority of the time they come from people God has placed in your life.  Both of these means of grace are fundamental activities in our Community Groups and become a huge tool in God’s Rescue Plan. 

Community Groups are a structure that helps us formatively build solid relationships, get into fellowship, apply God’s Word, have accountability, live out the one another’s, etc. 

The problem is that when it comes time for correction, when we need to pursue someone wandering from the truth, it’s crucial to have a history with that person, to know and be known and have a bridge of friendship strong enough to handle the truth and oftentimes the difficulty that can come when we embark on an effort “to bring back a sinner from his wandering.” 

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Here’s the beauty of Community Groups.  By God’s grace we give ourselves to living out our Christian lives and pursuing sanctification with a small group of likeminded, gospel centered believers in our Church.  That’s the majority of our experience in Community Group (1 Timothy 4:7-8, Hebrews 3:12-13).  

If a member of my group (or me!) begins to wander, there is a built in guard rail to nip things in the bud (as we like to say).  Loving relationships, friends, people we have history and memories with, people we have lived life with ready (and hopefully willing) to pursue that member (or me!).  What a beautiful thing! 

Think about Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus’ teaching on Church discipline.  Just like we heard in James 5:19-20, this is God’s Rescue Plan!  Do you see yourself in V. 15?  “… go and tell him … you have gained a brother.” Community Groups provide that platform to be the guard rail in God’s Rescue Plan and live out Biblical truths like these.  

Why? Why would I want to get involved in God’s Rescue Plan?  Why pursue fellow Christians who are wandering?  Isn’t that just going to get messy?  You might be thinking “I have enough problems in my life!”

Here’s a view of Community Groups you might not have considered.  More than just a means of grace, more than just being a tool in God’s Rescue Plan, Community Groups function in a way that image God (Ephesians 5:1)  How’s that?  

Think about it.  The gospel is God’s ultimate rescue plan.  We learned last Sunday that to pursue God we pursue God’s people.   When we pursue a wandering brother we image Christ and His pursuit of you and I who wandered since day one and yet Jesus rescued us by going to the Cross. 

Bottom line … we pursue the wandering believer because Christ pursued us! 

If you have been around Sovereign Grace Church for any length of time at all, you have probably heard the following statement: While you can’t find the phrase “church membership” in the Bible, church membership is thoroughly biblical. Or, in the words of Mark Dever*, “It is everywhere implied.”

It’s true. Whether it is theological, historical, or practical, personal identity with and commitment to a local church is clearly God’s design and desire for all He saves by His grace.  But don’t take my word for it. Grab your Bible this week and let the Scriptures below do the talking. You might be surprised at what you find!

A biblical argument for local church membership:  

1. Obvious pattern of the NT (Most Epistles were written to specific local churches)

2. Intimate metaphors for the church (Human body—1 Corinthians 12:27; Flock—Acts 20:28; Household—1 Timothy 3:15)

3. Clear practice of the early church (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-14)

4. Call to submit to leaders (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5)

5. Command of church discipline (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 5:1-12)

6. Charge for pastors to care for and govern the flock (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-5; 1 Timothy 5:17)

7. Sobering reality of a pastor’s accountability to God (Hebrews 13:17)

* Mark Dever has served as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church since 1994 and as president of 9Marks (a ministry to churches and church leaders) since its founding in 1998. Mark has authored a number of books, including 9 Marks of a Healthy Church.

In last week’s post, we were reminded of how easily summertime can shrivel our souls (if you have not read the post, I encourage you to read it now). The bottom line is this: If we are not careful, the busyness of summer can put our communion with God and fellowship with His church in the backseat of life. 

One way we can resist this temptation to take a vacation from God is to pray.

Whether you are at the beach, in the mountains, or in the privacy of your backyard, summertime is a time to pray. As you consider your prayer life over the next few months, please consider the following prayer requests: 

• Pray that God would provide opportunities and courage to share the gospel with unbelievers here at home and on vacation.

• Pray God would strengthen our church relationally through hospitality, fellowship, and mutual care for one another.

• Pray for our brothers and sisters in Bolivia as they continue to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel throughout the city of Santa Cruz. 

• Pray God would continue to provide financially for our church so that we will be positioned in the new budget year (Sep 1-Aug 31) to continue the ministries God has given us and be positioned for new opportunities in our community and beyond. 

• Pray for those who continue to experience physical pain and limitations (Heidi Aranda, Dave Fronk, Sarah Carey, Jerome Walsh, Mary Hope, Beth McGee, and others)

• Pray for our ministry team leaders as they plan and prepare this summer for the new ministry year beginning in September. 

• Pray about where God would have you serve this fall. Is he calling you to something new, different, or the same?

• Pray that God will give your pastors wisdom and clarity this summer for the Fall/Winter preaching schedule as well as the next step for those in the Pastoral Evaluation Group (Bakers, Carseys, Overstreets, and Elijah Mckenna).

• Pray the Lord will bring new people to our church who are hungry for sound doctrine, gospel-centered preaching, and genuine relationships.

Thanks for praying and have a great summer!

In the words of Cars lead singer Rick Ocasek—Summer, it turns me upside down. Summer, summer, summer, it’s like a merry-go-round. Ok, so not everyone grew up in the ’80s. Let me try again, this time in the words of Pastor John Piper—Don’t let summer make your soul shrivel.

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Summer. Who doesn’t love summer? I do! Vacations, leisure, relaxation and memories galore make summer, well, summer. But with all the fun and good things this time of year brings, it presents a real temptation to shrink back in our intimacy with Christ and commitment to His church. If we are not intentional, summer can turn us upside down spiritually, leaving our souls parched and shriveled. 

Before you get too far in your summer planning, I encourage you to take five minutes and read this short but straightforward article from Desiring God Ministries.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

Have a great summer growing in grace and glorifying God!

In today’s blogpost, I hope to define and describe the importance of the Call To Worship and why your Pastors view it as a key moment when we gather on Sundays.

First, it’s a call.  Meaning we are summoned by God to do something.  

In the big picture, God called us to worship Him when He graciously saved us.  The weekly call to worship (CTW) is first and foremost a reminder that God, in Christ, called us out of this world by saving us through the blood of Christ and to a life of worship!

It’s also a weekly reminder that coming together isn’t our initiative.  We love God because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19) God initiated in all of our lives.  We wouldn’t be meeting with the people in our local Church apart from God’s initiative. Our gathering on any given Sunday would not happen apart from the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ being applied in our lives. 

Let’s not forget the practical reasons.  The CTW begins our Sunday meeting. We stand for this, we close the Church doors and don’t allow any traffic in and out for a few minutes. Why? We’ve come together for a glorious purpose.  A time we intentionally gather to worship Him.

As exiles in this world (1 Peter 2:11), we need the CTW to wake us up to eternal realities that God is worthy of our attention and we are called together to exalt Him. The CTW not only is wake up call but a time to re-focus attention away from earthly pursuits – comfort, ease, the pursuit of money, the idolatry of relationships and the endless pursuit of self, etc.

Second, it’s a call to something.  To worship as the people of God. To be a part of what’s happening in heaven. (Hebrews 12:18-24)

CTW is a response to God’s call on our lives so we always begin with God’s Word. We want to be clear in our Sunday time of gathering that it’s about God and not us.  Nothing speaks louder to this reality than beginning with His Word. Nothing awakens us to worship the sovereign God like reading from His Word.  

The object of our worship is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh and the One who dwelt among us and gave His life for the Church. He is the target, the focus of our worship. The CTW is that key moment in our Sunday gathering where we transition from a focus on all other things to what matters most. 

Think of it like this – the CTW is that moment each Sunday where we look into the mirror and are freshly awakened to the reality that my life, my story had been folded into the greatest story ever, the story that a Holy God making it possible for people like me to boldly come to Him and worship. God has called me out of this world and into His sovereign plan along with others who have been folded into his story too. Together we aren’t doing something man made but simply joining the heavenly throng already worshipping the King.

Child dedications. What are they? Should the church have them? Should I dedicate my child on Sunday morning? These are good questions. As Christians, we should never do something because it is what we have always done or everyone else is doing it.

 Some churches baptize infants, otherwise known as paedobaptism. We do not baptize infants because we believe Scripture teaches baptism is for believers (Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:11-14). This conviction is captured in our Statement of Faith:

Baptism is an initiatory, unrepeated sacrament for those who come to faith in Christ that pictures their remissions of sins and union with Christ in his death and resurrection.

So does the Bible say anything about baby dedications? Nowhere does Scripture command parents to dedicate their child to the Lord. That said, there are examples, specifically, Hannah vowing to dedicate her child to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:11) and Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to the Temple to be dedicated (Luke 2:22).

Scripture is clear on the parent's God-given call to teach their children diligently in the ways of the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:6-7), train them up in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6), and bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). Dedicating your child is not an act of salvation, baptism, or church membership. It is a symbolic way to communicate the Spirit-empowered intent to raise the child in a Christ-centered home according to Scripture.

In this way, child dedication is less about the child and more about the parents acknowledging their child is a gift from the Lord entrusted to them to raise for His glory with the hope that he or she will come to faith in Jesus one day. 

As for the rest of the church, through this encouraging tradition, we commit as a local family of faith to stand in prayer and support for the parents and their child.   

If you would like to participate in the child dedication on Mother’s Day, May 9th, please click here to register your child, and someone will contact you. 

In 2 Corinthians 8-9, we find the Apostle Paul spurring on the church in Corinth to participate in a sacrificial offering for the suffering saints in Jerusalem. After pointing out the grace-filled example of the Macedonian churches (2 Corinthians 8:1-15), Paul encourages the Corinthians saying:

The point is this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work—2 Corinthians 9:6-8

What are the marks of God-glorifying NT giving? According to Paul, generosity, intentionality, cheerfulness (joy), and faith. Of course, none of those characteristics matter if they are not ultimately rooted in Paul’s final words to them:

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!—2 Corinthians 9:15

God-exalting giving begins here—God has given us life, hope, and joy in Jesus Christ. We don’t give to get grace. We give because we have received grace abundantly. Or, in the words of Randy Alcorn, “As thunder follows lightning, giving follows grace.”

This means giving is worship.

As much as praying, singing, and serving is worship, gospel-motivated giving is worship because it’s a response of the heart to God’s gift of salvation in Christ. That’s what the April offering is about: WORSHIP. God-exalting praise with our pocketbooks.

As you prepare to give this Sunday, we pray your heart is overflowing with gratitude for Jesus Christ. We pray you give generously because you have received generously. We pray your heart is filled with faith and joy as you are intentional about what you give to advance the name of Jesus here in Tucson and Santa Cruz, Bolivia.  We pray you give with the words of Paul echoing in your soul—Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

 As you prepare your heart to give this Sunday, here are a few practical instructions to prepare you:

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You can give in person on Sunday, via text, or on the church website HERE.

HOW TO GIVE:

• By check, writing “April Offering” in the memo

• By text to 84321 with the amount and fund tag (Ex. $25 2021apriloffering)

• Online, selecting “2021 April offering” from the drop-down menu

• With cash put in a giving envelope marked with “2021 April Offering”

However and whatever you choose to give, we thank you. But above all—Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

C.J. Mahaney once said, “Sunday is the best day of the week because we celebrate the risen Christ of the cross in the local church, the dearest place on earth.” Now imagine getting to be there during the week too! Getting to be “behind the scenes” on all the ins and outs of church life and ministry. This is the privilege of the church office administrator.

By God’s grace, I personally have had the privilege of serving as the office admin for several years. It is a ministry that has given me the greatest joy and has humbled me in so many ways. It has stirred a deep love for my fellow believers and given me a unique appreciation for our pastors. Though practical on many levels, it is more than a job. It is ultimately a ministry of love and service to Christ’s beloved body. And, on May 1st, we have the privilege of handing this ministry to someone new – Cierra Wilkins!

If you don’t know Cierra, she moved to Tucson five and a half years ago and became a member of Sovereign Grace shortly after. She and her husband Alex and son Nolan love this city, its food, and its people! Cierra has worked for StateFarm for several years and has served this church in multiple capacities including the GRACEkids and SG Youth teams. She is known for serving with excellence, kindness, humility, and an infectious smile! 

Below is a note from her sharing with us her personal excitement for taking on this role:

“I feel very privileged and excited for this opportunity to use my gifts and skills to serve my local church in this capacity. What a joy it will be to have the ability to give more time and energy to serving the Lord and His people. I’ve loved growing alongside my fellow church members for the last five and a half years. You have all been an example of Christ’s love in the way you have cared for my family and others. Each week I eagerly look forward to the gospel-centered teachings and fellowship on both Sunday mornings and in community groups because I’m always encouraged to have Christ at the forefront of my mind. My local church has become the dearest place on earth and I’m filled with joy thinking of the years to come.”

We are so thankful for Cierra and the capability, joy, and love that she will bring to this job! We look forward to the years to come too!

Every April, we express our faith and unity as a church by giving above and beyond our regular tithes. This annual offering supplements our current budget and positions us to participate in ministry opportunities, not in our budget. As an expression of our gospel partnership, this year, we hope to bless our new church plant in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with a generous financial gift that will help them advance the gospel of Jesus Christ 4700 miles south of us.

Church planting is a big part of our missiology both as a local church and global union of churches. As a local church, we have had the privilege of partnering with church plants in Santa Ana, CA, and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in very tangible and meaningful ways.

Of course, the Lord is using Sovereign Grace Churches to spread the gospel across the globe; from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to San Antonio, TX, people are coming to know Jesus as the gospel advances through new church plants in places like Prattville, Alabama. 

Please take a moment and watch the video below to see what God is doing through our new church plant in the heart of the Bible Belt. We hope it encourages you and builds your faith as you prayerfully consider giving toward our offering next month.  

One of the most powerful pictures of the transformational effects of the gospel is in Acts 2:42-47. Check it out and you will find people from all walks of life, backgrounds, and even geography, graciously brought into a new life together through the love and mercy of God in Christ Jesus. 

Much has changed two thousand years later. But for the Church, life together remains a mark of our identity in Christ. At Sovereign Grace Church, our life together is precious to us and life in April will be busy so please take a moment to check out our April together.

• April 2 - Good Friday Service, 7:00 pm

• April 4 - Easter Sunday Service, 10:00 am

• April 11 - Return to Live Streaming Sermon Only

• April 18 - Church Barbecue Following Service

• April 25 - Annual April Offering