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.

“What a joy to share with Sovereign Grace Church of Tucson a brief update on the activities of our sister church in Santa Cruz Bolivia. Your support and partnership have helped make this possible! 

Jorge & David

Jorge and David and their families opened the doors of the Bolivia church plant in February 2020. Three weeks following the opening, they had to close for several months due to governmental covid restrictions.   To care for new folks, they established a network of virtual meetings including Sunday morning worship and preaching, Monday night prayer, Thursday evening discipleship, and a young married community group.  In each of their gatherings, their focus has been on preaching and teaching the basics of the gospel.  In outreach, the church has been able to practically assist the community in material needs of food and clothing, conduct a children’s ministry outreach to over fifty children, and support families of those affected by or who have lost loved ones to covid.  

At the same time, they rented and renovated a facility that serves as their current church meeting location. Interestingly, when meeting in person was again permitted, they found that the church had grown and continues to grow. Recently, a couple, who served in ministry at the church in La Paz, who David had discipled and raised up in ministry, relocated to be a part of this church plant. The husband is a community group leader, an experienced worship leader and a potential pastor and his wife is a long-term experienced children’s ministry coordinator. Their friendship and support are a great blessing to this church.

While there are a number of non-denominational churches in Santa Cruz, there is a critical absence of churches teaching reformed doctrine. To that end, testimonies by new members describe how they are experiencing the wonder of the gospel for the first time and how it is impacting their lives.  One family describes attending a church for many years but never understanding the truth of the gospel. Another gives thanks that they are hearing true Bible teaching for the first time in their Christian life. Additionally, Jorge and David are being approached by other leaders serving in other churches who have heard of Sovereign Grace and reformed teaching and are investigating closer affiliation.  

Jorge and David share the preaching responsibilities while David also leads worship and serves as the church administrator. While their primary focus is establishing the church, Jorge has a burning passion to soon begin a pastor’s college in Santa Cruz based upon the values and vision of the Sovereign Grace Pastors College model.  This location could serve not only pastors in Bolivia, but in all of South America, preparing and helping pastors to impact their churches with the  gospel.

David and Jorge and their families feel the love, friendship, and significant support of Sovereign Grace Tucson. You are and continue to be a significant encouragement to them. Thank you for your partnership!"

Chris Deloglos is a pastor at Kingsway Community Church in Midlothian, VA and serves as Executive Director of the Bolivia Missions Foundation.

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!

I don’t watch many movies, but when I do, I enjoy a good mind-bender. Movies like Tenet, Inception, and Interstellar keep me thinking. They keep me engaged, and they keep me coming back because I never quite feel like I have figured out what’s going on. In this way, they keep me frustrated!

There are many aspects of the Christian faith that are mind-benders: God’s sovereignty and our responsibility, the knowability of an incomprehensible God, Jesus as fully God and man, the omnipresence of God (He is at all places, in all times, in His fullness). And oh yeah, there’s the Trinity. Or how about this gem from the Apostle Paul: 

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

When I am weak, I am strong. Mind-bender? You better believe it. Listen to Paul Tripp explain:

“God chooses for you to be weak to protect you from you and to cause you to value the strength that only he can give. In this way, the weaknesses that he sends your way are not impediments to the good life. They are not in the way of his loving plan. They are not signs of his lack of care. They are not indicators of the failure of his promises. They do not expose gaps in the theology that we hold dear. They are not indications that the Bible contradicts itself when it says that God will meet all of your needs. No, these weaknesses are tools of his zealous and amazing grace. They protect you from the arrogance of self-reliance that tempts us all. They keep you from thinking that you’re capable of what you’re not. They remind you that you are needy and were created to be dependent on one greater than you. They cause you to do what all of us in some way resist doing - humbly run to God for the help that only he can give.

So your weaknesses are not the big danger that you should fear. What you should really fear are your delusions of strength. When you tell yourself that you are strong, you quit being excited about God‘s rescuing, transforming, and empowering grace. Paul actually celebrated his weaknesses, because as he did, the power of God rested upon him. He didn’t live a fearful, discouraged, and envious life; he was content because he knew weakness is the doorway to real power, power that only God can and willingly does supply.”

A glorious facet of the Christian life is we never exhaust our knowledge, understanding, and experience of God.

Every day we keep coming back to know Him, love Him, and experience Him a little bit more. But unlike the frustrating effect of Hollywood’s mind-bender, coming back leads us to joy, wonder, and awe! May that be your reality today as you experience the mind-bending truth that when you are weak, in Christ you are strong!

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

James 4:21 clearly calls us to “receive with meekness the implanted word.”  Last Sunday we learned that when God saves us, He puts new desires for His Word within us by the Spirit. Then we were challenged with this thought – if you don’t have a desire for the Word something is wrong.  

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What if I don’t desire the Word?

Three possibilities come to mind.  All three involve some serious examination.

First, examine yourself to see if you’re in the faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5 states this very clearly.  One evidence that God has regenerated your soul is the desire for His Word.  Many people can get involved in a Church, say and do all the accepted Christian external behaviors but inside not know God personally. (Matthew 7:21-23)  

Think about the closed Bible illustration. If I say I’m a Christian but have no desire for God’s Word, my life is stating I don’t want to hear anything from God.  I don’t want to hear about who God is and how I’m united with his Son Jesus Christ.  I’m not interested in God’s Word and what I’m called to do as one of His children. 

Examining yourself to see if you’re in the faith will be the toughest but most fruitful examination you can do. If you have any concerns in this area, contact your Pastors, a Community Group leader or a trusted, mature believer you know. 

Second, examine your desires.  I would submit that for most regenerated believers the desire for meeting God in His Word is there but possibly buried.  Buried down deep below other desires that dominate your life right now. 

That image of God’s Word being closed to us like an unopened Bible is powerful.  For most of us it’s simply examining our lives to see what else has taken desire into our lives.  Maybe multiple things have risen in our hearts so that what is most important - opening God’s Word on a regular basis- now is secondary or only occurs only when it’s convenient, etc.  Picture God’s Word closed yet you are zipping by it numerous times a day desiring/chasing other less important things that have captured your heart.

Third, examine your season.  If you are typically hungry for God’s Word yet sit under a message like James 1:19-21 and sense the Spirit say “you’re that person”, maybe you’ve simply drifted and allowed other desires to temporarily bury your desire for God’s Word.  We all drift, we need to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23- in fact just read all of Proverbs 4!) and grow to ruthlessly guard the desires of our hearts.

For every believer, God has not only implanted His Word in us but give us His Spirit.  The Spirit of God is there to help us grow in understanding what a gift His Word is to us and for us.  He will transform our desires and bring us to a place where we eagerly desire His Word.

If you read the first 2 chapters of Genesis carefully, you’ll quickly see that what makes us distinct from the rest of creation is our ability to interpret the facts before us and respond in ways that glorify our Creator (or not.)  We don’t just live by the facts, we live by how we interpret those facts as we see in Genesis 3 where Eve listened to Satan re-interpret the facts of what God said.

Fast forward to James 1 and now we are instructed how to respond differently to trials.

Christians who follow James’ wisdom can be transformed in how they respond to the facts of their trials.

What we have learned is that looking inward instead of outwardly blaming God is an important part of the process.  It’s not the only part we’ve learned so far but it’s an important part.

By the grace of God we can resolve to resist the temptation to outwardly blame God and spend much more fruitful time examining our hearts. As God instructs us to be steadfast in James 1:4, 12 , one aspect is to grow and learn to know when we are tempted and to avoid being lured away.  This is fruitful work especially as we grow to “count our trials” pure joy knowing God is at work.  

We heard last Sunday that temptations aren’t sinful.  They simply bring us to a point of decision (Galatians 5:14-16).  What fantastic imagery we get from God’s Word!  An untreated temptation can quickly be like a lure to a fisherman.  Most fish have God given instincts to be nervous Nellie’s as they seek to feed all day long.  Fish just won’t eat something that doesn’t look perfectly normal. When fly fishermen attempt to create a fly they go to great detail to make sure it looks organic and matches the bugs in the river.  If not, they will never “lure” the fish away.  Fish instinctively avoid flies that unnatural, inorganic, etc. 

That’s a great picture for us. As we heard on Sunday, we need to engage with our temptations allowing God’s Word to inform our response and like fish, be extremely careful so we aren’t being lured away into sin. That’s step one on the road to “let steadfastness have its full effect.”

Step two is for many of us who do get lured away.  God gives grace to those who realize they have been lured away and given birth to sin.

Repentance allows us to put off being lured away and turn to God in forgiveness.

What’s the key? Sobriety and intentionality (Hebrews 3:12-13) when it comes to examining our hearts and making sure we aren’t “enticed by his own desire.” Let’s not be lured away!

As a local church, we have the privilege of being united in mission with churches around the globe. While there are numerous values and priorities we share, it is the truth of God’s Word that ultimately anchors our partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches. What we believe, what we cherish, and what we proclaim from God’s Word defines and directs us as a family of confessional local churches.

In light of this, we are excited about our new statement of faith. We are deeply grateful for the time and effort Jeff Purswell and the Sovereign Grace Theology Committee have taken to sharpen and clarify this document that represents the doctrine we believe to be essential to our convictions, conduct and testimony as both a local church and a family of churches.

As Director of Theology and Training for Sovereign Grace Churches, Jeff Purswell (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the Dean of the Pastors College. He is the editor of Bible Doctrine (an abridgment of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology), an editor and contributor to Scripture and the People of God: Essays in Honor of Wayne Grudem, and he contributed a chapter to Wordliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World. He serves on the board of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and is a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. He and his wife, Julie, have two sons.

James begins his brief letter to the scattered and battered Jewish Christians with a radical and seemingly irrational command—Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds. Below are a few words from the sermon on 2/21/21 that show the brilliant rationale to such a radical command.

Scripture

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance - Romans 5:3

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Colossians 3:1-4

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Quotes

“Frankly, many of us would prefer that this passage was not in the Bible! But it may also be one of the most profound and crucial for truly mature Christian living.” - Craig Blomberg

“James is commending the conscious embrace of a Christian understanding of life that brings joy into the trials.” - Kent Hughes

A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God's Love

By Vincent, Milton

Buy on Amazon

“More than anything else I could ever do, the gospel enables me to embrace my tribulations and thereby position myself to gain full benefit from them. For the gospel is the one great permanent circumstance in which I live and move; and every hardship in my life is allowed by God only because it serves His gospel purposes in me. When I view my circumstances in this light, I realize that the gospel is not just one piece of good news that fits into my life somewhere among all the bad. I realize that the gospel makes genuinely good news out of every other aspect of my life, including my severest trials. The good news about my trials is that God is forcing them to bow to His gospel purposes and do good unto me by improving my character and making me more conformed to the image of Christ. Preaching the gospel to myself each day provides a lens through which I can view my trials in this way and see the true cause for rejoicing that exists in them. I can then embrace trials as friends and allow them to do God’s good work in me.” - Milton Vincent, The Gospel Primer

“I wish the pastor went a little deeper with that thought!”
“What was the verse he cited?”
“Did they announce…”
“I can’t remember that quote.” 

Sound familiar? I’m sure it does. Whether it is a thought that misses the final sermon cut, an announcement cut for time’s sake, or our memory just not cutting it, we can miss a lot on Sunday morning. 

Introducing The Cutting Board. (This blog!) From sermon notes to theological reflections to important announcements, The Cutting Board exists to keep you in the know, take you deeper into truth and show you Jesus in ways that are relevant to the life and people of Sovereign Grace Church. 

The best way to stay up to date is to check back here often! If you’re a member of our church you will also be receiving blog updates via email. Anyone else interested in receiving these updates can subscribe below or on our “what to expect” page here!

Once subscribed, look for “The Cutting Board” in your inbox. And don’t forget to check your spam folder!