Blog - Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta: Recent Episodes
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This is our Church News page that gets sent as a blog post to all our members. It is a collection of notices and updates and gives you a good taste of the life of our community and what is going on. You can subscribe to find out the latest event details and get encouraging updates.
On Sunday, we began going through the Sovereign Grace Catechism. We will be going through these questions and answers throughout this year to help us hide the foundational truths of our faith in our hearts.
The SG Catechism Books will also be available for purchase at church this week! They will be down from $15 to $10!
Men’s Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
Got questions about life?
We would love for you to join us for the Bridge Course!
Come and find a safe place to ask the hard questions at the Bridge, starting 6:30PM Tuesday 18 Feb.
Dinner and childcare will be provided!
Register your interest here.
Hey Church,
We are exactly two weeks out from week one of the Bridge, and to prepare for this, we have called for a time of prayer and fasting to seek God’s heart for the lost.
Fasting is a means of grace which helps us to humble ourselves before the Lord and long for more of His presence & power as His children; and helps us to be focused in our intercession for others.
In the lead up to the Bridge, we are calling for a time of corporate fasting as we pray for God to bring many to the course and to save souls through it! Whether you fast a meal a day, or for a day a week, or forego something else, lets seek the Lord with urgency and eager expectation.
Here’s a great little article that might help us in it: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/fasting-for-beginners
May our hunger for God lead to the salvation of many!
This Sunday afternoon,we will be having our biannual Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for this year.
When: 4:30-6:30pm | Sunday, 9th February
Where: Iron Street Hall (27 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
Dinner will be provided and there will be a kids’ movie on downstairs for the duration of the meeting.
We would love for you to prioritise this in your calendar as there will be important announcements and information relayed during our time together. Thankyou!
Life groups are back on from this week!
Your LG leaders will contact you with further details.
To help you plan out this coming term, please find attached the Term 1 Life Group & Growth Group Schedule below. We hope that this will help you in your planning and organising your calendar/babysitting around groups where possible.
For the next four weeks we are diving into a sermon series called, “All In”, to kick our year off. We are going to look more topically at what it means to go all in for Jesus, with our time, money, and words. Although this will not be exhaustive the hope is that this will help shape us in some key ways for the year ahead.
“For to me to live is Christ” Phil 1:21
As we begin Life Groups next week, I wanted to let you know that sadly the Lucas Life Group has come to an end. A big thank you to Scott and Emma for hosting this group for the past year! Their group will be split up amongst our other groups.
I am excited to let you know that we are trialling something for the first time in our church, a language based Life Group. Arbie and Lavinia Magno will be starting their own Life Group for Tagalog speakers (one of the languages of the Philippines). This will help members in our church whose ‘heart language’ is not English. It’s one thing to answer bible questions in another language, it’s another thing to pour out your heart. We want to see how it goes to try and help some of our Filo brothers and sisters whom this will serve. They will be running this on Sunday Afternoons.
Please be praying for them!
On Sunday, we formerly introduced the Fletchers and welcomed them into our church family. Joel served us so well by preaching faithfully from Psalm 2, reminding us that true, lasting joy and safety can only be found in King Jesus and under His rule!
Joel will be coming on as a Student Minister at SG Parra, whilst studying at Moore Theological College in Sydney.
Please continue to warmly welcome Joel, Sam and little Jonathan as they settle into our church over the coming weeks.
Life groups will be starting up again from next week!
To help you plan out this coming term, please find attached the Term 1 Life Group & Growth Group Schedule below. We hope that this will help you in your planning and organising your calendar/babysitting around groups where possible.
On Sunday, the 9th of February,we will be having our biannual Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for this year.
When: 4:30-6:30pm | Sunday, 9th February
Where: Iron Street Hall (27 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
Dinner will be provided and there will be a kids’ movie on downstairs for the duration of the meeting.
We would love for you to prioritise this in your calendar as there will be important announcements and information relayed during our time together. Thankyou!
Most big companies spend millions (sometimes billions) of dollars to reach us with their products, Tesla being a rare exception. Until recently, they spent almost no money on advertising, relying on word of mouth and a superior product, they saved their cash and put it into product development. I think it’s safe to say, they’re doing fine!
In order for us to get the word out there for Bridge we aren’t going to have a glitzy advertising campaign or marketing strategy, instead it is up to us to personally invite our friends, neighbors, and family along to the Bridge.
Obviously, we are not selling a product, but offering an opportunity for eternal life. We are not trying to run a program, but hand out spiritual bread and water to the spiritually hungry and thirsty. We don’t need the Bridge to work, it’s not about making our event a success! It’s about reaching the lost. And you are the best person to reach the lost around you.
So the question is:
WHO COULD YOU BRING TO BRIDGE?
It starts in three weeks! Now is the time to make that invite.
If you haven’t, watch one of the Bridge videos to taste and see if it’s any good. I think they are awesome and will serve people really really well.
https://bridgecourse.org
The Bridge Course **The Bridge Course is a way to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed, non-threatening environment over ten weeks.**
We will be holding International Sunday this week to celebrate all the different cultures represented in our church community!
We’d love to invite you to bring a traditional dish or snack (no nuts, please) from your cultural background and also to come dressed in a traditional outfit.
Please notify Richard Song at richard@sgparra.org.au if you are able to bring a dish.
We look forward to celebrating with you!
On Sunday, the 9th of February,we will be having our biannual Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for this year.
When: 4:30-6:30pm | Sunday, 9th February
Where: Iron Street Hall (27 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
Dinner will be provided and there will be a kids’ movie on downstairs for the duration of the meeting.
We would love for you to prioritise this in your calendar as there will be important announcements and information relayed during our time together. Thankyou!
Riley will be away from the office from 9-23rd Jan.
Richie will be away from the office 13-20th Jan.
They won’t be attending to email or WhatsApp in this time.
Our Summer Book Clubs will begin this week for the ladies and continue for the men!
Women’s Book Club: 7:30pm Tuesday 7 January
It’s not too late to join! You can contact Rebs (admin@sgparra.org.au) if you’d like to sign up.
Men’s Book Club: 7:30pm Thursday 9 JanuaryYou can contact Richard (richie@sgparra.org.au) for more info.
As we come into the new year, here’s your friendly reminder to subscribe to the church calendar if you haven’t already done so! This will help you stay up to date with important events within the church.
For iPhone users:If clicking on the link below doesn't do the trick, then try this on your phone:
Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar > Paste link. Repeat for each calendar.
For Android users:Follow this quick tutorial to subscribe to each calendar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBcPO-jO2eI
Links:
Wednesday LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/35299c88167329e93ce8a9b5876a1d3cebfe8856b4045af71e9f0cb98a17af00%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Thursday LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/cd6c1dfd72114035ea1d9f30c118924c79a286331585cd94a463be225ea84853%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Sunday LG:https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=OWQ3ZDJhMzE0YmE0NWM5NjYyZTcyYWNhZjgyMGU3NDQyNWNkZGVlMzg5Y2ExNDAxNzFjMGQ3YzZhNjk1NzMxYkBncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t
If you have any problems subscribing to the calendar, contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
We will be holding International Sunday on the 26th of Jan to celebrate all the different cultures represented in our church community!
We’d love to invite you to bring a traditional dish or snack (no nuts, please) from your cultural background and also to come dressed in a traditional outfit.
Please notify Richard Song at richard@sgparra.org.au if you are able to bring a dish.
We look forward to celebrating with you!
A Happy New Year to you all and I hope that you are prayerfully preparing yourself for a new calendar year. I wanted to take a moment to let you know of an exciting announcement for us as a church: we will be taking on a 'Student Minister' named Joel Fletcher, a student at Moore Theological College in Sydney.
You may remember Joel and Sam as they visited with us a couple of months ago. He is completing his theological studies at Moore and as part of his studies he needs to undertake a ministry placement and we are glad to accomodate he, Sam and their son Jonathan!
Training up future pastors is not optional but a perennial responsibiliity of elders and local churches and it is our joy to be a part of the journey. Paul makes this clear in 2 Tim 2:1-2.
"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."
We came to meet Joel through our other Joel! Joel Fletcher began to be interested in continuationism, one of our 7 shared values, and went looking for resources and asked people who knew of continuationist churches, one of friends at College was friends with Joel Seric and made the connection, who then made the connection with me.
Its been fun getting to know Joel F over phone calls, catch ups and interviews. He is thoughtful, loves Christ, determined and is doing the risky thing of setting apart his life to serve the Lord. He comes with a great review from his home church, The Lakes EV in the Central Coast, and his previous Student Ministry position at Wenty Anglican.
The role of a Student Minister is different to a Pastoral Intern. His focus is his studies at Moore and to help give him exposure and experience he will be involved in various serving activities including preaching and assisting in SG Kids coordinating. So this will be a new experience for us all.
His first Sunday will be Australia Day, 26 Jan where I have given him the easy, warm up job of preaching! Nothing like a good sermon to ease your way in!
As we take this new step froward, please do what you do so well...warmly welcome Joel, Sam and Jonathan into our church family. We don't know what the future will hold but I trust that God has led them to us for our blessing and hopefully theirs too!
As is our usual practice we will be preaching through the Psalms over the summer holidays period and we will be having some guest preachers, including some very fresh faces!
Jan 5th: Psalm 86 - Riley
Jan 12th: Psalm 46 - Craig Oliver
Jan 19th: Psalm 22 - Jazz Dawson
Jan 26th: Psalm 2 - Joel Fletcher
Feb 2nd: TBC - Louis Baron
Holidays doesn’t mean time off from our soul, instead it is time off FOR our soul!
Crossway Plus' annual e-book & audiobook deal is live! From the 1st to 8th of Jan 2025, Crossway+ members will have access to all ebooks and audiobooks from 2.99USD!
**some exclusions apply.*
We recommend signing up (Crossway+ membership is free - sign up here!) and taking advantage of this deal! This may also be helpful for the summer book clubs happening throughout January (True Feelings is one of the books available at the discounted rate!).
Happy reading!
We had a wonderful evening at our recent Christmas Eve Service, celebrating and adoring Jesus our Saviour! It was a sweet time reflecting on the Christmas reality - that God took on flesh and was born as a baby to save mankind from sin and death. We lifted our voices to sing carols and enjoyed a festive supper afterwards.
If you came along, we’re so glad that you could be with us!
You’re welcome to join our Sunday gatherings, 10am at Parramatta East Public School.
Starting THIS Thursday 2 Jan, 7:30pm, the Men’s Summer Book Reading Catch Up Hang Out Time (aka Book Club but let’s be real…it sounds a bit girly to do a book club) will kick off at Riley’s house.
We will be going through “50 Days of Heaven” by Randy Alcorn, the book that Riley shared on Sunday during his message.
You can purchase the book for $10 by emailing Rebs and transferring the $ to the church account, they will be at the Coffee Table on Sunday.
Please email Riley to let him know you are joining.
We will be holding our Summer Book Club again in January of 2025!
This time, the ladies will be going through “True Feelings” by Carolyn Mahaney & Nicole Whitacre; a book about ‘God’s gracious and glorious purpose for our emotions’.
We will be running the study 7:30-9pm on Tuesday Nights throughout January. We will be keeping it casual, so you’re welcome to come along to one, some or all of the weeks based on your availability! Also, please feel free to invite friends and family along to join!
If you’re interested in joining, it’s not too late! Contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
We will be holding International Sunday on the 26th of Jan to celebrate all the different cultures represented in our church community!
We’d love to invite you to bring a traditional dish or snack from your cultural background and also to come dressed in a traditional outfit.
Please notify Richard Song at richard@sgparra.org.au if you are able to bring a dish.
We look forward to celebrating with you!
As the new year approaches, here’s your friendly reminder to subscribe to the church calendar if you haven’t already done so! This will help you stay up to date with important events within the church.
For iPhone users:If clicking on the link below doesn't do the trick, then try this on your phone:
Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar > Paste link. Repeat for each calendar.
For Android users:Follow this quick tutorial to subscribe to each calendar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBcPO-jO2eI
Links:
Wednesday LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/35299c88167329e93ce8a9b5876a1d3cebfe8856b4045af71e9f0cb98a17af00%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Thursday LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/cd6c1dfd72114035ea1d9f30c118924c79a286331585cd94a463be225ea84853%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Sunday LG:https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=OWQ3ZDJhMzE0YmE0NWM5NjYyZTcyYWNhZjgyMGU3NDQyNWNkZGVlMzg5Y2ExNDAxNzFjMGQ3YzZhNjk1NzMxYkBncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t
If you have any problems subscribing to the calendar, contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
There will be no groups during the school break. This extended break may be a great opportunity to book in time to catch up with your group members, or even those outside of your group! We will also be holding a Men’s & Women’s Summer book club during January that you can join.
Life Groups will recommence in February!
We hope and pray that you are enjoying a restful break!
Hello SG Parra,
Thank you for your continued prayers and thoughts.
From Jamie:
I'm being heavily invested in by some incredible women both from the church leadership team and from our PC year. I really don't take for granted the opportunity to have such incredible input, so thank you again soo soo much for investing and releasing us to be here.
I'm starting to form some deeper connections at the CrossFit gym I'm attending, which is currently my only non-Christian contact so I would love prayer for conversation opportunities to share the Gospel, particularly as all the Christmas events are underway (already!). An aside, our family saw snow for the first time! It was very magical, there wasn’t a lot but ever so just enough to make a tiny snow man with the kids!
Joel is continuing to be diligent in his studies and it's been such a blessing for me to see him not only grow in his faithfulness, but mostly in his deep affection and love for the Lord through the academically demanding challenges of the course...It definitely feels like we're being “fueled for, Lord willing, a lifetime of ministry!” \
From Joel:
As of this week, our PC class has completed approximately a third of the course - it has paradoxically been a fast and slow experience. I'm humbled to be afforded the opportunity to sit under such wonderful teachers.
Jamie and the children are really settled in now, having established routines and rhythms. This has been a relief to me, to know that they are thriving. It's a delight to see my wife pursuing the Lord with eagerness, growing in love for HIm, pressing into the opportunities afforded throughout the year, such as women's groups, church outreach, gym evangelism, teaching and fellowship.
I've developed some wonderful friendships with like-minded men, eager to equip the saints and engage in evangelism. When we have accountability groups, it's evident that there's an openness to share and strengthen one another in the Lord. On another note, I often ride a push bike to college (at the church's building) and when I'm unable to, for a variety of reasons such as inclement weather, one of them will give me a lift. It's this sort of thing and other instances which communicate brotherly love.
It was so good to see Riley, Maddie, Richard and Louis at the Pastors' and Wives' Conference, and to hear about our church family back in Aus. I was reminded of the Lord's work in our SGParra church and through His undershepherd, Riley.
Our annual Christmas Eve Carols Service is fast approaching! This will be a great opportunity to invite friends and family to hear the Gospel and celebrate the birth of Jesus with us!
Date: Tuesday, 24th December
Time: 6pm
Location: Parramatta East Public School (Parking & Entry via Gaggins St.)
Kids: All the kids will be in the service
There will be carols, kids performance, the bible story read and explained, with some light supper afterwards.
We look forward to seeing you there!
We will be holding our annual Thanksgiving Sunday service on Sunday 29 December.
There will be no formal sermon on this day. Instead, we will be giving members of the church an opportunity to publicly give thanks for what the Lord has done in their lives this year.
You are more than welcome to take hold of this opportunity. If you’d like to do so, we would recommend writing out what you hope to say. Each person will be given approximately 3 minutes, so that we can have as many people take the mic as possible.
We look forward to giving thanks to the Lord together with you!
If you haven’t yet heard, SG Aus will be holding a Marriage Retreat next year - 28-29 March!
Whether you’re sending up an SOS in marital rescue or looking to foster an already flourishing reality, the aim of this retreat is to serve you and your marriage well, by bringing you together.
We’re doing an early bird price of just $60 per couple (usual price $75) for those that get signed up by the end of 2024.
With extended time for fellowship, worship, teaching and fun, we’re eager to see you there!
Hope you can join us!
You can read more about it and sign up here: https://anz.sovereigngrace.com/marriage
As the new year approaches, here’s your friendly reminder to subscribe to the church calendar if you haven’t already done so! This will help you stay up to date with important events within the church.
For iPhone users:If clicking on the link below doesn't do the trick, then try this on your phone:
Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar > Paste link. Repeat for each calendar.
For Android users:Follow this quick tutorial to subscribe to each calendar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBcPO-jO2eI
Links:
Wednesday LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/35299c88167329e93ce8a9b5876a1d3cebfe8856b4045af71e9f0cb98a17af00%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Thursday LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/cd6c1dfd72114035ea1d9f30c118924c79a286331585cd94a463be225ea84853%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Sunday LG:https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=OWQ3ZDJhMzE0YmE0NWM5NjYyZTcyYWNhZjgyMGU3NDQyNWNkZGVlMzg5Y2ExNDAxNzFjMGQ3YzZhNjk1NzMxYkBncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t
If you have any problems subscribing to the calendar, contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
There will be no groups during the school break. This extended break may be a great opportunity to book in time to catch up with your group members, or even those outside of your group!
Life Groups will recommence in February!
We hope and pray that you are enjoying a restful break!
We’re excited to share the highlights of our recent Annual Church Survey and express our gratitude to everyone who participated. Your insights are invaluable in helping us grow together as a community and fulfill our mission of knowing, applying, and proclaiming the glorious gospel of Jesus.
Your responses are helping us refine and strengthen our vision as a church to be a place where every person can thrive in their walk with Christ.
Thank you for being part of this journey. By God’s grace, we are building something beautiful for His glory.
If you missed the survey or have additional thoughts, we’d still love to hear from you - reach out anytime!
As you’ve noticed, we’ve been promoting our upcoming Bridge Course a lot lately! This is because we want to help as many people as possible come along so they can engage with the great content of this course and make relationships with members from our church.
But who should you invite?
The secret to The Bridge is that it contains all three main elements of evangelism:
- Gospel proclamation
- Relational connection and love
- Corporate witness - where they see Christians loving and serving and worshipping.
The benefit of this is that it means it's got a broader appeal and each facet can affect people differently. So you can invite:
- Someone who is brand new and is really investigating the faith
- Someone who has a Christian/church background but hasn’t ever had saving faith
- Someone who has lots of questions
- Someone who is skeptical
- Someone who is a baby Christian and needs solid answers to big questions
- Someone who knows a lot but doesn’t know many Christians or hasn’t ever experienced true Christian community
Who could you bring to Bridge?
Want to watch a video of someone who has been to Bridge and had their life changed?
https://bridgecourse.org/stories/
We will be holding our Summer Book Club again in January of 2025!
This time, the ladies will be going through “True Feelings” by Carolyn Mahaney & Nicole Whitacre; a book about ‘God’s gracious and glorious purpose for our emotions’.
We are hoping to run the study one night a week throughout January. We will be keeping it casual, so you’re welcome to come along to one, some or all of the weeks based on your availability! Also, please feel free to invite friends and family along to join!
More details to follow soon, but if you’re interested in joining us, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
Starting THIS Thursday 2 Jan, 7:30pm, the Men’s Summer Book Reading Catch Up Hang Out Time (aka Book Club but let’s be real…it sounds a bit girly to do a book club) will kick off at Riley’s house.
We will be going through “50 Days of Heaven” by Randy Alcorn, the book that Riley shared on Sunday during his message.
You can purchase the book for $10 by emailing Rebs and transferring the $ to the church account, they will be at the Coffee Table on Sunday.
Please email Riley to let him know you are joining.
A post by Maddison Lick
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but you do justice, and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?’
Micah 6:8
During our last Prayer and Praise night we spent some time as a church praying for our nation and praying against abortion in our country. Currently, Australian children can be killed from conception to 22 weeks or even up to birth, depending on the state. Babies born alive after a failed abortion are not allowed to receive life-saving care and are left to die.
Opening the conversation about abortion is hard and often feels like a taboo topic. It can be difficult to know what we can do or say in our communities—especially if we work in health care—when abortion is so celebrated in our culture.
On 30 November, a pro-life day called Life Summit will be held in the CBD with the aim to equip us for these conversations and learn what we can do. This summit is being coordinated by an Australian lawyer called Joanna Howe, who has been standing up against abortion for a couple of years now. Some of you may have been following her recent fight to pass a bill in Adelaide that protects the lives of babies after 28 weeks and allows them to be put up for adoption instead of being killed. This bill lost by only 1 vote. Approximately 3,000 citizens turned up to support the bill, highlighting that many people are engaged and desire change.
A few people have already signed up to this event, and I would like to invite you and encourage you to prayerfully consider if you can join us as we seek to become better equipped to be a voice for the voiceless. Details below.
Register : https://www.drjoannahowe.com/lifesummit
Date: Saturday 30 November
Time: 9am-5pm
Price: $30
Location: Provided closer to the date but at a hotel in the CBD
Details At this one-day conference you'll have the opportunity to hear from renowned pro-life leaders, gain practical tools to make a difference, connect with like minded individuals fighting for the unborn.
As announced on Sunday, we will be a holding a Christmas Wreath Night again this year!
When: 7:30PM, Saturday 30 November
Where: 27 Iron St, North Parrmatta
Cost: $20pp (incl. food and materials)
RSVP: admin@sgparra.org.au, by 22 Nov
Please feel free to invite friends and family along!
We look forward to seeing you there!
We are back with Life Groups this week! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need!
The annual Sovereign Grace Pastors’ Conference will be on this week. This is a conference for pastors & pastor’s wives of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world to come together for a time of teaching and fellowship. From SG Parra, we have Riley, Maddie, Richie and Louis who will be attending this year. Please be praying for their time over in the States as they attend this conference - that they might come away from it refreshed, and reinvigorated for the Kingdom work that God has called them to.
As announced on Sunday, we will be a holding a Christmas Wreath Night again this year!
When: 7:30PM, Saturday 30 November
Where: 27 Iron St, North Parrmatta
Cost: $20pp (incl. food and materials)
RSVP: admin@sgparra.org.au, by 22 Nov
Please feel free to invite friends and family along!
We look forward to seeing you there!
A post by Maddison Lick
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but you do justice, and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?’
Micah 6:8
During our last Prayer and Praise night we spent some time as a church praying for our nation and praying against abortion in our country. Currently, Australian children can be killed from conception to 22 weeks or even up to birth, depending on the state. Babies born alive after a failed abortion are not allowed to receive life-saving care and are left to die.
Opening the conversation about abortion is hard and often feels like a taboo topic. It can be difficult to know what we can do or say in our communities—especially if we work in health care—when abortion is so celebrated in our culture.
On 30 November, a pro-life day called Life Summit will be held in the CBD with the aim to equip us for these conversations and learn what we can do. This summit is being coordinated by an Australian lawyer called Joanna Howe, who has been standing up against abortion for a couple of years now. Some of you may have been following her recent fight to pass a bill in Adelaide that protects the lives of babies after 28 weeks and allows them to be put up for adoption instead of being killed. This bill lost by only 1 vote. Approximately 3,000 citizens turned up to support the bill, highlighting that many people are engaged and desire change.
A few people have already signed up to this event, and I would like to invite you and encourage you to prayerfully consider if you can join us as we seek to become better equipped to be a voice for the voiceless. Details below.
Register : https://www.drjoannahowe.com/lifesummit
Date: Saturday 30 November
Time: 9am-5pm
Price: $30
Location: Provided closer to the date but at a hotel in the CBD
Details At this one-day conference you'll have the opportunity to hear from renowned pro-life leaders, gain practical tools to make a difference, connect with like minded individuals fighting for the unborn.
There will be no Prayer & Praise or Life Group this week whilst the Pastoral team are over in America for the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s Conference. Feel free to use this opportunity to meet up with others and hang out!
Romans 12:5 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
I want our church to always be a place where we share our highest joys and our deepest laments. It’s the latter half that is often harder, but it’s something we must fight for as the people of God.
We need a place to weep, and people to weep with. It’s uncomfortable lamenting, groaning, and mourning, but it’s a gift we can give to one another.
So friends, as we reflect on Romans 8:18-27 we see that futility is bound up in our life, indeed, inseparable from our life, even post-cross, and so let us face it head on, together.
Let us rejoice in the greatest moments in our life together and let us hang our heads in dismay too. And in the centre of the joy and groaning, is Jesus Christ.
The one who for the joy set before him, headed to his darkest hour. The one who wept, and then resurrected Lazarus. The one who came to bring life, and life to the full, but a life that is betwixt with suffering, anguish, pain and loss.
If you are struggling, share it. If you see someone struggling, hug them, pray with them, don’t try to make it all better, but do try to walk them to Jesus once again where they can lay their burdens and griefs and laments down, and in his arms they will find true sympathy and true life.
We are a church that does weddings and funerals. Baptisms and lament. We do cake and Kleenex.
So come and be real. Rejoice greatly, and ugly cry. But just come with your whole self.
Sovereign Grace Parramatta, let us be a place to weep.
The annual Sovereign Grace Pastors’ Conference is coming up next week. This is a conference for pastors & pastor’s wives of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world to come together for a time of teaching and fellowship. From SG Parra, we have Riley, Maddie, Richie and Louis who will be attending this year. Please be praying for their time over in the States as they attend this conference - that they might come away from it refreshed, and reinvigorated for the Kingdom work that God has called them to.
As announced on Sunday, we will be a holding a Christmas Wreath Night again this year!
When: 7:30PM, Saturday 30 November
Where: 27 Iron St, North Parrmatta
Cost: $20pp (incl. food and materials)
RSVP: admin@sgparra.org.au, by 22 Nov
Please feel free to invite friends and family along!
We look forward to seeing you there!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
We are so thankful to God for the amazing time we had over the weekend at our first SG AUS MEN’S Conference with our dear friend Eric Turbedsky serving us. A picture is worth a 1000 words so I’ll let the pictures do the talking. If you want to see a slideshow version click here! The talks will be coming online soon. Three marching orders from Christ Our Captain: Love, Fight, Rest!
G2G will be on this Friday 25th October, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
Please be praying for the youth of SG Parra and any friends who come along - that God would work powerfully as the Gospel is presented to them.
Men’s Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
The wait is over! Our SG Aus Men’s Conference is happening this weekend!
The theme for the conference is ‘Christ Our Captain’ and we have the privilege of having Pastor Eric Turbedsky from Sovereign Grace Church of Orange make the trip out to teach and help us to orient our lives around Christ and his mission.The aim is for the men of our churches to gather for an extended time of fellowship, worship and also some stupid fun!
Please be praying for the men of our churches as they attend this conference - that the Lord would meet and envision them in the roles He has called them to. Please also be praying for Eric as he serves the men.
Life Groups are back this week! Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally.
As much as is possible, it’s our aim for every member to attend Life Group or Growth Group, every time it’s on! This isn’t a rule or a new law, rather, we’d love that these special times go in our calendars first because they’re so good and so vital for our growth AND they are a key way we each play a part in serving each other in the church.
For some, this is made difficult because of shift work, travel, or baby sitting needs. To help you, we’ve attached the Term 4 Schedule below so that you can look ahead to when your group is on and organise your calendar/sitting around that if possible.
It’s so great when the most amount of people can be regularly be at group where possible!
I hope Life Groups and Growth Groups bless you once again this term!
This week we have the privilege of having Eric Turbedsky with us for our Men’s Conference. On Sunday, he will be serving our Wahroonga church and so if you’d like to meet Eric and sit under his teaching you can visit Wahroonga for either their 10am or 5pm service, head to www.sovgrace.org.au for location and more details.
Also, we wil have Andrew Leung from Wahroonga preaching for us this Sunday!
We are hoping to have Ladies Coffee Mornings back on this term and we are looking for some volunteers to host one of these mornings. These are a great opportunity to have some unhurried fellowship with other ladies from church during the week.
If you are keen to host a coffee morning this term, please contact Rebs Song at admin@sgparra.org.au.
Have you been using your prayer guide?
The hope and aim of putting this together was that we’d grow even more into a praying church. One of the best ways to practically love people in our church is…to pray for them!! Even though it feels impractical, prayer is like a divine radio walkie talkie to heaven, where you can call down blessings and supplies for your friends and family.
This guide was designed to be used every month so even though it says ‘September’ on the front that was just the printing date! Just follow the day number with your calendar and pray through the people and the items until we update it in 6 months time.
Colossians 4:2
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
October 31 is Reformation Day, commemorating the day Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/luther-ninety-five-theses-what-you-may-not-know-why-they-matter-today/?amp=1) on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany. This sparked a ripple effect which caused the Protestant Reformation.
We owe our understanding of the Gospel, the grace of God, and the fact we can read the Bible in our own languages, and so much more to what was (re)discovered during this period. Many of these Reformers were beaten, imprisoned, and put to death for their actions of serving the Church.
For the next 30 days Desiring God Has a short (5-8 min) podcast or email that tells the story of the Reformation day by day. It’s called “Here We Stand”. I urge you to follow this so that you can know our history and appreciate all that God has done for us over the past 500 years. It is fascinating, inspiring, and faith building!
Email:
https://www.desiringgod.org/here-we-stand
Apple Pod:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/here-we-stand/id1288434187
Spotify Pod:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1Neg2uGWRfBMNPZ0SjQZUJ
Our next Women’s Breakfast is coming up THIS SATURDAY! It will be on the topic of Untangling Emotions.
Our dear friend and sister Rachel Pettett will be giving a talk on what God’s word has to say about our emotions and how to find Jesus in the mess of our emotions.
We hope you can join us for this time of fellowship, food and teaching!
When: 8:30-10:30am, THIS Saturday 5th October
Location: 27 Iron St, North Parramatta
Cost: $5pp (+$3 if you’d like a barista coffee from the local cafe - let Rebs know your order by this Friday)
RSVP: Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au (by Sunday 29 Sept)
Daylight Saving Time will be starting this Sunday! Here’s your friendly reminder to set your clocks forward one hour on Saturday night and to budget in for the hour lost this Sunday.
Looking forward to worshiping with you!
There will be no groups during the school break (this week and next), but this may be a great opportunity to spend that time catching up with your group members, or even those outside of your group!
We hope and pray that you are enjoying a restful break!
As we seek to grow in our mission I thought i’d put together a bunch of my thoughts into one place. Here’s good stuff I have stolen or gleaned or developed in the past month as I have thought lots about mission.
I present to you my mission cheat sheet.
Let’s be thinking: how can I bring Jesus to my friends OR bring my friends to Jesus!
Here’s a taster:
1) Don’t overlook the need to prepare the way. If Jesus needed John the Baptist to come first and clear the ground and prepare the way for Jesus, then we too need to do that in our day and age. If we just run up to someone in our workplace and blurt out “I have found the Messiah”, we shouldn’t be surprised if they book us an appointment with the workplace counsellor…most often the way needs to prepared, the ground cleared, relationships formed, and this all takes time.
2) Be mindful of plausibility structures. These are “accepted beliefs, convictions, and understandings that either green-light truth claims as plausible or red-light them as implausible.” (Sam Chan). E.g. For most people the believability of the gospel is similar to us saying we were abducted by an alien last night whilst watching Television. Almost everything in our culture red lights Christianity at the moment. So we need to be aware of the communal, experiential, and intellectual factors that can either aid or dissuade against belief.
3) Conversations have three layers. Most conversations work in three concentric circles from: interest > values > worldview. The outer layer = interests: footy, food, cafes, movies, books, music, holiday places. The middle layer = values: what’s good or bad, better or worse, wise or unwise; your views on raising children, political issues, how to manage the environment, same-sex relationships. The innermost layer = worldviews: the core beliefs of our life, our views on God, what happens after death, spirituality, identity and personhood. Etc. These three layers also move from safe > vulnerable, public > private, open > closed. Given our toxic cancel culture, its no wonder people only want to stay in the safe ‘interests’ zone! But for most Christians, we are very used to talking about our worldview beliefs openly and publicly. Most people, who aren’t high schoolers or uni students, are formed in their beliefs, and very rarely talk about it or want to…we need to be mindful of this and work safely and sensitively from the outside to the inside, earning trust, and loving them along the way not trying to push or pry, otherwise, we will be seen as unsafe and untrustworthy. Look for hints they want to go deeper, ask permission to take the conversation there, ask questions or ask them to keep going “tell me more”. Don’t do what I do too often, try and have a deep worldview conversation with someone whilst waiting in line for a sausage sandwich at the soccer club. It often takes a long time in our day and age to get their and see someone change their worldview, of course, we know the Spirit can act instantaneously and may he do so more and more!
G2G will be on this Friday 27 September, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
No parent participation is required this month.
We will be continuing our Alpha Youth series - going into week 2! Please be praying for the youth of SG Parra and any friends who come along - that God would work powerfully as the Gospel is presented to them.
Our next Women’s Breakfast is coming up in a couple of weeks, which will be on the topic of Untangling Emotions.
Our dear friend and sister Rachel Pettett will be giving a talk on what God’s word has to say about our emotions and how to find Jesus in the mess of our emotions.
We hope you can join us for this time of fellowship, food and teaching!
When: 8:30-10:30am, Saturday 5th October
Location: 27 Iron St, North Parramatta
Cost: $5pp
RSVP: Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au (by Sunday 29 Sept)
If you are keen to help out at the event, Rebs would love to hear from you! Please let her know via the RSVP email.
Mark your calendars, clear your schedule, and register now for the Men’s Conference, 18-19th Oct!
The theme for the conference is ‘Christ Our Captain’ and we have the privilege of having Pastor Eric Turbedsky from Sovereign Grace Church of Orange make the trip out to teach and help us to orient our lives around Christ and his mission.The aim is for the men of our churches to gather for an extended time of fellowship, worship and also some stupid fun!
Register here, more details here or just click the pictures.
Registrations will close this Friday 27 September!
To round out the term, both men’s and women’s growth groups will be meeting simultaneously this week! Your group leader will send out details shortly.
Following this week, we will be on a two week break from Life Groups over the school holidays.
This past Sunday, we had the great joy of celebrating our 5th Anniversary since planting in Parramatta in September 2019!
It was a HUGE celebration as we also included in the service: baby dedications, the induction of new members as well as a baptism! It was such a joy looking back on the past five years and reflecting on God’s faithfulness and sustaining grace displayed in all the steps we have taken so far.
We are so grateful for all the Lord has done to continue building His church and look forward to all that He will do going forward!
As part of our 5th Anniversary celebrations on Sunday, we showed a video with photos from the last five years as well as some messages from some dear friends from Sovereign Grace Churches across the globe.
It was a sweet way to commemorate our 5th birthday - see the video below if you weren’t able to catch it on Sunday.
On Sunday, amongst a host of other celebrations, we had the privilege of witnessing our dear sister Leng get baptised!
She gave a powerful testimony of how the Lord saved her. We’ve attached it here for those who may have missed it. We hope it blesses and encourages you!
I was raised in the Catholic faith in the Philippines, where I learned about the Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While I had a general knowledge of God as a supreme being to be worshipped and praised, my understanding of how real faith works was limited. I believed that as long as I knew some Bible stories and lived a life that was kind to others, I was secure in my place in heaven. For me, it was a simple equation: God plus good works equaled salvation.
Despite this belief, I often felt a profound emptiness within me. Even as I pursued my own education, built a career, and started my own family, something felt missing—an emptiness that no temporary fulfilment could satisfy. I felt a calling to draw closer to God, but my understanding remained superficial. I attended church and read the Bible, but my grasp of its deeper spiritual implications was limited. I knew I needed to seek God more earnestly.
Two years ago, my journey took a significant turn when I moved to this country and my cousin Daven invited me to this church. It was through this invitation and participating in the Alpha course that my faith began to take on new dimensions. I vividly remember a Bible study on John 1:1 with CJ, where I encountered a transformative truth: Jesus is the living God who takes away the sins of the world, including mine. For the first time, I understood that salvation is not about my efforts or good works but about the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Before placing my faith in Jesus, I relied on my own wisdom and strength and failed to recognize the extent of my sin. But as I accepted Jesus as my Savior, it was as if a sleeping giant within me awakened. I became acutely aware of my sinfulness and my need for a Savior. This new awareness deepened my faith, as I realized that through Jesus alone, I could be saved.
Now that I have placed my faith in Him, my perspective on life has shifted profoundly. As a mother of three, I recognize my responsibility not only to provide for my children financially but also to nurture them spiritually by sharing the good news of salvation. I am committed to guiding them in the faith that has so dramatically transformed my own life.
Today, I am here to be baptized as a public declaration of my faith in Jesus Christ. This act symbolizes my commitment to follow Him and to live out the salvation I have received through His grace alone.
Thank you for being a part of this significant moment in my faith journey. I look forward to growing in my relationship with Jesus and continuing to embrace the fullness of life He offers.
As part of his studies with Alphacrucis College, Ben Duckitt is putting on a performance at Iron Street this Sunday night. We will be having a night of worship thinking about the cross where him and a band will be leading us in singing the songs from the latest Sovereign Grace Music album: Knowing God.
When: 6-7pm, this Sunday 22nd September
Where: 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta
Our next Women’s Breakfast is coming up in a few weeks, which will be on the topic of Untangling Emotions.
Our dear friend and sister Rachel Pettett will be giving a talk on what God’s word has to say about our emotions and how to find Jesus in the mess of our emotions.
We hope you can join us for this time of fellowship, food and teaching!
When: 8:30-10:30am, Saturday 5th October
Location: 27 Iron St, North Parramatta
Cost: $5pp
RSVP: Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au (by Sunday 29 Sept)
We are back with Life Groups this week! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need!
The pastoral team are currently away until this Thursday for their biannual prayer and planning retreat. Please be praying for Richie and Riley as they spend time praying and planning for the remainder of the year and beyond.
Things to be praying for:
- Clarity of vision
- Godly wisdom as they think through ideas and plan
- A spirit of unity within the team
We look forward to what God will do in and through this time!
This week, we will be celebrating our 5th birthday as a church!
It will be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness to us over the last five years. We will also be celebrating baptisms, baby dedications as well as inducting our latest group of new members - it’s going to be a HUGE Sunday!
Please feel free to invite your friends and family for this special occasion!
When: 10AM Sunday, 15th September (coffee and tea served from 9:30!)
Where: Parramatta East Public School
We will also be having a pizza lunch at Doyle Reserve (weather permitting) after the service, so please bring along your picnic rugs and join us for lunch at the park. If it rains, the pizza lunch will be held at Parramatta East Public School.
We look forward to seeing you there!
There will be no life groups this week. Instead, we will be holding our monthly Prayer & Praise night!
When: 7:30PM, Thursday 12th September
Where: Iron St Hall (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
We will be spending our time in worship through song and in corporate prayer. All are welcome to this event - wherever you may be in your prayer life! We look forward to seeing you there!
On Sunday, we announced our upcoming Women’s Breakfast, which will be on the topic of Untangling Emotions.
Our dear friend and sister Rachel Pettett will be giving a talk on what God’s word has to say about our emotions and how to find Jesus in the mess of our emotions.
We hope you can join us for this time of fellowship, food and teaching!
When: 8:30-10:30am, Saturday 5th October
Location: 27 Iron St, North Parramatta
Cost: $5pp
RSVP: Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au (by Sunday 29 Sept)
Dear Church Family,
We are excited to be holding our two remaining G2G Alpha Youth series instalments on Friday 27 September and Friday 25 October 2024.
The G2G leaders are reaching out to our church family looking for volunteers who are willing to bless our youth by providing some food and snacks for the remaining two sessions.
If you enjoy cooking, serving, or coordinating meals, we’d love to have you be a part of the team by helping in this capacity.
If you’re interested in helping or want more information, please get in touch with Richie (richard@sgparra.org.au). Let’s work together to make this Alpha series a blessing for our G2G children!
In Christ,
The G2G Leaders
- We Receive
This Sunday we will sing a new song, “We Receive” from the latest Sovereign Grace Music Album. It’s a wonderful song celebrating the gospel through the Lord’s Supper.
Check it out here:
https://youtu.be/o9UqSBxscXw
LyricsVERSE 1
Beautiful Savior
Fullness of heaven
Though we have nothing
Here we receive
VERSE 2
Jesus, You call us
Now to remember
You were the offering
For all who believe
CHORUS
You laid Your life on the table
Broken like bread, poured out like wine
We sing what a wonderful Savior
Jesus our King, all that You give we receive
VERSE 3
Pardon and blessing
Life everlasting
Mercy unmeasured
How can it be?
VERSE 4
You are the Giver
Faithful forever
Help us to treasure
All we’ve received
BRIDGE
For the price You paid
We pour out our praises
For this feast of grace
We thank you, Jesus
- O God Of Mercy Hear Our Plea
This is a lament song groaning for our future glory and redemption
https://youtu.be/nlmxcK2wM4c
LyricsVERSE 1
O God, we’ve seen Your faithfulness
You brought us from the wilderness
But now our faith is frail and weak
O God of mercy, hear our plea
VERSE 2
When will You comfort our distress?
How long until the promised rest?
We cry to You from deepest need
O God of mercy, hear our plea
CHORUS
Abba, Father, our Redeemer
In this barren land be our hope and strength
Until glory we will trust and sing
Abba, Father, hear our plea
VERSE 3
We join creation’s longing groan
To take Your ransomed children home
For then the eyes of all will see
The God of mercy hears our plea
Music and words by Brittany Born and Matt Merker © 2017 Sovereign Grace Praise/BMI (adm. by Integrity Music) Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Churches. All rights reserved
Once a month (usually the 1st Sunday of the month) we celebrate the Lord’s Supper (Communion). This is a chance for us to rehearse the gospel afresh, reminding ourselves of our sin but even more our great saviour! At our church we encourage children to wait to take communion until they have been baptized.
Think of baptism as the front door of the house and communion as the family dinner table. We first come through the front door and then dine at the table. Baptism signifies you have died to your sin and have been spiritually raised with Christ awaiting the final resurrection into glory. This is a picture of our union with Christ. The Lord’s Supper signifies our fellowship and peace with God through Christ. This is a picture of our communion (fellowship) with him. So for kids who profess Christ, although it may be sincere, we want them to consider baptism seriously before eating at the table.
We enjoyed a great Sunday this past weekend, honouring the fathers and father figures in our church! We also had the joy of seeing little Liam Punzalan being dedicated before friends and family. It was a fabulous day of celebration and fellowship that we had the privilege of enjoying together as a church family!
In a couple weeks’ time, we will be celebrating our 5th birthday as a church!
It will be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness to us over the last five years. We will also be celebrating baptisms and holding a Pizza Lunch at Doyle Park after the service.
Please feel free to invite your friends and family for this special occasion!
When: 10AM Sunday, 15th September (coffee and tea served from 9:30!)
Where: Parramatta East Public School
We look forward to celebrating with you!
The deacons and the pastoral team will be meeting this Saturday, 7 Sept for their second planning day for 2024. Please be praying for them as they meet to plan for the next 6months - into next year!
Things to be praying for:
- Clarity of vision for the next 6months
- Godly wisdom as they think through ideas and plan
- A spirit of unity within the group
We look forward to what God will do in and through this time!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
G2G will be on this Friday 30 August, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
No parent participation is required this month.
However, we will be beginning our Alpha Youth series this week! Please be praying for the youth of SG Parra and any friends who come along - that God would work powerfully as the Gospel is presented to them.
In a few weeks’ time, we will be celebrating our 5th birthday as a church!
It will be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness to us over the last five years. We will also be celebrating baptisms and holding a Pizza Lunch at Doyle Park after the service.
Please feel free to invite your friends and family for this special occasion!
When: 10AM Sunday, 15th September (coffee and tea served from 9:30!)
Where: Parramatta East Public School
We look forward to celebrating with you!
Men’s Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
As a church we really want to grow!
We not only want to see more people come to faith and join our community but we also want to grow to better reflect our Lord Jesus!
So this year we’re starting a new tradition. Each year, around this time, we’re going to start taking some time out to try and take our pulse as a church.
The survey is anonymous, takes around 6 min to complete and covers areas from your personal growth, to our community and mission. We would love it if you could please take a moment to fill it out - we would love to hear from you!
Fill Out The Survey Here!
Dear Church family,
On September 15th, Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta will celebrate its Fifth year anniversary. We are excited to announce that each member, including your children, will receive an updated SG Parra shirt as a gift. A special shout out to Leanne for designing the shirt.
It’s our way of saying thank you for being an integral part of our church family and for your ongoing support and dedication.
Please fill out the form (see link below) by THIS Thursday 22 August, to ensure we have the correct size for everyone. It's crucial that everyone registers their size so we can place our order in time for this celebration. We have attached sizing charts below for your reference (Men’s = Staple Tee, Women’s = Maple Tee)
Order Your shirt Here If you have any questions, please contact Richie (richard@sgparra.org.au).
Thankyou!
Hello SG Parramatta,
We've been in America now for a little over a week.
Our journey over to the US was a long one: after a 15 hour flight, we were delayed in Dallas, being placed in accommodation overnight, but we arrived the next day and were warmly welcomed by some of the Pastoral College (PC) students.
When we went to sign the lease for our apartment it was not suitable, so we had to wait for another replacement to be made available (Monday 12th). I share this because the generosity of Sovereign Grace Louisville was shown as a lady from the church allowed us to stay in her home until our place was ready. Other moments of Gospel generosity have been shown: church people providing meals, gift cards, practical assistance (such as moving furniture), overall warmth and hospitality.
Now that we're settled into our lovely apartment, we're excited to start our US routines; such as Amaliah continuing with school, Jamie and I have found a gym (CrossFit Bluegrass - named after the famous grass of Kentucky, which apparently can look 'blue' from certain angles).
We went to our first Sunday church service and it was great but nothing compared to our home of SGParramatta (we miss you all!).
I've started some pre-classes; like Christian productivity and Greek, and will have orientation late next week.
This photo shows our family with some of the other families doing PC at a welcome BBQ hosted at the Kauflins' home.
In Peace,
Joel, Jamie, Amaliah and Tobias
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
Dear Church family,
On September 15th, Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta will celebrate its Fifth year anniversary. We are excited to announce that each member, including your children, will receive an updated SG Parra shirt as a gift. A special shout out to Leanne for designing the shirt.
It’s our way of saying thank you for being an integral part of our church family and for your ongoing support and dedication.
Please fill out the form (see link below) by Thursday 22 August, to ensure we have the correct size for everyone. It's crucial that everyone registers their size so we can place our order in time for this celebration. We have attached sizing charts below for your reference (Men’s = Staple Tee, Women’s = Maple Tee)
Order Your shirt Here If you have any questions, please contact Richie (richard@sgparra.org.au).
Thankyou!
Our monthly Prayer & Praise night is coming up THIS week!
When: 7:30PM, Wednesday 14 August
Where: Iron St Hall (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
We will be spending our time in worship through song and in corporate prayer. All are welcome to this event - wherever you may be in your prayer life! We look forward to seeing you there!
SG Kids is an integral part of our church’s life and it wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteers who give up their time, energy and resources to serve the next generation!
Part of what makes this all possible are our biannual training nights - the next of which is coming up THIS SUNDAY 18 August, 3PM at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
If you serve in SG Kids, please lock in this date for our first kids workers training night of the year. More details to come. Attendance at these training sessions is a crucial part of serving in kids, so please make it a priority to be there.
As announced on Sunday, we are currently in the process of trying to freshen up our socials and to keep a steady flow of content coming through our Facebook and Instagram pages. Something new that’s recently been introduced is a mid-week mini devotional reel on a verse or a topic that Riley will take us through. We are also hoping to use our socials as a place to update people on what’s been happening or is coming up in the life of our church.
We would love it if you could share our social accounts (see below) with friends and family to get the word out there! We hope that this new content might be a blessing to anyone who might come across it.
Website: sgparra.org.au
Facebook: @sgparra (facebook.com/sgparra)
Instagram: @sg.parra (instagram.com/sg.parra)
Our next Baptism Sunday will be on 15th September on our 5th Anniversary Celebration as a Church during the service.
If you’re interested in getting baptised, we will be holding a class on Sunday the 18th of August at 9am in one of the kids classrooms. This will be an opportunity for you to find out more about what we believe the Bible says about baptism and why it is a significant moment in the life of a Christian.
If you’d like to sign up for the class, please contact Riley at rs@sgparra.org.au.
Our next Baptism Sunday will be on 15th September on our 5th Anniversary Celebration as a Church during the service.
If you’re interested in getting baptised, we will be holding a class on Sunday the 18th of August at 9am in one of the kids classrooms. This will be an opportunity for you to find out more about what we believe the Bible says about baptism and why it is a significant moment in the life of a Christian.
If you’d like to sign up for the class, please contact Riley at rs@sgparra.org.au.
SG Kids is an integral part of our church’s life and it wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteers who give up their time, energy and resources to serve the next generation!
Part of what makes this all possible are our biannual training nights - the next of which is coming up on Sunday 18 August, 3PM at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
If you serve in SG Kids, please lock in this date for our first kids workers training night of the year. More details to come. Attendance at these training sessions is a crucial part of serving in kids, so please make it a priority to be there.
Mark your calendars, clear your schedule, and register now for the Men’s Conference, 18-19th Oct!
The theme for the conference is ‘Christ Our Captain’ and we have the privilege of having Pastor Eric Turbedsky from Sovereign Grace Church of Orange make the trip out to teach and help us to orient our lives around Christ and his mission.The aim is for the men of our churches to gather for an extended time of fellowship, worship and also some stupid fun!
Register here, more details here or just click the pictures.
Dear Church Family,
Over the next few weeks, our youth will be stepping out in faith by inviting their friends to our G2G Alpha Youth series. As they take this bold step, we want to support them with the most important thing we can offer - our prayers.
To do this, we’re looking for volunteers who are willing to commit to praying for and alongside our youth. This isn’t an endeavour that is separate or removed from what our youth are doing, but in praying for them, we are joining with them in their mission, contending for them as they reach out to their peers, and asking God to move mightily in their lives and in the lives of their friends.
Here’s how you can help:
- Commit to pray: We’re asking that you commit to pray for the youth that you’ve been assigned throughout the weeks to come as they invite their friends to G2G Alpha
- Pray specifically: We’d love for you to pray for specific children by name and their prayer points
- Encourage and support: Let’s also encourage these young hearts. A simple word of encouragement can mean the world to a child stepping out in faith.
If you’re willing to join us in this, please email: richard@sgparra.org.au and we’ll send you the prayer request.
Let’s rally around our kids and be expectant for the great things God will do in the hearts of our youth and those they invite to G2G Alpha!
- G2G Leaders
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
Our monthly Prayer & Praise night is coming up next week!
When: 7:30PM, Wednesday 14 August
Where: Iron St Hall (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
We will be spending our time in worship through song and in corporate prayer. All are welcome to this event - wherever you may be in your prayer life! We look forward to seeing you there!
Mark your calendars, clear your schedule, and register now for the Men’s Conference, 18-19th Oct!
The theme for the conference is ‘Christ Our Captain’ and we have the privilege of having Pastor Eric Turbedsky from Sovereign Grace Church of Orange make the trip out to teach and help us to orient our lives around Christ and his mission.The aim is for the men of our churches to gather for an extended time of fellowship, worship and also some stupid fun!
Register here, more details here or just click the pictures.
On Sunday we focused on Romans 6:15-23 and saw that we should live for Jesus as slaves of God because:
1) The only other alternative is to be a slave of sin (v.15-16)
2) He is the one who set us free! (v.17-18)
3) He has called us to! (v.19)
4) The reward is eternal life. (v.20-23)
An application question:
What is one realistic step toward obedience you could take this week to live for Jesus?
Perhaps make this your prayer:
“Take my life and let it be
Consecrated Lord to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee
Take my love my Lord I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
Ever only all for Thee
Ever only all for Thee”
(Take My Life - Garage Hymnal)
This is the LAST Sunday before the Serics head to out to the Sovereign Grace Pastors’ College in Louisville Kentucky. We’re going to miss them so much!
As a way to bless and honour them, we will be holding a special morning tea on their final Sunday after the service. We would love it if you could bring something to share as we celebrate and farewell the Seric family.
When: Sunday 4 August (after the service)
What: Pot-luck Morning Tea - bring please a plate to share! (Please bring label for your dish and specify if it is gluten/dairy free. We also ask that anything you bring be nut-free.)
Thankyou!
Men’s Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
Some groups will go through this Podcast episode: The Interdepend Leader - Grace and the Adventure of Leadership
In my walk as a Christian I have found no spiritual discipline more helpful than the combining of Word + Prayer in the practice of Biblical Meditation. Think of it like chewing gum, but as you chew more and more flavor is released, rather than it going dead and flat! Just reading the Bible is like popping a tea bag in water and taking it out again versus let it steep and brew and then drink it! The results are vastly different.
Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
//
In Donald Whitney’s book, Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life, he advocates 17 different ways to meditate on Scripture. This is not exhaustive, nor do you need to do them all, but we are all wired differently and so the variety may serve you. Here are most of them:
- Emphasize Different Words in the Text: e.g. take John 11:25 and slowly work your way through each word ““I am the resurrection and the life.”
- Rewrite the Text in Your Own Words
- Formulate a Principle from the Text—What Does It Teach?
- Think of an Illustration of the Text—What Picture Explains It?: E.g for Romans 6:12-14 you may want to picture a soldier on a long mission with orders from his General to complete the tasks.
- Look for Applications of the Text: How am I meant to respond to this text?
- Ask How the Text Points to the Law or the Gospel
- Ask How the Text Points to Something About Jesus
- Ask What Question Is Answered or What Problem Is Solved by the Text. E.g. Take Romans 3:21-26 as the answer, what is the question that made Paul right that answer?
- Pray Through the Text: I love doing this with the Psalms. I often put my prayer list and a Psalm together and pray for whoever I am praying for with the words in that Psalm.
- Memorize the Text: memorization is not meditation, but it can easily help it. As you memorize, ponder the wonders, chew on them, pray through them, and then use the memorized words as a prayer. E.g. I pray through Romans 5:1-2 every day. I say Romans 5:1 aloud “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God” and I re-preach the gospel to myself and try to rejoice in the goodness of God again to me. Then verse 2 says, “through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand…” and I remind myself, I don’t have the power to live for Jesus in myself, but I have full access to the throne of grace to ask for this power. So I then go through my main life roles: Christian, Husband, Father, Pastor; I run through the demands and duties for each of those roles in a process something like this: “Lord, I am a follower of Christ, you have called me to deny myself and take up my cross today, in my flesh I don’t want to nor can I do that, but I stand in your grace, and so I ask, please give me the power and grace to do this for your glory…” and then I move on to my calling as a husband to love my wife, etc etc.
- Create an Artistic Expression of the Text: I never do this…but go for your life!
- Set and Discover a Minimum Number of Insights from the Text: i.e. determine that you will read Romans 6:1-10 and find 10 insights, then another 10, then another 10 and keep going til you run out! Here’s a great story on putting this practice to work: “I’ve had at least four friends confirm a legendary assignment each experienced in a seminary class on Bible study methods taught at Dallas Theological Seminary by professor Howard Hendricks. He would tell his students to come back to the next class with at least twenty-five observations on Acts 1:8. Having done so, they would be required in the next class to return with twenty-five more observations on that verse. Finally, they were given the assignment to make as many observations as they could beyond the original fifty. Most were thinking they had almost exhausted Acts 1:8 by that point, until Hendricks exhorted the class with, “Oh, by the way, the all-time record is over six hundred.” Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 66). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.
- Ask the Philippians 4:8 Questions of the Text
- What is true about this, or what truth does it exemplify?
- What is honorable about this?
- What is just or right about this?
- What is pure about this, or how does it exemplify purity?
- What is lovely about this?
- What is commendable about this?
- What is excellent about this (that is, excels others of this kind)?
-
What is praiseworthy about this?
-
Finally, if you read multiple chapters a day, look for a thread or common idea that runs between them all.
I hope this help and bless you! Let me know what fresh insights and experiences you have!
If you haven’t already done so, please follow the instructions below to subscribe to our church calendar to stay up to date with important events within the church.
For iPhone users:If clicking on the link below doesn't do the trick, then try this on your phone:
Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar > Paste link. Repeat for each calendar.
For Android users:Follow this quick tutorial to subscribe to each calendar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBcPO-jO2eI
Links:
Wed LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/35299c88167329e93ce8a9b5876a1d3cebfe8856b4045af71e9f0cb98a17af00%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Thurs LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/cd6c1dfd72114035ea1d9f30c118924c79a286331585cd94a463be225ea84853%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
If you have any problems subscribing to the calendar, contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
Life Groups are back this week! Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally.
As much as is possible, it’s our aim for every member to attend Life Group or Growth Group, every time it’s on! This isn’t a rule or a new law, rather, we’d love that these special times go in our calendars first because they’re so good and so vital for our growth AND they are a key way we each play a part in serving each other in the church.
For some, this is made difficult because of shift work, travel, or baby sitting needs. To help you, we’ve attached the Term 3 Schedule below so that you can look ahead to when your group is on and organise your calendar/sitting around that if possible.
It’s so great when the most amount of people can be regularly be at group where possible!
I hope Life Groups and Growth Groups bless you once again this term!
The next G2G will be on this Friday 26 July, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
This will be a Parent Participation month, where we will be having Dave and Emma Taylor visiting to share their insights based on a wealth of experience around the area of discipleship and training in parenting through the teen years. You don’t want to miss out on this! So please lock the date into your calendars.
We look forward to seeing you there!
In Christ, we want to continue to grow in our love for one another, and in doing so, we’re a testament to the power and glory of Christ: John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
To love more richly, knowing and understanding one another better is helpful, and a great way to do this is by informal conversations around food and smashing some golf balls into a driving range!
For our next social, we’re going to go to Swing City Golf & Entertainment in Bella Vista:
2-6 Norbrik Dr Bella Vista NSW
2153 1300 320 604
info@swingcitygolf.com.au
7:30pm, Saturday 3 August
We’ll kick it off with some food from the bistro at 7:30pm.
Then, we’ll go to some group bays and hit some golf balls – don’t worry, you don’t need to be a golfing pro (I’m certainly not!), just have some fun! There’s ‘a range of game options powered by inrange+ technology’, too.
Cost $13.30pp
I need to prebook so RSVP to me (Joel) by this Friday by 5:00 pm, transferring the money to the church account with description “Men’s Social”.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
As mentioned on Sunday, the Serics will be leaving for the US in less than a month to attend the Sovereign Grace Pastors’ College.
As a way to bless and honour them, we will be holding a special morning tea on their final Sunday after the service. We would love it if you could bring something to share as we celebrate and farewell the Seric family.
When: Sunday 4 August (after the service)
What: Pot-luck Morning Tea (Please bring label for your dish and specify if it is gluten/dairy free. We also ask that anything you bring be nut-free.)
Thankyou!
On Saturday we had our first ‘Marriage Morning’. It was a really helpful time for us as married couples to reflect on our marriages and in particular, our communication. Already I am hearing stories of just how important this morning was. If you missed it, or you are preparing for marriage one day, I wanted to make the materials available to you.
They are two talks given by Pastor Rob Flood from our Sovereign Grace sister church in Philly. The first talk is biblical principles for how we are to communicate and the second is a very practical and pastoral look at how to put this into practice. Most of the content is widely applicable in other spheres of life too.
- Foundational Truths for Communication + Handout
- Practical Tools for Healthy Communication + Handout
Also, there are some very searching discussion questions here to help you and talk outlines.
If this brings up anything that is too hard for you to work through alone, sit down with another couple in your Life Group or one you trust and start talking about it. Additionally, if you like Pastoral Counseling please do reach out to me.
May God bless our marriages!
The late and esteemed theologian, J.I. Packer, says this in the Foreword to the book I most want you to read on the Spiritual Disciplines, ‘Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life’ by Donald Whitney
“I was asked to write a foreword for this book before I saw it. Having now gone through it, I would in any case have volunteered for the job, so that I can go on record as urging all Christians to read what Don Whitney has written; indeed, to read it three times over, with a month’s interval (certainly not less, and ideally, I think, not more) between each reading. This will not only make the book sink in, but will also give you a realistic picture of your seriousness, or lack of it, as Jesus’ disciple. Your first reading will show you several particular things that you should start doing. In your second and third readings (for each of which you should choose a date on the day you complete the previous reading) you shall find yourself reviewing what you have done and how you have fared in doing it. That will be very good for you, even if the discovery comes as a bit of a shock at first.”
Buy it here: https://koorong.com/product/spiritual-disciplines-for-the-christian-life-donald-s_9781615216178
Here is a list of all the Spiritual Disciplines he recommends in his book:
- The Spiritual Discipline of Bible intake…for the purpose of Godliness
which includes: hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating, and applying the word. 2. The Spiritual Discipline of Prayer…for the purpose of Godliness 3. The Spiritual Discipline of Worship…for the purpose of Godliness 4. The Spiritual Discipline of Evangelism…for the purpose of Godliness 5. The Spiritual Discipline of Serving…for the purpose of Godliness 6. The Spiritual Discipline of Stewardship…for the purpose of Godliness 7. The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting…for the purpose of Godliness 8. The Spiritual Discipline of Silence and Solitude…for the purpose of Godliness 9. The Spiritual Discipline of Journalling…for the purpose of Godliness 10. The Spiritual Discipline of Study and Learning…for the purpose of Godliness
Don Carson has written helpful of the danger of not keeping the gospel central as we pursue the Spiritual Disciplines, I ran out of space to include it in my sermon, so please read it here.
“The gospel is not a minor theme that deals with the point of entry into the Christian way, to be followed by a lot of material that actually brings about the life transformation…Preaching the gospel, it is argued, is announcing how to be saved from God’s condemnation; believing the gospel guarantees you won’t go to hell. But for actual transformation to take place, you need to take a lot of discipleship courses, spiritual enrichment courses, “Go deep” spiritual disciplines courses, and the like. You need to learn journaling, or asceticism, or the simple lifestyle, or Scripture memorization; you need to join a small group, an accountability group, or . . . Bible study.
Not for a moment would I speak against the potential for good of all of these steps; rather, I am speaking against the tendency to treat these as postgospel disciplines, disciplines divorced from what God has done in Christ Jesus in the gospel of the crucified and resurrected Lord. . . .
Failure to see this point has huge and deleterious consequences. . . . First, if the gospel becomes that by which we slip into the kingdom, but all the business of transformation turns on postgospel disciplines and strategies, then we shall constantly be directing the attention of people away from the gospel, away from the cross and resurrection. Soon the gospel will be something that we quietly assume is necessary for salvation, but not what we are excited about, not what we are preaching, not the power of God. What is really important are the spiritual disciplines.
Of course, when we point this out to someone for whom techniques and disciplines are of paramount importance, there is likely to be instant indignation. Of course I believe in the cross and resurrection of Jesus, they say. And doubtless they do. Yet the question remains: What are they excited about? Where do they rest their confidence? On what does their hope of transformation depend? When I read, say, Julian of Norwich, I find an example of just how far an alleged spirituality may be pursued, in medieval form, directly attempting to connect with God apart from self-conscious dependence on the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus—the very matters the apostle labels “of first importance.” Wherever contemporary pursuit of spirituality becomes similarly distanced from the gospel, it is taking a dangerous turn”
D. A. Carson, "What Is the Gospel?-Revisited," in For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 164-165
P.S. Another quote I left out on Sunday….Trevin Wax at the Gospel Coalition has written a similar warning:
“In the spiritual formation wave, it’s far too easy for the gospel to be assumed instead of explicit, for Scripture to take a backseat to experience, and for the church to become a sideshow to one’s individual journey.”
The next G2G will be on Friday 26 July, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
This will be a Parent Participation month, where we will be having Dave and Emma Taylor visiting to share their insights based on a wealth of experience around the area of discipleship and training in parenting through the teen years. You don’t want to miss out on this! So please lock the date into your calendars.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Please save the date for the upcoming Men’s Social:
When: Sat Evening, 3 August
More details to come!
As mentioned on Sunday, the Serics will be leaving for the US in less than a month to attend the Sovereign Grace Pastors’ College.
As a way to bless and honour them, we will be holding a special morning tea on their final Sunday after the service. We would love it if you could bring something to share as we celebrate and farewell the Seric family.
When: Sunday 4 August (after the service)
What: Pot-luck Morning Tea (please bring label for your dish and specify if it is gluten/dairy free)
Thankyou!
There will be no groups during the school break (this week and next), but this may be a great opportunity to spend that time catching up with your group members, or even those outside of your group!
We hope and pray that you are enjoying a restful break!
This year, we’ve allocated some Saturdays throughout the year to workshop and hone in on different life stages that we may be in.
Coming up this Saturday, we have our:
SG Parra Marriage Morning (9:30am-12:30pm, Saturday 13 July)
at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta
We will be going through some talks by Rob Flood from Covenant Fellowship Church teaching on communication tools for marriage and life.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Please save the date for the upcoming Men’s Social:
When: Sat, 3 August in the Evening
More details to come!
There will be no groups during the school break (this week and next), but this may be a great opportunity to spend that time catching up with your group members, or even those outside of your group!
We hope and pray that you have a restful break!
This past Sunday, we continued on in our Romans series, where Riley preached on Romans 6:12-14 on pursuing newness of life as a result of our union with Christ.
Here is a prayer, shared by Rachel Pettett, to help us in this pursuit as we fight to present our members to God as instruments for righteousness.
“O Lord, come quickly and reign on your throne, for now often something rises up within me, and tries to take possession of your throne: pride, covetousness, uncleanness, and sloth want to be my kings, and then evil-speaking, anger, hatred, fear, and the whole train of vices join with me in warring against myself, and try to reign over me. I resist them; I cry out against them, and say, “I have no other king than Christ.” O King of peace, come and reign in me, for I will have no king but you!
Amen.”
(Bernard of Clairvaux)
This year, we’ve allocated some Saturdays throughout the year to workshop and hone in on different life stages that we may be in.
Coming up, we have our:
SG Parra Marriage Morning (9:30am-12:30pm, Saturday 13 July)
at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta
We will be going through some talks by Rob Flood from Covenant Fellowship Church teaching on communication tools for marriage and life.
Please save this date in your calendar if you’ve yet to do so!
We’d love to see you there!
SG Kids is an integral part of our church’s life and it wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteers who give up their time, energy and resources to serve the next generation!
Part of what makes this all possible are our biannual training nights - the next of which is coming up on Thursday, 18 July at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
If you serve in SG Kids, please lock in this date for our first kids workers training night of the year. More details to come. Attendance at these nights is a crucial part of serving in kids, so please make it a priority to be there.
The next G2G will be on Friday 26 July, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
This will be a Parent Participation month, where we will be having Dave and Emma Taylor visiting to share their insights based on a wealth of experience around the area of discipleship and training in parenting through the teen years. You don’t want to miss out on this! So please lock the date into your calendars.
We look forward to seeing you there!
To round out the term, both men’s and women’s growth groups will be meeting simultaneously this week! Your group leader will send out details shortly.
Following this week, we will be on a two week break from Life Groups over the school holidays.
G2G will be on this Friday 28 June, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
No parent participation is required this month.
However, for next month’s G2G (26th July), we will be having Dave and Emma Taylor visiting to share their insights based on a wealth of experience around the area of discipleship and training in parenting through the teen years. You don’t want to miss out on this! So please lock the date into your calendars.
We look forward to seeing you there!
This year, we’ve allocated some Saturdays throughout the year to workshop and hone in on different life stages that we may be in.
Coming up, we have:
A Singles’ Night (THIS Saturday Evening 29 June), and
A Marriage Morning (9am-12pm, Saturday 13 July)
These times together will be dedicated towards teaching and fellowship, centred around the different seasons that God has called each of us to at this present time.
Please save these dates in the calendar if you’ve yet to do so! There will be more details released closer to each event.
We’d love to see you there!
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
There will be no Life Groups on this week as it will be replaced by our monthly Prayer & Praise night.
When: 7:30PM, Wednesday 19 June
Where: Iron St Hall (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
We will be spending our time in worship through song and in corporate prayer. All are welcome to this event - wherever you may be in your prayer life! We look forward to seeing you there!
This Sunday we will be having a ‘Baby Dedication Sunday’.
We look forward to celebrating these precious children and welcoming their family and friends!
Psalm 127:3 - ‘Behold children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.’
Our next Band Training Night is coming up on Monday 24 June at 7:30pm at Iron Street.
This is one of our scheduled quarterly times together where we seek to come together to sing, pray and seek to use the gifts he has given us for the sake of Jesus' name.
The night is for current team members (band and sound) and new or existing church members who are interested in potentially joining the team.
We look forward to a great night of worship, training and making music together as a team!
This year, we’ve allocated some Saturdays throughout the year to workshop and hone in on different life stages that we may be in.
Coming up, we have:
A Singles’ Night (Saturday Evening 29 June), and
A Marriage Morning (9am-12pm, Saturday 13 July)
These times together will be dedicated towards teaching and fellowship, centred around the difference seasons that God has called each of us to at this present time.
Please save these dates in the calendar if you’ve yet to do so! There will be more details released closer to each event.
We’d love to see you there!
G2G will be on next week: Friday 28 June, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
No parent participation is required this month.
However, for next month’s G2G (26th July), we will be having Dave and Emma Taylor visiting to share their insights based on a wealth of experience around the area of discipleship and training in parenting through the teen years. You don’t want to miss out on this! So please lock the date into your calendars.
We look forward to seeing you there!
SG Parra Men’s Breakfast: WHAT’S BEST NEXT
When our time is compressed, we're feeling stressed, how do we manage it all for the glory of God?
SG men, we're committed to growing in greater understanding of the LORD, godliness and sacrificial love through Christ. As such, we want to grow in our spiritual maturity in the LORD through the application of the Gospel in every aspect of our lives.
Let's see this happen as we gather together for food, fellowship and the Word at our next Men's Breakfast.
Our next Men's Breakfast will be on this Saturday:
8:30-10:30am, Saturday 15 June
at the Iron Street Hall (27 Iron St. North Parramatta)
During our time together, we'll explore how God's Word helps us know what's best next. This is a particularly important topic for us, as so much is, or is seemingly, demanded of our attention, time and effort; and, we need God's perspective on how we're to manage all of the competing demands in a God honouring way.
Having worked in the demanding financial world, now working in a bio-vocational capacity (working at SGWahroonga and in finance), and trying to raise a family in the fear of the LORD, Andrew Leung understands the challenge of responding to the question: **What's Best Next?** He will be unpacking this important and universally experienced question for our lives, grounding it on the bedrock of Scripture.
I would strongly encourage you to attend, so that we might spur each other on in faithfulness and strength in the LORD, so please RSVP to Joel at joel@sgparra.org.au.
Also, if you'd be able and willing to contribute $10 for the breakfast, that'd be appreciated.
Our next Prayer & Praise night will be on next Wednesday 19 June.
When: 7:30PM, Wednesday 19 June
Where: Iron St Hall (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
We will be spending our time in worship through song and in corporate prayer. All are welcome to this event - wherever you may be in your prayer life! We look forward to seeing you there!
Our next Baby Dedications are coming up on Sunday 23 June. If you would like to dedicate your child/ren on this day, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au. This is also a great time to invite family and friends to church. For the rest of us, it’s a great time to welcome new faces and exude the love of Christ to all who come through our doors.
If you have any questions at all about baby dedications, please don’t hesitate to speak with Riley on a Sunday or contact him at riley@sgparra.org.au.
This year, we’ve allocated some Saturdays throughout the year to workshop and hone in on different life stages that we may be in.
Coming up, we have:
A Singles’ Night (Saturday Evening 29 June), and
A Marriage Morning (9am-12pm, Saturday 13 July)
These times together will be dedicated towards teaching and fellowship, centred around the difference seasons that God has called each of us to at this present time.
Please save these dates in the calendar if you’ve yet to do so! There will be more details released closer to each event.
We’d love to see you there!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
As announced on Sunday, Riley has headed over to Rome this week to attend the Sovereign Grace Churches Global Leaders retreat. Please be praying for him and the other leaders attending: that they would come away refreshed, built up and encouraged by the work that God is doing to build His church across the globe!
You can head here to find out more about what will be happening at the retreat: Mark Prater: Investing In Our Global Leaders.
This week, we have the privilege of Austin Loke from Sovereign Grace Church Wahroonga coming to preach at our Sunday Gathering.
Austin is currently serving as a Pastoral Intern at Wahroonga and is planning to head to the US with his family this August to attend the Sovereign Grace Pastors’ College in Louisville. Austin is married to Ivy with whom he has three children. The Lokes are dear friends to us and we are so looking forward to having them join us this Sunday!
Please be praying for Austin in the lead up to Sunday; that the Lord would use him mightily for God’s glory and our good.
SG Parra Men’s Breakfast: WHAT’S BEST NEXT
When our time is compressed, we're feeling stressed, how do we manage it all for the glory of God?
SG men, we're committed to growing in greater understanding of the LORD, godliness and sacrificial love through Christ. As such, we want to grow in our spiritual maturity in the LORD through the application of the Gospel in every aspect of our lives.
Let's see this happen as we gather together for food, fellowship and the Word at our next Men's Breakfast.
Our next Men's Breakfast will be on:
8:30-10:30am, Saturday 15 June
at the Iron Street Hall (27 Iron St. North Parramatta)
During our time together, we'll explore how God's Word helps us know what's best next. This is a particularly important topic for us, as so much is, or is seemingly, demanded of our attention, time and effort; and, we need God's perspective on how we're to manage all of the competing demands in a God honouring way.
Having worked in the demanding financial world, now working in a bio-vocational capacity (working at SGWahroonga and in finance), and trying to raise a family in the fear of the LORD, Andrew Leung understands the challenge of responding to the question: **What's Best Next?** He will be unpacking this important and universally experienced question for our lives, grounding it on the bedrock of Scripture.
I would strongly encourage you to attend, so that we might spur each other on in faithfulness and strength in the LORD, so please RSVP to Joel at joel@sgparra.org.au.
Also, if you'd be able and willing to contribute $10 for the breakfast, that'd be appreciated.
Our next Baby Dedications are coming up on Sunday 23 June. If you would like to dedicate your child/ren on this day, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au. This is also a great time to invite family and friends to church. For the rest of us, it’s a great time to welcome new faces and exude the love of Christ to all who come through our doors.
If you have any questions at all about baby dedications, please don’t hesitate to speak with Riley on a Sunday or contact him at riley@sgparra.org.au.
Men’s Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
G2G will be on this week: Friday 31 May, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
This is not a Parent Participation week. There will also be a pizza dinner provided for the youth!
We look forward to seeing you there!
SG Parra Men’s Breakfast: WHAT’S BEST NEXT
When our time is compressed, we're feeling stressed, how do we manage it all for the glory of God?
SG men, we're committed to growing in greater understanding of the LORD, godliness and sacrificial love through Christ. As such, we want to grow in our spiritual maturity in the LORD through the application of the Gospel in every aspect of our lives.
Let's see this happen as we gather together for food, fellowship and the Word at our next Men's Breakfast.
Our next Men's Breakfast will be on:
8:30-10:30am, Saturday 15 June
at the Iron Street Hall (27 Iron St. North Parramatta)
During our time together, we'll explore how God's Word helps us know what's best next. This is a particularly important topic for us, as so much is, or is seemingly, demanded of our attention, time and effort; and, we need God's perspective on how we're to manage all of the competing demands in a God honouring way.
Having worked in the demanding financial world, now working in a bio-vocational capacity (working at SGWahroonga and in finance), and trying to raise a family in the fear of the LORD, Andrew Leung understands the challenge of responding to the question: **What's Best Next?** He will be unpacking this important and universally experienced question for our lives, grounding it on the bedrock of Scripture.
I would strongly encourage you to attend, so that we might spur each other on in faithfulness and strength in the LORD, so please RSVP to Joel at joel@sgparra.org.au.
Also, if you'd be able and willing to contribute $10 for the breakfast, that'd be appreciated.
Our next Baby Dedications are coming up on Sunday 23 June. If you would like to dedicate your child/ren on this day, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au. This is also a great time to invite family and friends to church. For the rest of us, it’s a great time to welcome new faces and exude the love of Christ to all who come through our doors.
If you have any questions at all about baby dedications, please don’t hesitate to speak with Riley on a Sunday or contact him at riley@sgparra.org.au.
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
Our next Prayer & Praise night will be on this coming Sunday 26 May.
When: 7PM, Sunday 26 May
Where: Iron St Hall (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
We will be spending our time in worship through song and in corporate prayer. All are welcome to this event - wherever you may be in your prayer life! We look forward to seeing you there!
As many of you may know, Elvanto is a helpful platform that we use as a church to store our service rosters, member details, etc.
This is just a friendly reminder to please review your Elvanto profile to make sure all your details are correct and up to date.
Here’s how:
- Open up your Elvanto app or log in on a web browser (sgparra.elvanto.com.au/).
- Select “Profile” from the drop down menu (see screenshot below).
- Edit your profile as required.
-
If you’d like to edit the profile of a family member:
- Open the “Me” drop down menu. (see screenshot below)
- Select “Family”. (see screenshot below)
- Select the family member’s profile you’d like to edit.
- Edit profile as required.
If family members are not showing on your profile or if you are having any trouble with Elvanto, please don’t hesitate to reach out on the Elvanto help chatroom (link to chat room available on your Elvanto home page)!
Thank you for taking the time to make sure your Elvanto profile is up to date!
As announced on Sunday, the next round of the Alpha Course has been postponed and will now begin THIS WEEK! Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
The course will begin this Thursday 23 May and run each Thursday night for 5 weeks.
Please be praying for our first session together - that the Lord will bring people along to the Zoom session and give them soft hearts to hear the Gospel!
It’s also not to late to invite people along!
For more info or to sign up, you can head to: sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Walk up will be on this Sunday!
Time: 2-3PM
Location: Doyle Reserve (12 Buller St, North Parramatta NSW 2151)
Please speak to Richard Song (richard@sgparra.org.au) if you are interested.
As mentioned in the notices on Sunday, we will be introducing monthly “Giving Cards” from this Sunday. In an automated, digital world, these cards will serve as a tangible reminder of one of the ways we worship our God: through our financial giving.
These cards are completely anonymous and will not be kept for record - their purpose is purely to serve as a physical reminder of our worship through giving.
SG Parra Men’s Breakfast: WHAT’S BEST NEXT
When our time is compressed, we're feeling stressed, how do we manage it all for the glory of God?
SG men, we're committed to growing in greater understanding of the LORD, godliness and sacrificial love through Christ. As such, we want to grow in our spiritual maturity in the LORD through the application of the Gospel in every aspect of our lives.
Let's see this happen as we gather together for food, fellowship and the Word at our next Men's Breakfast.
Our next Men's Breakfast will be on:
8:30-10:30am, Saturday 15 June
at the Iron Street Hall (27 Iron St. North Parramatta)
During our time together, we'll explore how God's Word helps us know what's best next. This is a particularly important topic for us, as so much is, or is seemingly, demanded of our attention, time and effort; and, we need God's perspective on how we're to manage all of the competing demands in a God honouring way.
Having worked in the demanding financial world, now working in a bio-vocational capacity (working at SGWahroonga and in finance), and trying to raise a family in the fear of the LORD, Andrew Leung understands the challenge of responding to the question: **What's Best Next?** He will be unpacking this important and universally experienced question for our lives, grounding it on the bedrock of Scripture.
I would strongly encourage you to attend, so that we might spur each other on in faithfulness and strength in the LORD, so please RSVP to Joel at joel@sgparra.org.au.
Also, if you'd be able and willing to contribute $10 for the breakfast, that'd be appreciated.
G2G will be on next week: Friday 28 May, 6-8PM! It will be held at 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta.
This is not a Parent Participation week. There will also be a pizza dinner provided for the youth!
We look forward to seeing you there!
Our next Baby Dedications are coming up on Sunday the 23 June. If you would like to dedicate your child/ren on this day, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au. This is also a great time to invite family and friends to church. For the rest of us, it’s a great time to welcome new faces and exude the love of Christ to all who come through our doors.
If you have any questions at all about baby dedications, please don’t hesitate to speak with Riley on a Sunday or contact him at riley@sgparra.org.au.
There will be no groups this week as our monthly Prayer & Praise night will be replacing groups.
Life group will resume on the 29th of May.
“ When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4
This Sunday is ‘Pentecost Sunday’, or ‘Whitsunday’, it is a day in the church calendar that marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church, the dawning of the New Age, the New Covenant Era, the era of the Holy Spirit.
It was prophesied in Joel 2 that God would “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;” (Joel 2:28).
John the Baptist said, ““I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11).
Jesus promised in John 14 that he would send the Helper. And then, after he died and rose again, he gathered with the disciples and proclaimed: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. “ (Acts 1:8-9).
He left them to fulfill the great commission and build the church…so they went to Jerusalem, waited 10 days in prayer, and then…
SUDDENLY…the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them like never before.
Oh that God would do something similar in our church, in our lives, in our city and in our nation!
This Sunday we are going to break our usual series in Romans to focus on Pentecost, preaching from Acts 2.
We will respond in prayer and song.
We are a continuationist church, which means, we believe that God still moves with dynamic power in the life of believers to fill them with His Spirit for holiness, love, joy and power for mission. Let us never lose this!
I want us to celebrate Pentecost Sunday each year, adding it to our calendar like Easter and Christmas…what a special day!
As a follow up, on May 26th, Sunday, 7pm, we will have our next ‘Prayer and Praise Night”
Our monthly Prayer & Praise night is coming up on Sunday 26 May.
When: 7PM, Sunday 26 May
Where: Iron St Hall (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
We will be spending our time in worship through song and in corporate prayer. All are welcome to this event - wherever you may be in your prayer life! We look forward to seeing you there!
Riley and Richie are currently attending the Reach Australia National Conference, joining with leaders, pastors and church planters from all around the country to become better equipped to serve their churches.
Please be praying for the conference and for Riley and Richie; that the Lord would use this time to equip and encourage them and that this time away would stoke their zeal for their work in ministry.
As announced on Sunday, the next round of the Alpha Course has been postponed and will now begin THIS WEEK! Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
The course will begin this Thursday 23 May and run each Thursday night for 5 weeks.
Please be praying for our first session together - that the Lord will bring people along to the Zoom session and give them soft hearts to hear the Gospel!
It’s also not to late to invite people along!
For more info or to sign up, you can head to: sgparra.org.au/alpha.
SG Parra Men’s Breakfast: WHAT’S BEST NEXT
When our time is compressed, we're feeling stressed, how do we manage it all for the glory of God?
SG men, we're committed to growing in greater understanding of the LORD, godliness and sacrificial love through Christ. As such, we want to grow in our spiritual maturity in the LORD through the application of the Gospel in every aspect of our lives.
Let's see this happen as we gather together for food, fellowship and the Word at our next Men's Breakfast.
Our next Men's Breakfast will be on:
8:30-10:30am, Saturday 15 June
at the Iron Street Hall (27 Iron St. North Parramatta)
During our time together, we'll explore how God's Word helps us know what's best next. This is a particularly important topic for us, as so much is, or is seemingly, demanded of our attention, time and effort; and, we need God's perspective on how we're to manage all of the competing demands in a God honouring way.
Having worked in the demanding financial world, now working in a bio-vocational capacity (working at SGWahroonga and in finance), and trying to raise a family in the fear of the LORD, Andrew Leung understands the challenge of responding to the question: **What's Best Next?** He will be unpacking this important and universally experienced question for our lives, grounding it on the bedrock of Scripture.
I would strongly encourage you to attend, so that we might spur each other on in faithfulness and strength in the LORD, so please RSVP to Joel at joel@sgparra.org.au.
Also, if you'd be able and willing to contribute $10 for the breakfast, that'd be appreciated.
Our next Baby Dedications are coming up on Sunday the 23 June. If you would like to dedicate your child/ren on this day, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au. This is also a great time to invite family and friends to church. For the rest of us, it’s a great time to welcome new faces and exude the love of Christ to all who come through our doors.
If you have any questions at all about baby dedications, please don’t hesitate to speak with Riley on a Sunday or contact him at riley@sgparra.org.au.
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
Over the weekend, we held our inaugural Sovereign Grace Australia Women’s Conference. The theme of our time together was: When Life Is A Lot, and Trish Donohue gave three helpful talks which spoke into our sense of overwhelm in the midst of a full and busy life!
It was a sweet time of fellowship between our two Sovereign Grace Churches here in Australia and a timely opportunity for many of us to slow down for the day and hear what God’s word had to say about lies we may believe, comparison with others and distractions in the busy-ness of day-to-day life.
The talks are now available on the Sovereign Grace Parramatta streaming channel on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify or on our website.
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As announced on Sunday, the next round of the Alpha Course will be begin THIS WEEK! Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
The course will begin this Thursday 9 May and run each Thursday night for 5 weeks.
Please be praying for our first session together - that the Lord will bring people along to the Zoom session and give them soft hearts to hear the Gospel!
It’s also not to late to invite people along!
For more info or to sign up, you can head to: sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Here is a flyer you can share with friends and family with all the info:
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
To kick off Term 2, we will be having an Evangelism & Mission evening with Jim Donohue tomorrow night! Jim is a dear friend who serves as the Evangelism Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Philadelphia. We would love for you to make time to join us for this evening - it will be replacing Life Groups for week 1.
When: 7:30pm, Wednesday 1 May for a 7.45pm start
Where: Iron St. Hall (27 Iron St., North Parramatta)
We look forward to seeing you there!
Please be praying that the ladies of our two churches will be greatly refreshed and encouraged at the SG Aus Women’s Conference!
Dates: 7:30-9:30pm, Friday 3 May & 9am-4pm, Saturday 4 May
Location: Beecroft Uniting Church (82 Beecroft Road, Beecroft)
Guest Speaker: Trish Donohue from Covenant Fellowship Church in Philadelphia
Registrations for the Women’s Conference are closed. If you’ve yet to register, sorry but you’re too late!
There will be no groups this week as the Mission & Evangelism Night will be replacing groups this week.
Regular groups will resume on the 8th of May kicking off with Growth Group (Men).
Please find the LG schedule for Term 2 attached to help you with planning.
As announced on Sunday, the next round of the Alpha Course will be beginning soon! Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
The course will begin next Thursday 9 May and run each Thursday night for 5 weeks.
Please be praying for people you could invite along and that God would embolden us as a church to cross the pain line and share the Gospel with those around us who are lost.
For more info or to sign up, you can head to: sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Here is a flyer you can share with friends and family with all the info:
To kick of Term 2, we will be having an Evangelism & Mission evening with Jim Donohue. Jim is a dear friend who serves as the Evangelism Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Philadelphia. We would love for you to make time to join us for this evening - it will be replacing Life Groups for week 1.
When: 7:30pm, Wednesday 1 May
Where: Iron St. Hall (27 Iron St., North Parramatta)
We look forward to seeing you there!
Registrations for the Women’s Conference will close this Sunday 28 April! If you’ve yet to register, it’s still not too late!
Dates: 7:30-9:30pm, Friday 3 May & 9am-4pm, Saturday 4 May
Location: Beecroft Uniting Church (82 Beecroft Road, Beecroft)
Guest Speaker: Trish Donohue from Covenant Fellowship Church in Philadelphia
Cost: General Entry $40; Student $20 (All food and drink included)
This is an open event, so please feel free to invite friends and family along! We are so looking forward to seeing you there.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Register Here
Walk up will be kicking off again from this Sunday as we lead up to our first Alpha course for the year!
Date: Starting this Sunday, 14 April
Time: 2-3PM
Location: Doyle Reserve (12 Buller St, North Parramatta NSW 2151)
Please speak to Richard Song (richard@sgparra.org.au) if you are interested.
As announced on Sunday, the next round of the Alpha Course will be beginning soon! Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
The course will begin on Thursday 9 May and run each Thursday night for 5 weeks.
Please be praying for people you could invite along and that God would embolden us as a church to cross the pain line and share the Gospel with those around us who are lost.
For more info or to sign up, you can head to: sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Here is a flyer you can share with friends and family with all the info:
There will be no groups this week as we are on break for the school holidays.
Groups will resume on the 1st of May. Please find the LG schedule for Term 2 attached to help you with planning.
We hope you enjoy your break!
For the first time at SG Parra, some of our youth from G2G along with a group from SG Wahroonga will be heading to kyck this weekend! This will hopefully be an encouraging experience in which youth from yr6 and up will grow in fellowship and love of the LORD and His Son, Jesus.
The G2G young people attending from SG Parra will be: Evie, Kayleigh, Milo, Ellysse, Annabelle H, Melody and Annabelle B.
Please be praying for the youth and leaders who will be attending the conference: that they may encounter the Lord and enjoy meaningful fellowship with one another.
You can head here to find out more about kyck24.
The pastoral team and their wives from SG Australia are currently away at a retreat with the purpose of strengthening our marriages to better serve our respective churches. We will be spending our time being trained, caring for one another, bearing one another’s burdens and also building upon our friendship with one another.
Please be praying for our time together:
- for a spirit of unity
- for wisdom and love as we care for one another
- for protection against the enemy
Thank you!
This Sunday, we will have the privilege of having Brendan Willis from SG Wahroonga coming to preach at our church! Brendan is a dear friend! He is married to Charlotte with whom he has three precious boys: Elijah, Isaac and Benjamin. We are looking forward to welcoming them to SG Parra this week!
Registrations are still open for our first SG Aus Women’s Conference! We would love it if you could sign up early so that we can get a grasp on numbers. A big thank you to everyone who has already submitted their registration!
Dates: 7:30-9:30pm, Friday 3 May & 9am-4pm, Saturday 4 May
Location: Beecroft Uniting Church (82 Beecroft Road, Beecroft)
Guest Speaker: Trish Donohue from Covenant Fellowship Church in Philadelphia
Cost: General Entry $40; Student $20 (All food and drink included)
This is an open event, so please feel free to invite friends and family along! We are so looking forward to seeing you there.
Registrations will be open until 28 April.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Register Here We are also looking for some ladies who are keen to volunteer for the event. We would love your help! If this is something you’d been keen to do, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au. Thankyou!
As announced on Sunday, the next round of the Alpha Course will be beginning soon! Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
The course will begin on Thursday 9 May and run each Thursday night for 5 weeks.
Please be praying for people you could invite along and that God would embolden us as a church to cross the pain line and share the Gospel with those around us who are lost.
For more info or to sign up, you can head to: sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Here is a flyer you can share with friends and family with all the info:
There will be no groups this week as we are on break for the school holidays.
Groups will resume on the 1st of May. Please find the LG schedule for Term 2 attached to help you with planning.
We hope you enjoy your break!
Registrations are still open for our first SG Aus Women’s Conference! We would love it if you could sign up early so that we can get a grasp on numbers. A big thank you to everyone who has already submitted their registration!
Dates: 7:30-9:30pm, Friday 3 May & 9am-4pm, Saturday 4 May
Location: Beecroft Uniting Church (82 Beecroft Road, Beecroft)
Guest Speaker: Trish Donohue from Covenant Fellowship Church in Philadelphia
Cost: General Entry $40; Student $20 (All food and drink included)
This is an open event, so please feel free to invite friends and family along! We are so looking forward to seeing you there.
Registrations will be open until 28 April.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Register Here We are also looking for some ladies who are keen to volunteer for the event. We would love your help! If this is something you’d been keen to do, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au. Thankyou!
As announced on Sunday, the next round of the Alpha Course will be beginning soon! Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
The course will begin on Thursday 9 May and run each Thursday night for 5 weeks.
Please be praying for people you could invite along and that God would embolden us as a church to cross the pain line and share the Gospel with those around us who are lost.
For more info or to sign up, you can head to: sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Here is a flyer you can share with friends and family with all the info:
Walk up will be kicking off again from this Sunday as we lead up to our first Alpha course for the year!
Date: Starting this Sunday, 14 April
Time: 2-3PM
Location: Doyle Reserve (12 Buller St, North Parramatta NSW 2151)
Please speak to Richard Song (richard@sgparra.org.au) if you are interested.
Next week on the 16th-18th of April, the pastors and wives from SG Australia will be heading to a retreat with the purpose of strengthening our marriages to better serve our respective churches. We will be spending our time being trained, caring for one another, bearing one another’s burdens and also building upon our friendship with one another.
Please be praying for our time together:
- for a spirit of unity
- for wisdom and love as we care for one another
- for protection against the enemy
Thank you!
For the first time at SG Parra, some of our youth from G2G along with a group from SG Wahroonga will be heading to kyck on the 19th-21st of April! This will hopefully be an encouraging experience in which youth from yr6 and up will grow in fellowship and love of the LORD and His Son, Jesus.
The G2G young people attending from SG Parra will be: Evie, Kayleigh, Milo, Ellysse, Annabelle H, Melody and Annabelle B.
Please be praying for the youth and leaders who will be attending the conference: that they may encounter the Lord and enjoy meaningful fellowship with one another.
You can head here to find out more about kyck24.
This Sunday, we will be inducting our newest members into SG Parra! This is always an exciting week as we get to see and celebrate how the Lord is building His church! We can’t wait to welcome these brothers and sisters with warmth, joy and the love of Christ. We look forward to seeing you there!
To round out the term, both men’s and women’s growth groups will be meeting simultaneously this week! Your group leader will send out details shortly.
Following this week, we will be on a two week break from Life Groups over the school holidays.
This past Sunday, we had a wonderful service celebrating the resurrection of our Saviour Jesus! Pastor Riley reminded us of the great hope we have in the Person in whom we put our faith, and the Promises that He gives (and fulfils)!
We also had the privilege of witnessing and celebrating the Baptisms of three new members: John, Annie and Helen. This was a precious time of remembering the reality that Christ has brought our dead hearts to life through His own death and resurrection!
This is just a friendly reminder that Daylight Saving Time ends this Sunday, which means our clocks will need to be set back one hour. We hope you enjoy the extra hour in the morning!
If you find yourself ready to go early on Sunday, we would love for you to join us for pre-service prayer at 9:30am! We hope to see you there!
This Sunday, we will be celebrating our 4th birthday as a church!
It will be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness to us over the last four years. We will also be celebrating baptisms and holding a sausage sizzle lunch after the service.
Please feel free to invite your friends and family for this special occasion!
When: 10AM this Sunday, 17th September (coffee and tea served from 9:30!)
Where: 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta
We look forward to celebrating with you!
As you know, we will be having our next women’s breakfast this Saturday!
This is a great opportunity for some unhurried fellowship and great teaching on an important topic.
It is not too late to join us! If you are planning on coming along, please RSVP to the details below. Thankyou!
When: 8:30-10:30am, Saturday 16th September
Where: Church (27 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
Cost: $5pp
RSVP: Rebs (admin@sgparra.org.au)
We hope to see you there!
G2G will be on this Sunday from 4-6pm.
There will be games and a youth talk running for the kids alongside a training session for parents. This will be a valuable opportunity for discipleship of both groups.
All parents (not just G2G parents) are invited to join the training session. However, please be mindful that there will not be supervision provided for younger siblings or children outside of the G2G age group (years 3-8).
We look forward to seeing you there!
"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Deuteronomy 6:6-7
The Bible is clear that the teaching of the word of God to our children cannot be limited to a two-hour timeslot on a Sunday morning. Nor should it be reserved merely for the leaders who are rostered on each week. It is a shared duty of our church to be teaching and encouraging our children in the Word. First and foremost, it is parents who bear this responsibility. The front line of raising children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord happens around dinner tables, at bed-sides, or during daily car trips to school.
"What did you learn at kids church today?"
I know many of us have struggled to piece together the few facts our children recall from their morning in SG Kids. We try to cryptically deduce the main idea of the story based on the remains of the craft they have brought home. It can be difficult to know how to best reinforce the biblical lesson at home.
Introducing - SG Kids Spot
From this week, we are going to be including a small graphic in each week's blog which outlines:
- The story being taught at SG Kids this Sunday.
- The 'Christ Connection' blurb (the main idea of the story).
- The current memory verse the children are working on.
It is our hope that this will help parents in their efforts to engage their children in conversations about their learning at SG Kids, to expound upon and apply that learning in their own homes, and perhaps even to prepare their child before Sunday for the story that will be taught.
If you're not a parent, I encourage you to check out the SG Kids Spot each week. It may be a handy piece of background knowledge to spark up a conversation after church with one of our children. They love chatting to the adults of our church and it would be of great benefit for them to see you take an interest in what they're learning about in kids church.
May this weekly, small, colourful square be a blessing to you as you carry out God's calling to teach His Word to the next generation.
John Carr
SG Kids Director
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
The pastoral team will be going away from this Sunday afternoon 10th - 12th September for their annual prayer and planning retreat. Please be praying for them as they spend time praying and planning for the remainder of the year and beyond.
Things to be praying for:
- Clarity of vision
- Godly wisdom as they think through ideas and plan
- A spirit of unity within the team
We look forward to what God will do in and through this time!
As you know, have our next women’s breakfast coming up in just over a week!
This is a great opportunity for some unhurried fellowship and great teaching on an important topic.
It is not too late to join us! If you are planning on coming along, please RSVP to the details below. Thankyou!
When: 8:30-10:30am, Saturday 16th September
Where: Church (27 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
Cost: $5pp
RSVP: Rebs (admin@sgparra.org.au)
We hope to see you there!
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
This Sunday, we will be celebrating the dad’s of our church for Father’s Day! We are so grateful for all the dads at Sovereign Grace Parramatta and are looking forward to honouring them this Sunday as a church community!
There is usually a lot going on for each of us on any given Sunday morning! However, if you do find yourself free between 9:30-9:50am on a Sunday, please join us for Pre-Service Prayer as part of our worship each week. We will be meeting in the little paved area in front of the church offices - ALL are welcome! Psalm 127:1 says “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Come and join us as we undergird all that we do in prayer and wait expectantly for the Lord to build His house.
As you know, our next Women’s Breakfast is coming up on the 16th of September! These breakfasts are excellent opportunities for unhurried fellowship and teaching.
We would love your help to make it a great event! If you’re keen to help with the food and/or coffee for the upcoming breakfast please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
Thankyou!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
On Sunday, Riley gave a challenging message from Romans 1:16-17 on the power, potential, provision and purpose of the Gospel. If you missed it, you can listen to it here:
Not Ashamed | Romans 1:16-17 on APPLE Podcasts
Not Ashamed | Romans 1:16-17 on SPOTIFY
Here is a quote by William Booth to help us see the gravity of withholding this powerful message and to spur us on to fight against fear and shame when it comes to sharing the Gospel with those who do not yet believe!
“I saw a dark and stormy ocean. Over it the black clouds hung heavily; through them every now and then vivid winds moaned, and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only to rise and foam, tower and break again.
In that ocean I thought I saw myriads of poor human beings plunging and floating, shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and as they cursed and screamed they rose and shrieked again, and then some sank to rise no more.
And I saw out of this dark angry ocean, a mighty rock that rose up with its summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the stormy sea. And all around the base of this great rock I saw a vast platform. Onto this platform, I saw with delight a number of the poor struggling, drowning wretches continually climbing out of the angry ocean. And I saw that a few of those who were already safe on the platform were helping the poor creatures still in the angry waters to reach the place of safety.
On looking more closely I found a number of those who had been rescued, industriously working and scheming by ladders, ropes, boats and other means more effective, to deliver the poor strugglers out of the sea. Here and there were some who actually jumped into the water, regardless of the consequences in their passion to “rescue the perishing”. And I hardly know which gladdened me the most—the sight of the poor drowning people climbing onto the rocks reaching a place of safety, or the devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole being was wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance.
As I looked on, I saw that the occupants of that platform were quite a mixed company. That is, they were divided into different “sets” or classes, and they occupied themselves with different pleasures and employments. But only a very few of them seemed to make it their business to get the people out of the sea.
But what puzzled me most was the fact that though all of them had been rescued at one time or another from the ocean, nearly everyone seemed to have forgotten all about it. Anyway, it seemed the memory of its darkness and danger no longer troubled them at all. And what seemed equally strange and perplexing to me was that these people did not even seem to have any care—that is any agonizing care—about the poor perishing ones who were struggling and drowning right before their very eyes… many of whom were their own husbands and wives, brothers and sisters and even their own children.”
This Sunday, Richard will be preaching from Psalm 107 and as part of our Sunday gathering, we will be singing a song written by Sovereign Grace Music based on this Psalm.
You can find links and a video of the song below along to help you get familiarised with it before Sunday.
We Give Thanks - Sovereign Grace Music
"We Give Thanks (Psalm 107)" on SPOTIFY
"We Give Thanks (Psalm 107)” on APPLE
Lyrics:VERSE 1
Once in the wilderness of our sin
We wandered lost and without hope
Into our desert waste God in grace
Came to restore and bring us home
Let the redeemed of God rise up and sing
CHORUS
We give thanks, O God, for Your steadfast love
We give thanks, O God, for You are good
Lord, You are good, we give thanks
VERSE 2
Through every pain and trial, You provide
Light in the dark of our distress
Lifting us from on high when we cry
Turning our grief to gratefulness
Let the redeemed of God rise up and sing
BRIDGE
You take the darkness and make it as light
Hearts that were dead in sin, You raise to life
You take a barren place and make it a spring
Let the redeemed of God rise up and sing
Let the redeemed of God rise up and sing!
We have our next women’s breakfast coming up in just under a month!
Riley, with the help of Maddie, will be coming to speak to us on the topic of Biblical Femininity and I believe it will be a really helpful talk for us - especially in this current climate where definitions are becoming increasingly unclear.
Thankfully, God’s word is timeless, and I trust that it will be a huge help to us as women to be reminded of what Biblical femininity looks like - as designed and defined by the Creator, Himself.
Details are as follows:
When: 8:30-10:30am, Saturday 16th September
Where: Church (27 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
Cost: $5pp
RSVP: Rebs (admin@sgparra.org.au)
We hope to see you there!
- Rebs
Covenant Mercies is an organisation which runs an orphan sponsorship program for children in areas of western Uganda; Ndola, Zambia; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Monrovia, Liberia. They do this in partnership with indigenous local churches within those areas.
You can find out more about who they are and what they do here.
Mesay Ayele, Sponsorship Program Graduate from Covenant Mercies on Vimeo.
At around $50 per month, lives like Mesays can be changed, not just by providing material needs, but by bringing them into contact with the Gospel and a church community. If you are interested in sponsoring a child through Covenant Mercies, please come and see Rebs at the sponsorship table at the back of the hall this Sunday after service.
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
The next music team night will be held this evening!
Time: 7:30PM
Location: Church (27 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
The night is one of our scheduled quarterly times together where we seek to come together to sing, pray and seek to use the gifts he has given us for the sake of Jesus' name.
The night is for current team members (band and sound) and new or existing church members who are interested in potentially joining or rejoining the team. As mentioned at Envision, we would love to see the music team change and grow as the church grows.
We have been blessed to received so much training through our Sovereign Grace family of churches in the first half of the year and I am particularly looking forward to talking through what that might look like for us as we go forward and seek to steward what we have received well.
- Henry
If you’re interested in getting baptised, we will be holding a class THIS SUNDAY the 20th of August at 9am in the Church Offices. This will be an opportunity for you to find out more about what we believe the Bible says about baptism and why it is a significant moment in the life of a Christian.
If you’d like to sign up for the class, please contact Riley at rs@sgparra.org.au.
The next Men’s event is happening this Saturday!! This is a great opportunity for unhurried fellowship between the men of our church. There will also be dinner provided, followed by teaching on the topic of Taking Our Time: Orienting Our Time In Light of the Gospel.
Date: Saturday 19th August
Time: 7pm-9:30pm (Dinner Included)
Location: Church (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
Cost: $10
It is not too late to RSVP! If you’d like to attend, please email Joel at joel@sgparra.org.au.
We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you there!
G2G will be running this Sunday and we'd love for you to partner in prayer. If you'd spend time praying, even for 5 minutes, for our young G2G people, asking God to bless the ministry of G2G as an avenue or means for our young people to get to know and love Jesus, that'd be great!
Here are their names so that you can pray for them specifically:
Evie
Jasper
Milo
Cruz
Ellysse
Annabelle H
Callie
Adam
Melody
Harmony
Lucas
Kayleigh
Annabelle B
Maddison
Thankyou, church!
- Joel
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
This past Sunday, we had the joy and privilege of welcoming in Wally, Robin, Amane, Jazz and Stefania as new members of Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta! We got to see first hand, the kindness of God in bringing each of them through our doors and in giving them the desire to commit to our church community through membership. We are so grateful for how the Lord is building His church and how we get to benefit from His work! We thank God for you Wally, Robin, Amane, Jazz and Stefania and look forward to doing life and living out the one-anothers of Scripture with you!
If you are interested in finding out more about our church, what we believe and what membership looks like at SG Parra, then please don’t hesitate to contact us at admin@sgparra.org.au. We would love to connect with you!
The next music team night is coming up on Tuesday 15 August at 7:30pm at Iron Street.
The night is one of our scheduled quarterly times together where we seek to come together to sing, pray and seek to use the gifts he has given us for the sake of Jesus' name.
The night is for current team members (band and sound) and new or existing church members who are interested in potentially joining or rejoining the team. As mentioned at Envision, we would love to see the music team change and grow as the church grows.
We have been blessed to received so much training through our Sovereign Grace family of churches in the first half of the year and I am particularly looking forward to talking through what that might look like for us as we go forward and seek to steward what we have received well.
- Henry
The next Men’s event is only a few weeks away! This is a great opportunity for unhurried fellowship between the men of our church. There will also be dinner provided, followed by teaching on the topic of Taking Our Time: Orienting Our Time In Light of the Gospel.
Date: Saturday 19th August
Time: 7pm-9:30pm (Dinner Included)
Location: Church (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
Cost: $10
If you’d like to attend, please RSVP to Joel at joel@sgparra.org.au.
We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you there!
If you’re interested in getting baptised, we will be holding a class on Sunday the 20th of August at 9am in the Church Offices. This will be an opportunity for you to find out more about what we believe the Bible says about baptism and why it is a significant moment in the life of a Christian.
If you’d like to sign up for the class, please contact Riley at rs@sgparra.org.au.
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
This Sunday after service, we will be having our biannual Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for the rest of the year.
The details are as follows:
Date: THIS SUNDAY, 6th of August
Time: 12-2:30pm (Lunch after service, followed by the Envision meeting)
There will be a supervised movie on for the kids downstairs during the meeting.
Please make this a priority as there will be important updates that won’t be repeated!
There will be Lunch after Church this week before the Envision Meeting provided by the Burnett Life Group! Stay for some food and fellowship after service - ALL ARE WELCOME!
The next Men’s event is only a few weeks away! This is a great opportunity for unhurried fellowship between the men of our church. There will also be dinner provided, followed by teaching on the topic of Taking Our Time: Orienting Our Time In Light of the Gospel.
Date: Saturday 19th August
Time: 7pm-9:30pm (Dinner Included)
Location: Church (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
Cost: $10
If you’d like to attend, please RSVP to Joel at joel@sgparra.org.au.
We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you there!
Our next Women’s Breakfast is coming up on the 16th of September! Please save the date in your calendar as we’d love for all the ladies to come along. These breakfasts only happen twice a year and are a precious time of teaching and fellowship, so we hope you can join us!
More details to follow in the coming weeks.
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
We had such a wonderful time away last weekend at our Together ‘23 Retreat! It was so great to see our family of churches come together to hear from God’s word, worship and fellowship as one body, united by our love for Christ! The theme for the weekend was: Zealous for the Name of Christ which gave us an opportunity to hear about and think through God’s call on His people: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in Spirit, serve the Lord.” (Romans 12:11)
We had Pastors Riley Spring, Mark Prater and Brendan Willis faithfully teach us on this topic and we were challenged to continue to diligently stoke the fire of zeal for Christ by the power of His Spirit!
You can find their messages here:
- A Zealous People - Riley Spring (Romans 12:11) - Apple, Spotify, Website
- Zealous For Jesus - Mark Prater (Colossians 1:15-20) - Apple, Spotify, Website
- Zealous For Home - Brendan Willis (Philippians 3:3 - 4:1) - Apple, Spotify, Website
We are so thankful to the Lord for our family of churches and the sweet time away that we got to enjoy…together!
As you would’ve seen in our last blog newsletter, we are kicking off our new sermon series on the book of Romans this Sunday.
If you'd like to get a head start on the series, we recommend having a go of reading through the book in it's entirety in the lead-up to Sunday. We hope that it blesses you!
We had a great weekend away as a family of churches with Sovereign Grace Church Sydney at our Together ‘23 Retreat. It was a wonderful time filled with great teaching, fellowship and ministry, where we got to see and hear what it looks like to be Zealous for the Name of Christ.
The talks from the weekend are now officially up on our Podcast channel and our Website, so if you missed any or would like to listen to them again, you can find them here:
Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta on APPLE
Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta on SPOTIFY
Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta WEBSITE
We hope and pray that you were blessed by our time away together!
On Sunday the 6th of August, we will be having our biannual Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for what our year is going to look like.
The details are as follows:
Date: Sunday, 6th of August
Time: After service - 12pm (Lunch provided)
There will be a supervised movie on for the kids downstairs.
Please make this a priority as there will be important updates that won’t be repeated!
We’re excited to be kicking off our new sermon series this week on the book of Romans! Please be praying for Riley and our church as we walk through this book together - that the Lord would work powerfully through the preaching of His word.
We will be holding a Mission Prayer Hour at the same time as Alpha on Sunday to pray for the course and for missions in general. We would love for anyone and everyone to come along to join us in this endeavour to commit our requests to God, knowing that unless He builds the house, we labour in vain! (Psalm 127:1)
WHAT: Mission Prayer Meeting - Join us to pray for Alpha, Parramatta & the Nations
WHEN: 7-8pm This Sunday, 30th July
WHERE: SG Parra (17 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
G2G will be on this Sunday from 4-6pm.
There will be a games and youth talk running for the kids alongside a training session for parents. This will be a valuable opportunity for discipleship of both groups.
All parents (not just G2G parents) are invited to join the training session. However, please be mindful that there will not be supervision provided for younger siblings or children outside of the G2G age group (years 3-8).
We look forward to seeing you there.
Life Groups are back this week! Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally.
As much as is possible, it’s our aim for every member to attend Life Group or Growth Group, every time it’s on! This isn’t a rule or a new law, rather, we’d love that these special times go in our calendars first because they’re so good and so vital for our growth AND they are a key way we each play a part in serving each other in the church.
For some, this is made difficult because of shift work, travel, or baby sitting needs. To help you, we’ve attached the Term 3 Schedule below so that you can look ahead to when your group is on and organise your calendar/sitting around that if possible.
It’s so great when the most amount of people can be regularly be at group where possible!
I hope Life Groups and Growth Groups bless you once again this term!
Due to the Together ‘23 Retreat being on this weekend, there will be no service at our Iron St location this Sunday. Instead, we will be holding our Sunday gathering up at the Collaroy Centre to round out our weekend together. If you’d like to come along and join us for this, please contact Richard at richard@sgparra.org.au.
This Thursday night, we will have an opportunity to gather over Zoom to pray for our upcoming retreat.
When: Thursday, 20th July
Time: 8-9pm
Where: On Zoom - if you’d like the link to log on, please contact Riley at rs@sgparra.org.au.
We look forward to praying with you!
We will be holding a Mission Prayer Hour at the same time as Alpha on Sunday to pray for the course and for missions in general. We would love for anyone and everyone to come along to join us in this endeavour to commit our requests to God, knowing that unless He builds the house, we labour in vain! (Psalm 127:1)
WHAT: Mission Prayer Meeting - Join us to pray for Alpha, Parramatta & the Nations
WHEN: 7-8pm, the next two Sundays
WHERE: SG Parra (17 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
There will be no groups on this week as the Friday night session at retreat will be replacing Life Groups this week.
We look forward to seeing you there if you can make it!
On Sunday, I shared in full the powerful reflection that Murray Beattie wrote about Lament and Grief, you can listen to it in the sermon or you can read it here or listen to the sermon here. I also asked Leanne Beattie to share her wise perspective and I thought it’d be useful to share it with you all. Thank you Muz and Lea for opening up your faith in the darkest of times for us to be encouraged!
//
“Losing friends to sickness or sudden tragedy is not really something you think much about as a young person. It’s assumed that life goes on until you’re old and wrinkly, and then you pass away like your grandparents did.
But then it doesn’t. In the last 12 years, Muz and I have lost 3 friends to sickness or sudden tragedy. The first was Muz’s best friend Pete, hit and killed by a car in 2010, a day after Milo was born. The second was my best friend from uni, Sarajoy, who courageously fought a long 3 year battle with cancer, until May 2020. And the third was my best friend from high school’s husband Matt, who had a heart attack in January 2021.
I think it’s hard to summarise collectively how grief affects you, as each time someone close to you passes away, it is entirely different. Who they were to you, how they passed, and when, all change the way that you process it. One thing remains constant though is that they leave a gaping hole of in the lives of their family and friends, who then in turn unite to remember the son, daughter, brother, sister or friend. You watch as people grapple with the finality of death, even as Christians. YOU grapple with death, even as a Christian. And it sucks.
One thing I’ve learnt is that it’s ok to say that it sucks. It’s horrific, and no amount of nice words or pep talks changes that. I remember when I first found out Sarajoy had brain cancer, which was the secondary cancer she got after she conquered breast cancer. I distinctly remember literally crying to God in anger and confusion ‘Why is this happening? Why can’t you save her? I hate this!!!’
Your human brain can’t comprehend why someone so wonderful, such a light on this earth, a wife and mother, an amazing daughter and friend, would have to go through this, fighting this disgusting disease and ultimately be defeated by it. It doesn’t make sense, no matter which way you look at it. It was the same with Matt and Pete. Why Lord? Why them and not the 85 year old pack-a-day smoking, wretched pedophile in prison? Why not him? Why does he get to live?
And through much wrestling with this, though many questions, the Lord made it apparent to me that it is not my place to know. That he is sovereign and knows all. That my human brain will never understand. Because honestly, it doesn’t make sense.
I turned to the Psalms a lot, as they are real and speak of devastation, sadness, anger and feeling abandoned. They cry out to God with words we often don’t have ourselves.
As I walked the 3 year journey with Sarajoy, it taught me so much about life, and death, and love and patience. About what matters and what doesn’t. As I lay with my dying friend, a day or two before she passed, she was no longer eating, drinking or speaking, and she no longer responded to anyone, I realised that we are just shells that wither and perish, and that our souls and hearts are what make us who we are. And that those souls need to be connected to God. I believe Sarajoy was, as we spoke about Christ and faith often. But I’ll never be 100% certain, and that saddens me. But as I lay with her and held her hand, I sang her amazing grace and prayed that she was on her way to meet her Saviour. Please Lord, let it be so.
Grief definitely goes through stages. Sadness, denial, anger, acceptance. I’ve felt them all and watched my best friend from high school go through them too. Each stage is hard, and there is no end date to each. But it does get easier by the grace of God, and we wrestle and cry and mourn, and gradually the pain lessens and the joy of the memories made with those you’ve lost get easier to remember and rest in. For God has given us people on this earth to make our lives more full of joy and laughter, people to walk through trials and loss with. And what a blessing that is, that he did not expect us to do life alone.”
Leanne Beattie
On Sunday the 6th of August, we will be having our biannual Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for what our year is going to look like.
The details are as follows:
Date: Sunday, 6th of August
Time: After service - 12pm (Lunch provided)
There will be a supervised movie on for the kids downstairs.
Please make this a priority as there will be important updates that won’t be repeated!
The next Men’s Night is fast approaching and we’d love for you to save the date!
Date: Saturday, 19th August
Time: 7:00pm-9:30pm
Location: Church (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
More details to come soon!
We will be holding a Mission Prayer Hour at the same time as Alpha on Sunday to pray for the course and for missions in general. We would love for anyone and everyone to come along to join us in this endeavour to commit our requests to God, knowing that unless He builds the house, we labour in vain! (Psalm 127:1)
WHAT: Mission Prayer Meeting - Join us to pray for Alpha, Parramatta & the Nations
WHEN: 7-8pm, the next three Sundays
WHERE: SG Parra (17 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
We are praying that Together 2023 is going to be a time of immense teaching from God's Word! Additionally, we are hoping that it would be a time of unrushed fellowship! To help us to be intentional in this time together, please find above an outline of the activities, times and contacts for the retreat.
Have a think through what activities you would like to take part in, have a chat with the family how best to co-ordinate and plan out what additional things you need to pack... whether that is a surfboard, your Air Jordans, your favourite board games (though many will be provided) or bringing a few of your favourite pot noodles to share!
Note that the Saturday afternoon session is structured into two parts such that each parent has an opportunity to spend time in fellowship while their spouse is with the children and vice versa. Note also that phone contacts will be provided during the actual retreat.
Looking forward to this time together!
Life groups will be starting up again soon as the new school term begins!
To help you plan out this next term, please find attached the Term 3 Life Group & Growth Group Schedule below. We hope that this will help you in your planning and organising your calendar/sitting around groups where possible.
As you know, our most recent round of Alpha began last Sunday where we had four guests come along to hear and ask questions about the Gospel. This course will continue each Sunday night (starting this Sunday night!) for the next four weeks, we will be holding a Mission Prayer Hour simultaneously to pray for the course and for missions in general. We would love for anyone and everyone to come along to join us in this endeavour to commit our requests to God, knowing that unless He builds the house, we labour in vain! (Psalm 127:1)
WHAT: Mission Prayer Meeting - Join us to pray for Alpha, Parramatta & the Nations
WHEN: 7-8pm, the next four Sundays
WHERE: SG Parra (17 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
As part of our new sermon series on Lament, we will be learning three new songs to introduce the element of lament into our worship. This Sunday, we’ll be introducing the song, “We Look To You” by Sovereign Grace Music. You can find the links to hear this song ahead of Sunday below.
We Look to You - Sovereign Grace Music
"We Look to You" on SPOTIFY
"We Look to You” on APPLE
Lyrics:VERSE 1
Deliver us from evil, Lord;
We sojourn in a broken world
Though evil hands give rise to war,
Remind us this is not our home
We look to You, we look to You,
Sovereign King of all the earth
We look to You, we look to You;
In Your strength we will endure
In Your strength we will endure
VERSE 2
Deliver us from evil, Lord;
Our hearts so quickly run astray
Temptation crouching at the door
To turn us from the narrow way
We look to You, we look to You,
Christ the conquering Son of God
We look to You, we look to You;
Lord, complete what You’ve begun
Lord, complete what You’ve begun
VERSE 3
Deliver us from evil, Lord;
The devil’s seeking to devour
With trembling hearts we hear his roar,
But Your strong arm will crush his pow’r
We look to You, we look to You,
Come and end his earthly reign
We look to You, we look to You;
Lord, deliver us, we pray
TAG
We look to You, we look to You
You will come again to reign
We look to You, we look to You
All the earth will bow in praise
Payments & Dietary Forms - Due Friday 7th JulyWe are FINALLY only a few weeks away from our church retreat!
Unfortunately, registrations have officially closed. If you are still interested in attending, please contact Richard Song directly at richard@sgparra.org.au.
If you have already registered, this is a friendly reminder to please complete your payments and also please fill out the dietary requirements form/s which you would’ve been e-mailed these past couple of weeks. These payments and forms must be completed by this Friday 7th July. Thankyou!
NB: You would have received an e-mail from The Collaroy Centre to the address you registered with, with a dietary requirements form for each registration you made. You must fill out this form for every registration even if they have nil dietary requirements. If you haven’t received this e-mail, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
New SpeakerAs announced on Sunday, Jeff and Julie Purswell who were originally coming for our retreat will no longer be able to make the trip due to unforeseen personal circumstances. Thankfully, Mark Prater (Executive Director of Sovereign Grace) and his wife Jill will now be coming in Jeff and Julie’s place to serve us at Together’23! We are so grateful for our family of churches and the way they generously serve and share their resources - what a gift to be on the receiving end of this for our retreat this year!
Here’s a short bio of Mark and Jill to give you a sense of who they are.
Mark serves as the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches, ensuring the successful operation of the Leadership Team through leadership, strategic planning, support, evaluation, and communication and leading us in our mission to plant and build churches with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Mark has served as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church since 2002. In 1996, he helped plant a church where he served as senior pastor until 2002.
Mark and his wife, Jill, have three adult daughters and ten grandchildren. They make their home in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
But most of all, Mark is a dear friend to us and we are very blessed to have him come out once again to serve our growing family of Churches here in Australia. He is a passionate follower of Christ, a gifted teacher, a powerful preacher, and we couldn’t be more excited for his visit!
Firstly, we just wanted to say THANKYOU to those who have already offered to provide dinner for one of the Alpha nights. We are so grateful for your generosity and willingness to serve!
We are still in need of a volunteer for one remaining evening.
Just a reminder that the role will be to serve in Alpha by providing dinner for the attendees and the volunteers (in total – 7ppl + yourselves) - it can be a home-cooked or a take-out meal.
Additionally, we do hope that if you volunteer to assist that you would also stay for the dinner portion of the night (6.30pm – 7.30pm) so that you can also be part of building friendships and being ‘salt and light’ to those exploring Christianity.
Again, we are looking for one more volunteer for the following night:
· 30 July
If you can assist please reach out to Richie ASAP at richard@sgparra.org.au or 0407 272 034.
Thankyou in advance!
As you know, our most recent round of Alpha began last Sunday where we had four guests come along to hear and ask questions about the Gospel. This course will continue each Sunday night and for the next four weeks, we will be holding a Mission prayer meeting simultaneously to pray for the course and for Missions in general. We would love for anyone and everyone to come along to join us in this endeavour to commit out requests to God, knowing that unless He builds the house, we labour in vain! (Psalm 127:1)
WHAT: Mission Prayer Meeting - Join us to pray for Alpha, Parramatta & the Nations
WHEN: 7-8pm, Sunday
WHERE: SG Parra (17 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
SG Kids is an integral part of our church’s life and it wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteers who give up their time, energy and resources to serve the next generation!
Part of what makes this all possible are our biannual training nights - the next of which is coming up on Thursday, 13th of July.
If you serve in SG Kids, please lock in this date for our second kids workers training night of the year.
When: 7:30PM, Thursday 13th July
Where: Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
Attendance at these nights is a crucial part of serving in kids, so please make it a priority to be there. Thankyou!
There will be no groups on during the school break - this week and next week. However, this is a great time to book in socials or catch-ups with other members of the church who we might not get to spend much time with during the term.
We hope you have a great break!
There will be Lunch after Church this week provided by the Song Life Group! Stay for some food and fellowship after service - ALL ARE WELCOME!
As part of our new sermon series on Lament, we will be learning three new songs to introduce the element of lament into our worship. This Sunday, we’ll be introducing the song, “O God of Mercy, Hear Our Plea” by Sovereign Grace Music. You can find the links to hear this song ahead of Sunday below.
O God of Mercy, Hear Our Plea - Sovereign Grace Music
O God of Mercy, Hear Our Plea SPOTIFY
O God of Mercy, Hear Our Plea APPLE
Lyrics:VERSE 1
O God, we’ve seen Your faithfulness
You brought us from the wilderness
But now our faith is frail and weak
O God of mercy, hear our plea
VERSE 2
When will You comfort our distress?
How long until the promised rest?
We cry to You from deepest need
O God of mercy, hear our plea
CHORUS
Abba, Father, our Redeemer
In this barren land be our hope and strength
Until glory we will trust and sing
Abba, Father, hear our plea
VERSE 3
We join creation’s longing groan
To take Your ransomed children home
For then the eyes of all will see
The God of mercy hears our plea
Starting this Sunday from (6.30pm – 8.30pm) we’ll be holding our first Alpha session at the Commerfords’.
Each session will begin with dinner as a way of getting to know those who are attending. Currently we have 4 people signed up!!
We are reaching out to you hoping that you might consider serving in Alpha by providing dinner for the attendees and the volunteers (in total – 7ppl + yourselves). It will be an opportunity to be part of the mission this way but also a way we can show our generosity by buying or making a meal.
Acts 20:35b says, “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.”
Generosity begins with receiving; and we have all received much from God! Think about all that we have which God in His grace has given to us in His kindness. In particular, he has given us our greatest treasure in Christ. Receiving is great BUT receiving and then giving is even better!
Additionally, we do hope that if you volunteer to assist that you would also stay for the dinner portion of the night (6.30pm – 7.30pm) so that you can also be part of building friendships and being ‘salt and light’ to those exploring Christianity. We are hoping to get one volunteer for each Alpha night.
We’re looking for volunteers for the following dates:
· 9 July
· 16 July
· 23 July
· 30 July
If you can assist please reach out to Richie ASAP at richard@sgparra.org.au or 0407 272 034.
Thankyou in advance!
As part of the Young Leaders Program this year, the cohort will be running a Holiday Kids Club during this upcoming school break! You’re more than welcome to sign your kids up for a fun holiday adventure unearthing the story of Joseph!
Here are the details:
WHAT: For anyone in Years K-6! Each day is packed with fun! You can expect exciting activities, to meet with new friends, to get creative in craft and hear all about how amazing Jesus is from the Bible.
WHERE: Sovereign Grace Church Wahroonga (Fox Valley Community Centre, 183A Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga)
COST: $105 per child
WHEN: 9am-3pm, July 5th-7th
REGISTER: Visit here to secure your child’s spot!
CONTACT INFO: If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Brendan Willis (Director) at bw@sovgrace.org.au.
SG Kids is an integral part of our church’s life and it wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteers who give up their time, energy and resources to serve the next generation!
Part of what makes this all possible are our biannual training nights - the next of which is coming up on Thursday, 13th of July.
If you serve in SG Kids, please lock in this date for our second kids workers training night of the year.
When: 7:30PM, Thursday 13th July
Where: Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
Attendance at these nights is a crucial part of serving in kids, so please make it a priority to be there. Thankyou!
Just a reminder that these next few weeks, we’re going to trial not having our usual ‘5 Minute Break’.
We will go straight into the sermon from the announcements. The school age children will still head out at the end of the announcements. So please ensure you sign your children in before the service.
Life Groups are on this week! This will be the last meeting for the term, followed by a two week break.
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
As part of our new sermon series on Lament, we will be learning three new songs to introduce the element of lament into our worship. You can find the links to these songs below if you’d like to listen to and learn them ahead of time.
We Look to You - Sovereign Grace Music
We Look to You SPOTIFY
We Look to You APPLE
All of Our Tomorrows - Sovereign Grace Music
All of Our Tomorrows SPOTIFY
All of Our Tomorrows APPLE
O God of Mercy, Hear Our Plea - Sovereign Grace Music
O God of Mercy, Hear Our Plea SPOTIFY
O God of Mercy, Hear Our Plea APPLE
Much of the new sermon series will be based on this book “Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy - Discovering the Grace of Lament” by Mark Vroegop which is now available in our bookshop located in the church foyer. There are limited copies, so get in quick if you’d like to purchase one! Here is the book’s blurb for a better understanding of its contents:
Where do you turn when the dark clouds of pain, suffering, and loss roll into your life? In a broken world, difficult trials can lead quickly to discouragement and despair-even for Christians. But the Bible sets forth an oft-neglected practice for dealing with such trials: lament. To lament is to turn to God in honest, desperate prayer, giving voice to the reality of our emotions-as intense and tumultuous as they may be. Ultimately, lament is an expression of faith in the God who hears our cries and responds with mercy and grace. Drawing on examples from the Bible and his own story of loss, pastor Mark Vroegop walks through steps of lament (Turn, Complain, Ask, and Trust) to show what lament is, why it is important, and how to enter into it-helping readers learn to live between the poles of God's goodness and a hard life.
These next four weeks we’re going to trial not having our usual ‘5 Minute Break’.
We will go straight into the sermon from the announcements. The school age children will still head out at the end of the announcements. So please ensure you sign your children in before the service.
This Sunday, we will be starting a new sermon series titled “Discovering Lament: A Pathway to Joy in Sorrow”. We are looking forward to walking through this series together as a church and seeing what God’s word has to say on how to lament.
It’s been a joy to hear of how many people have stepped out in faith to invite their family and friends to do Alpha, a simple conversational video series that helps you explore life, faith and meaning.
In the end it didn’t work out to do in the Life Group slot for those who were interested.
But there are a couple of people who will do Alpha on Sunday evening with Ian and Sammy Commerford at their place in Dundas.
And there is room for your friend to go too! So if you have someone you know that couldn’t make midweek or wasn’t yet ready…now may be a good chance to invite them along.
It is starting in two Sundays time. Contact Richard for more details and please be praying!
G2G will be on this Sunday at 4PM.
This week, we will be having a fire night at the Song’s place. Parent and siblings of G2G are also invited! There will be singing, marshmallows and some sharing from the parents.
Given it’s a campfire night, it will run a little later, finishing at 7:30.
We look forward to seeing you there!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
Austin and Emma Momber who have just graduated from the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s College will be visiting Australia, arriving this Friday!
The Mombers have sensed a calling from the Lord to do mission and church planting work here in Australia. To explore this calling, Austin and Emma will both be coming out to Sydney for about three weeks to spend some time with our churches, explore the city and see how God would lead them.
Please be praying for their arrival on the 16th of June and for their time here; that it would be fruitful and edifying both for them and for our churches.
Austin will be preaching at SG Parra this Sunday!
If you are interested in hosting the Mombers for a meal or taking them out sometime, please contact Riley at rs@sgparra.org.au.
There will be Lunch after Church this week and it will be generously provided by the Gergis Family in celebration after they dedicate Yohanna! Stay for some food and fellowship after service - ALL ARE WELCOME!
The first Men’s Social is coming up on the 17th of June. We will be going on a hike along part of the Great North Walk (approx. 2 hours in duration) followed by lunch at the Wise Monkey Cafe in Berowra.
When: 8:30AM, Saturday 17th June
Where: Meet at Mt. Kuring-Gai Station
RSVP: to Joel Seric (joel@sgparra.org.au)
Please bring a bottle of water.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Registrations for Together ‘23 will be closing on Sunday 18th June at 6pm!
This is a friendly reminder to register if you’ve yet to do so.
Also, it is likely that we will only do this once every two years going forward so this is also your last chance for a while!
If you are unsure about it all…why not just come for the day on Saturday or the Sunday?
//
The aim of Together is to gather with both of our churches, and friends of our churches, here in Australia for a weekend of fellowship, worship, and making memories together!
Together 2023 will be running from July 21-23 and will be held at the Collaroy Centre in Narrabeen.
This year our theme is: ‘Zealous for the Name of Christ’ where we’ll be discussing the often forgotten virtue of Godly zeal. We will have the privilege of having a special guest from the U.S. join us, Jeff Purswell. He will explain what Godly zeal is and then apply it to various areas of our lives so that we will live all for the name of Christ.
You can head here to register!
(Please also note that you must still register children under the age of 3 even though their rego is free.)
If you have any questions about the conference or registration, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
We look forward to seeing you there!
SG Kids is an integral part of our church’s life and it wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteers who give up their time, energy and resources to serve the next generation!
Part of what makes this all possible are our biannual training nights - the next of which is coming up on Thursday, 13th of July.
If you serve in SG Kids, please lock in this date for our first kids workers training night of the year. More details to come. Attendance at these nights is a crucial part of serving in kids, so please make it a priority to be there.
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
Austin and Emma Momber who have just graduated from the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s College will be visiting Australia this month! The Mombers have sensed a calling from the Lord to do mission and church planting work here in Australia. To explore this calling, Austin and Emma will both be coming out to Sydney for about three weeks to spend some time with our churches, explore the city and see how God would lead them.
Please be praying for their arrival on the 16th of June and for their time here; that it would be fruitful and edifying both for them and for our churches.
If you are interested in hosting the Mombers for a meal or taking them out sometime, please contact Riley at rs@sgparra.org.au.
The first Men’s Social is coming up on the 17th of June. We will be going on a hike along part of the Great North Walk (approx. 4 hours in duration) followed by lunch for those who are keen.
When: 8:30AM, Saturday 17th June
Where: Meet at Mt. Kuring-Gai Station
RSVP: to Joel Seric (joel@sgparra.org.au)
We look forward to seeing you there!
We are looking to create an official welcoming team to supplement the life group roster on Sunday mornings. As the church grows, we would love to devote more effort, thought and energy into making our community one that is warm, welcoming and hospitable to all who come through our doors. We are still in the process of fleshing out details, but if this is something that you would be keen to be a part of, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
Sovereign Grace Churches will be holding a young adults conference next January: RELAY 2024.
The RELAY Conference exists to inspire young adults to live for the glory of Christ. Our desire is to inspire this generation to personalise and carry forward our shared doctrine, values, and mission that we cherish as Sovereign Grace churches. As we gather together from many churches to hear God’s word, sing God’s praises, build relationships across churches, and invest in future leaders, we are asking God to use this conference for his glory and the strengthening of our churches for decades to come.
While the conference is aimed at college students and young adults (18-25 years old), as well as their leaders, we welcome mature high school students (aged 16 & 17) and those in their late 20s or 30s. We don’t have strict age limits. And while the conference aims at serving Sovereign Grace churches, we welcome and encourage those in other churches to attend.
You can find out more on the Relay webpage.
If you are interested in attending the conference, please contact Riley at rs@sgparra.org.au.
Many of you would have received an email recently calling for volunteers for our upcoming retreat. Here is a message from Janelle Pearce (Kids’ Work Coordinator at Sovereign Grace Church Sydney) and a friendly reminder to let her know if you will be able to serve on Kids in one of the sessions at Together ‘23. Thankyou!
Dear SG Parramatta,
How exciting that we get to go away together and spend a whole weekend learning from Gods word, fellowshipping together and enjoying Gods beautiful creation.
While the adults are enjoying time worshipping the Lord, our kids will have an opportunity to do the same.
Once again we will be running a kids program for our children 6 months old up to Year 6. This is such a powerful opportunity to teach these kids the wonderful truths of Scripture and help create beautiful memories for them.
Last year I was so thankful to God for how many of you served and your willingness to prepare a great morning for the kids. To help make this happen again, we need your help please. We will be needing people to help serve in kids work while on retreat.
There will be two morning sessions - Saturday and Sunday morning, which will be for all children.
On the Saturday night we will be having a movie night for children in Kindergarten to Year 6. Information about this night will be communicated separately.If you are able to serve at one of these sessions please let me know which session you would be willing to serve at and what age group by emailing me at janelle.pearce14@gmail.com.
The groups on retreat will be the following:Babies and Toddlers: 6-35 monthsAdventurers: 3 years old to the year before schoolBuilders and Conquerors: Kindergarten to Year 6
You will be given the curriculum (hopefully two weeks out) so there will be plenty of time to prepare.
Please be praying for the children who are coming to retreat - that they would be amazed by who Jesus is.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me janelle.pearce14@gmail.com
- Janelle
We will be having our first Women’s Social of the year this Saturday! This will be a great time to hang out with the ladies of our church and to build on our friendship through a bit of fun.
Feel free to bring some craft along and enjoy some unhurried fellowship over afternoon tea. There will also be the option to learn how to crochet - all materials provided!
When: 2-4PM, Saturday 3rd June
Where: 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta
Cost: $5
RSVP: Please fill out this Google Form
We look forward to seeing you there!
This Sunday, we will be having Mal Wood visiting from International Care Ministries to give us an update on the organisation and it’s work.
You can find out more about ICM on their website here.
The first Men’s Social is coming up on the 17th of June. We will be going on a hike along part of the Great North Walk (approx. 4 hours in duration) followed by lunch for those who are keen.
When: 8:30AM, Saturday 17th June
Where: Meet at Mt. Kuring-Gai Station
RSVP: to Joel Seric (joel@sgparra.org.au)
We look forward to seeing you there!
Registrations for Together ‘23 are still open! This is a friendly reminder to register if you’ve yet to do so.
The aim of Together is to gather with both of our churches, and friends of our churches, here in Australia for a weekend of fellowship, worship, and making memories together!
Together 2023 will be running from July 21-23 and will be held at the Collaroy Centre in Narrabeen.
This year our theme is: ‘Zealous for the Name of Christ’ where we’ll be discussing the often forgotten virtue of Godly zeal. We will have the privilege of having a special guest from the U.S. join us, Jeff Purswell. He will explain what Godly zeal is and then apply it to various areas of our lives so that we will live all for the name of Christ.
You can head here to register!
(Please also note that you must still register children under the age of 3 even though their rego is free.)
If you have any questions about the conference or registration, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
We look forward to seeing you there!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
As many of you know, we as a church are going through a series on Sanctifying the Ordinary. On Sunday, Joel preached on the topic of mental health.
Here are some additional resources that may be helpful for further investigation/support about mental health from a biblical perspective:
- Grace and the Adventure of Leadership: The Podcast; Dave Taylor 24 March 2022; BONUS: Mental Health and the Christian w. Andy Farmer
- Numerous Articles by Ed Welch
Our next Baby Dedications are coming up this Sunday the 28th May. If you are planning on dedicating your child on this day, this a great time to invite family and friends to church. For the rest of us, it’s a great time to welcome new faces and exude the love of Christ to all who come through our doors.
We will be dedicating a few children to the Lord on this day and are looking forward to celebrating the growth of our church through these little ones.
Alpha will be on this week and it’s not too late to register! If there is anyone you’d like to invite, here are the details below:
Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
It will be starting 7:30PM on Wednesday, 24th May at the Songs (contact Richard for the address).
Register at sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Please be praying that the Lord would move in and through this round of Alpha.
Our first Men’s and Women’s Socials are coming up soon! Please save these dates into your calendars. We will be sending out further details shortly.
Women’s Social: 2-4PM, Saturday 3rd June at Iron Street
Men’s Social: Saturday 17th June
Registrations for Together ‘23 are still open! This is a friendly reminder to register if you’ve yet to do so.
The aim of Together is to gather with both of our churches, and friends of our churches, here in Australia for a weekend of fellowship, worship, and making memories together!
Together 2023 will be running from July 21-23 and will be held at the Collaroy Centre in Narrabeen.
This year our theme is: ‘Zealous for the Name of Christ’ where we’ll be discussing the often forgotten virtue of Godly zeal. We will have the privilege of having a special guest from the U.S. join us, Jeff Purswell. He will explain what Godly zeal is and then apply it to various areas of our lives so that we will live all for the name of Christ.
You can head here to register!
(Please also note that you must still register children under the age of 3 even though their rego is free.)
If you have any questions about the conference or registration, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
We look forward to seeing you there!
G2G will be on this Sunday from 4-6pm.
Parent participation is not required for this week’s session, so feel free to drop your kids off for the two hours or you are also welcome to stay and mingle with other parents who may also be doing the same.
We look forward to seeing you and your children there!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Joel Seric on 0488 745 974.
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
The time has come! Alpha is beginning THIS week! It is not too late to register. If there is anyone you’d like to invite, here are the details below:
Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
It will be starting 7:30PM on Wednesday, 17th May at the Songs (contact Richard for the address).
Register at sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Please be praying that the Lord would move in and through this round of Alpha.
Sign up at sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Our Pastor Riley and Pastor Dave from Sovereign Grace Wahroonga will be in Liberia this week to serve at their Sovereign Grace Pastor’s Academy. They will be teaching on church planting in partnership as mother-daughter church plants in the hopes that they too would enjoy the fruit of being a part of a family of churches, not just globally, but locally as well.
Please be praying for them; that the Lord would sustain and empower them as they endeavour to serve faithfully and in a way that honours the Lord and builds up His church.
Registrations for Together ‘23 are still open! This is a friendly reminder to register if you’ve yet to do so.
The aim of Together is to gather with both of our churches, and friends of our churches, here in Australia for a weekend of fellowship, worship, and making memories together!
Together 2023 will be running from July 21-23 and will be held at the Collaroy Centre in Narrabeen.
This year our theme is: ‘Zealous for the Name of Christ’ where we’ll be discussing the often forgotten virtue of Godly zeal. We will have the privilege of having a special guest from the U.S. join us, Jeff Purswell. He will explain what Godly zeal is and then apply it to various areas of our lives so that we will live all for the name of Christ.
You can head here to register!
(Please also note that you must still register children under the age of 3 even though their rego is free.)
There will be a rego desk at the back of the hall after service this Sunday for anyone who might need some help with the registration process.
If you have any more questions about the conference or registration in the meantime, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Our next Baby Dedications are coming up on Sunday the 28th May. If you are planning on dedicating your child on this day, this a great time to invite family and friends to church. For the rest of us, it’s a great time to welcome new faces and exude the love of Christ to all who come through our doors.
We will be dedicating a few children to the Lord on this day and are looking forward to celebrating the growth of our church through these little ones.
As part of his studies with Alphacrucis College, Ben Duckitt is putting on a performance here at Sovereign Grace Parramatta this Sunday. We will be having a night of worship thinking about the cross where him and a band will be leading us in singing eight of his own compositions and five songs that we sing regularly at church. Everyone in the church is invited!
When: 6pm, This Sunday 21st May
Where: Iron Street Chapel, 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta
Please listen to the original songs before the event which can be found at http://bit.ly/mus2302023
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
As many of you know, this past week, we had the privilege of having Bob Kauflin and David Zimmer from Sovereign Grace Music out in Australia to run a Worship Matters Intensive for worship leaders from all across Sydney. We also had applicants fly in from Perth, the Philippines and Japan!
It was a tremendous three days filled with teaching, worship and the fostering of new friendships. Over the course of the intensive, Bob taught on what God’s Word says about music and singing as a form of worship and how to best serve our congregations in this sphere. Each applicant also had the opportunity to lead a set to be reviewed by Bob, David and the other applicants. Overall, it was a time of encouragement, teaching, building up and the equipping of saints for the work of ministry in each of their local churches.
We are so grateful to Bob and David for giving up their time and efforts to serve these men and in turn, their churches.
We just wanted to take a moment to thank Jordan for her faithful service in her role as bookkeeper of our church for this past year. Much of what she did happened behind the scenes and went unnoticed, but was integral to the life of our church. Jordan has recently stepped down from the role to focus her attention on her full time job. We thank God for you, Jordan!
We are also excited to announce that Sammy Commerford has kindly offered to step into the role of bookkeeper going forward. If you have any bookkeeping enquiries or need any reimbursements etc., you can contact Sammy at sammy@sgparra.org.au.
We are so grateful for the Lord’s ongoing provision of all our needs and for continuing to build His church.
This Sunday, we will be celebrating Mother’s Day at SG Parra! We look forward to joining with you in honouring the mothers and mother figures within our community and thanking God for them! This is also a great opportunity to invite family and friends along to our service.
This Sunday, we will be inducting our newest members into SG Parra! This is always an exciting week as we get to see and celebrate how the Lord is building His church! We can’t wait to welcome these brothers and sisters with warmth, joy and the love of Christ. We look forward to seeing you there!
As announced on the last few Sundays, the next round of the Alpha Course will be beginning soon - NEXT WEEK, in fact! Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
There will be two weekly courses running starting from May 17th. One will run weekly on a Wednesday night and the other will run weekly on a Thursday night. Each course will run for a total of 6 weeks.
Please be praying for people you could invite along and that God would embolden us as a church to cross the pain line and share the Gospel with those around us who are lost.
Here is a flyer you can share with friends and family with all the info:
Sign up at sgparra.org.au/alpha.
Dear Church,
Thank you all for how you have prayed and considered giving to this year’s ‘Go Forward Fund’. As a Church we have raised just over $62,000 to be used for good gospel work and for building up our local church here in Australia! It really is a joy to pastor such a generous church. And even those who weren’t able to give this year, thank you for considering it! May the Lord use these funds to bring great glory to His name and to His Son!
“1Tim. 6:17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
— Riley
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
We’re so excited to have Bob Kauflin and David Zimmer from Sovereign Grace Music joining us for our Sunday gathering this week!
Bob and David will be leading us in singing followed by a message from Bob on what the Bible teaches us about worship through song.
To accommodate for extra guests, we will have K-2 downstairs in Kids’ Work from the beginning of service and years 3-6 will join them during the 5 minute break as usual.
Please feel free to invite friends and family along as it will be a very special time together! We look forward to worshiping with you!
There will be Lunch after Church this week hosted by the Seric Life Group! They are very generously providing pizza for everyone with GF options in the mix, so please stick around if you can!
On Saturday morning, both bands from Sovereign Grace Parramatta and Wahroonga had the privilege of coming together to be trained by Bob Kauflin. He and David Zimmer led us in a time of singing, followed by some teaching from Bob. A band from each church then had the opportunity to lead us in a couple of songs to which Bob and David gave some helpful feedback, highlighting evidences of grace and ways we can be growing to serve our churches better.
It was an extremely valuable time for both of our churches and we thank God for Bob and David’s wealth of wisdom they so generously shared with us.
On Saturday evening, both of our Sovereign Grace Churches gathered along with many friends of our churches for the Gathering Around the Gospel Concert with Bob Kauflin. It was a night filled with triumphant praise, prayer and fellowship as Bob led us in worship under the common banner of the Gospel. Scripture was read, prayed and sung throughout the evening, making for a wonderful evening of exalting our great King Jesus.
As announced on the last few Sundays, the next round of the Alpha Course will be beginning again soon. Alpha is a great place for unbelieving friends and family to come and ask questions and explore the Christian faith without fear of judgement.
There will be two weekly courses running starting from May 17th. One will run weekly on a Wednesday night and the other will run weekly on a Thursday night. Each course will run for a total of 6 weeks.
Please be praying for people you could invite along and that God would embolden us as a church to cross the pain line and share the Gospel with those around us who are lost.
Here is a flyer you can share with friends and family with all the info:
As part of his studies with Alphacrucis College, Ben Duckitt is putting on a performance here at Sovereign Grace Parramatta, we will be having a night of worship thinking about the cross where him and a band will be leading us in singing eight of his own compositions and five songs that we sing regularly at church. Everyone in the church is invited!
When:6pm, Sunday 21st May
Where:Iron Street Chapel, 27 Iron Street, North Parramatta
Please listen to the original songs before the event which can be found at http://bit.ly/mus2302023
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
On ANZAC Day yesterday, we as a nation commemorated the ANZAC troops who landed in Gallipoli, Turkey on this very day in 1915.
Remembering their sacrifice and service helps not only to keep their stories and this history alive, but also serves as a fresh reminder that many of the freedoms that we get to enjoy today came at a cost.
And ultimately, we are reminded to give thanks to the Lord of all creation, who has providentially acted - for our good and His glory - through these courageous souls.
May we remember them
Lest we forget.
Hi Church,
I am writing to share some exciting news. Our pastor, Riley Spring, has been appointed as the National Director for Sovereign Grace Churches Australia. This is a significant honour and a great responsibility, and we are delighted that he has been selected for this opportunity.
Riley’s passion for advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through planting and strengthening churches will be harnessed in this role. Evidence of this grace is our church plant, Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta. His giftings will enable him to lead and equip our two family of churches in Wahroonga and Parramatta, as we look forward to what God has planned for us in Australia.
This also means that Dave Taylor, senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Wahroonga, will be able to devote more of his time to his role as a local pastor and as Global Missions Director for Sovereign Grace Churches.
Dave and Riley have made a brief clip explaining the role, listed below.
However, I want to emphasise that Riley’s main priority and heart in service and leadership remains with SG Parra. This role will see the furthering of Gods kingdom in Australia and in our local congregation.
In fact, one of the core reasons he can take on this new role is because of the faithful service of all of you. After much prayer, counsel and affirmation from the pastoral team and deacons of our church, it became clear to us that his calling was to serve our local church and to do what he can to help plant and strengthen churches throughout Australia.
This new role will require a portion of his time and will involve various travelling responsibilities, and the related work will be compensated from SG Australia. For example, this has allowed the hiring of Rebs Song as an administrative assistant, so that Riley can devote more of his time and energy to pastoral care, prayer and preaching for SG Parra.
It is with confidence in Gods goodness that He will use Riley and our church community to further His kingdom. As such, I ask for your continued prayer and support for Riley as he takes on this additional role.
If you have any questions, concerns or comments concerning this new role, please do not hesitate to be in contact.
Regards,
Richard Song
The Gathering Around the Gospel Concert with Bob Kauflin is finally upon us!
There are still some free tickets up for grabs! We are so looking forward to worshiping with you on Saturday!
Details: Saturday April 29th, 7.30pm, Fox Valley Community Centre
Tickets here:
https://sg.elvanto.com.au/form/8cbb4e68-8948-40aa-9bcd-c9d76c2892ca
Registrations for our Together ‘23 Conference have begun rolling in! This is a friendly reminder to register for the conference if you’ve yet to do so.
The aim of Together is to gather with both of our churches, and friends of our churches, here in Australia for a weekend of fellowship, worship, and making memories together!
Together 2023 will be running from July 21-23 and will be held at the Collaroy Centre in Narrabeen.
This year our theme is: ‘Zealous for the Name of Christ’ where we’ll be discussing the often forgotten virtue of Godly zeal. We will have the privilege of having a special guest from the U.S. join us, Jeff Purswell. He will explain what Godly zeal is and then apply it to various areas of our lives so that we will live all for the name of Christ.
We would recommend registering sooner than later as all the Deluxe Rooms have already been BOOKED OUT and almost half of the Hotel Rooms have been booked.
Please also note that you must still register children under the age of 3 even though their rego is free.
For More Info & To Register, Click HERE If you have any more questions about the conference or registration, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Life Groups are back this week! Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally.
As much as is possible, it’s our aim for every member to attend Life Group or Growth Group, every time it’s on! This isn’t a rule or a new law, rather, we’d love that these special times go in our calendars first because they’re so good and so vital for our growth AND they are a key way we each play a part in serving each other in the church.
For some, this is made difficult because of shift work, travel, or baby sitting needs. To help you, we’ve attached the Term 2 Schedule below so that you can look ahead to when your group is on and organise your calendar/sitting around that if possible.
It’s so great when the most amount of people can be regularly be at group where possible!
I hope Life Groups and Growth Groups bless you once again this term!
This week Riley will be looking at ‘Singleness’. A very important topic that affects us all as a church.
Maybe you’re new to our church, new to faith, need a bit of a refresh on the basics, or just keen for a bible study…then ‘Just For Starters’ is a great place for you to begin.
Joel Seric will be running this 7 week study taking you through topics like:
- Saved by God
- Trusting in God
- Living God's way
- Listening to God
- Talking to God
- Meeting with God's family
- Meeting the world.
These will be held at 9am, downstairs at Iron Street beginning April 30th.
Order a coffee and head on down!
A reminder to book your FREE tickets for the Gathering Around the Gospel Concert with Bob Kauflin! We are looking forward to worshiping with you all!
Details: Saturday April 29th, 7.30pm, Fox Valley Community Centre
Tickets here:
https://sg.elvanto.com.au/form/8cbb4e68-8948-40aa-9bcd-c9d76c2892ca
On Easter Sunday, we had the privilege of baptising four of our beloved members: Marsha, Joven, Amy and Kristine.
It was such a joy to hear each of their testimonies on how the Lord has been at work in their lives and how He has given them the gift of faith to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour. We view this as one of the greatest causes for celebration; and celebrate we did! What a privilege it was to witness these four baptisms and enjoy fellowship with these precious brothers and sisters that day!
“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7
On Sunday, Richard kicked off our “Sanctifying the Ordinary” series, looking at what the Bible teaches us about work and how we can take part in sanctifying what can often feel mundane and well, ordinary.
He ended his sermon with six foundational pillars on how the Gospel FREES us to work as God has called us to:
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The Gospel frees us to worship God in your work – (Matthew 22:37) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind… Honouring Him through your work - your goal in work isn’t fame, riches, promotions, status but rather loving Him and now making much of Him and enjoying Him as you work. Practically this can look like - Thanking Him for the job that you have, praising God for the evidences of grace that you see in your workplace and honouring Him after a full day at work.
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The Gospel frees us to serve others wholeheartedly. The second part of Matthew 22:37 calls us to love our neighbours. You can love and serve your co-workers and bosses - even the toughest ones. Why? Because we love Christ and we work for Him. Our work cannot earn us acceptance – God doesn’t need our good works BUT our neighbours do! And now we are free to love and serve them genuinely and wholeheartedly as we work - not to impress them but to do good to them. Practically, this can look like: remembering their birthdays or anniversaries, encouraging them when they do great work, helping them in their work, sharing the Gospel with them! And we can do all of this without expecting anything in return because we are promised our inheritance in Christ.
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The Gospel frees us to trust God in our work. Proverbs 19:21 says, ‘Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand’. Our ultimate Boss is in control and sovereign over all things! He has already secured our future and our future inheritance in Him. So even though work is entangled with thorns and thistles - we can rest in the reality that we are secure in Christ. So as we work hard for God, and potentially face hardships like losing our jobs, or not getting the promotion, we can trust God and that His purpose will stand. Practically, this can look like…praying! We can pray to the our sovereign God and entrust it to Him.
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The Gospel frees us to rest from our work. Jesus says, ‘come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. Jesus wants us to rest. Work is going to be wearying and burdensome and we aren’t called to endless labour. We must see our rest as a gift and an opportunity to rest in Him - to be dependant on the Lord in our work WHILE we rest from our work and enjoy the fruits of our labor
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The Gospel frees us to do our work well. Titus 2:9 says, ‘Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour’. We are called to work hard. The greatest motivator for this is wanting to impress and bring glory to our ultimate Boss: Jesus! We should do our best work because we work for the King. Practically, this can look like: being creative and competent in serving our earthly masters. If you’re in the medical industry, treat and diagnose your patients well. If you’re a tradie, build whatever you’re building, or wire whatever your wiring to the best of your ability. If you’re a teacher, teach your students diligently. If you’re a full time mum, serve and love your family with creativity and joy. Work hard, be competent and strive to do everything so that it is well-pleasing.
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Lastly, the Gospel frees us to enjoy work. 1 Tim 6:17 says, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” Working for anyone or anything other than Christ will disappoint. BUT working for Christ is the greatest - and joy will follow. Here’s our promise: in this world, our work on this side of eternity is entangled with sin BUT there will come a time where we will receive the inheritance as our reward (Col 3:24). All our work in heaven will be fruitful, and above all, we will only be working for Him and Him alone!! What joy there is in that promise!! As we set our eyes on that future – we can be joyful in the midst of hardship in the present.
We look forward to you joining us as we continue the “Sanctifying the Ordinary” series. This week, we will be looking at the topic of Singleness.
Mission Prayer is on this Friday.
Everyone in the church is invited and we’d love for you to join us in praying for the lost.
When: Friday, April 21st, 7:30pm
Where: Song’s place
Hope to see you all there!
G2G will be on this Sunday from 4-6pm.
Parent participation is not required for this week’s session, so feel free to drop your kids off for the two hours or you are also welcome to stay and mingle with other parents who may also be doing the same.
We look forward to seeing you and your children there!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Joel Seric on 0488 745 974.
On Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus! The kids performed an item to “Nothing But the Blood”, Riley preached on the peace that the risen Christ offers us, and we ended the service with four baptisms! We celebrated Marsha, Joven, Kristine and Amy as they publicly declared and displayed their faith in Christ and His finished work through being baptised.
It was a day filled with joy as we celebrated together and were reminded of that which is of first importance to our faith: “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
We will be starting a new sermon series this Sunday, titled, “Sanctifying the Ordinary”. Richard will be kicking us off this week, preaching on the theme of Work and how we can sanctify the sometimes very ordinary work we are called to do.
Regos for our Together Conference this year are now OPEN!
This will be our second annual Sovereign Grace Churches Australia conference. The aim is to gather with all of our churches, and friends of our churches, here in Australia for a weekend of fellowship, worship, and making memories together!
Together 2023 will be running from July 21-23 and will be held at the Collaroy Centre in Narrabeen.
This year our theme is: ‘Zealous for the Name of Christ’ where we’ll be discussing the often forgotten virtue of Godly zeal. We will have the privilege of having a special guest from the U.S. join us, Jeff Purswell. He will explain what Godly zeal is and then apply it to various areas of our lives so that we will live all for the name of Christ.
We would recommend registering sooner than later as all the Deluxe Rooms have already been BOOKED OUT and almost half of the Hotel Rooms have been booked.
Please also note that you must still register children under the age of 3 even though their rego is free.
For more information and to register, click here.
If you have any more questions about the conference or registration, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
We look forward to seeing you there!
A reminder to book your FREE tickets for the Gathering Around the Gospel Concert with Bob Kauflin! We are looking forward to worshiping with you all!
Details: Saturday April 29th, 7.30pm, Fox Valley Community Centre
Tickets here:
https://sg.elvanto.com.au/form/8cbb4e68-8948-40aa-9bcd-c9d76c2892ca
As many of you know, Bob Kauflin will be coming out to Australia at the end of April this year! This will be an exciting opportunity to get to learn about all things worship through song. One way we will be doing this is through a training morning with Bob.
This is open to all band + PA members, so please book it in your calendars as it will be an invaluable time of training and teaching!
When: 9am-12pm, Saturday 29th April
Where: Iron Street (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
Easter is easily one of the most important dates on our calendar each year, and this year is no different! We are so looking forward to marking the death, burial and resurrection of our Saviour with a Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday service at Iron St:
Good Friday Service: 7th April at 10am - This service will be more quiet, sombre and reflective with no 5 minute break.
NB: Kids in K-2 will be in kids work for the whole morning, Y3-6 will be in for the whole service.
Easter Sunday Service: 9th April at 10am - there will be a kids item and baptisms.
NB: Explorers (K-6) will be in SG Kids the whole morning.
Please feel free to invite friends and family along to both services! This will be a wonderful opportunity for all to either be reminded of the Gospel or to hear it for the first time.
It was announced on Sunday that we are now looking to recruit a team of people to serve mid-week on the Iron St Grounds Team! This will include jobs such as yard work and general site maintenance. If you are interested in helping out on this team, please reach out to Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au. Thankyou!!
Our next Baby Dedications are coming up on Sunday the 28th May. If you are planning on dedicating your child on this day, this a great time to invite family and friends to church. For the rest of us, it’s a great time to welcome new faces and exude the love of Christ to all who come through our doors.
We will be dedicating a few children to the Lord on this day and are looking forward to celebrating the growth of our church through these little ones.
Riley preached on Sunday from 1 Peter 5:12-14 on the importance of Gospel partnership and that this is crucial in the life of a mature church. Signing up to the SG Global Newsletter is a great way to partake in this partnership by finding out what’s going on in Sovereign Grace Churches around the world.
To sign up, head to sgcmissions.org.
The latest issue of the Sovereign Grace Journal is here! The sixth edition is titled “A Passion for the Church” and is written by Sovereign Grace pastors for the pastors and members of Sovereign Grace Churches. Our pastor, Riley, has also contributed to this issue with an article on what the Bible has to say about Church Membership.
To download a free pdf of the journal, head to sovereigngrace.com/journal. Or you can purchase a physical copy from Amazon here or from the bookshop for $10.
During the State Election this past weekend, we ran a democracy sausage sizzle, offering free sausage sandwiches and free coffees to voters who came through. It was such a great opportunity to serve our local community and to get to know some of them whilst also letting them know about our church! Please continue to pray for any seeds that were planted on the day - that the Lord would provide growth and potentially bring some people back to our Sunday gatherings.
A special shoutout to all the volunteers who gave up their time to serve that day - the event would not have been possible without all your help! Thank you!
Easter is easily one of the most important dates on our calendar each year, and this year is no different! We are so looking forward to marking the death, burial and resurrection of our Saviour with a Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday service at Iron St:
Good Friday Service: 7th April at 10am
Easter Sunday Service: 9th April at 10am
Please feel free to invite friends and family along to both services! This will be a wonderful opportunity for all to either be reminded of the Gospel or to hear it for the first time.
For more info, head to sgparra.org.au/easter.
An organised lunch after church will not be on this week as originally planned. However, it may be a great opportunity to invite people over to your home or organise a lunch outing with a group of people!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
As Easter approaches, lets dedicate ourselves to prayer, asking God that many would be exposed to the gospel message and make a decision to follow Jesus.
Everyone in the church is invited!
When: Friday, March 24, 7:30pm
Where: Song’s place
Hope to see you all there!
Our last session will be led by Joel Seric.
We would love for you to invite family and friends along as it will be a great opportunity to hear a deep dive into the Gospel.
We look forward to seeing you there if you can make it!
6pm @ Iron Street, BYO dinner and get ready for some great content
Easter is easily one of the most important dates on our calendar each year, and this year is no different! We are so looking forward to marking the death, burial and resurrection of our Saviour with a Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday service at Iron St:
Good Friday Service: 7th April at 10am
Easter Sunday Service: 9th April at 10am
Please feel free to invite friends and family along to both services! This will be a wonderful opportunity for all to either be reminded of the Gospel or to hear it for the first time.
We will be holding a Democracy Sausage Sizzle on Election Day this year! This will be a great opportunity for outreach and connecting with the local community.
It will be held at Iron Street on Saturday, the 25th of March.
There will be opportunities to volunteer on the day for the following: set up, pack down, sausage sizzle and coffee. If you are interested in helping out at all on the day, please contact Abella or Georgia Lick.
Thankyou!
We had a wonderful time at our first Women’s Breakfast of the year on Saturday. CJ served the ladies so well by speaking on “Making the Best Use of the Time” and unpacking what biblical rest and work look like. We were reminded of the importance of resting in Christ’s perfect work and rest whilst also following His example of work and rest.
CJ also shared some recommended resources on the topic, which you can find linked below:
- CJ Mahaney’s free, unpublished ebook, Biblical Productivity
- Carolyn Mahaney and daughters, Shopping for Time
- Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy
- Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowlyand Deeper
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
Join us April 29th at Fox Valley Community Centre for a night of worship and prayer led by Bob Kauflin from Sovereign Grace Music. We’ve themed the night ‘Gathering around the Gospel: Exploring the Riches of Christ in Song, Scripture and Prayer’. There’s already lots of outside interest and so please make sure you book you FREE tickets early so that you can be there for a really encouraging night!
Details: Saturday April 29th, 7.30pm, Fox Valley Community Centre
Tickets here:
https://sg.elvanto.com.au/form/8cbb4e68-8948-40aa-9bcd-c9d76c2892ca
Our first Women’s Breakfast for the year will be on this Saturday, 8-10am!
The lovely CJ Lick will be speaking on “Making the Best Use of the Time: Working & Resting in All of Life”.
These breakfasts are a special opportunity for extended fellowship and tailored teaching on Biblical womanhood. If you can make it, please RSVP with dietary requirements to admin@sgparra.org.au.
We are so looking forward to spending the morning with you all!
G2G will be on this Sunday from 4-6pm.
There will be a games and youth talk running for the kids alongside a training session for parents. This will be a valuable opportunity for discipleship of both groups.
All parents (not just G2G parents) are invited to join the training session. However, please be mindful that there will not be supervision provided for younger siblings or children outside of the G2G age group (years 3-8).
We look forward to seeing you there.
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
As mentioned on Sunday, we have come up with some guidelines for Kids’ Supervision on Sundays. We have such a wonderful church community with a big family feel. However, we also recognise that we are in a space that is open to the public, and just like any such space, we believe it’s important to be caring for our children by being aware of their whereabouts and supervising them as best as we can.
Please see the guidelines above for supervision of your children on Sundays outside of service times.
Thank you for how you already strive to do this and thank you in advance for continuing to be vigilant about the safety and care of our kids!
Join us April 29th at Fox Valley Community Centre for a night of worship and prayer led by Bob Kauflin from Sovereign Grace Music. We’ve themed the night ‘Gathering around the Gospel: Exploring the Riches of Christ in Song, Scripture and Prayer’. There’s already lots of outside interest and so please make sure you book you FREE tickets early so that you can be there for a really encouraging night!
Details: Saturday April 29th, 7.30pm, Fox Valley Community Centre
Tickets here:
https://sg.elvanto.com.au/form/8cbb4e68-8948-40aa-9bcd-c9d76c2892ca
Easter is easily one of the most important dates on our calendar each year, and this year is no different! We are so looking forward to marking the death, burial and resurrection of our Saviour with a Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday service at Iron St:
Good Friday Service: 7th April at 10am
Easter Sunday Service: 9th April at 10am
Please feel free to invite friends and family along to both services! This will be a wonderful opportunity for all to either be reminded of the Gospel or to hear it for the first time.
The Men’s Breakfast is on this Saturday. These breakfasts are a great opportunity for fellowship and teaching specific to biblical manhood. This breakfast, we will be looking at The Roll of The Die: How to Have Certainty in an Uncertain World.
When: 8-10am this Sat, 11th March
Where: Iron Street
Cost: $5
RSVP to admin@sgparra.org.au
We will be holding a Democracy Sausage Sizzle on Election Day this year! This will be a great opportunity for outreach and connecting with the local community.
It will be held at Iron Street on Saturday, the 25th of March.
There will be opportunities to volunteer on the day for the following: set up, pack down, sausage sizzle and coffee. If you are interested in helping out at all on the day, please contact Abella or Georgia Lick.
Thankyou!
As many of you know, Bob Kauflin will be coming out to Australia at the end of April this year! This will be an exciting opportunity to get to learn about all things worship through song. One way we will be doing this is through a training morning with Bob.
This is open to all band + PA members, so please book it in your calendars as it will be an invaluable time of training and teaching!
When: 9am-12pm, Saturday 29th April
Where: Iron Street (27 Iron St, North Parramatta)
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in the month of March:
Sunday, 5th March:
- Lunch after Church
- Sunday Night Services Commence! - “What Happened on the Cross: Big Words that End in ‘tion!”
Saturday, 11th March: Men’s Breakfast
Sunday, 12th March: Sunday Night Service - “What Happened on the Cross: Big Words that End in ‘tion!”
Saturday, 18th March: Women’s Breakfast
Sunday, 19th Feb: G2G (Parent Participation)
Friday, 24th March: Mission Prayer Night
Saturday, 25th March: Election Day BBQ at Iron St
Sunday, 26th March: Sunday Night Service - “What Happened on the Cross: Big Words that End in ‘tion!”
On Sunday, we announced our Go Forward Fund details for the year.
There’s absolutely NO pressure to give to the GFF, which is on top of your usual tithes and offerings, but if you’d like to then here’s what we’re going to be collecting for this year:
BUILDING LOCALLY1. Building Fund
There’s no doubt that Church is more than a building. Church is family. But every family needs a home!
As you’ve experienced, it has been so great to be in and a part of our local neighbourhood and to have our own space 24/7! Our current venue is great, but it’s not ours and it’s not permanent. And so we want to invest in having a more permanent home in Parramatta—a place where we can continue to be used by the Lord to make Jesus known, to serve our community, and to build up our church family.
We’ve already started this fund and placed a deposit into it to get the ball rolling, but in order to make this a reality we are going to need a lot of faith-filled risky givers. So please consider how you’d like to give to this.
2. Future Leaders
It is one of our great hopes and needs as a young church plant to invest in, raise up, and train future leaders within our church, and even to be looking out to how we can be sending men to support future church plants. In order to do this, we need to be setting aside finances to cover wages, education, and fellowship experiences (like SG Pastors Conference) so that we raise up the next generation of not merely ‘leaders’ but Sovereign Grace Leaders who share our vision and values. Portions of this fund will be used to fund Richard and Joel’s Pastoral Internship and the Young Leaders Internship program, as well as provide opportunities as needs arise in the future.
HELPING GLOBALLY 3. Sovereign Grace Churches - Global Missions
Sovereign Grace Churches is our family of Churches. A family who partners together to advance the gospel in Jesus Christ, seeking to fulfil our mission by planting and strengthening churches, training pastors, producing gospel-centered resources, and engaging in missions throughout the world. We’re presently enjoying playing our part in gospel work in over 38 different countries, including places like the USA, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, UK, Ukraine, Belarus, Germany, Italy, Philippines, South Korea, Nepal, Thailand, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Liberia, Zambia, Sierra Leonne and India. It’s a big world out there and we’re definitely thrilled to play our part! Yet we have more gospel opportunities than we have the ability to fund.
That’s why we want to once again give to global mission in our family of churches. Sovereign Grace has two churches in Australia because other churches gave so generously, and we at Sovereign Grace Parramatta now have the opportunity to play our part in the story of others across the globe, all for the glory of God.
Friends, thanks for always considering opportunities to give so diligently and enthusiastically. I truly feel privileged and blessed to be a part of this Church, and, as ever, I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in the hearts and lives of people as a result.
For a copy of the Go Forward Fund Giving Form, click here.
Starting this Sunday, 5th March, we will be holding a Sunday Night Service from 6pm at Iron St. The theme across the three weeks (5th, 12th, 26th March) will be “What Happened on the Cross: Big Words that End in ‘tion’!”
We would love for you to invite family and friends along as it will be a great opportunity to hear a deep dive into the Gospel.
We look forward to seeing you there if you can make it!
Although, we will not officially be partnering with ICM this year, we still believe that it is a valuable ministry to support if this is something you feel the Lord is leading you to do. One of the ways you can support ICM is by booking a seat and going along to the annual ICM Dinner. Please see the details of the event in the image above. To find out more information and/or to book a seat, click here.
If you’d like to see if anyone else in our church is attending so you can attend the event together, please contact Arbie Magno (arbie.magno@gmail.com).
If you’re interested in getting baptised, we will be holding a class on Sunday the 19th of March at 8:55am in the Church Offices. This will be an opportunity for you to find out more about what we believe the Bible says about baptism and why it is a significant moment in the life of a Christian.
If you’d like to sign up for the class, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
Life Groups are on this week!
Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally. We hope that this time together with your group blesses you!
Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
On Sunday afternoon, we launched Generation to Generation (G2G) with a vision and games afternoon for our youth and their parents!
G2G is our church’s youth program which we’ve launched this year for school age children in years three to eight. It runs monthly on a Sunday afternoon (4-6pm) at the Iron Street Chapel.
Our inaugural G2G event was a huge success (by both the youths’ and the parents’ standards) with Joel Seric and the G2G leaders (Marcus & Baree Tripodi and Richard & Sara Kapoor) running the afternoon. It began with worship through song, followed by some vision casting from Joel and teaching from Riley, then some community building games.
G2G is an open event and a great opportunity to invite friends along who have children in this age range in the hopes that they would hear the Gospel.
The upcoming dates are:
- 19th March (4-6pm) - Games and Youth Talk
- 23rd April (4-6pm) - Easter
- 28th May (4-6pm) - Mission Night
- 25th June (4-6pm) - Campfire Night
If you have any questions about G2G, please contact Joel Seric on 0488 745 974.
Our first SG Kids Workers Night for the year is coming up this Wednesday, the 22nd of Feb. This will be replacing life groups this week.
When: 7:30PM this Wednesday
Where: Iron Street Chapel (27 Iron Street, North Parramatta)
If you serve in SG Kids, please make it a priority to be there as attendance at these nights is a crucial part of serving in kids.
Join us this Friday night for Mission prayer to commit ourselves to pleading with God to bring people to know him.
Everyone in the church is invited!
When: Friday, Feb 24, 7:30pm
Where: The Springs’ place
Hope to see you all there!
If you’re interested in getting baptised, we will be holding a class on Sunday the 19th of March at 8:55am in the Church Offices. This will be an opportunity for you to find out more about what we believe the Bible says about baptism and why it is a significant moment in the life of a Christian.
If you’d like to sign up for the class, please contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
SG Kids is an integral part of our church’s life and it wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteers who give up their time, energy and resources to serve the next generation!
Part of what makes this all possible are our biannual training nights - the first of which is coming up next Wednesday, the 22nd of February. This will be replacing life group for that week.
If you serve in SG Kids, please lock in this date for our first kids workers training night of the year. More details to come. Attendance at these nights is a crucial part of serving in kids, so please make it a priority to be there.
If you haven’t already done so, please follow the instructions below to subscribe to our church calendar to stay up to date with important events within the church.
For iPhone users:If clicking on the link below doesn't do the trick, then try this on your phone:
Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar > Paste link. Repeat for each calendar.
For Android users:Follow this quick tutorial to subscribe to each calendar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBcPO-jO2eI
Links:
Wed LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/35299c88167329e93ce8a9b5876a1d3cebfe8856b4045af71e9f0cb98a17af00%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Thurs LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/cd6c1dfd72114035ea1d9f30c118924c79a286331585cd94a463be225ea84853%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
If you have any problems subscribing to the calendar, contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
Guys Growth Groups are on this week! Your LG leaders will let you know all the details.
As many of you know, Riley left for the States last Saturday to meet with leaders of Sovereign Grace Churches from all around the world to foster fellowship, friendship and unity as a global denomination. Here’s a quick update of what he’s been up to and what’s planned for the rest of his time overseas. Please be praying for him as he takes this opportunity to learn from, be equipped with and to encourage those he’ll be meeting with!
From Riley:
“I had a great time in Round Rock Texas, just out of Austin, at Redemption Hill Church, their Senior Pastor is Jon Payne who is on the Leadership Team of SGCes. The church was so warm and welcoming and they send their love all the way back to you Sg Parra
We are now now in Orlando for what is a very unique opportunity. A gathering of all of the Leadership Team, US Regional Leaders, Future Leaders, and Global Leaders, with guys flying in from all around the world: Ethiopia, Italy, Phil’s, Mexico , Germany, and Australia. All in all 31 leaders from 8 nations.
The hope for the time is to establish friendship and fellowship across the group as well as equip all the guys to lead in their respective fields and countries more effectively.
Here is a note From Mark Prater. Please be praying for:
'*In just a few days, 31 leaders from 8 different nations will gather in Orlando for one of the most important retreats that we have had in a decade. As I have prayed for our retreat, my faith for how God is going to work has only increased. Please join me in praying for our time together. Here are some specific ways you can pray:
Pray that there would no travel disruptions and that everyone arrives safely and on time.
Pray that God would use our time to build us together relationally as leaders.
Pray that God would equip us to lead our family of churches into the future.
Pray that all that happens at the retreat would bring God glory.’*
It’s a joy to represent SG Aus ! And a privilege to be invited. I love our family of churches and have a deep desire to see go forward together in a joyful, growing, gospel union.
It really is a privilege that we as a church get to be a part of this!”
Ladies Coffee Mornings are back on this term! These are a great opportunity to have some unhurried fellowship with other ladies from church during the week.
When: Every Friday morning 9:30am-11:30am during school term time.
Where: We alternate between people’s homes and local parks each week.
Who: All ladies are welcome! Feel free to invite friends and family along.
If you’re interested in coming along and would like to find out more info, contact Rebs Song on 0430 285 263.
There is usually a lot going on for each of us on any given Sunday morning! However, if you do find yourself free between 9:30-9:50am on a Sunday, please join us for Pre-Service Prayer as part of our worship each week. We will be meeting in the little paved area in front of the church offices - ALL are welcome! Psalm 127:1 says “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Come and join us as we undergird all that we do in prayer and wait expectantly for the Lord to build His house.
The Band Sign Up Lunch will be on after service this coming Sunday!
If you are currently serving in music (including PA and Projector), please make it a priority to come along!! We want to thank you for serving His bride so faithfully the past year, but also to hear what serving in SG Music would look like in 2023.
This is also an open-invite lunch for those who are interested in exploring joining the team. Maybe you are new, or maybe you are being stirred by God to serve in this way?
We currently have needs in these particular area of serving (though all welcome!):
- Singers - Male and Female (no requirement to read music, just singing!)
- Bass Guitar
- PA
- Acoustic Guitar
- Drums
Is this you? Or is there a brother or sister you could encourage to come along (maybe you’ve heard someone singing next to you on a Sunday)?
We will spend time over lunch considering “Why do we sing?” and what it looks like to serve on the team. My hope is that we all are freshly encouraged from His Word to sing to the Lord and spurred to serve to this end in 2023!
Men’s and Women’s Breakfast are an important part of our church life and we’re excited to let you know our first Breakfasts of the year are coming up! These dates should already be in your calendar if you have subscribed to our church calendar. If you’ve yet to do so, you can find out how to subscribe here.
Please be aware of these dates as we’d love to see you there!
More details to follow in the coming weeks!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
We’re so excited to see our Young Leaders Internship kicking off tonight with a special dinner at the Taylors. We’d love you to join us in praying for our interns that God would really meet with them and bless them throughout the year ahead:
- Abella Lick - Parramatta
- Georgia Lick - Parramatta
- Luke Counsell - Wahroonga
- Esther Monck - Wahroonga
- Hollie Roberts - Wahroonga
- Froilan Samonte - Wahroonga
- Josh Taylor - Wahroonga
- Amy Taylor - Wahroonga
- Marcos Cabral - Wahroonga
- Hannah Payne - Wahroonga
- Sebastian Fasano - Wahroonga
“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Cor 2:2
Sunday was a special day for us as a Church! We gathered for a new preaching series, Living Our Mission, as we look at our mission statement and make sure that we keep the main thing, the main thing.
Head to our Sermons page or the podcast to listen to ‘Knowing the Gospel Deeply’ on 1 Corinthians 2:2.
Point 1: Knowing the Gospel Deeply Means Knowing the Gospel
Point 2: Knowing the Gospel Deeply Means Knowing Jesus
Point 3: Knowing the Gospel Deeply Means Knowing it Passionately
We also had our Envision Meeting, our annual Church Family meeting to launch our year, give reports of God’s kindness to us as a Church over the previous year, information on what’s coming up, staffing, budget, programs, and a chance to hang out and eat pizza!
It was such a joy to see you all lean in with enthusiasm and expectancy for what God will do in and through us as a local church this year. Please be praying for it all!
SG Kids is an integral part of our church’s life and it wouldn’t be possible without the countless volunteers who give up their time, energy and resources to serve the next generation!
Part of what makes this all possible are our biannual training nights - the first of which is coming up on Wednesday, the 22nd of February.
If you serve in SG Kids, please lock in this date for our first kids workers training night of the year. More details to come. Attendance at these nights is a crucial part of serving in kids, so please make it a priority to be there.
Please follow the instructions below to subscribe to our church calendar and stay up to date with important events within the church.
For iPhone users:If clicking on the link below doesn't do the trick, then try this on your phone:
Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar > Paste link. Repeat for each calendar.
For Android users:Follow this quick tutorial to subscribe to each calendar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBcPO-jO2eI
Links:
Wed LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/35299c88167329e93ce8a9b5876a1d3cebfe8856b4045af71e9f0cb98a17af00%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Thurs LG:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/cd6c1dfd72114035ea1d9f30c118924c79a286331585cd94a463be225ea84853%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
If you have any problems subscribing to the calendar, contact Rebs at admin@sgparra.org.au.
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in the month of Feb:
Wednesday, 1st Feb and Thursday, 2nd Feb - Life Group Begins
Sunday, 12th Feb - Starting Point
Sunday, 12th Feb - Band Sign Up Lunch
Sunday, 19th Feb - First G2G (Parent Participation)
Wednesday, 22nd Feb - SG Kids Workers Night
Life Groups are back this week! Life Groups are so vital for us as a Church as they allow us to take the joy of Sunday and work out in smaller communities where we can know each other more deeply and help each other out more personally.
As much as is possible, it’s our aim for every member to attend Life Group or Growth Group, every time it’s on! This isn’t a rule or a new law, rather, we’d love that these special times go in our calendars first because they’re so good and so vital for our growth AND they are a key way we each play a part in serving each other in the church.
For some, this is made difficult because of shift work, travel, or baby sitting needs. To help you, please find the Semester 1 Life Group Calendar attached here so that you can look ahead to when your group is on and organize your calendar/sitting around that if possible.
It’s so great when the most amount of people can be regularly be at group where possible!
I hope Life Groups and Growth Groups bless you great this year!
This Sunday, we will be having our Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for what our year is going to look like.
The details are as follows:
Date: This coming Sunday, 29th January
Time: After service - 12:30pm (Lunch provided)
There will be a supervised movie on for the kids downstairs.
Please make this a priority as there will be important and exciting announcements that won’t be repeated!
“Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.” Psalm 96:1-2
An open-invite is extended to the first music team event for 2023.
If you are currently serving in music (including PA and Projector), please make it a priority to come along!! We want to thank you for serving His bride so faithfully the past year, but also to hear what serving in SG Music would look like in 2023.
This is also an open-invite lunch for those who are interested in exploring joining the team. Maybe you are new, or maybe you are being stirred by God to serve in this way?
We currently have needs in these particular area of serving (though all welcome!):
- Singers - Male and Female (no requirement to read music, just singing!)
- Bass Guitar
- PA
- Acoustic Guitar
- Drums
Is this you? Or is there a brother or sister you could encourage to come along (maybe you’ve heard someone singing next to you on a Sunday)?
We will spend time over lunch considering “Why do we sing?” and what it looks like to serve on the team. My hope is that we all are freshly encouraged from His Word to sing to the Lord and spurred to serve to this end in 2023!
- Henry
Ordinary WonderIt’s 2023, a new year, new possibilities, fresh excitement, vision, plans, strategies, high hopes…but nothing sounds more ordinary, plain, and run of the mill like reading our bible.
Psalm 119 is designed to remedy this faulty perspective and give us a refreshed and awakened affections for the word of God. We see in verses 129-131 two themes that dominate this 176 verse adoration of God’s word: Love and longing.
129 Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
131 I open my mouth and pant,
because I long for your commandments.
Psalm 119:129-131
It is clear that to the Psalmist, the Word of God is a delight, a treasure, and a wonder. For more examples of the Psalmists love for the Word of God, read verses 14,16,24,47,54,62,71-72, 103, 127,140,159,161-164,167,172
Therefore, because he loves it, he also longs for the Word with a deep desire and craving. For more examples of the Psalmists longing for the Word of God, read verses 20, 31, 40, 50,52,81-88.
Why is this?
“No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God's word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture. The reasons for this are obvious. In the Bible, God tells us about himself, and especially about Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. The Bible unfolds the law of God to us and shows us how we've all broken it. There we learn how Christ died as a sinless, willing substitute for breakers of God's law, and how we must repent and believe in Him to be right with God. In the Bible we learn the ways and will of the Lord. We find in scripture how to live in a way that is pleasing to God as well as best and most fulfilling for ourselves. None of this eternally essential information can be found anywhere else except the Bible. Therefore, if we would know God and be Godly, we must know the word of God intimately.” Donald Whitney – Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
But our everyday experience may not be so filled with this love and longing. For most of us, our daily bible reading, if we get to it, feels far more ordinary and difficult. Why is this?
Barriers To Our Wonder in the WordWe battle three key enemies: The world, the flesh, and the devil. These enemies make it a constant battle to truly enjoy God through his Word.
We live and work in a fallen world that is full of the curse, temptations, and the 1000 normal parts of human life that are so distracting.
We still battle with our old flesh which wages war against the Spirit within us (see Galatians 5:16-17), actively opposing any effort we have to engage and commune with God.
And the Devil is constantly prowling, with his minions in tow, looking for ways to draw us away.
“…the flesh hates everything about God. Since it resists everything about God, it resists every way we try to taste him and know him and love him. And the more something enables us to find God and feast on him, the more violently the flesh fights against it. Kris Lungaard, ‘The Enemy Within’
So how do we overcome these barriers?
Breaking Through To Wonder in the WordThis Psalm teaches us two ways to breakthrough
First up, prayer. We need to plead before we read. The Psalmist was not able to naturally just read and enjoy the Word and love God. He needed divine and supernatural help, and so he prayed:
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law…
36 Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
Do you see how the Psalmist is pleading with God for eyes to see, a heart that is inclined, and the strength to look away at the trivial and sinful to the beauty of the word?
We must plead before we read. We cannot enjoy God without God helping us to do it. The world, the flesh and the devil are too powerful for us to overcome.
Are you constantly coming to God and pleading for the eyes to see and the heart to love Him through his word?
Secondly, a plan. We need a plan to read, study, meditate and delight in God’s Word. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Our enemies are too strong for us to go into this most essential task without a strategic battle plan.
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
The Psalmist worked hard by committing to read, study, memorise, and obey God’s Word. And so must we. But this requires work, hard work.
“We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because is it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy…The problem of slothfulness has been with us since the curse of the fall. Our labour is now mixed with sweat. Weeds are easier to grow than grass. Newspapers are easier to read than the Bible is to study. The curse of labour is not magically removed simply because it is the study of Scripture that is our task. RC Sproul
In order to overcome this natural and sinful laziness, we all must have answers to these questions:
- When are you going to read?
- Where are you going to read?
- What are you going to read?
- How long are you going to read for?
SG Parra Bible Reading PlanPerhaps you may want to sign up to the SG Parra Bible Reading Plan for 2023 (a.k.a the Vargordi Plan). This plan will take you through one chapter of the New Testament and one chapter of the Proverbs every day for 260 days. In that time you will have read the whole New Testament by mid-October. Each day Andrew will post the reading and a simple done ✅. And you reply the same saying done ✅. That way there is a little bit of community, continuity, and accountability.
You can sign up to the Whatsapp group from the link in your Life Group chat or by reaching out to Rebecca Song at admin@sgparra.org.au. Of course, there’s no pressure or expectation that anyone does it, but it is there to help!
Digging For DiamondsDoes all of this sound too hard? Let me share a few final quotes to encourage you.
“When my sons complain that a book is too hard to read, I say, “Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves; digging is hard, but you might find diamonds.” John Piper
“Do not expect to master to the Bible in a day or a month or a year. Rather, expect often to be puzzled by its contents. It is not at all equally clear. Great men of God often like absolute novices when they read the word. The apostle Peter said that there were some things hard to understand in the Epistles of Paul (2 Peter, 3:16). I'm glad he wrote those words because I have felt that often. So do not really expect always to get an emotional charge or a feeling of quiet peace when you read the Bible. By the grace of God, you may expect that to be a frequent experience, but often you will get no emotional response at all. Let the word break over your heart and mind again and again as the years go by, and imperceptibly there will come great changes in your attitude and outlook and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognise these. Often you will feel very, very small because increasingly the God of the Bible will become to you wonderfully great. So go on reading it until you can read no longer and then you will not need the Bible anymore. Because when your eyes close for the last time in death and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you, to take you forever to His eternal home.” Geoffrey Walsh
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” Don Carson
Your Words Are WonderfulFriends, please consider how you can position yourself to dig for diamonds in Scripture! Your hard work will be rewarded over time. Over time, you will be able to join in with the Psalmist and declare boldly and joyfully: “Your words are wonderful”!
Listen to ‘Your Words Are Wonderful’ by Sovereign Grace Music
Listen to the sermon from Sunday
The deacons and the pastoral team will be meeting over this weekend for their first planning retreat together. Please be praying for them as they meet to plan for the year ahead.
Things to be praying for:
- Clarity of vision for the upcoming year
- Godly wisdom as they think through ideas and plan
- A spirit of unity within the group
We look forward to what God will do in and through this time!
On Sunday Jan 29th, we will be having our Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for what our year is going to look like.
The details are as follows:
Date: Sunday, 29th January
Time: After service - 12:30pm (Lunch provided)
There will be a supervised movie on for the kids downstairs.
Please make this a priority as there will be important and exciting announcements that won’t be repeated!
Ministry time is an opportunity for anyone and everyone to come down the front after the service to be ministered to in prayer and gifts.
This is not just if you’re in a ‘crisis’, you may be looking for direction, healing, wisdom, answers, faith, etc, for any number of situations.
Come down to receive prayer from Riley, Matt Pettett and others who have been selected to pray.
Remember, “God gives grace to the humble”! If you want to experience even more grace, humbling yourself to receive prayer is a great means for that!
On Sunday Jan 29th, we will be having our Church Family Meeting, which we call “Envision”. This is a chance for Riley and different key leaders to give the church updates on how things have been going (ministries and finances) and to give you a vision for what our year is going to look like. Please save the date for now and we will send you more details in the coming weeks.
Please make this a priority as there will be important and exciting announcements that won’t be repeated!
Looking for something to read over the summer break?
Since 2021, the Sovereign Grace leadership team have been publishing a Journal with the aim to serve the pastors and members of our churches in Sovereign Grace. The theme of this latest edition is, “Our shaping virtues.”
Gospel-centrality produces a gospel culture that is marked by certain qualities like humility, joy, gratitude, encouragement, generosity, servanthood, and godliness. We call these our shaping virtues in Sovereign Grace.
The articles in this journal, written by Sovereign Grace pastors throughout the world, are intended to help you in your growth in these virtues. Hope you enjoy it!
Purchase a physical copy on Amazon or download a free PDF copy at www.sovereigngrace.com/journal
All previous editions are available to read as well. (Look out for an article written by our very own Pastor, Riley Spring!)
We are excited to be gathering together to worship Christ our Saviour as the King of Christmas! Come and bring as many people as possible for our Family Christmas Eve Service at 5pm!
NB: This will be our last service for the year as we will not be having a Christmas Day service.
The Hennessy’s have kindly opened up their place for lunch after church this Sunday - address provided on the day.
Sausages and bread provided.
If possible, bring something to share (salad, drinks, snacks)
Ministry time is an opportunity for anyone and everyone to come down the front after the service to be ministered to in prayer and gifts.
This is not just if you’re in a ‘crisis’, you may be looking for direction, healing, wisdom, answers, faith, etc, for any number of situations.
Come down to receive prayer from Riley, Matt Pettett and others who have been selected to pray.
Remember, “God gives grace to the humble”! If you want to experience even more grace, humbling yourself to receive prayer is a great means for that!
What a wonderful and FULL year 2022 has been! Just looking at some of the highlights is making me joyful and tired!
- Church Retreat + Academy Starting (Feb)
- Getting Iron Street + Working Bees + Richie Starting Full time + Andy Farmer Visit (March)
- Golgotha + 2 Easter Services (April)
- Alpha (May)
- Together (July)
- Riley in Ethiopia (Aug)
- Our 3rd Birthday + Men’s Camp (Sept)
- Riley in Phils (Oct)
- US Pastors Conference + Psalms Concert (Nov)
- Deacons + Christmas (Dec)
And that’s just the major events…not to mention all the other various things we’ve done + not to mention all the ways God has been at work!
Join us on January 1st for our annual ‘Thanksgiving Sunday’. In this service there will be no sermon, instead, it will be an open mic for the congregation to come up and testify to how the Lord has been at work in their life in 2022.
Please consider coming forward and sharing something.
Please consider writing it down! Clarity is really encouraging and the shepherds hook will haul you off after 5 minutes!
Please consider how you can give glory to God and encourage your brothers and sisters in your testimony.
Join us this Friday night for Mission prayer to commit ourselves to pleading with God to bring people to know him during this Christmas period.
Everyone in the church is invited!
When: Friday, Dec 16, 7:30pm
Where: Song’s place
Hope to see you all there!
We are excited to be gathering together to worship Christ our Saviour as the King of Christmas! Come and bring as many people as possible for our Family Christmas Eve Service at 5pm!
We are back with the last Life Groups for the year! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
During the summer break, we will be holding a:
- Women’s summer book club on Ecclesiastes
- Men’s summer book fight on the power and defeat of sin
If you’re interested in joining in or have any questions please contact: Rebs (for the ladies) and Joel (for the men)
Praise God for last Sunday as we ordained 6 Deacons - Men and women proven in character and in their personal godliness.
Though Scripture provides no formal list of duties for deacons, their primary call is to lead the church in the tasks of service and caring for its temporal needs.
May we as a church be supporting them with our prayers and encouraging them in their service.
We are excited to be gathering together to worship Christ our Saviour as the King of Christmas! Come and bring as many people as possible for our Family Christmas Eve Service at 5pm!
We had a lovely time on Sunday dedicating Eliana Lucas and Liam Magno to the Lord! Please be praying for these young and their parents!
This Sunday will be a special day for our church as we ordain 6 Deacons.
Over the past month we’ve asked for your voice, wisdom and counsel as we consider these men and women who meet the qualifications of character and also have a heart and a capacity to serve in this role.
- Henry Burnett
- John Carr
- Courtney Lick
- Arbie Magno
- Daven Poblete
- Rebecca Song
We are so blessed to have such faithful, generous, passionate servants of Christ.
Please join us as we celebrate this joyful occasion and join us afterwards for a BYO Lunch at a local park run by the Seric Life Group, they’ll provide drinks and doughnuts!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
The last couple of Sundays, we opened up the church for a night of entertainment and laughter playing Board games the first week and Bauble making for the second.
Our hope was that we might gather as a church to enjoy one another but also provide an opportunity for you to invite family and friends to join in our community fun! We did exactly that! See images below.
Not only was it great time to chill on the night, but we had Andrew, Esther and Marcus share their testimonies as an evidence of God’s abundant grace and saving work through Jesus in their lives. If you haven’t heard their testimonies, go and ask them personally - God is wonderfully amazing!
Praising God for the wonderful opportunity! AND thank you to all who joined us and helped out over the past 2 weeks :)
You may have noticed that we have not been going ‘live’ each week on Zoom or Facebook. Going forward, we will continue to not livestream our service. This was because it wasn’t something that was being widely used and it requires logistics and co-ordination on a Sunday morning that can be more of a distraction than a help. We recognize that some of you, when sick or minding kids at home who are sick, like to tune into the service, sorry if this is a disappointment.
But as usual, the sermon will be uploaded on the website here and onto relevant podcasting services: Apple Podcasts // Google Play //Spotify
You can also tune in to Sovereign Grace Wahroonga on YouTube here
If you have any questions or comments about this change please let Riley know.
Join us this Saturday as we come together as churches for a night of worship & prayer, singing songs from the latest Sovereign Grace Music albums
On the night we will be singing a selection of songs from the latest Sovereign Grace Music Albums, ‘Unchanging God Vol.1 + 2’
- Saturday November 26th 7:30pm at Fox Valley Community Centre!
Shout out to the SG Parra people who are playing and singing on the night
We are back with Life Groups this week! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need for this week.
Last Sunday we had an awesome time playing Board games and hearing Andrew and Esther’s testimony.
This Sunday, we will be holding a Bauble making and Burger Night for the Church (Please invite your friends and families to come along).
Starts 5pm with a simple ‘make your own burger’ for dinner.
We will also have a short time where a couple of our church members will be sharing their testimonies to encourage the saints!
Any questions? - contact Richard (richard@sgparra.org.au)
In Romans 12:12, Paul exhorts the church, ‘Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer’
Join us for Mission prayer this Friday night.
Everyone in the church is invited!
Riley will be giving a brief overview of Ethiopia, Philippines and the Pastor’s Conference on the night.
When: Friday, Nov 11, 7:30pm
Where: Song’s place - 38 Moxhams rd, Northmead
Hope to see you all there!
We’re coming together as churches for a night of worship & prayer singing songs from the latest Sovereign Grace Music albums… save the date!
On the night we will be singing a selection of songs from the latest Sovereign Grace Music Albums, ‘Unchanging God Vol.1 + 2’
- Saturday November 26th 7:30pm at Fox Valley Community Centre!
If you’d like to help in anyway with the logistics of the evening please contact Richard Song (richard@sgparra.org.au)
On November 27, we will be having our Baby Dedication Sunday.
These Sunday’s are very special to us as a church as we set aside time to thank God for the lives of our children and dedicate ourselves and our child(ren) to the things of the Lord.
So please mark your calendars and plan to join us.
Now if you’d like to dedicate your child on the 27th November or if you have more questions, please email Richard at richard@sgparra.org.au by the 7th November.
Psalm 127:3 - ‘Behold children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.’
This Sunday, we’ll be holding a Board games and burgers night. A fun night for us as a church to gather for some fellowship and engage is some board game rivalry.
It will also be a great opportunity for you to invite your friends, families, neighbours to connect with our church community :) so do invite them along.
Starts 5pm with a simple ‘make your own burger’ for dinner.
We will also have a short time where a couple of our church members will be sharing their testimonies to encourage the saints!
If you have any favourite board games you would like to play on the night bring them along!
Any questions? - contact Richard (richard@sgparra.org.au)
P.S: 20th Nov - we will also be holding another fellowship night - You won’t want to miss this one! So lock in that date too!!!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
Dear Church,
Over the next week it is my privilege to be taking with me Rich and Rebs, Joel and Jamie, Arbie, and John over to the US for our annual Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors and Wives Conference! This is a unique time where we will be able to experience the joy of our fellowship as a family of churches. It is amazing that we can all go as a team to both be strengthened and to encourage our brothers and sisters. We LOVE our family of Churches and as an expression of our partnership it is crucial we make trips like this, when we can!
We will also be traveling with Dave and Em Taylor, Brendan Willis, Austin and Ivy Loke, and Andrew and John Leung from the Wahroonga church. So there is quite a crew of us.
Most of us are heading to Covenant Fellowship Church in Pennsylvania first, which means we will get to see Abi Chavez (for those who are new, Abi was a founding member of SG Parra, and was on our Core Team as the SG Kids director before she left for an Internship at Cov Fel). We will also be visiting some friends you may know from the Prophecy Team, Bill and Romona Doyle, as well as Andy Farmer, Mark Prater, Jared Mellinger etc. It’s going to be a blast.
I will be heading out to Redeemer Newark to visit a church plant out of Cov Fellowship, led by Joel Shorey. I will get a chance to hang with those guys and send a big greeting from our church to them :)
On Monday 31st October will the Council of Elders, where one delegate from every SG church participates in a 9 hour long Pastor’s Meeting receiving updates, encouragement, and where we put forward items for discussion and debate about our global family.
And then from Tues to Thur is our Pastor’s Conference where there will be 700 Pastors and wives from the US and all over the world. Dave Taylor is speaking at one of the sessions, so please pray for him in that! It is our 40th Anniversary as Sovereign Grace Churches, so it is a very very special time to mark God’s faithfulness and grace. I know for myself and Maddie, our lives have been radically and fundamentally changed and blessed by being in Sovereign Grace, and it is our hope to be here for at least the next 40 years!
If you can, please pray for our time away, that the Lord will use it many powerful and mighty ways in our soul, in our team, and for the good of our church and ultimately, the glory of God all over the world!
I am going to miss you guys as I head out, again! I look forward to seeing you and giving you a report when I return. Aiming to get off the plane on Nov 6 and see you at church!
It is a joy and privilege to be your pastor and I will be boasting in you wherever I go!
Grace and Peace!
https://www.sovereigngrace.com/2022-pastors-conference
On the 13th Nov, we’ll be holding a Board games and burgers night. A fun night for us as a church to gather for some fellowship and engage is some board game rivalry.
It will also be a great opportunity for you to invite your friends, families, neighbours to connect with our church community :) so do invite them along.
Starts 5pm with a simple ‘make your own burger’ for dinner.
We will also have a short time where a couple of our church members will be sharing their testimonies to encourage the saints!
If you have any favourite board games you would like to play on the night bring them along!
Any questions? - contact Richard (richard@sgparra.org.au)
P.S: 20th Nov - we will also be holding another fellowship night - You won’t want to miss this one! So lock in that date too!!!
We’re coming together as churches for a night of worship & prayer singing songs from the latest Sovereign Grace Music albums… save the date!
On the night we will be singing a selection of songs from the latest Sovereign Grace Music Albums, ‘Unchanging God Vol.1 + 2’
- Saturday November 26th 7:30pm at Fox Valley Community Centre!
If you’d like to help in anyway with the logistics of the evening please contact Richard Song (richard@sgparra.org.au)
We are very excited to be launching the SGC Australia ‘Young Leaders Internship’ starting Feb 2023. It is a 10 month opportunity for you if you’re young/youngish to dip your toes into a ministry environment and serve Jesus and your church with a bunch of like-minded people.
It is open to all SGC members and we’re also extending it to people who are outside of SGC and would like to join one of our churches for the program.
If this interests you or you know someone it would interest, then please head to anz.sovereigngrace.com/internship to find out more.
The reality is, we need more leaders to take the gospel forward and we hope that this program aids that!
The 14:1 ministry is meeting at 7.30pm this Friday, 21st October at 27 Iron St.
The night is open to all our church members and Starting Point members. Whether you are new to spiritual gifts, or are seeking to discern which gifts the Lord may have given you, or you are desiring to grow in your pursuit and practice of them then this night is designed for you!
We will spend time worshipping together, hearing from one another about how the Lord has worked through the gifts in our church recently (and He has!), and praying for one another. There will also be some teaching on the gifts and an opportunity for Q&A about the gifts.
See you there, Lord willing!
-Matt
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
We will be holding our SG Ladies event this Saturday night, 7.30pm held at Iron St.
Rebecca Song will be speaking on the theme of ‘Contentment’ and how to find and experience contentment as a Christian woman.
We would love to hear from you if you’d like to help out in some way for the event! Anything from set up, contributing dessert, clean up, etc. If you would like to serve in any of these capacities, please contact Maddie Spring.
Our next round of Starting Point, our 5 week newcomers course, begins this Sunday! If you are interested in making SG Parramatta your home church and wondering what that would mean, this is for you! Please email me (rs@sgparra.org.au) to RSVP so that I can have all the materials ready for you! You can still come even if you haven’t registered! The more the merrier!
If you know anyone who is interested, please feel free to reach out to them and invite them to come.
If you want more info head to the Starting Point page.
Men of SG Parra,
Reminder that we will holding our Men’s Breakfast in the forest on Friday 23rd Sept - Saturday 24th Sept.
Meeting at church (Iron St) @ 5.30pm on the Friday to carpool up to Olney State Forest.
Day -trippers more than welcome if you would prefer not to camp.
On Saturday morning, short talk/discussion led by Riley.
All food and drinks taken care of.
Please RSVP to Richard.K or Marcus by Sept 18. Get in touch if you want more info too.
Join us for three Sunday Nights in September as we gather for teaching on tough topics. This is a trial run to experiment with adding some attentional teaching slots into the life of our church. My conviction is that we need more teaching about God and not less going forward!
These are optional, there’ll be no kids program but kids are welcome (NB: sensitive topics etc.). Hopefully these will be useful and will help us to know whether this is something we should do on a more regular basis!
When: 11th, 18th, 25th Sept
Time: Start 6pm
Where: Iron Street
Who: This is an open invite. Invite friends, neighbours, seekers. The primary target will be the church but I will develop the time with seekers and skeptics in view.
Dinner: Make your own Toasties from 5.45pm
Topics: “Love Is Love”, “Transgender Women Are Women”, “Women’s Rights are Human Rights”. These themes will be developed from the book ‘Secular Creed’ by Rebecca Mclaughlin
Structure: Talk + Discussion Time + QnA
Help: If you’d like to help in anyway (PA, Slides, Toasties, Lead a Song), please let me know.
On Sunday during Mission Prayer we took some time to pray for the amazing work the Lord is doing in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa).
Pastor Riley and Pastor Dave Taylor (Lead Pastor of SG Sydney), are currently serving in Addis Ababa teaching on the topic of ‘Planting and building Sovereign Grace Churches’ at the SG Pastors college.
Please continue to pray for:
- Pastor Riley & Dave - Equipping of the saints for the ministry of the Gospel (Eph 4:12)
- Spiritual protection - To take up the shield of faith (Eph 6:16)
- For the 10 students in the College - That the Lord would strengthen their souls and enable them to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)
- For Pastor Josh Pannell and Trinity Fellowship - That this church and college would live out the great commission of making disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-20)
May God be glorified through the work being done in Ethiopia.
The 14:1 ministry is meeting at 7.30pm this Friday, 26th August at 27 Iron St. Please note that we will officially begin the night at 7.50pm (rather than 8pm). Supper and fellowship will be from 7.30pm.
The night is open to all our church members and Starting Point members. Whether you are new to spiritual gifts, or are seeking to discern which gifts the Lord may have given you, or you are desiring to grow in your pursuit and practice of them then this night is designed for you!
We will spend time worshipping together, hearing from one another about how the Lord has worked through the gifts in our church recently (and He has!), and praying for one another. There will also be some teaching on the gifts and an opportunity for Q&A about the gifts.
See you there, Lord willing!
-Matt
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
Over the past couple of months, Riley has been visiting Arcare Aged Care Oatlands, serving them by sharing the gospel and being served by their joy and faith!
Although at SG Parra we are a young demographic church, it is good to be reminded that Gods people is multi-generational and it our longing that our church will increasingly be comprised of people from every walk of life.
The gospel is our only hope in ‘life and death’, and so this wonderful message must be clearly an carefully expounded and applied to people of all ages and stages of life.
There’s opportunity to sing hymns (thankfully Youtube leads that session rather than Riley), and compared to Riley’s 50min sermons on Sunday, here at the Aged care, he only has 15mins!
It has been such a joyful moment to be able to partake in this ministry and as a church, I ask that we take a moment to pray that by God’s power they would be guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:5).
Last Sunday we had our Mid-Year Church Family meeting.
It was a great time of remembering the wonderous works the Lord has done within the past 8 months - Praise God!
And as we look towards the remaining months ahead of 2022 - Refocusing our eyes on the Cross and keeping that the center of all that we do!
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
For those who missed out and would like to hear the recording of the session, please contact Pastor Riley.
Also, janitor@sgparra.org.au is now live! So if you’d like to help Richard Kapoor with all things care, maintenance, cleaning of Iron St, please reach out to him, you can also suggest possible things that need doing/attention.
Elvanto is a church management software we have implemented to help manage our rostering in a efficient, and simple way for all of us :) Moving forward, all roster swaps and replaces must be finalised in Elvanto :)
If you’re new to Elvanto, to get yourself started, please download the Elvanto App and read through the attached FAQs.
If you’re still having issues - never fear, our helpful SG Parra Elvanto Support Team will guide you through the process -> Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/HS4A7Kt9HMA3Saa0nzAfU3
We are back with Life Groups this week! Your LG leaders will send you all the information you need!
As parents it can be very tricky to know how to navigate our children and our families through complex ethical situations that arise in community. We are called to be in the world and not of it. We are called to love our neighbour with compassion but not love sin. And we are called to train our kids to know what is right and wrong.
This article from the The Gospel Coalition Australia will help you think through how to best deal with the increasingly common ‘Rainbow/Purple/Diversity’ days that may happen at school, workplace, university.
Responding to Rainbow Days at School by Harriet Connor
Ever had difficulties with the process of finding a replacement to serve on Sunday? or perhaps looking for a quick and efficient means of determining what ministry you are serving on this week and who you are rostered on with?
Well, Elvanto is a church management software we will be rolling out in the next few weeks, which will help manage our rostering in a efficient, and simple way for all of us :)
Arbie will be providing more details on this during the upcoming Church family meeting - be excited!! More details to come.
We are excited for our very first episode of, ‘For Such A Time As This’, to be launching today! You can find it on Apple, Google Podcasts or Spotify.
The first season is 6 episodes long and will drop every 2 weeks. It is hosted by Emma Taylor and Janelle Pearce from our sister church SG Wahroonga.
We hope you find this helpful in spurring you on to follow Jesus, knowing he has put you in the perfect time and perfect place, for such a time as this. Enjoy!
Our next round of Starting Point, our 5 week newcomers course, begins this Sunday! If you are interested in making SG Parramatta your home church and wondering what that would mean, this is for you! Please email me (rs@sgparra.org.au) to RSVP so that I can have all the materials ready for you! You can still come even if you haven’t registered! The more the merrier!
If you know anyone who is interested, please feel free to reach out to them and invite them to come.
If you want more info head to the Starting Point page.
For the first half of the year we trialled having lunch after church every week, hosted by a LG. These have been really special times for us and a great expression of the hospitality and fellowship we are called to practice in the New Testament.
Going forward, we decided as a Core Team that we are going to trial reducing that down to a planned and hosted lunch only once a month, by the Life Groups.
If you have loved having lunch every week and would like to be involved in helping to coordinate something so that there’s still a lunch option each week please contact Joel Seric.
This week the Seric’s will host a pot lunch lunch at the Commerford’s after church, all are welcome to attend!
It’s Ladies Growth Groups this week! Your LG leader will have all the details you need.
What an amazing time we had at ‘Together 2022’! It was such a joy to be gathering across our two churches, worshipping, praying, studying, feasting, and playing together! There were so many memories made, friendships formed, people cared for, and souls refreshed!
I want to thank everyone who came! Thank you for taking the time to make our church family a part of your life! I hope you got a taste of the joy and potentials of partnership and saw that this isn’t just a preference or pragmatic decision but one of biblical principle.
I also want to thank everyone who served in various capacities! SG Parra, you guys are such amazing servants and you did such a great job creatively and sacrificially to make the weekend happen. A big thank you to Prav and the events team, the PA team, and everyone who stepped in to make things happen (set up, kids, etc.) THANKYOU!
I can’t wait for Together 2023 already!
If you missed the Retreat or a particular message please head to www.sgparra.org.au/sermons to catch up. In particular, Dave Taylor’s first message ‘Together In Partnership’ is a crucial foundation stone for us going forward!
You man have seen in the news recently that the Manly Sea Eagles, an NRL club, has required their players to wear a ‘Pride Round’ rainbow jersey for this weeks match up. In response, seven of their players (some of their best) have declined to wear the jersey and have subsequently been required to sit out this round due to a matter of conscience. This, predictably, has caused a furore. Many people see this as a vile act of hatred and bigotry. Others see it as damaging to the many young men and women who are exploring homosexuality and are experiencing the challenges of trying to fit in. Others simply cannot comprehend that there are still people who are not affirmative of homosexuality in 2022 and are grieved. Others see them as heroes, standing up for what is just and right. Others may not agree with their beliefs, stand by their actions, and defend their right to freedom of conscience and belief. Sadly, for a society that promotes ‘inclusion’ and ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’, it would seem like that there has been a distinct lack of those elements in the news cycle!
Though I do not know exactly why ‘The Manly 7’ have refused to wear the jersey, I applaud their courage to stand against the new moral majority on this matter of conscience. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for them to weather this storm of outrage, abuse, and discord both internally in the sheds and externally from the media. This is a good test case for us as a society, and it would appear that we’re still a very long way away from our ideals of ‘tolerance’ and ‘inclusion’.
A good question for us all to consider, because it’s likely only a matter of time before ‘Pride’ comes to your workplace or school, is: “what should I do?” It’s not an easy one. And each of us needs to figure out how we are to going uphold biblical values of sexuality in a world that is desperate to celebrate what God abominates. The pressure will be strong, the circumstances complex, the difficulty immense.
In time, we’re going to spend some time as a church on Sunday evenings engaging with these difficult topics. But for now this article below by Simon Camilleri may help you to understand a bit more about the rainbow symbol and how and why we cannot support it.
https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/whats-in-a-rainbow/
Hi guys,
As we know, Jesus said, ‘apart from me you can do nothing...” but “ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15).
As we look ahead to Together 2022 this reality is true! Nothing truly good can come from our time together unless the Lord is with us!
If anyone would like to spend some time praying for our Together Retreat Matt Pettett is running a zoom prayer session. See below for details:
Day:Tuesday 26th July,
Time: 8-9pm. Aiming to keep the timing pretty tight. Anyone is welcome to join.
Topic: Prayer for retreat
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81788090105
Meeting ID: 817 8809 0105
Passcode: retreat
On Sunday I preached on 1 Timothy 3:8-13, ‘Deacons: How They Serve and Strengthen the Church’. This message will help to shape us as we go forward as a church, so if you missed it, please take a moment to listen to it. You could also pick up the book “Deacons” By Matt Smethurst (Smetto!)
Next Steps:
- Going forward could I ask that you spend some time praying and put forward to me a list of names of men and women you think may be suitable to serve as Deacons in the church. The reality is…we could pretty much nominate everyone in the church because we have SUCH a servant hearted and joyful church! So let’s see how the Lord leads.
- In time, I will then send out to you a list of names of the people i’d like to put forward as Deacons. For you to review, commend, or submit concerns about.
- We will then have an ordination service where we set apart a few members in our church to serve as Deacons
This is new to me and so there will be kinks to iron out in the process but I look forward to seeing how following this biblical pattern can strengthen and serve our church and all those who will one day call SG Parra “Home”.
Riley