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Our last post introduced the idea of a clarifying vision for SGC. We looked at the question, "What does God want SGC to be about?" Some churches would answer this question by looking at the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20). Some would say it is about "knowing Jesus and making him known." Others think in terms of "upward" (worship), "outward" (service and evangelism), and "inward" (personal growth). All of these are trying in some way to summarize the New Testament vision for the church and their own sense of that vision.

Over the last several months the elders of SGC have felt compelled by the Lord to be more specific about what God has called SGC to be about. Many voices have spoken prophetically and directly that God is going to do great things in our church, but part of this requires a clear sense of vision.

J.I. Packer offers a great insight about life in the Spirit in his book, Keep in Step with the Spirit.

One of the ways that we can grow in our understanding of what it means to do church together is by looking at the "one another" statements of the New Testament. These are how we are to relate together as the people of God in the local church.

Here is an update on the Redeeming Grace Church plant from Eric Holter and his leadership team.

As God has been teaching our church the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are reminded that the greatest blessing offered to us in the gospel is to experience the presence of the Creator God. In his short, but profound book, The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer writes, "To have found God and still pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love."

A bit as an extension of Phil's sermon last week on love, unity, and godly dissent, we added a small button on the right side of our Members Page on the website. The button is labeled "Feedback for the Elders?" and takes you to a page with the statement below.

Ephesians 5:18 says to all Christians, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." The verb "be filled" is famously a present tense verb which means to do it regularly, continually. Then it is an imperative verb, which means that it is a command and not a suggestion. Last it is a passive verb, which means that while the command is given to us, God is the One who must "fill" us. We put ourselves out there to be filled, but then we must trust Him to fill us.

Last Sunday Walt preached on the sanctity of life. Like many churches, we often choose a Sunday around January 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, to reflect on what it means to be pro-life in a culture that often is not. As Walt closed his sermon, he challenged us with some practical ways to engage this fight.

For this first post of our newly resurrected blog, it seemed fitting to follow up on Sunday's sermon. While I said at the outset of the sermon that we wouldn't be able to address all the particulars of forgiveness, a few are worthy of mention before too much time passes.