Sovereign Grace Community Church

06/12/2026

The French mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) once wrote, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

When was the last time you sat quietly in a room alone?

At our church, we have a time of silence during our observance of the Lord’s Supper. As the elders distribute the bread and the wine, we sit in reverent silence, pondering the death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

If we are honest, however, it is difficult to keep our thoughts focused even for a short time. Our thoughts wander, people distract us, and we want something, anything, to fill the void. We are accustomed to the constant barrage of music, social media, text messages, television, and screens in every room of our homes. Five minutes of silence can feel like eternity.

What does our reaction to silence tell us about ourselves? I suggest that silence forces us to confront ultimate questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going? We are trained to avoid those questions and occupy ourselves with the trivial and the vain. We want refuge in noise.

But silence is golden. When we use that silence to pray and meditate on God’s word, we follow in the steps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He often rose early in the morning to pray to His Father (see Mark 1:35).

We have God’s promise that if we draw near to him, through Christ, he will draw near to us (James 4:8). Let us take note of the noise that clutters our lives and commit to regular times to be silent before God, to meditate upon his word in the Bible, and to ask and find answers to the ultimate questions.

06/05/2026

Walking on the Water
One memorable day, Jesus sent His disciples away in a boat so He could have time to pray. While he was gone, a storm came up; a storm so powerful that the disciples were literally “straining at the oars” and going nowhere.

Jesus continued to pray, leaving the disciples to themselves until about 3 AM. Then, suddenly, the terrified disciples saw Him walking on the waves of the sea, unmoved and unconcerned. They thought He was a ghost! Jesus encouraged them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Why did Jesus walk on water?

The answer is found in Job 9. Job writes that God alone has “trampled the waves of the sea.” The sea often represents evil and chaos in the Bible. Throughout the Bible, God repeatedly showed His power over the sea. For example, at creation, God divided the sea and the dry ground. Later, God parted the Red Sea to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt. The message of Mark 6 is that Jesus, who is God Himself, has come in human nature to save His people from a sea of evil. He came to save them from their sin and all its effects.

Our lives are like that storm – raging, unruly, tossing and turning. By nature, we are all under the dominion of sin and Satan. Jesus alone can quell the raging of these seas. He alone can free you from the guilt and dominion of sin and bring you into His glorious Kingdom. He did this by offering Himself as a substitute for sinners on the cross, so all who receive him by faith will be saved.

Pray this day, “Lord Jesus, save me. You alone are the Lord of heaven and earth. I trust in you.”

05/31/2026

Learning to Say No
Do you have trouble saying “no”?

That was King Herod’s problem. He said “yes” to so many people that he made a trap for himself.

In Mark 6:14-29, the big news was that Herod committed adultery by marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife (she was also Herod’s niece – it was complicated). John the Baptist condemned the sinful union and called Herod to repentance. For this, Herodias wanted John dead. But there was a problem: Herod wanted to please at least five different people or groups at once.

Pleasing everyone proved to be an impossible task. Herod wanted to please his wife, which is why he put John in prison. But he didn’t kill John (like his wife wanted) because Herod also wanted to please the people, who thought John was a prophet. Secretly, Herod wanted to please John because, after all, he knew John was “a righteous and holy man” (v20). But when Herodias’s daughter danced for Herod at a party, Herod rashly promised to give her anything she wanted. Of all things, she asked for John the Baptist’s head! Fearing the nobles, military commanders, and leading men who heard him give his promise, Herod beheaded innocent John and gave the head to the girl.

Saying “yes” to everyone had made Herod’s life a mess. What was his problem? Herod’s root problem was fear of man. And that’s our problem too. There is only One we should fear, and that is the God who made us. We owe Him the fear of reverence and awe. He is the one who has offered us life and salvation through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The lesson is this: “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” (Proverbs 29:25).

Whom do you fear?

05/21/2026

Building an Ark
Archaeologists recently claimed to have discovered Noah’s Ark in the mountains of Turkey. A distinctive land formation, indeed, looks something like a large boat.

Whether this formation is Noah’s Ark is a matter for debate – and there are strong reasons to doubt it. What we can say with confidence is that Scripture clearly presents the Ark as a historical fact. Consider Hebrews 11:7: “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household” (see Genesis 6-8 for the full account).

Why did Noah build an ark? To save his household. Noah alone found favor in God’s sight. The rest of the world stood under judgment: “The wickedness of man was great in the earth…and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). The world deserved God’s judgment. But God showed grace to one man. By faith, Noah built the ark, “condemned the world,” and “became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

Are you building an ark for your household? While the world will never again face a flood like that of Noah’s day, we will all face God’s righteous judgment.

The good news is that God has provided an ark. That ark of refuge is Jesus Christ. Through his perfect life and death on the cross, He has become the only way of safety. He alone is the “way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). All that you must do is believe. Look to Jesus in faith, receive him as he is offered to you in the gospel, and follow him with all your might.

Just as the Lord shut Noah safely in the Ark, He will never let you go.

05/15/2026

True or false? “Individuals should be allowed to conduct life as they choose as long as it does not interfere with the lives of others.”

Think about it for a moment.

The question comes from a test developed by the Nehemiah Foundation, an organization designed to help Christians think more like Christians. The question asks us to consider what we believe to be sin. Is sin simply what hurts other people? Or (as is commonly thought in our day) is it to do something without the consent of another? consent?’”

“Consent” has now become the universal moral code. As long as two people consent, many behaviors once universally regarded as immoral are now celebrated. Even the age of consent is arbitrary and continually pushed lower. In Europe, for example, many countries put the age of consent for sexual activity at 14.

God’s word, the Bible, should make us reconsider. Sin, in the Bible, is any lack of conformity to, or transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4). It is a failure to reflect the moral purity God. That means that all sin is primarily against God (Psalm 51:4). Two individuals could be consenting and yet their action be immoral. Instead of merely asking “Does he (or she) consent?” We should be asking, “What would God have me do?” Or (what amounts to the same thing), “What did Jesus say in the Bible?”

God’s way is the best way. After all, He made the world and all things in it. For us to follow God’s law is to put our lives on the railroad tracks of creation.

Consent or no consent, we ought to acknowledge sin as sin and -what’s more – rejoice that where sin abounds, grace abounds more (Romans 5:20). Jesus Christ loves to save all who put their trust in him.

05/07/2026

Paddle Your Own Canoe
J. Gresham Machen, a theologian, once said, “A person who can rattle his own rattle when he is a baby is very apt to be able to paddle his own canoe when he becomes a man.”

He makes an important point. Machen explains: “The average American, however, remains a baby all his life…he has to have somebody else amuse him all the time…turn off his radio even for a moment and the appalling emptiness of his life is at once revealed.”

Machen, a theologian, wrote this paragraph in 1934. One wonders what he would say today. If people in the 1930’s couldn’t endure the emptiness of their lives without the radio, how much more do we fill emptiness with constant noise!

Scripture tells us that if we are to approach God rightly, we must be prepared to listen. Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 says, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools…. Let your words be few.”

To speak constantly is to offer the “sacrifice of fools.” It is but a small step away to listen to other people speaking constantly. If we are to approach God rightly, we must put aside these distractions and come quietly, intently, and sincerely. There is nothing more important in life than hearing from God through the Bible and responding to His word in faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself took time alone to pray, and we do well to follow in His steps.

Let us commit to powering down our devices and spending time in worship. Pray sincerely: “Lord, teach me your ways. Show me your paths. Lead me in the way everlasting.” For in Him we have life abundantly (John 10:10).

05/06/2026

Sign up for the annual Memorial Day Camp of the Sierra Christian Conference Association! Details in the handout pictured.

05/06/2026

04/25/2026

2026 Fruit and Nut Festival outreach. Thanks to the volunteers who are helping out!

04/24/2026

Sink, Not Satisfy
“A man may have enough of the world to sink him, but he can never have enough to satisfy him.” So wrote Thomas Brooks wrote in his classic book, “Precious Remedies for Satan’s Devices.”

By the “world,” Brooks meant this created earth, and all things in it: things that are not necessarily bad in themselves, but things that, when idolized, draw our hearts away from God. Think of status, or money, or power. When our live is dominated by the search for these things, we will find that in the end they sink us. At the same time, we will find that they can never satisfy. We will feel as empty when we obtain them as in the pursuit of them.

The Apostle Paul said something similar, if not as memorable. He said, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

That’s not to say riches are harmful in themselves – no. It is the inordinate desire after riches that is harmful to the soul.

Are you seeking satisfaction in the things of this world? You will never find it. You may, however, find that those very things will sink you eternally. Place your trust instead in the infinite, eternal, personal God, who made all things, and who cares for His creation. Repent of idolizing created things, and worship instead the Creator: Jesus Christ, “by whom all things were made” (Colossians 1:16).

Our hearts will be restless until they rest in Him.