Bows, Gingerbread, & 2010

5th Annual Toys R Us Gift Wrap!

This Saturday

9am – 3pm

Toys R Us (Haywood Rd.)

Wear a red shirt and Santa hat. We’ll see you there!

2nd Annual Gingerbread Contest (and Christmas Party too)

This Saturday evening

6pm – 9pm

Bring $5 & a wrapped gift for the gift exchange.

Registration Is Open!!!

Registration for the Next 2010 conference is open. Join us as we worship the Savior, listen to some great speakers, fellowship, and make a lot of memories.

Register for Next HERE.

Care Group Location Change

This Friday night our Singles group will be meeting at 7:00pm at Wendy C's house.

It should be a great time together to fellowship, worship and apply God's Word to our lives practically.

Need directions? Check your e-mail (Matt R. sent out a link) or contact the church office, 864.346.2361.

Next Is Back!

The Next Website & Blog are up and running. What is Next? It’s a conference that we are very excited about. For more information, click the links below…

Next 2010

Next Blog

Promote Next on your blog or website…

Caregroup @ The Rawlings' house tonight

Hey Caregroup!

I am looking forward to seeing you all tonight at our Singles Caregroup. In case you were wondering, yes, we are meeting and we will be back at my house tonight.

I know it was only a couple of weeks ago since I got to be with most of you but I missed you last week and I’m anticipating a great time worshipping together with you and hearing how God has been at work in your life lately.

Please don’t be discouraged by the colder weather and early onset of night-time these days – it will be sure to be warm and bright inside our cozy little abode!
I’m looking forward to seeing you all.

Your bro,
-Matt

Care Group @ Payne’s

Hey Care group,

This week we will be meeting at the Payne’s.

I hope all is well and you are able to make it Friday at 7:00 pm

Your bro,

Matt

Daylight Savings Ends

Daylight Savings ends this Sunday.

Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour.

Calling All NEXT Memories

Do you have a memory from Next 2009? The Next Staff wants to hear it! And they want to share it with others.

If you attended Next 2009, you know that there’s no substitute for being there. How did God meet you? Was it worshiping passionately (and loudly), listening to Joshua Harris or C.J. Mahaney preach about Christ, talking at midnight over coffee, or praying in the morning with your community group (and more coffee)? If you had a couple of sentences to broadcast to the world, what would you say?

Let Next be your megaphone. Send two or three sentences to next[at]sovgracemin[dot]org. They  may even use them in announcing Next 2010 (but they’ll ask permission first).

They’ll send more info about Next 2010 over Thanksgiving. In the meantime, mark May 28–31 in your planner, iPhone, huge wall calendar, iCal, back of an envelope, or whatever you use to remember stuff.

Desserts Galore!!!

For our meeting THIS week, I’d like to ask that everyone make a significant effort to make it out on time at 7:00pm.  Not only does it honor your fellow care group members and allow more time for fellowship, it will also give us time to have a Dessert Bar. To facilitate the Dessert Bar, we will get started on time and end earlier than we normally do to allow plenty of time to feast on home-made sweets and sumptuous treats afterwards.

So, in addition to being at our place at 7:00pm next Friday night, I’d like to ask that everyone please bring a home-made Dessert to share with the group.  If everyone brings something, I’m sure the table will be full of decadent treats for us all to take our time sampling. 

Forget Whitman’s – this is going to be a great Singles Sampler! I’m already looking forward to it…

Your bro,

-Matt

We Need You!

The Winter Wonderland Event is coming soon (56 days to be exact)! Would you like to be a volunteer? There are many ways to serve and we would love your help.

Volunteer Sign-up is THIS SUNDAY!!! Look for the Winter Wonderland table in the "lobby".

No CARE GROUP!!!

Care group has been CANCELED for this Friday night. That’s right, NO CARE GROUP this week! All of our care group leaders are attending the Small Group Leader’s Conference this weekend.

Snack Schedule

10.02 Barry, Katie, Ryan M
10.09 Laura, Jessica B, Josh R
10.16 Cherith, Willy, George
10.23 Courtney, Jessica R, Hannah
10.30 Josh P, Michele, Brooke
11.06 Seth, Wendy A, Sarah
11.13 Cesar, Susanna, Emily
11.20 Jenna Beth, James, Barry
11.27 No Care Group
12.04 Ryan M, Christa, Laura
12.11 Jessica B, Josh R, Cherith
12.18 Willy, George, Courtney
12.25 No Care Group
01.01 Jessica R, Matthew, Josh P
01.08 Michele, Brooke, Seth
01.15 Sarah, Cesar, Susanna
01.22 Emily, Jenna Beth, James
01.29 Barry, Katie, Ryan

Christa C will e-mail you the week you are scheduled to bring snack.

Picture Courtesy of Petr Kratochvil

the Cross too simple, my Sin too complex?

The cross seems too simple to me at times and my sin too complex.
It seems too easy of a remedy and my sin so awful. Surely it is foolish to believe so naïvely.
Surely my heinous sin cannot be forgiven by merely believing and trusting in the Gospel and the sacrifice of the Cross of Christ – this is too difficult to trust in completely…

Surely I must do something, surely I must atone – after all, I have been saved already and I knew better when I sinned this time. I am ashamed now – I just want to hide my face from Him because I do not want Him to see my guilt. At other times, I want to pretend as if I didn’t sin and that His wrath isn’t against sin and try to claim that my sin really doesn’t matter and that it doesn’t make a difference, because, after all, I’m saved aren’t I.

But, still trying to carry my sin and feeling that the weight of sin is still upon me, I only feel more distant from God and begin to doubt that God’s forgiveness is really for me or that I can ever really be the recipient of His love, because my sin is too great and my heart too hard.

Then, in the cool of the day, He comes looking for me and in my shame I hide and try to cover my nakedness with clothes I have crafted on my own, thinking He cannot see that I am naked through these leaves that I have pieced together. I do not want Him to find me and I want desperately to hide my face, so that I do not have to look into His all-knowing eyes – I do not want to experience His wrath, His disappointment and most of all, I do not want to feel this shame that I am trying to avoid at all costs. Yet, I truly have sinned and I am dirty and defiled, naked and wretched and I crouch in shame. The foul odor of my body of sin gives my whereabouts away – not that He needs such help finding me...

Soon, I hear His footsteps stop in front of my trembling, lowered head. I dare not look up, as a scared child hiding beneath the sheets, hoping that these leaves will cover me – yet, they are no camouflage at all. He is not distracted nor does He turn aside. He turns to me and then, when I deserve His wrath, He gently lifts my head with His hand and He dresses me in His Son’s own magnificent clothes of righteousness and then He speaks to me and says that He does not excuse my sin and that His wrath truly does burn against it and it would have raged against me as well - that my sin made all the scourging, the desertion, the beating, the mocking, the thorns, the bitter nails of the Cross, the gradual draining of blood from the body and the final heaves of the painful death of His Son necessary. Yet, instead of me, all of His righteous fury has burned fiercely against His Son once and for all time, and now He looks at me with forgiveness, kindness and love.

Now, I must trust the Cross and Jesus’ sacrifice alone – it is my only hope and I cannot pay for the punishment my sins deserve. No amount of condemnation or guilty feelings, no attempts at self-atonement and no false attempts at concealing or minimizing my sin will do. I must simply trust wholly and completely on what I was, and am, most undeserving of – the giving of God’s Son for me. So simple and yet so hard – it means I must die and I must put away any hopes of trust in myself. It means I must stop hiding, lay aside these feeble leaves I have strung together with my ugly threads of pride and come out into the plain light of the garden - naked, poor, wretched and dirty. I must come to Him humbly and plainly acknowledge all of my sin and ask Him for mercy for it all and in every part, because only His blood can wash me truly clean and only His clothes will be able to remove my shame.

It is difficult to trust the simple truth of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for me, when I keep trying to cover my sin and pick up my own ragged clothes of pride again. Still, the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ demands that I lay aside my pride and any attempts to earn salvation. It demands that I come humbly to the Rock of Ages for Him to dress me.

Yes, it remains hard at times to trust the simple message of the gospel, yet trust in the Gospel and the Cross of Christ alone I and we all must do with all that we are - for the Gospel truly is our only hope… and what a glorious hope it is indeed! Washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness and trusting in Him alone, we will not be ashamed.

Embassy Suites

Sunday, September 13th

Sovereign Grace Church will be meeting at the Embassy Suites on Sunday, September 13th at 10am. The Embassy Suites is located on Verdae Blvd. near the intersection of Woodruff Rd. & Roper Mtn. Rd. We will return the the Marriott on the following Sunday. Click HERE for maps and directions.

Care Group Location Change

Our caregroup will be meeting at the “House of Payne” (AKA the abode of Dan & Kimberly) this coming Friday night, instead of our house like we normally do.

Please try to be on time (7:00pm), because you never know, the meeting may actually start without you and you wouldn’t want to miss out.

Need directions? Contact the church office at, 864.346.2361 or jessica[at]sgcsc.org.

Your bro,

-Matt R

Next Worship LIVE

The Next Worship Album is available for download. You can download it HERE. The cost is $5! Here is the song line-up:

God Over All (Devon Kauflin)
His Name is Jesus (All Hail the Power) (Judah Groveman)
He Is Jesus (Stephen Altrogge)
Praise the Lord (Doug Plank)
By This We Know Love (Judah Groveman)
All I Have (Jordan Kauflin)
Jesus Thank You (Pat Sczebel)
I Need You (Kristian Stanfill/Eddie Kirkland)
The Name above All Names (Judah Groveman)
What a Savior (Devon Kauflin)
I Will Glory in My Redeemer (Steve & Vikki Cook)
Blessed Is the One (Doug Plank)
Oh the Deep, Deep Love (Bob Kauflin)

What Was The Name...

It's been a month...Next memories are fading. You really wished you would have purchased that book, but you can't remember the title. A specific worship song blessed your soul, what was the title? A quote stood out in a message, but you couldn't jot the whole thing down.
Wouldn't it be nice if that information was online?

The Next team has come to the rescue. All of this information (and much more) has been posted on the Next website. To make things easier for you, we have included some links below. Enjoy!

Mp3's of conference messages

Bookstore List

Worship Line-up

Application Questions

Message Notes

Map to Picnic Extravaganza

View Picnic Extravaganza in a larger map

NEXT MP3s

NEXT 2009 messages are available for download. We recommend that you download and listen to them. They are excellent!

Download HERE.

 

You can also view hundreds of pics from the conference. Don’t forget to look for your friends. SGC folks are in quite a few! NEXT 09 Pics

No Care Group/NEXT Travel Info

There will be NO CARE GROUP this Friday. This will give those attending the NEXT conference an opportunity to pack and go to bed early.

For those of you attending NEXT, a couple of reminders:

• Bus is leaving the Marriott (back parking lot) at 5:30am. That means that you’ll need to get there a little before, so we can pray and load up the luggage.
• Don’t forget to bring quarters! We will have a bunch of chilled sodas on the bus. (Dr. Pepper, Diet Dr. Pepper, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Mountain Dew, and Juice Boxes)
• Please have someone BRING YOU! If you have a friend or parent that can drive you to the Marriott, please do so!!! We can only park a couple cars in the Marriott parking lot. So, the more people that can carpool and be brought by someone else, the better! Thanks for serving the Marriott in this way.
• If you have not given Jessica $$$, please put it in the mail…(need the address? jessica[at]sgcsc.org). Just address it to the church and to Jessica's attention.
• Don’t forget, everyone will be checking themselves into the Hilton. Just give your name at the front desk.


Conference Details:

Registration Check-in is from 3pm – 8pm.
Bookstore will be open early this year! It will be open on Saturday from 3pm – 8pm.
First session begins at 7:45pm, doors open at 7:15pm. Get to doors early if you want a good seat!

What should I bring? Clothes are helpful. A toothbrush... But, seriously, bring shoes for walking (you’ll be doing a lot of standing/walking), Bible, Notebook, Pen. Just the usual things for a weekend conference. Oh and bring cash for coffee…you’ll need it. ;)

Next $$$

We need you!

Yes, you. This Sunday (May 17th) is the deadline for the NEXT hotel & bus payments. If you haven't paid the church, please bring your payment on Sunday . (Please give NEXT payments to Jessica.) If you are paying by check, please make the check out to Sovereign Grace Church and write NEXT in the memo. If you're paying cash, please put it in an envelope and mark the envelope with, yep you guessed it, NEXT. Thank you!!!

NEXT Registration, Closes May 10th

Everyone knows one. Everyone has a friend that does “it”. But, no one wants to admit that they procrastinate too. Who me?

Since we know that you don’t procrastinate, this is a reminder for your friend, please make sure you remind them…

Or maybe your finances have been tight and you’re waiting for your tax return…

Whatever the case may be, DON’T FORGET!!! Registration for the NEXT conference closes on May 10th. That’s right, your last chance to register is fast approaching. So, don’t delay, register today…

NEXT Registration

Verses to make you hungry...

Below are some verses from the Bible to encourage your thirst for His Word. I pray that you will be motivated by a desire to taste of His good grace and enjoy Him as you read His Word.

Matthew 4:4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

Psalm 119:18-20 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. 19 I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! 20 My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.

Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.

Psalm 119:64-65 The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes! 65 You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word.

Psalm 119:92 If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. 94 I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts. 95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies. 96 I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad. 97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

Psalm 119:97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

Psalm 119:103-107 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. 107 I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word!

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:111-114 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. 112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. 113 I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. 114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.

Psalm 119:123-125 123 My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise. 124 Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes. 125 I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!

Psalm 119:127-131 Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold. 128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way. 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.

All of the verses quoted above are taken from the ESV Bible. You can find the ESV Study Bible online here

Getting started on a Bible Reading Plan

As you are probably aware, we have just started a church-wide Bible-Reading plan this week (we're using one from the Discipleship Journal). If you’d like to download and print it, you can do so directly here: http://www.navpress.com/uploadedFiles/15074%20BRP.dj.pdf

As we embark on reading the Bible together this year, although our goal is to read the Bible each day, we want to do so in dependence on the grace of God knowing that we may not actually read His Word as consistently as we would like, even when we try.

Please do not become discouraged and give up though – what matters to the Lord is not checking off the daily reading box, but that we come to Him in humble dependence, looking to be fed, nourished and refreshed by Him.

Be aware, as with any Bible reading or devotional plan, there can be a temptation to legalism or pride, as if our doing the plan faithfully impresses God or in some way means that we’re being “good Christians”. God is impressed with those who come to Him contrite and in humble dependence on Him.

On the other hand, do not feel like you have to go back and re-read the days you miss as if you cannot keep pressing forward without doing so. If you miss days, I would encourage you to either press on, skip that day and just read the next day so you can keep current with your family or caregroup (preferable – so that you can experience fellowship/discussion about the Bible with others more easily) or just read the plan acting as if you didn’t miss a thing and read whatever verses are next, no matter how long it has been.

There is a great temptation to feel overwhelmed when embarking on such a plan - especially if we miss a lot of days and we feel like we are so far behind that we cannot continue. Please do not fall into this trap. If you miss days – approach each day as a fresh start and remember that what matters is whether you are reading God’s Word – not whether you perfectly follow a plan or read every verse sequentially. No matter how many verses or books you skip, you can be sure that God will be faithful to use His Word in your life whenever you read it and whatever passage you happen to be reading.

Remember that God is not angry with His children when we don’t read the Bible and He isn’t thinking less of us if we miss checking the boxes – no, He just longs for us to come to Him and He meets us, leads us, guides us and refreshes us when we do so humbly.

So, if you haven’t started reading – let me encourage you to start on day 3 tomorrow…

God’s Word is sweeter than honey, more valuable than the greatest treasure, it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path and it can make even the most simple wise – let this encourage and motivate us to read His Word and feast on His goodness found therein.

-Matt

Free in Christ

Do you ever despair at the sin in your life? If you've been born again in Jesus Christ take courage, because you've been made new and are no longer enslaved by sin.

We no longer need to fear God's wrath since Jesus has completely fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law. Now the Holy Spirit who knows our hearts, as well as all of our mixed motives and competing desires, perfectly intercedes for us in the midst of our weaknesses. He is constantly in the process of working everything in our lives according to His good purposes.

Even though we may feel unlovely, God loves us because of His Son and nothing will separate us from His love - no circumstance, no person and not even our own feeble failings. It is precisely because of the freedom that we now have in Christ and the great love that He has poured out on us that we can take courage knowing that He is for us and we are more than conquerors through Him. (read all of Romans 8 to get the full story)

Free in Christ

So often in my life
I’m tempted to despair
I see the sin in my heart
And the wickedness in there

I can feel like I’m unworthy
Unfit to bear His name
Like I am not His child
Weighed down by all my shame

But then I remember
That the source of my faith
Does not lie within me
But in His amazing grace

Jesus saved me from myself
And all my wickedness
He rescued me from God’s wrath
And gave me His righteousness

Now I am forgiven
I No longer stand condemned
I’ve been cleansed in His blood
Washed clean and free from my sin

So now I am worthy
Because I bear His name
I am His chosen child
He has taken all my blame

Now I’m free in Christ
My hope in Him secure
I’m free to live for Him
My inheritance is sure

Copyright Matthew Rawlings, March 27, 2009

Registration INCREASES

Have you been planning on registering for Next 09, but more important things have occupied your time (like school, care group, sorting your sock drawer…). Take 5 minutes and do it TODAY!!! Registration increases tomorrow (12am, April 1st). Don’t delay, register today.

http://www.thisisnext.org/2009-conference#register 

Not sure if you’re going? Want to go, but cannot afford it? Contact Matt R. or e-mail us at: jessica[at]sgcsc.org.

BBQ

A great big thank-you goes out to Stephen Frank for fixing us a sublime BBQ feast. Even though it ended up raining heavily, the weather didn't spoil our fun as we huddled under our redneck-inspired tent&tarp. Check out these pics from our time...

BBQ Before Group

Join us this Friday night for catered BBQ. That's right, we'll be having dinner together before care group. What do you need to do?

RSVP: jessica[at]sgcsc.org

After that, arrive at the Rawlings at 5:30pm with $5.50. We look forward to seeing you there!

Embassy Suites TOMORROW

Click HERE for maps & directions.

Hilton This Sunday

Click HERE for maps and directions.

THIS IS NEXT

Fundraising 101

Let’s face it, singles just do not have money stashed away in a sock drawer. It can be tough to make ends meet. And when it comes to a conference, is your first thought, “And where do you expect me to get money for this?”

Well the creative genius’ on the Next Blog have read your mind. They are posting a series on fundraising ideas and ways to make your hard earned cash stretch. So, don’t waste time. Stop whatever you are doing and check out these creative ideas!

Fundraising Ideas – Round 1

Fundraising From Your Living Room

Still short cash? Talk to Matt R.  

30 hours

Are you looking for some theologically rich sermons to download? Well, look no further! thisisnext.org has just released a Resources page. On it you’ll find no less than 36 messages from the New Attitude conferences. That’s somewhere over 30 hours of sermons from men like John Piper, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Mike Bullmore, Bruce Ware, Bob Kauflin, C.J. Mahaney, Wayne Grudem, and Joshua Harris.

What are you waiting for? Start downloading!!!

http://www.thisisnext.org/resources

No Care Group This Week

Don’t forget, there is no care group this week (Friday, February 6th).

Stop by the Next Promo Table this Sunday…pick-up a poster, sticker, and “bookmark”.

Na is Next

New Attitude is over. Meet Next.

The vision of NEXT is to gather worshipers of Jesus Christ who burn with a passion to see the gospel transferred to the next generation. Yes, that includes college students and singles. But it also includes married couples. And it also includes people like Bob and Marge Merriman who are in their sixties. This couple has been coming every year since the first conference to participate and serve. If you have a desire to see gospel truth clearly proclaimed, faithfully lived and expressed in worship and mission then NEXT is for you.  Joshua Harris

We hope you’ll take the time to check out Next. Here’s some helpful links:

What is Next?

Next Blog

Next Webzine

Next Conference Information

Next Conference Registration

New Attitude Registration TOMORROW

The New Atttiude website is about to change. New name. New speakers. New look. And it all begins tomorrow. Conference information, speakers, and registration will be available tomorrow, January 28th.

If you have an opportunity, visit Na this week. What are we talking about? Why are we so excited? Check out the website, you'll quickly find out.

New Attitude

Videos from previous years...

Location Change

The location for care group this week has changed. We will be meeting at Wendy C. home at 7pm on Friday night.

Need more info? Contact the church office at, 864.346.2361 or info[at]sgcsc.org

Don't Forget

We will NOT be meeting at the Marriott this Sunday (January 18th). 

We will be meeting at the Embassy Suites.  The Embassy Suites is located on Verdae Blvd., near Woodruff Rd. & Roper Mtn. Rd.

Need directions? Click HERE.

Snack Schedule

Care Group snack schedule is online! It is posted on the sidebar to your right. ---> 

Check out www.newattitude.org. They are posting some incredible testimonies of what God has done in previous conferences.