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 months 
Adventurers: 3 years old to the year before school 
Builders 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 will be closing on Sunday 18th June! 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.