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 July

We 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.

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New Speaker

As 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, the next four Sundays
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!