Several weeks ago, we collected an offering for Full Circle & mailed them a check for $1,000! What a joy to partner with & support this ministry.
Below is a note from Julie Ladd, Full Circle’s Executive Director, to you.
Isaiah Christmas!
Many have called the book of Isaiah the “Romans of the Old Testament.” It unpacks the wonders & plan of salvation unlike any other book of the Bible except Romans. It is no surprise that except Psalms the book of Isaiah is quoted more than any other book in the New Testament.
One way to prepare your heart for Christmas is to read through this book in the month of December. It has been laid out by Tony Reinke here. It moves at a fast pace, but it is so worth it!
Expecting a King (Isaiah 1–39)
Dec. 1—Isaiah 1:1–2:5
Dec. 2—Isaiah 2:6–5:30
Dec. 3—Isaiah 6:1–8:22
Dec. 4–Isaiah 9:1–9:7
Dec. 5—Isaiah 9:8–12:6
Dec. 6—Isaiah 13:1–16:14
Dec. 7—Isaiah 17:1–19:25
Dec. 8—Isaiah 20:1–23:18
Dec. 9—Isaiah 24:1–27:13
Dec. 10—Isaiah 28:1–29:24
Dec. 11—Isaiah 30:1–32:20
Dec. 12—Isaiah 33:1–36:22
Dec. 13—Isaiah 37:1–39:8
Expecting a Servant (Isaiah 40–55)
Dec. 14—Isaiah 40:1–41:20
Dec. 15—Isaiah 41:21–43:21
Dec. 16—Isaiah 43:22–45:25
Dec. 17—Isaiah 46:1–48:22
Dec. 18—Isaiah 49:1–52:12
Dec. 19—Isaiah 52:13–55:13
Expecting a Messenger (Isaiah 56–66)
Dec. 20—Isaiah 56:1–59:15a
Dec. 21—Isaiah 59:15b–60:22
Dec. 22—Isaiah 61:1–62:12
Dec. 23—Isaiah 63:1–65:16
Dec. 24—Isaiah 65:17–66:24
Christmas Past, Present, & Future THIS Saturday!
In celebration of McMinn County’s 200th anniversary, the city of Athens is throwing a big party downtown this Saturday!
We love Athens & can’t wait to take part in the festivities.
It will include:
shopping throughout the day
lighting the Christmas Tree in Market Park
the annual Christmas Parade
cake & fireworks after the sun goes down!
We hope to see you there!
Helping the Houks.
As you probably know by now, Paul & Lexie Houk's home burned last night. It is most likely a total loss. We are so sorry to hear this news!
Based on the number of text messages I have received this morning, I know we are all eager to help our friends.
Below are 3 ways to help.
1. Right now, they need food & clothes.
We are collecting gifts cards of any amount to TJMaxx, Target, Old Navy, or FoodCity.
You can drop them off before Sunday at Southern Provision Insurance (1458 Decatur Pike, Athens, TN 37303), where Mike & Payton work. Or you can give them to Mike & Vanessa Ball this Sunday.
2. In the future, they will need more financial help.
We have a Benevolence Fund for times like these. We plan to give to them.
You can give to this fund as well. Any amount you give will be included in what we give to them. And anything given will be tax-deductible.
You can give online. Click this link. Toggle down to Benevolence Fund. And give.
Or you can give on Sunday through check. Write Benevolence Fund in the memo section.
Pray.
Moments like these are jarring & hard in a number of ways.
We join with Paul & Lexie in praising God they were unharmed!
We pray for God to supply all their needs, comfort them, & protect them from fear.
Psalm 34:17–18 steadies us, When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears & delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted & saves the crushed in spirit.
Thank you for any & all help you are able to provide!
New song this Sunday: Saved My Soul!
This Sunday we are going to teach a new song: Saved My Soul by CityAlight. (CityAlight wrote the song Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me which we sing often.)
it is simple, wonderfully-clear song celebrating the saving work of Jesus in our lives. We can never learn & sing too many songs like it.
The bridge captures it so well.
What once was dead is now alive / You gave me the breath of life
You brought me up out from the grace / I’m bursting out with songs of praise
Take a moment to listen. And to sing along!
Emerging Nations of Sovereign Grace.
Trinity Grace partners with other Sovereign Grace in the United States & throughout the world, as we saw last Sunday with Songhwan & Miran’s visit.
One of the most encouraging things going on Sovereign Grace is the work & ministry among Emerging Nations. Emerging Nations is the pioneering work of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world.
Sovereign Grace is a global family of churches & we long for it to be so more & more. We are not all about planting churches in the US. We want to plant like-minded, gospel-centered churches throughout the world.
That said, each month the Emerging Nations ministry of Sovereign Grace sends out an update of the pioneering & church planting work taking place throughout the world. I strongly encourage you to sign up for it! Most emails are draining, this email will build you up! (If you don’t believe me, ask Taylor Hollingsworth!)
You can sign up now.
Just last week, the Emerging Nations team emailed us the following prayer requests for November:
Psalm 121.1-2 says, ‘I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.'
Those verses so wonderfully represent the cry of the Emerging Nations team. We serve the Lord of the harvest, who holds the whole world in His hands, and oh how we need Him in our endeavours.
With another full month ahead then, here’s how you can be praying for us…
1. Please pray for the many pastors and wives who will be gathering from around the world for the Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference in Orlando, November 5th - 7th. Please pray for their travel, and once there, that the conference would provide for them a wonderful time of refreshing and encouragement. Please pray that God would give us many opportunities to care for one another and strengthen our global relationships, and that we’d be increasingly united and strengthened in the wonderful gospel mission we share.
2. Please pray for Joselo Mercado, Lead Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Gaithersburg, as he and his son Joey head to Quertaro Mexico in early November, for a Lifeway sponsored conference on discipleship. They are expecting over 2,500 people. Joselo will be preaching alongside Miguel Nuñez, and a few other very well respected pastors in Latin America. Joselo will preach on marriage, discipleship and evangelism. After that, Josleo will visit a fellow SGC church in Silao, Mexico where he will teach a marriage conference, as well as preach in their Sunday service. Pray for much fruit at the conference and for Pastor Manolo Quintal of Silao to be encouraged by his visit.
3. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Brazil as they look to launch our very first Sovereign Grace Music album in Portuguese this month. Please pray for Steve Cook as he looks to finalise the project and for all those involved in distribution. Would this album be a great blessing to all those in Brazil and beyond.
4. Please pray for myself (Dave Taylor), Andrew Leung (my Executive Assistant) and his Dad, John Leung, as we head to South Korea & Hong Kong at the end of November. The trip to South Korea will be a time of serving Songhwan, Lead Pastor of Lord’s Grace Church in Seoul, his Church, and a growing number of Church Planters that he’s seeking to build into. Our trip to Hong Kong is then a ‘Church Planting Exploratory Trip’ as we look and dream together, asking the Lord for wisdom and direction for the future, and building relationally with a number of Hong Kong Pastors.
… May the One who made the heavens and the earth provide all that we need. What a wonderful King He is!
Summer Mission Trip to Seoul, South Korea.
It was such a joy to have Pastor Songhwan & his wife Miran with us last Sunday! I was deeply affected as Songhwan us how Trinity Grace is built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
This summer, along with our friends from Cornerstone Church, we are taking a team to Seoul to serve Lord’s Grace Church.
Details are:
WHEN: ~June 15–23, 2020
WHERE: Lord’s Grace Church in Seoul, South Korea
WHAT: The purpose of the mission trip will be to provide an English camp for the kids of parents attending Lord’s Grace Church’s bible conference. The conference serves the families of Lord’s Grace Church but also draws new families in the community. The English camp will provide basic instruction in English but also include many opportunities to witness to & encourage the kids.
WHO: All adults are welcome & any youth age 17 or older.
I’M INTERESTED!: if you are interested in going, email Walt (walt@trinitygraceathens.com) for more information.
Brinner on November 17!
HIGH-SCHOOLERS, mark your calendars for Brinner!
WHEN: Sunday, Nov 17 @ 6pm
WHERE: Alexanders’ home
WHAT: Read chapters 1-2 in Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart
"I am thankful for a community we can laugh, cry, pray, & walk through life with."
Churches are made up of friends that you once didn’t know that suddenly become precious.
This past Sunday, Bryan Lamb shared his story about coming to Christ & later coming to Trinity Grace & finding it to be home for his family. We are so grateful for Bryan, Heather, & their girls (pictured below!). And we are grateful to be in community with them—where we can laugh, cry, pray, & walk together.
My life before submitting to Christ was a life marked by prideful arrogance and self-reliance. My identity was found in my work, my hobbies, and my family. I grew up in a home where we only sporadically attended Church and an “all roads lead to the same place” kind of spiritual philosophy took root. I would have told you that I believed in God, but it was a simple intellectual acknowledgement of the existence of God, not saving faith in the Person of Jesus Christ.
We are made to worship. We are made to place a deep faith in someone or something. For much of my life, my faith was in my own abilities. I had a good job. I was in management and was bright and motivated. My career looked to only be heading upward. My family was very close-knit and I felt that things would continue on the way they always had. These were all good things. But they were things that kept a barrier between me and Christ.
I eventually became so burnt out and stressed by my job that I couldn’t handle the pressure anymore and quit. One of the pillars that I had built my identity on crumbled. At the same time, it was found that my younger sister, who had special needs and required intense care by my parents all of her life, had terminal cancer. The bubble of safety that surrounded my family was burst and the last pillar that I had built my identity on came crumbling down.
I was forced to ask myself what I really believed in. Where could I put my trust and faith and know that that faith and trust was deserved? What foundation could I build on that would be eternal and not crumble under time and adversity? Heather and I began attending a small Bible Study in Cleveland. I learned a great deal about the Gospel during that time and eventually committed myself as a follower of Jesus Christ. I would find my identity in him. Unfortunately, for many years after that, we searched for a community of committed followers of Jesus to do life with. We attended many churches over the years, but never found a true community.
We attended the first service of Trinity Grace here in Athens last October and were immediately greeted warmly and welcomed as though we had always been here. It was clear right away that this was a special group of people who genuinely and faithfully seek after Christ. This has become our home. It is a blessing and a pure joy. I am thankful beyond words to God the Father and our Lord Jesus for redeeming me and giving me an identity in Christ that is so much more than can be built on any worldly foundation. And I thank God for bringing us here to a community that we can laugh, cry, pray, and walk through life with.
Guest speaker Songhwan Kang will be preaching next Sunday!
We believe churches are stronger together.
One of the churches we partner with—believe or not!—is Lord’s Grace Church in Seoul, South Korea.
Next Sunday, we are honored to have Pastor Songhwan & his wife Miran with us. Songhwan will be preaching in Korean with a translator!
Songhwan is one of my (Walt) heroes. This video will tell you why. Songhwan pastored a large church in Seoul but felt called to partner with Sovereign Grace & plant a new, gospel-centered church in Seoul. In the process, he sacrificed much for plant & serve Lord’s Grace Church.
A Year in the Life of Trinity Grace Church!
Last week, we celebrated one year in the life of Trinity Grace Church!
We’ve had a ton of fun & learned a lot.
During the service last Sunday, we rehearsed memories & thanked the Lord together. Below is the video we showed.
We got T-SHIRTS!
We got Trinity Grace t-shirts! And they look & feel even better than the picture below…
If you are interested in purchasing one, they are $10 for adults & $8 for kids.
Fill out the form below & we will place the order on Tuesday, October 29.
Offering for Full Circle this Sunday, October 27!
Full Circle is a ministry we should get behind with all our hearts—and our resources!
This month we are celebrating our 1 year anniversary as a church—How cool is that?—and, one of the ways we are going to celebrate our anniversary is by giving back to others serving the community we love. So, this Sunday we are going to receive a one-time offering for Full Circle.
Full Circle is a non-profit medical center for women, offering compassionate care in unplanned pregnancy circumstances—care that includes free medical services, counseling, post-abortion recovery, and educational opportunities.
So, whether with a gift of $20, $100, or more, we want invite you to give in a special offering for Full Circle this Sunday, October 27. Every dollar will go directly to them to help them continue to offering free services to women in our community.
What a privilege to celebrate & jump into what God is doing!
We are moving to Tennessee Wesleyan University on October 20!
It’s hard to believe we have been meeting at Athens City Middle School for nearly a year. Yesterday—October 13—was our last Sunday there.
We are moving to the Colloms Center at Tennessee Wesleyan University!
LOCATION: As seen in the map below, the Colloms Center is on the corner of Green Street & East College Street (19 on the map).
PARKING: Parking will be in the Faculty/Staff (F/S) Lot located on East College Street or the Commuter/Visitor (C/V) Lot located on North Jackson Street.
"The years have been harsh, but Jesus is gentle, steadfast, & pure."
We are thankful to know Luke Langley. He is a young man who has already had a hard life, but, as he says, “Jesus is gentle, steadfast, & pure.”
We marvel at his faith & were encouraged to hear his testimony last week.
Hello, if you don’t already know me, my name is Luke Langley. I was born and raised here in Athens. My testimony is nothing but a testament of God’s covenant faithfulness to save me and to keep me. Unlike a lot of people who grow up here, I was not raised in church. Despite my lack of exposure to church, my mother taught me that God was real and active in our lives. I was extremely close to my mother. I was an only child and she was the parent I had the most interaction with. During my childhood, my father was sent on two tours to Iraq, so it was often up to my mother to deal with her own struggles and the challenges of parenthood by herself.
I did not truly know the gospel until about Spring of 2011, in 8th grade, in this same school. I had a very good friend who had been saved a year prior and he was burdened for my soul. I claimed I was a Christian because that’s what I was told growing up. I thought being a Christian simply meant believing in God. That was a façade that my friend could easily see through and he boldly shared with me about how Jesus saves sinners, and that I was in desperate need of Jesus just like he was. For the first time I understood that I was born a sinner who desperately needed the salvation that was achieved through Jesus’ work on the cross. I believe that was when God began to work in my heart. For about a year I still did not have a church since I was still dependent on my parents to take me. Eventually, one of my scout masters invited me to his church and I was baptized on January 1st, 2012.
It is a very good thing that God rescued me when he did. God knew exactly what he was doing, because if my heart of stone had not been converted then, I think my heart would have hardened even further towards God. Within the first year of my salvation, my mother died. Despite this difficulty, God has sheltered me in an impenetrable Ark that provides me dry ground to walk on through these dark depths. Jesus is the Rock of Ages of whom the hymn writer writes, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me! Let me hide myself in thee.”
Also, there was a time in high school after I had started to grow a bit in my faith that I had desperately prayed for a reformation of sorts to come to the church scene in Athens. In my experience, we had a lot of politics being spoken from pulpits that were built to preach the Bible. Sometimes I would leave church knowing more about what the Democrats were up to than what God is trying to say through his Word. I prayed that a church would be planted in Athens that was centered on the gospel, both theologically and practically. I am happy to say that the existence of Trinity Grace is part of God’s answer to this prayer. I have been praying for this church long before it was even an idea, and it fills me with so much joy to see what God is doing here.
I am still young, the years have been harsh and ever changing, but Jesus is gentle, steadfast and pure. I cannot stand here and boast of much holiness. If you had a God-eyed view into my life it would be quite shameful. But I can confidently boast in a holy Savior who has rescued me and will carry me through to the other side where there will be no sin, no suffering, and no darkness.
Make plans to attend our Anniversary Picnic!
We have a birthday coming up!!
This month, we are celebrating 1 year as a church & we are having a throw-down, awesome-sauce anniversary picnic. And you are invited!
Here are the details:
WHEN: Sunday, October 20 @ 4pm
WHERE: Market Park (815 N. Jackson St.)
WHAT: Blow-up games, cornhole, BBQ, music, fellowship, **epic Community Group battle**,& more
WHAT TO BRING: Olsen & Pritchett groups, bring a side. Ball & Alexander groups, bring a dessert.
ANYTHING ELSE?
Yes, bring a friend. This party is for anyone & everyone, so bring a friend!
We got T-SHIRTS!
We got Trinity Grace t-shirts! And they look & feel even better than the picture below…
If you are interested in purchasing one, they are $10 for adults & $8 for kids.
Fill out the form below & we will place the order on Tuesday, October 29.
Community Groups are the heart & soul of our church.
Community Groups are the heart & soul of our church. They are where the church gets smaller. They are an opportunity for us to say: I need friends. And an opportunity for us to hear: Friends need me. They are places where we can walk honestly before God & one another.
Each month our Community Groups have 3 meetings (typically on the first 3 weeks of the month):
“Big” Meeting with Everyone
Men’s Meeting
Women’s Meeting
All the details are on our online calendar.
Below are our 4 Community Groups.
If you are interested in getting more information, email Walt (walt@trinitygraceathens.com).
If you are interested in attending a specific group, all the contact information is on our Community Groups page.
Join us at Pumpkintown THIS coming Saturday!
Each October Athens is overtaken by cotton candy, funnel cakes, pumpkins, & more for the annual Pumpkintown Celebration!
We will join in the festivities to support our community & give away some swag.
Come on out & join us!
If you are able to help us greet folks at the Trinity Grace booth, please contact Taylor Hollingsworth (4 two 3 - 5 7 two - zero 9 8 6) & he can supply you with all the details.
Parenting can bring the best of days...and the hardest!
Parenting can bring the best of days, when all the kids are healthy & happy—like LA in the picture above. And parenting can bring the hardest of days.
It is a tremendous privilege & calling given to many couples. But its costs are high.
Tedd Tripp has said: “Parenting is your primary calling. Parenting will mean that you can’t do all the things that you could otherwise do. It will affect your golf handicap. It will mean your home does not look like a picture from Better Homes & Gardens. It will impact your career & ascent on the corporate ladder. It will alter the kind of friendships you will be available to pursue. It will influence the kind of ministry you are able to pursue. It will modify the amount of time you have bowling, hunting, television, or how many books you read. It will mean that you can’t develop every interest that comes along. The costs are high.”
On Sunday, we recommended two books to parents.
Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp is a wonderful introduction to the overall objectives & goals for parenting. It is an invaluable resource & a must-read for parentings (in Walt’s opinion). It is highly recommended for young parents but is beneficial to all.
Age of Opportunity by Paul Tripp (Tedd’s younger-but-also-mustached-brother) is a very helpful book for parenting teens. Rather than seeing it as a season to dread, Paul encourages parents to see it as a season of opportunity, even though parenting day in & day out looks quite different.
May the Lord help us as we seek to raise up the next generation to love & follow Jesus!