IMMEDIATELY AFTER SERVICE. MEMBERS REQUIRED, GUESTS INVITED

Every six months, we hold a brief members meeting after service which usually lasts about 30 minutes. This meeting is mandatory for all members, but guests are welcome as well. This meeting is a time to communicate what we wouldn’t communicate on a typical Sunday morning. We’ll look back on what God has graciously done in the last 6 months in our church and look forward to where we believe God is taking us as a church. Come on January 8th eager to hear what God is up to in our church.

DECEMBER 19 - DECEMBER 25

Every Tuesday we publish a blog post to lay out in one place what’s going in the life of the church for the upcoming week. See below for a snapshot of what’s on the calendar this week:

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25: CHRISTMAS SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE

• 10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom

THE ANSWER TO OUR GREATEST FEARS IS THE ARRIVAL OF PERFECT LOVE

Christ was born to bring sinners into his joy. The birth of Christ holds out to us good tidings of great joy and peace on earth among those with whom God is pleased (Lk 2:14). But is he pleased with you or me? If he is, will he continue to be? What confidence do you and I have that having received the joy of Jesus, we can remain in the joy of Jesus? Even as a Christian, maybe you're afraid you really don't belong. Fearful that you'll be found out and exposed as a hypocrite. Afraid you won't be able to keep God pleased with you and persevere in the Christian life. Whatever fears you're facing, the Christmas season has traditionally held out the hope of better things to come. The classic songs of the season celebrate the coming of Christmas as the dawn of a new day where “all our troubles will be out of sight” and we can look ahead to a future “without any fear.” In Luke 1, Zechariah the priest sings a similar song. He agrees that the coming of Christmas means the end of our fears. But he disagrees on the root cause of our fears and the true remedy to live lives "without fear" (Lk 1:74). The song of Zechariah points us to the reality that Christmas is the answer to our greatest fears because it's the arrival of perfect love. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

PARTICIPATE IN LOVING OUR FRENCH PARK NEIGHBORS

2023 is fast approaching! We have exciting plans to build relationships, be a blessing, and bring the joy of Jesus to our neighbors in the new year. Here’s how:

French Park Run Club - Join us each Thursday at 6:30am for a casual run in the middle of our community. A great way to get in shape and get to know our Santa Ana neighbors. Begins 1/5/23.

Prayer in the Park - Prayer is central to our mission. In 2023, on a rotating basis, our small groups will take to the Park on the first Friday of the month to pray for our neighbors. Asking Jesus to save Santa Anans, meet our neighbors according to his grace, and open doors for sharing his gospel and spreading his joy. Begins 1/6/23 at 7pm.

Quarterly Events - After last year's French Park Block Party, we're committed to becoming known by our French Park neighbors as a people who are for them. We want to be the kind of church our neighbors don’t want to go away. So we’re leaning in with 4 quarterly special events in the center of our neighborhood. We're eager to meet, bless, and build relationships with our neighbors and these events are designed to do just that. Watch the blog for more details regarding quarterly events in Feb, June, September, and Nov 2023.

GET READY TO GO INTO OUR CITY IN 2O23!

DECEMBER 12 - DECEMBER 18

Every Tuesday we publish a blog post to lay out in one place what’s going in the life of the church for the upcoming week. See below for a snapshot of what’s on the calendar this week:

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18: SUNDAY GATHERING AT THE EBELL CLUB

• 10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom

THERE WILL BE NO CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE

What more appropriate thing is there to do on a Christmas Sunday morning than come and adore the Newborn King? Since we’ll be gathering on Christmas Morning, we will not be having a Christmas Eve service.

Our Christmas Sunday morning service will be a short 45-minute service beginning at 10:00am.

A SHORTENED, FAMILY SERVICE

Invite your friends and family. Every year this proves to be a special moment as we rejoice in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

GOD OPPOSES THE PROUD BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE

Christ was born to be the Savior of sinners. A category that includes us all. Yet, not all have received him. Why is this? What sort of sinner is able to receive the joy he came to bring? Mary's story & song key us in: the humble. Christmas joy comes to us as a gift that's unearned, undeserved, and unconcerned with our pride. Mary takes God at his word and rejoices in her Savior. Elizabeth & John leap and shout for joy. And all those "who fear" the Lord shall receive his mercy and join in Mary's song (Lk 1:50). Rightly understood, Christmas is the most wonderful & humbling event of all time. God coming to us when we could not come to him to do for us what we could not do ourselves. To those who seek to have their hunger satisfied by the Lord, he fills with goods things, but to those who believe they've come into a better joy than what God provides, he sends away empty (Lk 1:53). We're all sinners - the message of Christmas makes that clear. But, the wonder and warning of the gospel is this: that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (Jas 4:6) - as the meaning of Mary's song makes clear. The birth of Jesus was not a silent night. It was an utter upturning & reversing of men's values & joys - destabilizing the proud and comfortable of the world and satisfying humble sinners who were hungry for the joy that God alone could provide.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

HE’S BEEN THE CHURCH INTERN - NOW HE’S THE PASTORAL RESIDENT

Jason Roenicke has been serving for the past year as Cross of Grace Santa Ana’s intern. We’ve wondered if God has called Jason to be a pastor at Cross of Grace Santa Ana. And we believe it’s a task given to the local church to assess the calling and gifting of a potential pastor.

WE ASKED FOR YOUR FEEDBACK - IT WAS ALL POSITIVE

Now that we’ve heard from you, he’s officially moving from intern to resident. What does this mean? It means that his role in the church is transitioning from one in which the primary purpose was evaluation to one in which the primary purpose is preparation. During an internship, we’re saying, “we wonder if this man is called to pastoral ministry”. During a residency, we’re saying, “we believe that God is calling this man to pastoral ministry”. The next phase after this would be ordination, during which we would together declare, “this man is called by God to be a pastor of this church.”

Continue to pray for Jason. Continue to give any feedback you might have. Rejoice in the work of God in him and in this church. Begin to look to Jason as one the Lord has positioned to lead and shepherd this local flock of God in the near future.

PARTICIPATING IN GOSPEL PARTNERSHIP THROUGH PRAYER

We joyfully partner with Sovereign Grace Churches. We’re grateful that we’re not on our own as we carry out our mission. One way we express that partnership is through prayer. Below are the 4th quarter 2022 global prayer requests from Sovereign Grace Churches. Join us as we pray for our gospel partners:

• Pray that God would draw unbelievers to Sovereign Grace churches as we hold our Christmas related events and services in December.

• Pray that God would give the members of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers over the holiday season.

• Pray for the Arche Church in Dnipro, Ukraine that Sovereign Grace is relating to, and sending money for war relief efforts, asking God to protect them, and to use them to offer gospel hope as the war continues in that nation.

• Pray for the men who are participating in our Church Planting Cohort: Ramon Flores (Yuma, AZ), Gabriel Magill (Warren, PA), Perry Wang (Charleston, SC), Jeremy Hetrick (Harrisburg, PA), asking God to use the Cohort to equip them to plant a Sovereign Grace church in the next year or two.

• Pray for Dave Taylor (Director of Global Missions) and the Sovereign Grace Leadership Team asking God to give them wisdom in exploring partnership opportunities with churches in Poland and Sweden.

• Pray that God would use the Sovereign Grace Music “Prepare Him Room” concerts in various cities in December to celebrate the birth of Christ and to declare the good news of the gospel.

• Pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.

GRAB A COUPLE FRIENDS AND HEAD TO DTSA FOR ICE SKATING AND WINTER FUN

Santa Ana Winter Village is back again for a second year, right in the heart of Santa Ana. All ages can enjoy an outdoor ice-skating rink, live entertainment, holiday shopping, local food trucks, and much more.  Family-friendly activities available throughout the month.

Head to their events page for more information on full month-long event details, directions, parking and other activities.