This year as the pastors and wives of Sovereign Grace Churches gathered for our annual conference, we were well-served by faithful, joyful, and timely gospel preaching. Your pastoral team encourages you to listen to all 5 of these main sessions. They’ll bless your soul, build you up, and equip you for gospel mission in our current cultural moment.
There is blessed unity but not boring uniformity among us. Because the way the Risen Christ has purposed to maintain, strengthen, and protect our unity is through our diversity. Ephesians 4:7-16 teaches us that all the different, varied, and numerous gifts of grace that we’ve been given serve the singular goal of helping our church grow toward maturity. Each of us has received a gift so that ALL of us can play our part in the growth of the church (v.7). These gifts have come to us as the spoils of victory that Jesus won through everything that took place from his death upon the cross to his ascension into heaven. In what might strike us as an unexpected detour in this passage, Paul draws our attention to the nature and wonder of Christ's victory in vv.8-10, so that we'd be assured of Christ's unstoppable purposes for his people in vv.11-16.
We are a people who have much to be thankful for!
Thankful that we are loved and cared for by our Heavenly Father.
Thankful that we belong to Christ and have passed from death to life.
Thankful that we have the fellowship of the Spirit who gives us peace, comfort, and joy.
Thankful for all we have received from the gracious hand of God.
Thankful that we get to be the church together here in Downtown Santa Ana.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” - Ps 136:1
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:
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
Every six months, we hold a brief members meeting after service. This meeting will last about 45 minutes, since we have some big announcements. The 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 this Sunday eager to hear what God is up to in our church.
The unity of the church is not just the absence of conflict, an atmosphere of niceness, or a concept in our heads that is disconnected from our hearts. Psalm 133 tells us that it is "good and pleasant" when we live together in unity (133:1). We should be affected by this. We should be filled with joy. This psalm takes us deeper into understanding and appreciating what this joy is like. It leads us to consider what might be keeping us from enjoying all God has for us in our life together.
Our final Bridge Course session is Monday, November 20th at 7pm. We are ending our series with a very important question: Why did Jesus have to die? What did his death accomplish? Could God have saved us any other way? We’ll explore all this and more over the course of a meal, a talk, and a conversation where every perspective is encouraged. Even if you’ve missed the previous sessions, ALL are welcome to join in as we wrestle through these big questions of life. Sign up below or invite a friend and we’ll see you on 11/20 at Hopper & Burr (202 W 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701).
Outside of Sunday mornings, small groups are the most important moment in the life of our church. It will be our last small group before our December Fallow Month. You won’t want to miss the final small group this Friday at 7pm in order to encourage one another and be encouraged. To care for others and to be cared for. To point your brothers and sisters to Christ and apply his gospel to their lives, and experience the same.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, we’re moving our monthly Women’s Meeting up a week. This month, the ladies of CGSA will gather to share in an informal Friendsgiving fellowship night as they share in the grace of friendship. No turkeys, potatoes, or fancy dishes necessary. We’re keeping it simple. If you are able, please bring an appetizer, snack, or dessert to share as we spend the evening celebrating God’s goodness through our relationships and giving thanks to his name.
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:
6:30 am - French Park Grass Area
7:00 pm - Davis Home
7:00 pm - Erkelens & Lee Home
5:00 pm - Plaza Calle Cuatro, Downtown Santa Ana
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
7:00 pm - Hopper & Burr
