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
10:00 am - Ebell Club: Ballroom
From Mark Prater, Executive Director of our family of churches:
‘One of the ways Jesus taught us to pray is to ask that God’s "will be done" (Matthew 6:10). Praying that short phrase, “your will be done” has wonderful theological and practical implications for our lives. In his book, “Prayer and the Knowledge of God” Graeme Goldsworthy writes, "God graciously allows us to be involved in the carrying out of his will. He gives us the privilege of identifying with his will by asking him to do what he has already determined to do.” It’s stunning that God allows us to be involved in the carrying out of His will, and that begins with us asking Him to do what He has already determined to do.’
Stunning it is! In God’s kindness, we get to participate in the carrying out of His will for our family of churches, and so with that in mind, here’s how you can be praying for us in the month ahead…
Please pray that God would draw unbelievers to Sovereign Grace churches, and save them, as we hold our Christmas related events and services across the world this month.
Please 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.
Please pray that God would give the members of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel, a powerful reality, with unbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers over this holiday season.
Please pray for our two church plants in Mexico, one in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and one in Huajuapan Oaxaca asking God to provide for their needs, strengthen their church planting teams, and draw unbelievers to both churches.
Please pray that God would bring peace and end the wars in Ukraine and in Israel. Pray that God would turn the tragedies of war into gospel opportunities in both nations. Please continue to pray for the Ark Church, our sister church in Dnipro, Ukraine, asking God to protect them, and to use them to meet practical needs, and to offer gospel hope to people impacted by the conflict in Ukraine.
Please 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.
… Thank you for praying for our family of churches. May His grace abound to us all!
Getting dressed in the dark is not a good way to be well prepared for the day. It leaves us prone to pick up dirty old clothes and put them back on again, place our shirt on backwards, or piece together an outfit that doesn’t match at all! The same is true of our lives in Christ. As we strive to put off the old self and put on the new, we need to get dressed with the lights on. Shining the light of God’s truth upon the actions and attitudes we clothe ourselves in so that we turn away from the “unfruitful works of darkness,” and walk in all the goodness, freedom, and no-strings-attached joy of Christ’s light. The Savior is eager to drive away the shadows that remain within our hearts, cause us to be a people who shine forth his beauty to a watching world, and make us more and more, today, the people we’ll be on that Great Day, when we step into the fullness of his light, see him as he is, and are seen by him with any trace or stain of sin.
On Sunday we held our bi-annual members meeting. Thank you to those that joined us and gave up a bit of your Sunday afternoon to learn about what has been going on in the life of the church for the past 6 months and looking forward to where we believe the Lord is taking us in 2024. We discussed a lot, but below you’ll find the 3 big announcements we don’t want anyone to miss.
1. Roenicke Ordination
Jason Roenicke will be officially ordained as a pastor of Cross of Grace Santa Ana on January 21, 2024! He has been humble and demonstrated the characteristics of a qualified elder. You have received his leadership. He and Kayleigh have become a “Santa Ana family”. We can’t wait to officially call him Pastor Jason and celebrate his ordination together.
2. Leadership Development Cohort
A four session series on leadership will begin 2/3/24. Identifying and equipping new leaders is always a high priority for church health, fruitfulness, and the future of our gospel mission. We’re eager to see God raise up new leaders from within our church for the good of our church.
Who is it for? Anybody aspiring to leadership. Men with a sense of calling to the office of elder. Men who may be positioned as small group leaders. Men and women who may want to serve in the office of deacon. Anybody who wants to know what the Bible says about growing into a Christ-honoring leader. We’ll read The Cross and Christian Ministry by D. A. Carson, learn how to express and articulate theological concepts and ideas, and become equipped to offer biblical counsel to one another.
3. Senior Pastor Repositioning
We saved this one for last. This is a landmark moment for our church. Effective January 1, 2024, Jeff will be positioned in the role of Senior Pastor of Cross of Grace of Santa Ana, while Kyle will transition to the role of Associate Pastor.
Why is this happening? Because as we look to the future and ask the Lord whom he has best-prepared to lead this church in a senior capacity, we’ve become increasingly convinced that the answer is Jeff. The Senior Pastor the church will need in the next ten years and beyond is Jeff Schlieder. The pastoral team is in unanimous agreement. The West Region of Sovereign Grace pastors agrees. The Schlieder, Houlton, and Roenicke families are in agreement. And we’re filled with joy at how God has grown this church and led us to this moment.
Is this a good thing?
Yes. This decision has not been made in any way because of anything that has gone wrong. In fact, it’s because of what has gone very right by God’s grace. 8 years ago, Jeff came to Sovereign Grace Church of Orange seeking to be assessed and equipped for future pastoral ministry. He and Taylor joined the Santa Ana Church Plant Team. He started an internship, he progressed to residency, he became ordained as a pastor, he then became the first full time pastor in our church’s history. Throughout the whole process, the Lord has proven him to be a humble, servant-hearted, courageous pastor who loves his Santa Ana neighbors like few others. Though the Lord used Kyle to plant this church and lead it from its inception, he has led in a bivocational capacity and believes the Lord is still calling and positioning him to remain as a bivocational pastor. In short, Cross of Grace Santa Ana has grown to the point that it needs a full time Senior Pastor. God has graciously prepared and qualified Jeff to fill this need.
What’s the difference between Senior and Associate Pastors?
We believe that the Bible teaches that all ordained elders (pastors) of a local church carry equal authority in the local church. However, even that group of leaders must be led. Therefore, the Senior Pastor carries the designation of “first among equals”, which means that though equal authority is maintained, the Associate Pastors will defer and look to the leadership of the Senior Pastor for the day-to-day leadership of the team, carrying the vision for the future of the church, and maintaining the health of the leadership of the church.
How will responsibilities change?
You actually might not visibly see many differences. Jeff has already slowly, but steadily been taking on more responsibilities and has been taking a more public-facing role in many of the activities of the church. This has been intentional.
While you may notice some differences, such as Jeff doing the announcements and Kyle preaching a little bit less, the biggest change is responsibilities is the responsibility of leading the pastoral team. This is a responsibility not often visibly seen by the church, but the outcome, we hope, will be very visible.
How can we help with this change?
Three ways:
Praise God for his grace - God has blessed this church. With the ordination of Jason and this coming repositioning, we believe the Lord has strengthened our church and is preparing us for a season of magnified fruitfulness in mission in our city.
Pray for further grace - There will be new dynamics among the pastoral team. New responsibilities will indeed be delegated. We really believe this all will lead to fruitfulness. But unless the Lord builds this church, unless the Lord unifies this pastoral team, unless the Lord moves on the hearts of our unbelieving neighbors, we labor in vain (Psalm 127).
Help the church meet an elevated financial need - If Jeff is going to take on the responsibility of the Senior Pastor role, we believe that it’s our job as a church to pay him appropriately. Right now, he’s serving with joy, but the Schlieder home cannot live on his income alone. Their family is growing. We’re asking more of Jeff. Because of this, we’re asking you to prayerfully consider and seek the Holy Spirit for where you may have room to increase your regular giving or to make a special one-time contribution to help make this transition successful. Your Holy Spirit-motivated and God-glorifying generosity has brought us to this day. In order for this change to effectively and fruitfully take place, it will require even greater generosity.
If you have any questions whatsoever regarding the members meeting or would like a hard or digital copy of the agenda, you can email us here.
Join us on Sunday, Christmas Eve, at 10:00am as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ: God with us, the Savior of the world. We'll sing classic carols, read the nativity story, and hear good news of great joy. There will be special activities for the kids and holiday treats for everyone to take home.
All are welcome to join us for this special moment as we rejoice in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Invite whoever you’re spending Christmas with to come along as we share in the joy that Jesus was born to bring! You can find a copy of our digital flyer here that you can text, email or share on social media to invite your family, friends and neighbors to our service.
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
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
7:00 pm - French Park Grass Area
Paul says in Ephesians 4:25 that we are one body, yet “members one of another”. So, think of church membership not so much as “membership in a club” and more as an expression of commitment to the people around you. The Bible is full of “one anothers” - commands toward believers to act in godliness toward other people. What Scripture makes clear is that these “others” refer to a specific group of people and not all people generally. These others are the men and women identified in a particular local church. As members of Cross of Grace Santa Ana, we have the privilege of living out the Christian life with one another. We celebrate and grieve with one another. We build deep relationship with one another. We join arms to advance the joy of Jesus in a particular neighborhood with one another. We help one another pursue holiness. We remind one another of the sweetness of the gospel.
In light of this, we praise God for the new members, Keiren Wright, Manny Mora, Daniel Umoru, Nidia Manzano, Anna Forslund, and Carson Turbedsky, we had the joy of introducing this last Sunday. Be encouraged by what new members, Keiren & Manny, had to share with us during their new member testimony:
For the past few years at school, we didn’t really have a church community, and after graduating it became clear that was a big hole in our Christian walk, both individually and together. Growing up at Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena, I (Keiren) loved the teaching of Sovereign Grace Churches, and Christian and Kara had invited us to check out Cross of Grace Santa Ana. You guys immediately were so welcoming into your lives and community together, you’ve already prayed with us and invited us into your homes. We’ve already played sports with a lot of you as well! We loved how the pastors preach about outreach and you guys actually live it out. We’d been looking for a community of people we could walk with and learn from and share the good news with together, and we’re really happy to be able to join Cross of Grace!
We look forward to joining our new members in spreading the joy of Jesus in Downtown Santa Ana!
One of the many important updates we shared during our recent Members Meeting was the announcement of Jason Roenicke’s ordination service! On January 21, 2024 we’re planning to ordain him as a pastor at Cross of Grace Santa Ana. He’s humbly submitted himself to a process of evaluation and assessment, read page upon page, passed his exams with flying colors, and served our church faithfully and joyfully for the past 3 years. All that remains to do is to hear from you one last time. Before you receive Jason as your pastor and he’s formally installed as a leader in our church, we’re giving you a final opportunity to provide your assessment of his leadership, character and influence in the church. So far, we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback. We’re grateful to God for the work that seems to be evidenced in his life. However, we won’t assume we’ve heard everything from you. Maybe it’s nothing but good and providing evidence of God’s grace. If so, go ahead and tell us. We want to be prudent where we need to be prudent and celebrate where we can celebrate.
Missed the Members Meeting? Please reach out to a pastor to learn about some important updates in the life of our church. Watch the blog for more details to come.
Paul turns from the general principles of putting off the old and putting on the new and provides specific aspects of the old life we need to do away with in Ephesians 4:25-31. But, far from this passage being a list of “don’ts” there is much for us to do as well. Because as we live the new life, we’re not just saying “no” to the old and broken but saying “yes” to the new and following Jesus into a better, blessed, and more beautiful kind of life together. A new life governed by love that does away with all the words and deeds that are incompatible with how God has spoken and acted toward us in Christ (4:32-5:2).
Join us Sunday, 12/24, at 10:00am as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ: God with us, the Savior of the world. We'll sing classic carols, read the nativity story, and hear good news of great joy. There will be special activities for the kids and holiday treats for everyone to take home.
All are welcome to join us for this special moment as we rejoice in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Invite whoever you’re spending Christmas with to come along as we share in the joy that Jesus was born to bring! You can find a copy of our digital flyer here.
