JESUS WAS BORN TO STAND ONCE AND SIT FOREVER

Few among us live our daily lives thinking, “I need a priest.” Such a thought conjures images of men in black robes and sacrificial altars. But a priest’s role and function is fundamentally that of a mediator. You and I objectively and desperately need a mediator. We need someone to arbitrate the divine dilemma between us and God. We need someone to solve the problem of sin we can’t solve. We need someone who doesn’t have to first atone for their sin and then the sins of others. We need someone who can offer a perfect sacrifice and not have to stand daily at their service. On the first Christmas morning, Jesus was born to perfectly satisfy that need. Listen to last Sunday’s third Advent message from Hebrews 10:1-18 to hear more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

JOIN US THIS SATURDAY AT 6PM AT THE HOULTON HOME

We’re having a Cast of Christmas Party and you’re invited! Join us for an evening of fun and fellowship as we celebrate the birth of Christ by enjoying a meal and some friendly competition! Come dressed to impress as your favorite Christmas character (pop-culture, traditional, biblical*, or whatever you interpret as a Christmas character) and compete to win the highly-coveted, “Costume of Christmas” Award!

Here are some more details about our activities for the evening:

1. Costume Contest - Compete to win the “Costume of Christmas” Award in the following 4 categories: 1. Kids, 2. Best Overall, 3. Most Creative, 4. Most Obscure/Least Recognizable. Can’t wait to see this Cast of Christmas assemble!

2. White Elephant Gift Exchange - We’ll have 2 gift exchanges, one for the kids and one for adults. Please bring a pre-wrapped & unlabelled gift to enter into the exchange. For the kids, just grab something from around the house. For adults, there’s a $5 spending limit, but we encourage you to find something fun around the house if you can.

3. Potluck - This party is brought to you, by you! We’re calling upon you to help us have plenty of tasty Christmas treats to eat and drink. Bonus points will be assigned if your costume pairs with your dish! To sign up for the potluck, click here.

Contact us if you have any questions.

*Please be sure to keep any portrayal of biblical characters reverent and respectful!

INVITE A COUPLE FRIENDS AND HEAD TO DTSA

Until Jan 2, 2022, you can go into our city to enjoy ice-skating, food trucks, and all sorts of Christmas festivities! Grab a friend and join in on this family-friendly event at Civic Center Plaza, in the heart of Downtown Santa Ana.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WINTER VILLAGE CLICK HERE

DECEMBER 6 - DECEMBER 12

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:

DECEMBER FALLOW MONTH REMINDER

• It’s our annual Fallow Month- Small groups, Men’s & Women’s meetings are cancelled. We do this so you can press into natural and more intimate opportunities to relate to your church family and neighbors. The holiday season is notoriously one of the busiest times of the year. We want to help you to take advantage of the few free moments you have to spend unhurried, unscheduled time with one another and with family for the grand purpose of allowing your heart to be re-fertilized by the work of Christ.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11: ALL-CHURCH CHRISTMAS PARTY

• 6:00 pm - Houlton Home

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12: SUNDAY GATHERING AT THE EBELL CLUB

• 10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom

CELEBRATING OUR SAVIOR’S BIRTH

We are excited to announce our annual Candlelight Christmas Eve Service at the Ebell Club! It’s our joy to celebrate the birth of Jesus, who came into this world in order to be God with us and save us from our sins. We’ll celebrate his birth by singing well-loved songs, reading the story of his birth from Scripture, and hearing the good news of his birth proclaimed in English and Spanish! We’re eager to gather together in the Ebell Courtyard for this traditional, outdoor, candlelight Christmas Eve Service.

INVITE YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS

This service is an excellent opportunity for us to reach out to our friends, family, and neighbors - many of whom may not know the deep and all-satisfying joy that Jesus came to bring. Members of Cross of Grace, help us to extend the invitation! Use the image above to invite your friends, family, and neighbors or post on social media to spread the word about our Christmas Eve Service. Would they come and hear the good news of the gospel and receive the joy of Jesus!

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 5:00PM AT THE EBELL CLUB OF SANTA ANA

JESUS REVEALS THE TRUTH WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT

Prophets are those who received God’s words and spoke them to God’s people. God’s people of old needed them because without them they’d live in ignorance. They wouldn’t know the will of God or the way they could return to God when they’d fail to keep his will. The prophets pointed the people back to God the King and his appointed priests. We need them because as Thomas Edison once said, all “mankind is incurably religious,” and by nature we’re all bent to serve kings and seek out priests who will keep us in good standing with them. We all seek out someone or something to follow and worship. But, apart from the light of God’s word breaking into our darkness, we’ll never receive or be reconciled to the one true God.

This is why Jesus came. He came and fulfilled the office of prophet in order to provide the truth without which we can’t make sense of life. But even more than that, he came to announce the truth without which we could not be made alive - set free from sin and death in order to live with God both now and forever. Jesus is the ultimate prophet who came to most fully and finally reveal the truth about: what God wants, who God is, and how sinful and separated man, could be reconciled to him. Listen to the second message in our 2021 Advent sermon series from Hebrews 1:1-4 to learn more.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

PRACTICALLY APPLYING THE PREEMINENCE OF CHRIST

In addition to the general sessions, all 5 breakout sessions from the 2021 Pastors Conference are now available for you. These breakout sessions are designed to equip us to practically apply the gospel and to walk in faithfulness in critical areas of life and ministry. Listen in as Sovereign Grace pastors faithfully and compellingly address important topics such as: marriage, parenting, leadership development, cultural engagement, and preaching.

LISTEN TO ALL FIVE BREAKOUT SESSIONS HERE

JOIN US AT THE HOULTON HOME ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 AT 6PM

You're invited to our annual Christmas potluck to enjoy an evening of fellowship, fun, and white elephant gift exchanges as we celebrate the coming of Christ!

COME DRESSED TO IMPRESS

Our celebration will include some friendly competition: come dressed as your favorite Christmas character and compete to win the "Costume of Christmas” Award! Whatever your interpretation of Christmas character may be! Anything is on the table: pop culture, traditional, or biblical* Christmas characters.

Can’t wait to assemble our very own Cast of Christmas!

Contact us for more details.

*Please be sure to keep any portrayal of biblical characters reverent and respectful!

“GOD WITH US: REFLECTIONS ON THE INCARNATION” BY CHARLES SPURGEON

Christmas is a time for beholding the glory of Christ. This collection of reflections by the great 19th century pastor and preacher, Charles Spurgeon, helps us do just that. In this book, Spurgeon unpacks the most wonderful and glorious of realities: that God has come to be with us. His meditations on the key scriptures of the Christmas story stir up the reader to sing and savor the glories of the Savior. Here’s an excerpt from the book:

“Glory to God in the highest.” The instructive lesson to be learned from this opening note of the angel’s song is that salvation is God’s highest glory. He is glorified in every dewdrop that twinkles in the morning sunshine. He is magnified in every wood flower that blossoms in the copse, although it is born to blush unseen of man, and may seem to waste its sweetness on the forest air. God is glorified in every bird that warbles on the trees, and in every lamb that skips in the meadows. Do not the fishes of the sea praise Him? From the tiny minnow to the huge leviathan, do not all creatures that swim in the waters laud and magnify His great Name? Do not all created things extol Him? Is there aught beneath the sky, save man, that doth not glorify God? Do not the stars exalt Him, when they flash His brightness in arrows of light piercing the midnight darkness? Do not the thunderpeals extol Him when they roll like drums in the march of the God of armies? Do not all things that He hath made, from the least even to the greatest, exalt Him?

But sing, sing, O universe, till thou hast exhausted thyself, yet thou canst not chant an anthem so sweet as the song of Incarnation!…There is more melody in Jesus in the manger than in the whole sublime oratorio of the Creation. There is more grandeur in the song that heralds the birth of the Babe in Bethlehem than there is in worlds on worlds rolling in silent grandeur around the throne of the Most High…The whole of God is glorified in Christ; and though some part of the Name of God is written in the material universe, it is best read in Him who was the Son of man, and also the Son of God.”

You can purchase a copy of the book here.

LET’S CONTINUE TO TAKE CARE OF OUR SUNDAY MEETING SPACE

We’re so grateful to host our Sunday services in the heart of DTSA. As an expression of that gratitude, let’s continue to commit to being the best tenants we can be by remembering a few simple rules:

1. Parents, please keep an eye on your children throughout the entirety of our Sunday morning gatherings to ensure their safety and make sure they’re remembering the rules below:

• No running or wrestling (inside or outside) at the Ebell Club

• In the Courtyard, please stay on the turf and sidewalk, do not walk in the planters, or climb on the guardrails

Thanks for doing your part to love our meeting space!