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:
7:00 pm - Houlton Home
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
As COVID-19 continues to have its effects both within and outside the church, the pastoral team has a few updates to clarify our current response as a church:
We’re asking for your cooperation. Please inform us if you’re sick. If you or someone in your household tests positive with COVID-19 or experiences a significant exposure to someone with the virus (within 6ft of them for 15min or more), please alert the pastoral team. We’ll help you to apply current CDC guidelines and discern next steps regarding your attendance at church gatherings. We’re also here to help meet any practical needs that could result from an experience of sickness or quarantine. With your cooperation, we’ll do our best to care for the church by limiting the spread of the virus in the congregation should any infections or exposures occur.
We’re still meeting indoors. No changes have been made to our Sunday services. We're continuing to gather indoors, inside the Ebell Ballroom. Our small groups, men’s, and women’s meetings will also be carrying on without any changes or alterations at the moment.
We’re praying for our neighbors and members. As COVID-19 cases increase and the pandemic continues to disrupt and affect day-to-day life, the pastoral team is praying for our neighbors and members who are being affected. We’re aware that the virus is continuing to make life difficult for our Santa Ana neighbors. We’re praying God would protect them and sustain their health and their hearts. We’re praying he’d continue to position our church to be a blessing to our neighborhood. We’re also aware that a general trend of increased COVID-19 cases could result in the effects of the pandemic hitting closer to home for our members. In this next season of the pandemic, we’re praying that God would sustain our church, protect our families, and provide the pastoral team with wisdom and discernment to respond to whatever developments occur.
If you have any questions, the pastoral team is available to discuss them with you. You can contact a pastor here.
Our annual “fallow month” which occurs every December, during which we cancel everything but our Sunday gathering in order to allow for organic growth of relationships during a typically crazy month … has ended. Now that January is upon us, we will be reverting back to the regular rhythms of church life which include regular small groups, men’s/women’s meeting and other events. Make sure you are subscribed to the blog and have synced the church calendar with yours to receive the most up to date information.
On Sunday, Pastor Kyle opened his sermon with a quote from an unknown author extolling the qualities of our preeminent Christ. It’s copied here for your benefit:
He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God. He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity, and only once crossed the boundary of the land in which He was born, and that in His childhood. He had no wealth or influence, and had neither training nor education in the world schools.
His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential. In infancy, He startled a king. In boyhood, He puzzled the learned doctors. In manhood, He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows, and hushed the seas asleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine, and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the country could not hold all of the books about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together. He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has.
He never practiced medicine, and yet He healed more broken hearts than the doctors have healed broken bodies. This Jesus Christ is the star of astronomy, the rock of geology, the lion and the lamb of zoology, the harmonizer of all discords, and the healer of all diseases. And throughout history great men have come and gone, yet He lives on. Herod could not kill Him. Satan could not seduce Him. Death could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him. This is our Christ, the preeminent one.
In Colossians 1:15-20, the Apostle Paul pens a hymn that gives us what some scholars say is “the highest Christology” in the entire Bible. Having seen the whole Christ, the humiliated and exalted Christ, Paul declares that Jesus is preeminent. He is first - in every way that matters.
As we enter into a new year as a church, the pastoral team wants to encourage you to give Jesus first place in your life, but in four areas in particular:
In your affections and desires
In your relationships
In your sexuality
In your parenting
If you haven’t yet listened to this sermon, we’d highly encourage you to. As a church, may Christ be preeminent in our lives!
LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE
We look back at 2021 and thank God for his faithfulness. He’s held us fast, he’s cared for us, he’s sustained our church.
We look forward to 2022 because the God of 2021 is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We look forward to a new year, because the same old things are true. It’s a new year, but Jesus is the same. It’s a new year, but his gospel hasn’t changed. It’s a new year, but our mission to spread the joy of Jesus in Downtown Santa Ana remains.
Whatever newness and whatever change the next year may bring, we rejoice in all that remains unchanged! And we pray God would bless our church with fresh fruit as we continue to walk down the same old paths. Proclaiming the same Lord. Preaching the same gospel. Pressing in to love the same city. Would he help us to be faithful for the glory of his name, the joy of our souls, and the good of our city.
Would God bless your 2022 according to all the riches of his grace!
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM CROSS OF GRACE SANTA ANA!
Just a week ago we gathered to celebrate the Savior’s birth! Here are some photos to remember the joy we shared.
As always, we love seeing your pictures. If you have any photos from Christmas Eve Service, or any other moments in the life of our church, please email them to photos@crossofgracesa.org.
We’ve spent our Christmas sermon series learning about the Offices of Christ, their role in our redemption, and their role in our lives as the redeemed. To help you remember what we’ve learned and continue to reflect upon the glory of Christ, here’s a brief summary along with some additional resources.
Two questions and answers from the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), nicely capture the significance of the Offices of Christ and the on-going role they play in the life of the people of Christ:
Question 31: Why is he called "Christ", that is anointed?
Answer: Because he is ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; and to be our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of his body, has redeemed us, and makes continual intercession with the Father for us; and also to be our eternal King, who governs us by his word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in that salvation, he has purchased for us.
Jesus has saved us through the perfect execution of these roles and has made us his redeemed people. A people of Christ, who have come to share in the roles of Christ:
Question 32: But why are you called a Christian?
Answer: Because I am a member of Christ by faith, and thus am partaker of his anointing; that so I may confess his name (prophet), and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to him (priest): and also that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life and afterwards I reign with him eternally, over all creatures (king).
We’ve been born again into God’s family and made a people of Christ who have been anointed to be prophetic, priestly, and kingly. These roles have redeemed us and shape our identity and mission as Christ’s redeemed (1 Pet 2:4-5, 9-10). These offices even set our marching orders into eternity (Rev 22:1-5).
All glory be to Christ! The One in whom every office is fulfilled and all we need is found. What a privilege we have to be the people of the One True Prophet, Priest, and King!
Jesus’ Threefold Office as Prophet, Priest, and King by Joel Beeke. A quick overview of the Offices of Christ.
The Church and the Offices of Christ by Barry J. York. An extended discussion on how the Offices of Christ practically function in the local church.
Prophet, Priest, and King: The Roles of Christ in the Bible and Our Roles Today by Richard Belcher Jr. Our November 2021 Book of the Month recommended once again.
We’ll kick off 2022 by celebrating the riches of our Redeemer’s love for us. Take a few minutes to listen and read through the lyrics of the new song we will be singing this Sunday.
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:
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.
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
