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 - Fourth Street Market Patio
11:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
This upcoming Sunday, we’ll be sharing a meal together during our annual communion service. Communion is a sacrament that we share together on a regular basis as a church family. We do it more often than not on Sundays. But this year, on the same day as our clocks spring forward (the dreaded day when we lose an hour of sleep), we’ll have an entire service devoted to sharing in the Lord’s Table together.
The service is a demonstration of who we are as a church family. It's a visible reminder of why and by whom we exist.
Not this Sunday. Family-style means everybody will be together the entire time. Kids will get antsy and that's ok. Don't feel bad about getting up and down from your seat with your children.
Anyone who has placed their trust in Christ and has been baptized is invited to join us. Please read our statement on communion for more information. We welcome you to contact one of our pastors if you would like to discuss further.
Last Sunday, pastor Dustin Smetona from Sovereign Grace Church in Orange visited us and served us well with a sermon from Psalm 122, teaching and reminding us that when we gather as a local church, it’s a marvelous thing. Why? Because God is present among us in a unique way. Because God designed our gatherings. And because God has a role and a plan for each of us to play in our life together as a local church. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon and be encouraged to pray for the peace of and continue to invest in the precious thing that is our shared life together in the local church.
Our small groups are a context where biblical discipleship happens within the church. In other words, they’re small expressions of the local church where Gospel ministry takes place. Each group meets in a home, splitting their time between singing, praying, and discussion. Some groups include young children in their meetings. All groups welcome guests. Outside of Sunday mornings, these are the most important moments in the life of our local church. Carve this time out in your calendar every other week to be refreshed in the Gospel and to serve your friends by helping to point their lives to Christ.
About six months ago, a young lady from Sovereign Grace Church in Dayton, Ohio named Emily came to visit our church and our city for a week. She believed that the Lord was ultimately calling her to serve in the Spanish-speaking context of Spain. In order to prepare, she was considering moving to Santa Ana and joining Cross of Grace Santa Ana. The Lord since then has confirmed that calling in her heart. She arrived here on Tuesday and will be staying, Lord willing, for several years to serve in our city alongside us. It’s our joy to welcome Emily and walk alongside her in this season of her life. Would you pray for her in the following ways:
Pray for employment and housing - she’s currently staying with the Madrigals (Thank you for your generous hospitality, Madrigals!), but is actively looking for a more permanent place to stay and a stable job.
Pray that the Lord grows our ministry together by adding even more labors, like Emily, and the new members we welcomed last week, to the harvest
Pray that the joy of Jesus would be spread locally within our city, but also across the globe as we equip and send people like Emily and another missionary couple in our church to further plant and strengthen local churches.
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:
6:00 pm - OCRM Chili Van (Houlton small group)
7:00 pm - Small group meetings (Erkelens or Schlieder Home)
10:00 am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
We’re bringing our Daylight Saving’s Sunday tradition back! Mark your calendars for March 13th at 11:00 AM. Please note that our service time will be moved back exactly one hour. Our regular Sunday morning service is being replaced by an all-church meal centered on the Lord's Supper. We will eat and drink together as we meditate more deeply on our Savior's sacrifice.
Not only will we share in the eating of a meal. We’ll share in the preparation of the meal. This is an event that requires all hands on deck. Whether you’re a single or a family, sign up to bring one of the needed dishes or items on March 13th.
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, Daniel & Deborah Lee and Truman & Katie Severson, we had the joy of introducing this last Sunday. As you celebrate this expression of God’s grace among us, read the encouraging testimony that Daniel & Deborah shared this Sunday:
For our family, attending Cross of Grace for the past few months has been a genuine blessing.
Debbie and I are originally from SoCal and we settled back down here last summer after a short stint up in NorCal for a few years.
During the pandemic, our last small church plant family in San Francisco unfortunately had to close their doors. For about 1 year, we were in a bit of a church limbo situation after we decided to settle back permanently in Orange County.
During that year, it became a clear and ongoing prayer request for us to find a church family that we could call home and commit to for the long haul, and our criteria was actually quite simple: in today's generation and culture, church authenticity was a key one for us. Through that lens, we asked the Lord for a local Bible teaching church that fears the Lord while also radiating grace, and one that has a heart for community and missions.
I really believe that Cross of Grace has been God’s answer to our prayers. The genuine community, warmth, and heart for the Gospel that we’ve seen and experienced over the past few months has been so palpable, not just from leadership but really from everybody that we’ve met. Our family is really honored to become members and looking forward to serving and growing together with you all at Cross of Grace.
We look forward to joining our new members in spreading the joy of Jesus in Downtown Santa Ana!
The wilderness is a place that nearly every major biblical character found themselves in at one time or another. And usually it’s because God explicitly led them there. Literal wisdom experiences map onto the spiritual wilderness experiences of God’s people (Ps. 63:1). This past Sunday, we went with David back into the wilderness - in 1 Samuel 23-24 - to learn and relearn two essential lessons of wilderness wanderings as God’s people, namely that the wilderness is a good place to be and there are no shortcuts through the wilderness. Listen to last Sunday’s sermon to learn more.
We’re bringing the Daylight Saving’s Sunday tradition back! Mark your calendars for March 13th at 11:00 AM. Our regular Sunday morning service is being replaced by an all-church meal centered on the Lord's Supper. We will eat and drink together as we meditate more deeply on our Savior's sacrifice.
More details to follow on how to prepare and what to bring so keep an eye on the blog.
