Every 1st & 3rd Friday of the month at 7pm, three different groups meet throughout our city to share in the joy of Jesus, encourage one another, and apply the gospel to each other’s lives. Outside of Sunday mornings, small groups are the most important moments in the life of our church. Make it a priority to attend one this Friday.
This weekend, pastors from the US West Region of our denomination are holding an annual meeting. Nearly 40 pastors and other church leaders from California, Arizona, Colorado and Texas will talk church leadership, care for one another, and plan for future ministry opportunities.
We ask you to pray that God would strengthen their bonds of fellowship as they lead their churches and work together to advance the gospel in our corner of the world. May Christ be magnified!
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:
6:30am - French Park Grass Area
7:00pm - Williams, Schlieder, & Erkelens Home
7:30am - Jerome Park (Details here)
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
This past Sunday, we had the joy of celebrating the baptisms of Justin Hernandez and Evelyn Bravo! They stood before us and confessed that they needed a Savior, and found one in Jesus. That they were dead, but had been made alive. That they once lived for themselves, but now desired to live for Christ’s glory as a part of his family, forever. We witnessed an outward sign of God’s inward work as they were immersed in water and raised up again. Symbolizing their union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. Dying to sin. Being raised to walk in newness of life.
In that moment, God confirmed in their hearts and before our eyes that they had truly passed from death to life - and we responded with celebration! Check out the pictures and be encouraged that our neighbors are being saved, our family is growing, and Christ is advancing his mission in our city.
The second mark of our culture at Cross of Grace is generosity. God did not spare his only-begotten Son, but graciously gave him to us. When this grips our hearts, we are eager to share whatever we have with each other - our lives, our time, our talents, and especially, our treasure. God has been generous so we should be generous. As we generously give of our finances, we should expect to receive joy and see a return upon our investment: more neighbors added to our family, more needs met within our church, more missionaries sent, more churches planted, and more glory to the God who’s at work among us.
From Dave Taylor, our Director of Global Missions in Sovereign Grace Churches:
In a recent ‘Quarterly Prayer Update’ from Mark Prater, SGC Executive Director, he wrote the following...
'A verse that has been on my heart for a year now, which I spoke from at the Council of Elders meeting, and during the Pastors Conference is John 15:5 where Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” We will bear much fruit for Christ by abiding in Jesus dependently for apart from Him we can do nothing. One of ways we abide in Jesus dependently is to bring our needs to Him in prayer. Jesus says in John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Abiding dependently means asking Jesus consistently in prayer for His help and provision so that we can bear much fruit for Him… We so need Him!!
With that in mind, here’s how you can be praying for us in the month ahead...
Please pray that God would give the members of Sovereign Grace Churches a renewed desire, and opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities and workplaces.
Please pray for the Ark Church in Dnipro, Ukraine asking God to continue to protect them, and to use them to meet practical needs, and to offer gospel hope to those around them who have been impacted by the war.
Please pray for Chiesa Grazia Sovrana of Torino, Italy as they ’soft-launch’ the Church this month and begin to meet. As they look to reach out and invite others into the church, please pray that the Lord would expand the church plant team and that the unbelievers they are working with would come to saving faith.
Please pray for Joselo Mercado, Lead Pastor of ….. and Emerging Nations delegate to Latin America, as he heads to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 11th-13th April, to run a marriage seminar and leadership training for Oasis Church. A Church SGC has related to for around 20 years.
Please pray for the 10 students currently in our Ethiopian Pastors College (Trinity Fellowship Pastors College) in Addis Ababa asking God to equip them for pastoral ministry. Pray also for Josh Pannell, Dean of the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College asking God to give him grace in leading this second class of students.
Please pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the many gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.
… May we depend on Him and bear much fruit!!
Every month, the men of our church gather together to sit under God’s word and spur on each other’s walk with Christ. All guys, 15 years and older, are invited to participate in a conversation where "men talk like men" about God. Tonight they’ll ask and answer the question, “How do we enjoy Jesus?”
Baptism is one of the sweetest moments in the life of the church. It’s a visible portrayal of the effects of the gospel in a person. A means of grace given to us in order to participate in God’s promise of new life in Christ. Professing our faith in Jesus, making our public entrance into his people, and representing our union with him in his death and resurrection - dying to sin and being raised to walk in newness of life. It’s also an act of obedience, something that every believer is commanded to do.
Join us at the Cunningham home immediately after church this Sunday (4/14) to celebrate the baptism of new believers and have a hotdog lunch. If you’re interested in being baptized or have questions about baptism, please contact one of our pastors.
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:
6:30am - French Park Grass Area
7:00pm - Hopper & Burr (202 W 4th St, Santa Ana)
7:00am - Cunningham Home
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
12:30pm - Cunningham Home
The gospel is the foundation of our life together as the household of God that is Cross of Grace. Our doctrine is like the walls and pillars that protect the purity of our gospel and support the structure in which it is found. Our culture is what it's like to experience life in the house. And when you look in on our life together, the first mark of our culture is joy. We are a joyful people because we’re convinced that there's nothing better than believing in and belonging to Jesus. The Apostle Paul agrees, and his words in Phil 3:7-9, celebrate our conviction that true joy is found when we seek it in Jesus.
