Our small groups encourage genuine relationships within the church. Each group meets in a home, splitting their time between singing, praying, and discussion. All groups welcome guests. 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.
For more information about our small groups, click here.
If you’ve been visiting Cross of Grace for any length of time and would like to learn more about what we believe as a church and how those beliefs take shape in the life of the church, this class is for you. If you’re discerning whether or not this is the church family the Lord is calling you to, this class is for you. If you’re ready to take the next step in pursuing membership at Cross of Grace, Starting Point is your starting point to do so!
Wherever you’re at in the process, we invite you to join us one two hour class. Immediately after church at the Houlton home in Santa Ana with lunch and childcare provided.
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:
5:30pm - 7:30pm - Ebell Club of Santa Ana (718 Mortimer St, Santa Ana 92701)
An open-house style event with lite refreshments. Take in some Santa Ana history, meet neighbors, and appreciate our beautiful meeting space. Details here.
6:30am - French Park grass area
7:00pm - Houlton, Roenicke, & Erkelens Home
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
7:00pm - Hopper & Burr (202 W Fourth St, Santa Ana 92701)
Registration is open throughout the course - invite a friend anytime!
In this final sermon of Isaiah, we looked forward to the future that awaits all those who’ve trusted in Christ. That day when his reign - which is presently expanding across the earth - will be perfectly realized in a new heavens and new earth. We come to the end of the story in which the city of that began in ruins (1:7-8), is now completely restored and filled with rejoicing forevermore (65:17-18). We arrive at that Great Day when all our compromise will be no more. When the struggle with sin will be over. When we’ll live in the fullness of all that Christ died and rose again to bring us into. It will be a time when it's no longer harder than ever to be an ordinary Christian. But instead, it will be better than ever to be God's people, and every one of them will be glorious. Joy will abound. Sin and sadness will be no more. Peace will reign supreme. And we’ll do nothing but live in God's world, God's way. To his eternal glory and our everlasting good.
Every second Thursday of the 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. Join in at Hopper & Burr (202 W 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701) at 7:00 pm.
Our fall 2024 Bridge Course is well underway and meets every Monday at 7pm! There are 5 weeks left of sharing meals, building relationships with our neighbors, and wrestling through some of the biggest questions of life. We’ve had great conversations so far and are looking forward to keeping them going as we continue our journey on the Bridge. Here are the topics we’re tackling over the next 5 weeks:
Is Jesus really the only way?
Why did Jesus have to die?
Why do I matter?
Is Christianity really worth it?
Why should we care about the church?
Do you know someone looking for answers to questions like these? Someone who isn’t sure what they believe? Someone who has doubts or is investigating Christianity? Bring them to Bridge! It’s never too late to join in! The course is entirely free. No homework or preparation is needed. And your guests will never be pressured to participate more than they’re comfortable. It’s a safe place to explore the Christian faith and enjoy community along the way.
When and where does it take place?
Dates: Every Monday until November 11, 2024 (Remaining dates: 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11)
Time: 7pm-9pm
Location: Hopper & Burr, 202 W 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Dinner provided!
The journey continues, so invite your friends & neighbors today!
On October 31, 1517, a German Monk named Martin Luther nailed a document calling for reform in the Catholic Church to the door of the local church in Wittenburg. What followed was a movement that has changed both the Church and the world to this day!
The triumph of the Reformation wasn’t the development of new doctrine that took the world by storm, but the rediscovery of the biblical gospel. It was the recovery of “the church’s true treasure,” as Luther said time and time again.
At Cross of Grace, we gladly locate ourselves downstream of the heritage and theology that flowed out of the Reformation. “Reformed Theology” is one of the 7 Shared Values that mark our family of churches. The story of the Reformation is important to us because it’s a story that helps us better understand ourselves. It points to the shoulders of the gospel-centered saints of old that we still stand upon today.
You can find an excellent summary of what the Protestant Reformation was all about and why it remains relevant today in the article Does the Reformation Still Matter? by Stephen Nichols. In addition to this, below you will find a selection of resources that will immerse you in the story of the Reformation as you sing, watch, and listen to the events which have shaped our church and the world around us.
Sing
The Five Solas by Psallos puts the 5 summary slogans of the Reformation (Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ Alone, & God’s Glory Alone) to music and drives the truth of the gospel down into our hearts.
Watch
Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer - Available to stream for FREE. “Watch this documentary to discover the events God used in Martin Luther’s life that led him to rediscover the gospel of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.“ You can also download Ligonier’s free accompanying study guide.
The Story of Martin Luther - a short, kid-friendly animated film surveying the life of Martin Luther.
Listen
Luther: In Real Time - There are 2 seasons to the podcast. It was first released 500 years after the events described, this podcast allows you to walk in Martin Luther’s footsteps from his heresy charges to his famous stand for the authority of God’s Word at the Diet of Worms.
We hope this list makes you grateful to God for his work in the past and also encourages you to keep the spirit of the Reformation alive as we seek to always be reforming our church and our lives according to God’s Word. Semper Reformanda!
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 Fourth St, Santa Ana 92701)
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
7:00pm - Hopper & Burr (202 W Fourth St, Santa Ana 92701)
Registration is open throughout the course - invite a friend anytime!
Our meeting space is turning 100! Come out next week to celebrate this milestone and share in some Santa Ana history. Drop by for the open house event between 5:30pm and 7:30pm. Enjoy lite refreshments. Meet new neighbors. And give thanks that we get to gather in such a beautiful place!
What do you think of the times we’re living in? As we lookout on the landscape of a cultural moment where it feels harder than ever to be an ordinary Christian. Crushing inflation. Hurricanes sweeping the nation. Wars abroad. Another polarizing and divisive election season here at home. It’s not difficult to point out what’s broken all around us. Even more, it’s impossible to run away from or deny what’s broken within us. Are things going from bad to worse? Is the future not so bright? Contrary to how things might appear, Isaiah 61 comes to us to declare it’s actually a good time. Because in these moments where everything seems to be moving toward decline, the grace of God is never in decline. At bottom, the truest, realest, most fundamental thing about the year 2024 is that it is “the year of the Lord’s favor.” The time of God’s salvation spreading across the earth! Giving fresh starts to those captive to sin, growing his Kingdom through the mission of the Church, and cultivating his people into something beautiful.
