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.
This is the last small group of 2024, before our December fallow month. Don’t miss out on the final meeting of the year!
For more information about our small groups, click here.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, we’re moving our monthly Women’s Meeting up a week. Each November, the ladies of CGSA gather to enjoy an informal Friendsgiving fellowship night and share in the grace of friendship. No turkeys, potatoes, or fancy dishes necessary. We’re keeping it simple. If you’re able, please bring an appetizer, snack, or dessert to share as we spend the evening celebrating God’s goodness through our relationships and giving thanks to his name.
Join us at the Cunningham home immediately after church on Sunday, 12/1 to celebrate the baptism of new believers and enjoy a hotdog lunch.
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.
All those who believe in Christ are called to publicly identify with him and profess their faith in his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection through baptism. This is the moment where we confess with our mouth what we've believed in our heart (Rom 10:9-10). Signify our union with Jesus Christ in his dying and rising. Mark the end of our old way of life. And demonstrate our entrance into a new way of life lived out together in a new people, as we’re are added to his body - the Church.
Want to be baptized? Have questions about baptism? Talk to a member of the pastoral team. They’d be happy to tell you more about this sacrament and celebrate the saving work of God in your life.
This year as the pastors and wives of Sovereign Grace Churches gathered for our annual conference, we were well-served by faithful, joyful, and timely gospel preaching. Your pastoral team encourages you to listen to all 5 of the main sessions. They’ll bless your soul, build you up, and equip you for gospel mission in our current cultural moment.
It would be great if you could listen to all 5 mains sessions and a breakout or two…but if we had to pick just one, we’d encourage every member at Cross of Grace to listen to “Seeing Grace in the Church” by Jared Mellinger. This message wonderfully explains and exemplifies what we mean when we say that we want to be a church that “points out the evidences of God’s grace among us.” It will help you see the grace of God at work, respond to it with a heart of gladness, and share words that promote continued faithfulness in your brothers and sisters at Cross of Grace. Give it a listen, give God the glory for what he’s doing among us, and grow in your ability to encourage the church.
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 - Houlton, Roenicke, & Erkelens Home
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
Every six months, we hold a brief members meeting after service, which lasts about 30 minutes. The meeting is mandatory for all members, but guests are welcome as well. It’s a time to communicate what we wouldn’t communicate on a typical Sunday morning. We’ll look back on what God has graciously done in the last 6 months, provide some important updates, and look forward to where we believe the Lord is taking us. Plan to stay an extra 30-45min on Sunday, 12/8 and come eager to hear what God is up to at Cross of Grace.
After exhorting us to ask God for wisdom (1:5-11), James reveals the wisdom we need most in the midst of trials in 1:12-18. More than anything, we need to understand what God is and is not doing through the trials that we face. He's testing our faith and love in order to strip away lesser loves and increase our affection for him (1:12). He's not in any way tempting us after cheaper loves which take us down a path to death (1:13-15). Because everything he gives is good (1:16-17) and what God bears in us is life (1:18). By his gracious will, he's "brought us forth by the word of truth," the gospel, "that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." Since God has already made us new, we can respond to trials as the new people that we are. Even more, since the "firstfruits" of the new creation has already begun to blossom in us, we can be confident that God will bring us into the full harvest to come - when we "receive the crown of life." As Christians, we happily persevere until that day, trusting that the end of all our trials is the blessed outcome of beholding the Lord of glory with our own two eyes.
Fallow Month begins in December, so make it a priority to attend the last Men’s Meeting of the year tonight. 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.
P.S. Take note that in November, our Men’s Meeting has been moved up from the 2nd to the 1st Thursday of the month
Our fall 2024 Bridge Course began on Monday, 9/9. For the past 9 weeks, we’ve shared meals and built relationships with our neighbors as we’ve wrestled through the big questions of life. Friendships have been formed. Many honest perspectives have been shared. Questions have been answered. The gospel has been proclaimed. And it’s been an absolute blast.
During our journey on the Bridge, here’s what we’ve discussed so far:
Am I a good person?
Why doesn’t God forgive everyone?
How can God allow suffering?
How could God send people to hell?
Can we really trust the Bible?
Is Jesus really the only way?
Why did Jesus have to die?
Why do we matter?
Is Christianity really worth it?
We wrap things up this week by asking the very appropriate question, “Where do we go from here?” This will take us into a discussion about the local church and God’s enduring purpose for it in the world. A conversation that will conclude with an invitation to our neighbors to join us there on Sunday.
If you have a friend who’s asking, “Can I love Jesus but not the church?” Skeptical about getting involved with “organized religion.” Or is on the fence with whether or not they should give up sleeping in on Sunday mornings, invite them to join us for this final meeting! We trust they’ll come away seeing the church in a new light.
When and where does it take place?
Date: Monday, November 11, 2024
Time: 7pm-9pm
Location: Hopper & Burr, 202 W 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Dinner provided!
Invite your friends & neighbors to join in today!
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news” (Romans 10:15).
On Saturday, November 23rd, we’re going into our French Park neighborhood and DTSA to have spiritual conversations with our neighbors. We’ll take the initiative to get to know them, ask how we can pray for them, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Love to do this sort of thing? Come on down! Scared to do this kind of thing? Then come on down as well! We’re expecting that the Lord will use us to extend his welcome to our neighbors as he takes our very ordinary efforts and blesses them in extraordinary ways. You’re invited to grow more confident in striking up spiritual conversations, learn from your brothers and sisters as you watch them reaching out, and see God “paint our city blue,” one blade of grass at a time.
We’ll meet at the Ebell parking lot at 9:45am to pray before we go out. We’ll wrap up around noon at Hidden House for a quick debrief.
Please reach out to Robert Lopez if you have any questions.
