DECEMBER 15TH at 6PM

It’s the best time of year! What better way to celebrate the birth of Christ than by singing loud for all to hear. 

This December, we’ll gather together in French Park to sing carols, spread Christmas cheer, and invite our neighbors to celebrate with us. We’ll serve up some hot chocolate, enjoy sweet treats, and extend an invitation for our neighbors to join us at church on Christmas Eve.

Want to join our merry band of carolers? Contact Pastor Kyle.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

After lifting our voices in joyful song, we’ll continue the celebration at the Houlton home! Join us for an all-church Christmas party filled with warm fellowship and festive fun.

Watch the blog for more details!

NOT HEARERS ONLY

The train that is the Book of James keeps on chugging and churning along the way to spiritual wholeness. So far in our journey, we’ve left the station on the way to wisdom, traversed through the valley of trials, and now we come to a scenic lookout point that arrests our attention. In 1:19-20, James offers us a panoramic view of the landscape we’ll be covering throughout the remainder of the journey, a frame for reading the rest of the book. Along with this, he provides a broad-stroke portrait of what it looks like to live the wise Christian life: “be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger" (1:19). It’s a picture of wisdom in action. A theology that comes into our heads, takes root in our heart, and comes out our fingertips. This is the burden of what follows in 1:21-27. God is not after “arm-chair theologians” who are always consuming information and taking in content but never getting in the game of actually pursuing holiness. He’s after those who are “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (1:22). On the path of wisdom, faithful hearing of God’s word always travels side by side with the obedient doing of what we’ve heard.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO ATTEND

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.

NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT - 11/21

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.

NEXT THURSDAY AT 6:30PM AT THE Schlieder HOME

BAPTISM SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1

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.

WHAT IS BAPTISM?

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.

ALL THE MAIN SESSIONS AND BREAKOUT LECTURES ARE AVAILABLE BELOW

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.

BUT IF WE HAD TO PICK JUST ONE…

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.

WATCH OR LISTEN TO ALL THE SESSIONS HERE

NOVEMBER 12 - NOVEMBER 17

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:

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14: FRENCH PARK RUN CLUB

• 6:30am - French Park grass area

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15: LAST SMALL GROUP OF 2024

• 7:00pm - Houlton, Roenicke, & Erkelens Home

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17: SUNDAY GATHERING AT THE EBELL CLUB

• 10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom

PLEASE MAKE THIS MEETING A PRIORITY

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.

IMMEDIATELY AFTER SERVICE. MEMBERS REQUIRED, GUESTS WELCOMED.

HAPPY IS THE ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS WHAT GOD IS UP TO IN THEIR TRIALS

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.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

The LAST Meeting OF 2024

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