DECEMBER 24TH AT 5PM

We’re excited to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with a traditional candlelight service. We’ll gather in the beautiful Ebell Courtyard to sing classic carols, read the nativity story, and hear good news of great joy. All are welcome to join us for these special moments.

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Invite whoever you’re spending Christmas with to come along as we share in the joy that Jesus was born to bring! You can find a copy of our digital flyer here that you can text, email, or share on social media to invite your family, friends and neighbors to our service.

JOIN OUR CHOIR

We’ll have a single guitarist and a choir. We encourage you to lend your voice. If you’d like to join in, please contact Pastor Kyle.

DECEMBER 16 - DECEMBER 22

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, DECEMBER 19: FRENCH PARK RUN CLUB

• 6:30am - French Park Grass Area

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22: SUNDAY GATHERING AT THE EBELL CLUB

• 10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING

Several weeks ago, we asked you to pray for Emily Jones as she made her way to Santander, Spain to get to know the city and spend time with the leaders of a new church plant - Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Santander. A church led by Norman Pedd that is in the process of adoption into our family of churches. A church that Emily just might be called to go join in 2025.

This past Sunday, she had an opportunity to bring us in on how the Lord met her on this two week exploratory trip. Read her report below, enjoy some pictures she shared, and be encouraged that God is at work to spread the joy of Jesus all the way from Santa Ana to Santander.

Good morning, Church,

Wow, I really wrestled with what to say when writing this all out. It's really hard to properly summarize the conversations, the laughter, the views, the people, the city, the feelings, the works of God, & honestly just the whole trip.

To say that the last 2 weeks were amazing really does no justice, but I'm also pretty sure ya'll wouldn't appreciate a minute by minute dictation either.

An easy place to start is in gratitude. I do want to thank everyone for their support toward my trip whether that was through prayer, finances, and rides. To Pastor Jeff for all of the counseling leading up to my trip, and the meetings and godly advice I know is coming in the days ahead as we sort through everything.

While on my trip, I had 3 main objectives. Get to know the Pedds (The church-planting family) and the church, scope out possible job opportunities, and get a feel for the real life and community of Santander. When it came to getting to know the Pedds, God richly blessed our time together and they graciously opened their home to me and my friend Valentina. Every night, we had dinner together, laughed, shared testimonies, looked through old photo albums, shared the ways God  was at work in our cities, made jokes, and so much more. I was especially grateful to have Valentina during conversations as she always asks very thoughtful questions which prompted a lot of good conversation. We also got to host Barbara & Norman's second ever Thanksgiving at their own house with some of their old friends. That was a very fun time and we enjoyed the ingredient swap challenge as we figured out what the stores did offer. From our conversations, I'm especially grateful for their vulnerability in sharing God's work in and through their stories, and for the opportunities for Norman and I to really sit down and talk through his vision, what church is, and how I would fit into all of it. Their faithfulness to the church plant and God's leading is so beautiful and encouraging. They truly are a city set on a hill in Renedo - the actual location of the church, and faithful laborers to what God has put in front of them.

As for jobs, we were bounced around from recommendation to recommendation throughout the 2 weeks, but I can totally see God's hand in that as He narrowed me in on what looks to be a promising English Assistant job through the government.

For the last objective, the community feel, Valentina & I tromped the length and breadth of the 3 miles belovedly known as Santander and had so much fun! We learned a lot about the local history, met many wonderful people who said they hope to see me next year, ate some good food, joined a run club that has 70 members, splashed in the ocean, and overall got a very good feel of what it is to live in Santander. 

Now though that's just a taste of everything I could tell you, I hope this peaks your interest into this possible gospel expansion that I/we may get to be a part of. Personally, I'm feeling very good about this opportunity, but there are a lot more meetings & steps in my future as we discern God's leading. Prayers for this next stage of leaning into God's call on my life & for wisdom as the team pastors me in this would be so appreciated! And feel to always ask me questions about where I'm at in the whole process!!!

BY SINGING LOUD FOR ALL TO HEAR

This past Sunday evening, we hosted our second annual Carols in the Park - and what a joy it was! Church members and neighbors gathered together in French Park for a night of singing well-loved songs, sharing warm drinks and sweet treats, and celebrating the holiday season. We had fun, enjoyed community, welcomed our neighbors to join us for Christmas Eve, and worshiped Jesus Christ - the One who was born to bring us into his joy forevermore!

Thank you to all who served us by singing in the choir, bringing cookies and drinks, and setting up the event! Relive the celebration by scrolling through some photos from the night.

RESTING RIGHT BEHIND YOUR TEETH

Humanly speaking, what shapes the course of our lives more than anything else? James 3:1-12 tells us that the biggest impact on the direction of our lives comes from something quite small. The tongue. That “small member” of the body that possesses an outsize influence on what our lives in that body are like. As we walk down the path of wisdom, we are warned to seriously consider the words we use. Because God is a speaking God and our words are intended to reflect him. Because our words are part of our works, and living faith in Christ should result in redeemed words. Because our words matter. They aren't cheap, throwaway things. They aren't ours to do with what we please. They come with real consequences and can do all kinds of damage. But they can also do all kinds of good when we receive them as God's gift and use them for God's glory. Yet, this can only happen when we use our tongues to confess Christ as Lord, repent of our carless words, and welcome him aboard as the Captain of our ship. Setting our course. Controlling the rudder. Taming our tongues by his transforming grace.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

AT CAROLS IN THE PARK

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 Sunday at 6pm, we’ll gather in the heart of French Park to sing carols, spread Christmas cheer, and welcome our neighbors into a night of community. 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.

Here’s how you can get involved:

1. Invite Santa Ana neighbors, family, and friends to an evening Christmas festivities! We’ve got songs to sing, cookies to eat, and the joys of the season to share with them! You can send out the digital invite linked here.

2. Along with extending an invitation, consider ways you’d like to get involved, either with setup, being part of the choir, or bringing a batch of cookies. Sign-up here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: POST-CAROLS CHANGE OF PLANS

We’ve canceled the Christmas party that was set to take place right after caroling. The holiday season is filled with many good things, but it sure is a busy time! We’re moving to take an item off the schedule this time around. But by no means is this meant to cut our celebration short! Instead, it will allow us to linger in the park, continue conversations over hot cocoa, spend a few more unhurried moments together, and get home for a good night’s sleep as a new week kicks off.

4 BIBLICAL HANDLES TO SPUR IT ON

On Sunday we held our bi-annual members’ meeting. This is a time to communicate what we wouldn’t communicate on a typical Sunday morning. An opportunity to look back on what God has graciously done in the last 6 months and look forward to where we believe he’s taking us.

Pastor Jeff provided us with 4 helpful handles for our envisioning our Santa Ana mission. A collection of biblical pictures, promises, and perspectives we should make our own. Read them. Believe them. Take them to the bank as we press into the next year of mission in our city.

4 Biblical Handles for our Santa Ana Mission:

1. We are neighbors

Acts 18:9-10 - "And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”"

Like Paul in Corinth, Christ has a people in our city. We live among them. He’s using us to find them.

2. We are laborers

1 Cor 3:5-9 - "What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building."

We are his instruments. The workers and tools in his hands. Some of us will plant gospel seeds. Some of us will water them. God will bring the increase & we’ll all enjoy the harvest.

3. We are determined

2 Cor 2:12-17 - "When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”

Our task won’t be easy. Mission is hard. Disappointments will occur. Our plans might get altered. We won't "find Titus in Troas." Suffering will come. At times we might feel stuck. But Christ ALWAYS leads us in triumphal procession. He’s got us marching forward in his victory parade. Spreading the aroma of life in Santa Ana. Inviting our neighbors to join the march. Following after King Jesus as his happy captives - no matter what. Believing that he won’t fail to take us where he wants to go. Confident that wherever we’re headed is good. Declaring and demonstrating that there’s nothing better than belonging to him all along the way.

4. We are hopeful

Mark 4:30-32 - "And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Our band is starting small. Like a mustard seed, a relatively tiny, ordinary, and unimpressive little group in the midst of our densely populated city. “Yet when it is sown it grows up” into a tree that continues to grow larger and larger, bear fruit that’s sweeter and sweeter, and shelter more and more of our neighbors under the shade of its branches. We believe God will do just this.

It’s our prayer that God would continue to cultivate us into a kind of people brimming with joy and full of hope as we roll up our sleeves and put our hands to the plow of our Santa Ana mission. A church marked by fervent & expectant evangelism, a glad & gracious welcome to all our neighbors who are not yet among us, and deep & rich relationships enjoyed by those within us. A kind of people you want to invite others into. A kind of people our neighbors want to belong to. A kind of people who love being "us" because we are Christ's and he is ours.

MISSED THE MEETING?

Reach out to the pastoral team to get caught up on the important information and updates we covered last Sunday.

DECEMBER 9 - DECEMBER 15

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, DECEMBER 12: FRENCH PARK RUN CLUB

• 6:30am - French Park Grass Area

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15: SUNDAY GATHERING AT THE EBELL CLUB

• 10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15: CAROLS IN THE PARK

• 6:00pm - French Park Grass Area

  • Find all the details here & sign-up to volunteer here

WE ARE ONE BODY, MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER

Church membership is not “membership in a club.” It’s “membership in a body.” As Paul says in Ephesians 4:25, we are one body, yet “members one of another” - vitally connected and working together for the good of the whole. In this way, becoming a church member is an expression of commitment to the people around you. A grace-empowered pledge to fulfill the “one anothers” of Scripture with a specific group. 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 - Chase & Anabel Early, Joctan Martinez, Jacob Zato, Jose Meza, and Lily Rodriguez - we had the joy of introducing this last Sunday. Be encouraged by what Chase Early, had to share with us during his new member testimony:

1 Timothy 1:15 - “It is a trustworthy saying and deserving full acceptance: That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among who I am foremost. Yet for this reason I was shown mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Christ Jesus might demonstrate His patience as an example for those who are going to believe upon Him for eternal life.” The eternal lovingkindness of our Heavenly Father has faithfully led me closer to Jesus over the last 15 years since my conversion at San Diego Teen Challenge. God also used my wife, Anabel, to show me there is a church that’s a better fit for our family’s needs. Through the 9Marks church finder webpage, she found Cross of Grace. When I looked at the website, I observed the photos of the profound beauty of simply gathering in homes to worship God. I also read the Statement of Faith and believe the same biblical truths. I also believe that Reformed doctrine is the most biblical interpretation of scripture as it centers on the authority of God’s word, the power of the gospel of grace, and the purpose of mankind to worship and enjoy God forever. My Spirit-born desire is to be a church member where three things are consistently happening.

1. The pastors faithfully, passionately, patiently, and humbly teach God’s Holy Word with love for the Author and the hearer - all without apology.

2. The community of the redeemed is rich in faith, hope, love, and joy and expresses this toward one another by God’s grace through the simple means of studying, praying, worshiping, serving, and living together.

3. The church is evangelistic. Desiring to obey our Lord’s great commission to seek and save the lost and make disciples of all nations until the end of the age.

Since our first Sunday service, I felt so welcomed and blessed to see my family also welcomed with loving, open arms. In the spirit of Christ’s words to “Come!” Pastor Kyle invited my family to have dinner with his family within the first week of attending a Sunday service. From our first Friday small group where the hospitality and authentic kindness that Kyle, Kelsey, and the Houlton family showed, to the listening ears of Pastor Jeff and Christopher at the men’s group, to Pastor Jason and Kayleigh cooking my family a delicious meal and answering my questions for 2 and a half hours on a Sunday evening. Right away, I saw that this congregation was devoted and encouraged to truly live for Jesus without compromise. To be a people who worship God with joy, confess together, pray for one another, and receive God’s glorious mercy together. This is a reason to rejoice! I have also experienced God’s sweet grace through seeing my wife encouraged and loved by the godly women here Rosie, Marina, Liz, Katie, and Kelsey to name a few.

Lastly, I rejoice to see our sons Malachi and Josiah beginning to form Christ-centered relationships. They are blessed to see other godly men loving their wives, leading their families, and delighting in knowing God.

We thank God for adding new laborers to the harvest that’s before us. We’re excited for these new members to join us in spreading the joy of Jesus in Downtown Santa Ana!

THE ONLY FAITH THAT SAVES

James' argument that we must "be doers of the word, not hearers only" reaches its pinnacle and peak in 2:14-26. In this familiar and challenging passage, James clarifies the relationship between faith and works. What role do works play in our acceptance before God? Do faith + works = salvation? So that in the final analysis, we contribute something to the outcome? Does faith alone + nothing = salvation? So that good works are optional, nice to have, but not necessary to be present in the life of the saved person? James offers us a better equation. One that is less mathematical and transactional, and much more organic and alive. Good works flow out of saving faith like the fruit that naturally blossoms on the branches of a plant that’s rooted in nutrient rich soil. Faith is the root. Works are the fruit. All those who plant their roots in Christ will necessarily demonstrate these visible, tangible, and demonstrable signs of life. This is because: we’re saved by faith alone, but true saving faith is never alone.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE