After taking the month of December off for Fallow Month, Men’s meeting returns tonight at 7pm. 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.
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, CA 92701)
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
Following his charge to "humble yourselves before the Lord" (4:10), James offers 2 particular warnings against an arrogant heart. Contrary to the humble person who holds their desires with open hands before the Lord, the proud have a tightly clenched fist around their plans and their wealth. They fail to live well in God's world because they prove to be bad stewards of what God has given to them. Taking their time (4:13-17) and their wealth (5:1-6), and presuming upon them, trusting in them, and acting like these gifts are theirs to do with what they please. Into our proneness to treat what is God's like its ours, and to fight for control of our lives, enters wisdom. All our days have been numbered in God's book, so first and foremost, we ought to use them for his glory (Ps 139:16). All our wealth is a blessing to be received and used like a tool to build God's Kingdom, not a savior to trust in (Mt 6:19-21). We look to Jesus who lived every day of his life - and even went to his death - saying, "If the Lord wills it" (Mt 26:39). Who, though he was rich, became poor for our sake (2 Cor 8:9), and taught us "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). According to his grace, we can wisely spend our time and money for the glory of God and the good of our lives in his world.
After taking a break for the month of December, we’re excited to resume our small group meetings! These 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 moment in the life of our church. Make it a priority to attend one this Friday at 7pm.
As the new year gets under way, there are a handful of new initiatives we’re pursuing in faith. Ministry opportunities we’re excited about that we believe God will use to advance our mission, glorify his name, and increase our joy. Below you’ll find 3 key areas where we’ll be concentrating our efforts as a church in 2025. Please join us in asking God to work in and through them and consider how you’d like to be a part of these exciting things:
Discipleship
We’re launching a 4th small group! Starting in February, this new group will meet at 7pm on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month. This is significant. Decreasing the size of each group will position us to disciple and care for one another even more effectively as we rejoice, weep, bear burdens, build one another up, and hold fast to Christ together in these important moments of our church’s life.
We just might need to launch a 5th group sometime later this year as well. Stay tuned for more updates there!
P.S. to help us be the best small group members we can be, we’re also hosting a Biblical Counseling Seminar on 1/25. This is an evening of learning, equipping, and asking questions we’d love as many church members as possible to benefit from. A one night investment that will bear fruit in our life together all year long. Watch the blog for more details here.
Youth
For the first time ever, we’re rolling out a youth group! Sometime in February or March, we’re starting up the Youth Book Club. A ministry for the Jr. High and High School students of our church that aims at their growth in Christ. The Youth Book Club will come alongside the discipleship efforts of our parents to:
Host discussions around the kind of books that shape hearts and souls.
Build intergenerational relationships with adult members within the church.
Provide an intellectually challenging and socially stimulating context to space for our youth to invite their non-Christian friends.
Help youth think wisely and deeply about living God’s way in God’s world.
Increased Opportunities for Mission & Evangelism
Local - In addition to our regular patterns of the weekly Run Club, annual French Park community events, sharing in city wide festivities, and the Fall Bridge Course, in 2025 we’ve got 4 neighborhood outreaches planned. Saturday mornings we’re setting aside to go into our city to have spiritual conversations, share the gospel with our neighbors, and become equipped and emboldened to make evangelism a part of our everyday lives. Mark your calendars for 10am on 2/1, 4/12, 9/6, and 11/15 and expect the Lord to use our ordinary evangelism in extraordinary ways.
Global - This summer, we just might be sending Emily Jones to Santander, Spain! She’d join the brand new church plant, Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Santander in doing the same thing we’re doing here: inviting neighbors into the everlasting joy of Jesus. Please pray for God’s direction, provision, and peace and consider how you might partner with her as she prepares for what’s next in the process of this potential relocation.
Would the Lord lead us into a new year with fresh faith and eager expectation for all he has ahead of us. Seizing the opportunities to share in the joy of Jesus and spread it to neighbors all the way from Santa Ana to Santander!
In the church, we’re all called to counsel. To engage in “the conversational aspect of Christian ministry” as we apply the riches of the gospel message to the particulars of one another’s lives. To connect the truth of God’s word to the challenges we face while living in God’s world. To comfort, care for, encourage, admonish, and build one another up in Christ.
We’re all called to counsel, but are you confident to counsel? Do you wonder if you’re equipped for this kind of ministry? Do you know what distinguishes Biblical Counseling from the approaches you’ll find in the culture around us? Do you know where you’d start to address the situations your brothers and sisters are facing and how to move those conversation onto the wisdom, remedies, and solutions that are found in Jesus Christ?
However you answered the questions above, God desires to use you as an instrument of grace in the lives of those around you. To help you grow in confidence and eagerness for this vital ministry, we’re excited to bring in Pastor & Biblical Counselor, Pete Payne from our sister church in Westminster, Colorado the evening of January 25. He’ll lay a foundation for what Biblical Counseling is and provide a model for how we can engage in it. More details to come, but here’s what to know for now:
Saturday, January 25
6pm-9pm
No cost to register
Refreshments offered
Childcare not provided
Location TBD
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, and Erkelens Home
10:00am - Meeting Room: Ballroom
James 4:1-12 is a passage that, on one hand, everyone wants to hear, given its practicality and impact upon our lives. But, on the other hand, it just might be a passage no one really wants to hear, given the finger it points at you and I. It’s a passage that contains timeless wisdom from God on the matter of relational conflict. James asks, "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?" (4:1). To which he does not reply, "Your difficult circumstances," "the difficult, immature, and troubling people around you" or even "It's all Satan's fault!" Instead, he says, "Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?" (4:2). In other words, the problem is us. The root of conflict and the first step in resolving it, starts with us. We need this kind of biblical self-awareness in order to examine our own hearts, sympathize with the brothers & sisters we’re prone to battle it out with, and seek the grace we need to turn away from selfish desires and place others above ourselves.
We look back at 2024 and thank God for his faithfulness. He’s held us fast, he’s sustained our church, he’s advanced our mission.
We look forward to 2025 because the God of 2024 is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We look forward to a new year, because the same old things are true. It’s a new year, but Jesus is the same. It’s a new year, but his gospel hasn’t changed. It’s a new year, but our mission to spread the joy of Jesus in Downtown Santa Ana remains.
Whatever newness and whatever change the next year may bring, we rejoice in all that remains unchanged! And we pray God would bless our church with fresh fruit as we continue to walk down the same old paths. Proclaiming the same Lord. Preaching the same gospel. Pressing in to love the same city. Would he help us to be faithful for the glory of his name, the joy of our souls, and the good of our neighbors.
Would God bless your 2025 according to all the riches of his grace!
This Christmas Eve, we gathered to sing classic carols, read the nativity story, and set our sights on Jesus Christ. We spent the evening sharing in the “fullness” of joy he was born to bring. Freshly filling our hearts with his warmth and light.
Relive the celebration by enjoying some photos and listening to the Christmas Eve homily from John 1:14-18.
