A Moment to Celebrate
November 15, 2022
Dear CPC Family,
The moment we’ve been praying for and working toward for six years is almost here: on this coming Sunday evening, Corona Presbyterian Church will become a new congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church at our 5pm service of recognition and installation.
It promises to be an evening of worship, celebration, and thanksgiving. In God’s providence, this service will be held six years to the day of the first worship service at CPC back in 2016.
This photo was taken on that day. You’ll see some familiar faces as well as some you might not recognize but who are very much part of the story of the Lord’s work at CPC. As you look at this photo, give thanks to the Lord for those he has added to this number since then and the others pictured here who now serve and worship him in other places.
Please do make plans to be with us on Sunday evening. In addition to a number of invited guests from our Presbytery, I know of at least two sister churches that have cancelled their evening worship services in order to join us. This is a big moment we share with our wider OPC family in the regional church of Southern California, Arizona, and Hawaii. We also share it with our brothers in Christ—and facility hosts—at Beth Shalom Messianic Jewish Congregation. We can rejoice that Rabbi Robert Bloch and other leaders from Beth Shalom are planning to be with us on Sunday Evening. It’s an evening you don’t want to miss and a wonderful way to kick off Thanksgiving week!
Because this is a worship service, you can expect to be encouraged by God’s Word both in a sermon and shorter charges (encouraging exhortations):
Dr. Craig Troxel of Westminster Seminary California will be preaching the sermon
Rev. Joel Ellis of Reformation OPC in Apache Junction, AZ will deliver the charge to the congregation
Rev. James Lim of Faith OPC in Long Beach will deliver the charge to the pastor
Because this is a service of installation, we can rejoice as we install our own elder (Brent Murphy), deacon (Ray Sahagun), and pastor (Andrew Canavan) and mark Rev. Chris Hartshorn continuing to serve on the CPC session.
Here’s how you can be involved:
Come to the service! It’s a great celebration but the congregation also plays an important role in affirming the steps that are being taken. We will gather for worship at 5pm (it would not be a bad idea to arrive 10-15 minutes early) and then celebrate with a dessert reception on the patio.
If you can’t be there in person, you can watch the livestream on Facebook Live at 5pm. We will miss you but are thankful you can be with us by digital means.
If you’re able to come early to help with set-up or to greet visitors or stay after to help with clean-up, please contact me.
Whatever you do and wherever you are, would you please pray that the Lord would be honored in this service as we give thanks to him: “The Lord has done great things for us, we are glad.” (Psalm 126:3)
In the Father’s Love,
Pastor Andrew