We are in the middle of our series on Getting Calvary Back on Track and have covered the main mission of the church. We have been created by God to glorify Him. The church exists to reveal and display the glory of God. This glory revealing is basically going public with the fame of God. We are to let the world know that everything is about God!

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Now that we know what our focus is we can ask, “How do we get there?” God has given at least four means that we honor Him as a church. These are four tools in our toolbox; these are four avenues to travel in spreading God’s fame to the world; these are four truths we tenaciously hold to…

First, we gather to worship God. Our gathering is not focused on entertainment but on worship. We don’t want to be about us, but about God.

Second, we grow in the grace and knowledge of God. We accomplish this primarily through Sunday school groups that meet at 9:15 on Sunday morning. Keith Higginbotham our Sunday School Director knocked the ball out of the park on Sunday night during the vision casting meeting. What a blessing it is to have a guy like this leading us.

We are praying and planning that this grows and more classes are added to meet that numerical growth. We are also praying for new groups to form. We could easily see small pockets of men, women, couples, and students meeting for prayer, accountability and encouragement throughout the week. All of these groups meet for the purpose of helping us find strength in God (1 Samuel 23:16).

Third, we give of ourselves to the Lord. This giving includes our time, talents, and treasures. God created us to be givers, not takers. Giving takes sacrifice and everyone in the church is called upon to sacrifice to see the gospel advance in the kingdom of darkness. We are not called upon to give with an eye on others; we always give to God, not because He is needy but because He is worthy. Paul attributed the following statement to Jesus,

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

We will cover the fourth avenue next week. Until then…

Grace & Peace,

We are a church that exists to honor God; we are here to glorify Him. God has sovereignly, graciously and strategically put us where we are at this time in history to spread His fame. Since we know and believe that, just how do we go about glorifying God? Well, I believe there are four avenues through which we can bring glory to God. The first we looked at last Sunday morning (1-18-15): GATHER. We gather to worship God and everyone (no exceptions) needs worship!

The next avenue through which we spread the fame of God is GROW. Growing is essential to the Christian experience. We cannot call ourselves followers of Jesus without growing and we can’t grow without getting into God’s Book, the Bible. We believe this growth comes as a result of personal study and corporate study. I believe we need both. We need to dig into the Bible every day on our own to hear God’s voice and let Him set the direction for our lives. We need this discipline. It’s like drinking a refreshing drink of water on a hot day after a really hard run – it is something that we need! But we also need each other to grow. The early church made a strong commitment to this…

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…” (Acts 2:42)

I can, and should, spend quality time in God’s Word each day; however, the one problem with that is there is neither accountability nor camaraderie. We need each other to help us grow, keep us thinking the right thoughts, sharpen one another’s iron, encourage us to stay in the game, and hold each other’s feet to the fire. The avenue through which we’ve decided this is best expressed at Calvary is Sunday school. Our classes are broken into smaller groups that are age specific.

These smaller groups of Bible study provide us with a sense of community. This is where actual relationships take place; this is where we share life with one another; this is where life-long friendships are formed. Truth is taught, honest questions are asked, tough issues are addressed, love is expressed and intimacy is experienced in these times together.

If you’re not involved in one of these groups, then let me encourage and challenge you to find one that fits you. Come and grow with us.

Grace & Peace,

We are in the middle of a series of messages entitled, “Getting Calvary Back on Track.” Yes, I believe we have gotten off track. We have put way too much focus on budgets, buildings, programs and problems. The result is that we have become the focus instead of God. God has given us but one target and that is to glorify Him. Budgets, buildings and programs and problems are a part of our lives, but God never intended them to be the focus. He must be the focus. Everything must run through the filter of the glory of God.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

We know that verse, believe that verse, but do we practice it? Absolutely everything we do, every conversation, every bite, every action, every thought and every move must be focused on representing God in an honoring way. Now the question is, “If the glory of God is our destination then how do we get the train there?” I’m so excited about the next messages I’ll be sharing with you on Sunday morning because those messages answer that question.

This Sunday I’ll be preaching about Gather. Gathering is one of the ways we honor God. It is necessary and biblical. We see the early believers consistently gathering together to honor God through worship. We also see the tendency of some to neglect the gatherings:

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

So I want to encourage you, not berate you to join us Sunday as we gather together to glorify God through worship.

Grace & Peace,

I don’t want anyone to come to the end of their life and realize that they’ve thrown it all away. What I mean by this is that I want our lives to count for something that will last for eternity.

“Be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.” (Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV)

This verse is packed with so much great truth. It’s comforting to know that we actually have a shot at doing something that God wants us to do. Instead of living selfishly God does have a plan for each of us that will put us on a path that is meaningful.

This verse also teaches us that this path is not automatic. We have to “try to understand.” We have a choice to make. Finding what God wants us to do is going to take some effort. The Christian life is not like getting to the top of a hill and then coasting all the way to heaven. The life God has called us to live is filled with intention. It must become our aim to live careful lives, not careless lives. We are going to need to put into place some good habits to replace some not so good habits.

Three good habits I shared with you on Sunday morning:

Here is some help with number 3…

“Lord, I have heard the news about you; I am amazed at what you have done. Lord, do great things once again in our time; make those things happen again in our own days.” (Habakkuk 3:2 New Century Version)

Spend time every day with this verse. Write it on a 3”x5” card and carry it everywhere you go. Put the verse in your phone and set a reminder that will have it pop up every day at a specific time. Pray that verse, begging God to do today what He has done in the past; make it a prayer for you personally, your family, the church, and the world. Let’s make our lives count!

Grace & Peace,