This past weekend, Pastor Steve shared a farewell message with all of us. He reminded us of Calvary’s mission: To lead people into a growing relationship
with Jesus Christ. He reminded us that
Calvary has and will always be a beacon of light to the community and to the
world.
As
a mission-focused church, we seek to always go beyond the walls of the church,
just as the early church did. In part of
his sermon, he reminded us about the many stones that had people’s names
written on them and how they were placed in the form of a cross under the North
Wing before the concrete was poured.
Those names on the rocks were names of people and loved ones who did not
know Jesus Christ.
I
was reminded this week that several of those stones in the foundation contained
names of a couple of my personal friends who I have been praying for all these
years. These friends are far from
Christ. While this was Pastor Steve’s
final sermon at Calvary, his sermon pushed each of us to look forward and to
continue the good fight of faith, to always remember why Calvary is special, to
always seek to reach out to the hurting and disenfranchised, to always be that
beacon of God’s light to a world that so desperately needs it, and to never
forget the names on those stones.
While
this past week was full of emotions as we said goodbye to Pastor Steve, it was
also truly the end of the beginning.
When Pastor Steve came to Calvary, he encouraged us to go beyond the
walls of the church and now as he retires he is still encouraging us to GO, to
live out the great commission and the great commandment, not only as a church,
but as individuals as well! The mission
of Calvary continues today and into the future, just as it began in 1947 when
Calvary was founded as a church plant.
Here’s
a song to remind us of those rocks: "Ain’t
No Rock."
As
we studied Acts chapter 14 this week, Pastor Steve shared a story about a
person from Haiti who visited houses in the States for a few weeks, staying in
different homes during his trip.Steve
shared that this person was anxious to get home.Yes, he had enjoyed staying in the big,
elaborately furnished homes, but he said, "You rely on your things to sustain
you.We rely on God.”
Gulp!I don’t know about you, but that part of Pastor
Steve’s sermon cut right to my heart.Why?Well, quite simply, there
was an amazing amount of truth in that one sentence.As Americans, we are richer than 99% of the
world.We have nice warm homes, beds to
sleep in, tons of food and opportunities for work and education.We are the envy of many people in the
world.Yet, amidst all of this “things”
and opportunities, we have much to learn from our brothers and sisters in other
countries.They are rich in faith and
they fully rely on Jesus Christ; something we in the Western world are
sometimes sadly lacking.
So
many people are searching for meaning to life and trying to find joy in their
lives.Oftentimes people feel empty, so
they try to “buy” things to fill the hole.They get a bigger house, purchase more toys and cars, take
expensive trips to exotic places and dream about winning the
lottery.The problem is the hole in our
hearts can’t be filled with “things” or financial security because the hole is
a God-shaped hole.The only way to fill
the void in our consumer-driven reality is to admit our need for God and to
learn to fully rely on God rather than our “things” and our economic
standing.
Well,
there is nothing wrong with having a nice home and going on vacations, but when
it begins to have more importance over our relationship with Jesus Christ, then
we do need to take notice of it.How do
we realign our priorities?We pray!We pray and pray!Then we pray some more.Prayer is the most important single thing we
can do.When we ask God to help us to
give up our focus on “things” and to help us to put Him at the center of our
lives, God will honor that prayer in ways you won’t even imagine.Will it be painful?Well, look at Paul and Barnabas.The road is not always easy even when you
have an all-encompassing faith like they had.
Speaking
truth in a culture that embraces the notion that there is no “real” truth will usually
alienate you from friends and family, not to mention your neighbors and
co-workers.So, you might ask, is it
worth it?Is putting your relationship
with Jesus Christ above everything else, including your life, worth it?I think you know the answer!Yes!Is it going to be easy? No!
I
would encourage you this week to write down the top five priorities in your
life, in order of importance.Be really
honest with yourself.As you look at
those priorities, where does your relationship with Jesus Christ fall on your
list?Did He even make it on your
list?Then pray like you’ve never prayed
before and ask God to help you to re-align your life to fit His perfect plan
for you.Then pray the next day and the
next day.
Friends,
God will be so excited to hear your prayer and He will answer it.Be prepared for the journey ahead!!
Here
is a great song that reminds us to F.R.O G (Fully Rely on God).
A church
without walls was “born” this week as we looked at Acts chapter 13.Sometimes when we think about the “church” we
think about huge architectural structures and prime real estate.Yet, the harsh reality is that those
buildings and real estate holdings have perhaps done more to keep people out
then to invite people in.In the U.S., 3,500-4,000
churches close their doors each year (Barna Group).Scary reality.Some of that is due to shrinking membership
and a shift in our culture.
The early Church,
while it didn’t have many resources and they didn’t have buildings, was able to
spread the message of Jesus Christ to “the ends of the earth” in remarkable
ways.As we look at all the new
church-plants around the U.S.,
most of them are following the early Church model.They meet in existing buildings, coffee
shops, schools and homes.They are
finding new places and new ways to reach people with the Gospel.They are going out into “Samaria” and to their communities in ways
that are authentic and real.And, if you
think about it, the Church isn’t a building or a denomination; it’s the
people.We are the body of Christ.The people are the Church, not the buildings.
So, how can
we be a church without walls?How can we
also be a church without walls and reach out to share the Gospel?Well, there are many ways.Reaching out and sharing the Gospel happens
every day in places all over the community.I think about our youth who share their faith is amazing ways at school through
their words and actions with their friends.I know I often invite people who have questions related to God and
faith to meet me for lunch or at a coffee shop, not at the church.Walking into a church and then finding your
way up to my 4th floor office isn’t very inviting!The church without walls exists, but we need
to look for those opportunities to tear down the walls and remove the
barriers.
As an
English major in college, I remember a poem by Robert Frost that was called "The Mending Wall."One of the lines from that poem says, “Good
walls make good neighbors.”Walls don’t
make good neighbors, as we all know.
Think about
the walls in your life?We all put up
walls that separate us from people all the time.Why do we put up walls?Sometimes it is intentional and other times
the walls just grow over time.Sometimes
we put up walls out of fear or mistrust.How can we knock a few more walls down in our own lives?And, how can we each be a church without
walls in our neighborhoods?Our friends?Our coworkers?The reality is we can all be like Paul and
Barnabas; we all have our own missionary journeys to accomplish for
Christ!Each of our missionary journeys
is unique.Embrace your journey!
Here’s a
song by Hillsong called "Tear Down the
Walls."May OUR walls come a tumbling
down!!
Pray
without ceasing!Have you ever tried
praying like that?
As we
looked at Acts chapter 12 this week, Pastor Steve shared the story of Peter in
prison and how God answered the prayers of the early believers to free
Peter.Every time I read that story I
always chuckle a bit.After all, Peter
is sleeping and the angel has to wake him up!Then we move to the scene at the house of John Mark and the
disciples.Rhoda tells them and they
don’t believe that Peter is free.The
power of prayer was boldly seen in chapter 12.The disciples and Christ followers were in earnest and continual
prayer.Wow!Prayer was the first thing they did and the
last thing they did!They prayed and they
prayed!
How many
times have we turned to prayer as a last resort?As a final plea for help after all other
human means have failed us?I know I’ve
been guilty of that; perhaps you have as well.How do we become more like those disciples and the early Church, who had
very little resources or influence in their society, but they had hearts for
prayer and that made all the difference?
This week,
I want you to try something a bit daring, maybe even a bit uncomfortable: pray
without ceasing.Okay, I know what you
are thinking.I have to work, I have the
kids to teach and take care of all day.I can’t pray without ceasing.Give it a try for one day.Just one day!Do a thank-you prayer for one day!Every time you have a few seconds, between breaths, just offer a prayer
of thanks to God.Your day might look
something like this:
Thank you
for my office.Thank you for my
cube.Thank you for my work colleagues,
even the ones who drive me nuts. Thank you for this leftover food that I brought
for my lunch and for the microwave that will heat it up for me.Thank you for my car that brings me to work
and brings the kids to school.Thank you,
Lord, for teachers at my children’s schools.Thank you for the bus driver who picks my children up every day.Thank you for grocery stores.Thank you for the fresh fruit and the bottled
water.Thank you for my house or
apartment.Thank you for the heat that
warms my house.Thank you for my
dinner.Thank you for running water so I
can take a warm shower.Thank you for my
bed.Thank you for the gift of sleep so
I can be refreshed when I wake the next morning.
I think you
get the picture!Give it a try and let
me know how your day goes when you just thank God for things you normally take
for granted.Perhaps we can pray without
ceasing.We just need to put prayer in
the front of our minds for a change.It’s definitely a paradigm shift, but what could happen if we found a way
to think about God and pray throughout the whole day?I think amazing things could happen in our
lives and our family’s lives too.
Remember,
pray first and pray most!
Here’s a
song by Casting Crowns about what would happen if God’s people prayed!
It’s
already closing in on the end of the first week of this New Year.How are you doing on those resolutions?How are your top five goals working out so
far?Slipped off your diet yet?Stopped going to the gym at 5 a.m.?Do you find yourself worried about the fiscal
cliff?Worried about your future?Have you already checked the calendar to see
when the next “holiday” or day off might be coming?Want to have more relevance in your
life?
If you answered
yes to any of these questions, you are not alone!I know 2012 was a tough year for many of
you.This New Year, 2013, is still full of much hope
and promise for the future.I think
that’s why we all look forward to a new year because it brings with it a clean
slate and a time for a fresh start.We
get a “do-over” of sorts!
We often
focus on how we need to improve our circumstances.We focus on improving our health, following our
diets and fixing our outward situations.We try to find ways to solve all of our problems and set goals to
achieve better results in the New Year.Notice that I used the pronoun “we?”That’s right, each of us tries to solve the problems of our lives
sometimes without even talking to God about His ideas and plans for us.Sure, we often times ask Him to bless our
plans and to help us with those plans, but we don’t always ask him if those are
the plans He has for us.Our focus is
off.Maybe we should put our focus back
on the One who gives us life and see what His plans and desires are for us?
In our
society, the self-help books all talk about creating an inner drive and setting
goals to achieve them.Now, I’m not
saying that goal setting is bad, but what I am saying is that achieving a
wonderful and joy-filled life is found only when we live with a deep dependence
on our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.When our dependence rests solely on our shoulders, the load is heavy and
the goals we set often times fail.The
word “dependence” has a rather negative connotation in our society.We associate dependence with weakness and not
success.Yet, it is through our weaknesses
that God can work best.When we come
before Him with an open, humble and dependent heart--with all of our
weaknesses, mistakes, failures and hurts hanging out--we learn to rely on
God.
As we go
into the second week of 2013, I encourage you to learn to let the Light
of God’s Presence soak over you and through you.Let His Light engulf your whole being – mind,
body and spirit.Find a quiet time to be
alone with God.Let Him direct your
day.Learn to rely on Him, not just in
your desperation, but every day of your life.
He longs to
have time with you!And time with God
will strengthen your whole being.Trust
Him to reveal the goals He has for you in 2013.Allow Him to surprise you!The
goals He sets are goals that have an eternal consequence and will bring you
unbelievable rewards!When you put God
in YOUR driver’s seat, look out!You are
going to have a journey that will lead you through unexpected twists and turns
that will change your life forever.All
you have to do is hang on tight and open your heart to His leading!
"A new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart, and I will
put my spirit within you." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Here’s a
song that talks about changing our hearts and having God’s Spirit live in each
of us.
As you walk
into this New Year, may the blessings of God surround you and direct your
path.And may your heart be open to
God’s many plans for you this year.
