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In the sermon this last Sunday, we learned from Paul the importance of making the most of our time, even—especially—in our quarantine (see Ephesians 5:15-20). One of the ideas I gave for how to pursue this was to Learn. Namely, use some of the extra...
As I shared in a video this last Friday, we are all very aware by now of the rapidly dynamic and changing environment we are all...
As 2019 comes to a close, we encourage you to take two minutes and forty-five seconds of your time to watch this year-end ministry update from Pastor Matthew.
Did you miss New Member Covenant Affirmation last weekend? Hear Cory Hollenhorst share his story, and watch it here!
BAPTISM is both a symbol and a testimony — a public celebration of a believer's decision to follow Christ. We did just that last weekend, we celebrated!
GivingTuesday was founded in 2012 as the world’s largest giving movement.
This books marks the end of the Whole Story sermon series.
In the very beginning of this letter, we see that Jude has had to adjust his plans. Maybe you know what this is like...
Maybe some of you will recognize this sentiment from a world-renown British band...
In a recent post at The Gospel Coalition website, Canadien author Jen Pollock Michel, reflected: “Are we following God?”
One of the greatest preachers of recent history is Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). No stranger to severe suffering himself, he had this to say about trial and affliction in one his sermons...
In case you missed it...
In the book of James, we meet a follower of Jesus who is going to sit us down for a little chat. And fair warning here: James isn’t really too concerned about your feelings, or how comfortable you are with someone you don’t know nor have ever met getting pretty personal with you.
I think all of us want to be wise. The question is, how do we get there?
"I can't stand my job! I've been working there too long to be treated like this!" she said.
This past Sunday, we completed the last of Paul’s writings that we will study together. I have to admit—I’m really going to miss Paul!
We asked Pastor Jon to answer some Community Group FAQs... here is what he had to say!
In Paul’s letter to his church-planting partner and friend, Philemon, he spends the opening lines commending this loving church leader, in very specific ways, with subtle and powerful theological undertones.
Just a brief reminder that a great way to prepare for the service this coming Sunday is to read the text we will be studying together.
There is an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern coast of Greece named Crete.
I am excited to gather together again this coming Sunday. You know, I just love being a part of our mornings together.
As I spent time in my study this past Wednesday pondering the service, a story came to mind. It was the story of a husband and wife, who were experiencing a number of fairly intense and difficult circumstances: within their community, within their church family, and within their own family.
In just a few days, we will make our way again to our building at 1200 Roosevelt Road to gather together with the aim of expressing our praise, adoration, and thanksgiving to God, and the aim of quieting ourselves for a short time to hear from God.
Sometimes we come to these places in the Bible that defy our ability to lay out the text in a logical progression of concepts and propositions, and instead, what is given is the layering of one life upon another, of one story upon another, the sharing of experiences in the hope that growth and encouragement will take place.
Grab a cup of coffee, notepad and pen, and listen in on how God has worked in Jenny and Wanda’s lives. Who knows! It may inspire you to share your acts in God’s story.
This coming Sunday, we will stuady another letter by the Apostle Paul to his spiritual son, Timothy.
Paul shows Timothy how to restore order and purpose to the church in Ephesus which has been disrupted by false teachers.
Do you know why the church exists? Do you know who formed the church, and how it was formed?
This last Sunday, we made our way into Paul’s second letter to some very dear friends who made up the church he and Silas had planted in Thessalonica, a city in Greece.
We joyfully celebrated baptism last weekend. It's always encouraging to see how God is at work in the lives of others. If you missed it, you can watch it here!
What do you think of when you see these two words together?...
On Sundays April 28 and May 5, we recognized Compassion International at Calvary by drawing awareness to the incredible impact the ministry is having in the lives of children all around the world...
Over the last two Sundays, I have been preaching from 1 Thessalonians, making my way through Paul’s letter by making my way through this summary sentence...
This last Sunday, I preached the first of two sermons on Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. Here was the sentence I began unpacking, which is my summary of both letters:
David Brooks is a 57 year old, American conservative political and cultural commentator who writes for The New York Times, as well as a New York Times list best-selling author, with books such as The Social Animal and The Road to Character to his credit.
Over the past few months, I've share this blog post to remind you what book of the Bible to read for the coming Sunday, as part of our Whole Story sermon series.
When I was a kid, there was this thing that people did, where they would get connected to someone far away, maybe even across the world, and they would send letters to each others, sometimes along with pictures or other things, and it would be a way to make a long-distance friend.
Colossians provides a wonderful followup to Holy Week as we return to our sermon series, The Whole Story.
On Palm Sunday of Holy Week, we studied a letter that Paul had written to some friends of his in a place called Philippi (which today would be found in northeastern Greece). He wrote the letter a couple of thousands of years ago, but that doesn’t mean it isn't irrelevant.
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
If you were here on Sunday, then you know that we will not be leaving Paul’s letter to the Philippians as the text for our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services.
First, it is Palm Sunday. Which means it is the beginning of a week of remembering the most important events in the history of the world: the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, his last meal with his disciples, his death at the hands of sinful men as the result of a sham sentence in a kangaroo court, his burial by those who loved him, and his resurrection from the dead just three days later. All of it for the salvation and rescue of the world.
May God use his Word to inspire you to help just one other person move one step close to Jesus.
This past Tuesday morning, I was sitting in Jules Bistro, downtown on West St. Germain Street, right there next to the Paramount Theatre. They've got this storefront with floor to ceilig windows, with tables right there at the front, which gives you this view of the sidewalk and city street.
I attempted to show in the sermon this past Sunday that Paul offers us two anchor points for our lives, and upon which our lives depend.
I had a class on preaching once, many years ago, from a pastor and a professor. And here is what he argued was the key question the preacher must ask of every text of Scripture:
In the unsearchable counsel of God's will for the world, he has so designed that salvation will come through the church, that body of people gathered by the power of his Holy Spirit.
The reason that we began the Whole Story sermon series in January of last year was for the simple reason that we wanted to inspire you to read the Bible.
Martin Luther warned that the people of the church are always in danger of their hearts straying from the truth of the good news of the kingdom of God found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
When Paul sits down to write a letter to his friends at the church in Corinth, a church he himself started, here is how he begins:
One of the dangers of reading the stories of those followers of Jesus that we find in the Bible is we can treat them as if they are almost super-human.
As we began in the New Testament in our Whole Story sermon series, you will recall that we took the first few books in this order: Matthew, Mark, John; and then Luke and Acts.
This last Sunday in our Gathering, we studied the book of 1 Corinthians together. The week of preparation leading up to that moment in the pulpit was deeply encouraging, as I sat at the feet of Paul, and watched him apply the reality of Jesus and the fullness of the Good News to four main issues in the lives of Christians in the church at Corinth. I discovered that each issue was a case study in the application of the good news to the very practical matters of our lives.
Every religion, every person, is geared towards addressing what they believe to be the biggest problem facing man.
BRINGING UP A FUTURE GENERATION FOR CHRIST
Most studies put the percentage of the American public in a church on Sunday morning at around 20%. Which means 80% of the population in our country—and likely it's the same in our community—are not in a gathering like this this morning.
We are living in a day when Christians could have some cause for concern over the state of the church in our country.
This past Sunday at Calvary, I preached a sermon from John’s story of Jesus, focusing on Jesus’ concern that we know and understand God as our Father, and all that follows from that cataclysmic reality.
This week we continue to look at Portraits of Jesus, painted with words, in the first five books of the New Testament. And we now turn our attention to John’s story, which will vividly display Jesus as the Son of God.
Pastor Matthew will be preaching on the book of Mark this coming Sunday, January 20. Here are some tips for your Bible reading that you received in last week’s Weekly Bible Reading email.
I love beginnings. They feel like fresh starts. I love mornings, because it means that God has delivered a brand new day for me. New possibilities. New appointments. New opportunities. New mercies.
On the afternoon of Monday, December 3, I went to Walmart. My objective was to conduct an un-scientific survey of what people thought about the man known as Jesus Immanuel Christ.
I love everything about Christmas. But more than anything, I love why Christmas, or what is traditionally known in the church as Advent, is on the calendar in the first place. Namely, it is a reminder that the Son of God took on flesh, became a man, God with us, in order that he might save his people, and all people, for all time, from their sin.
I’d like to transport you to a time in the far past, back to the very early 500’s B.C.
Malachi accuses Israel of selfishness after the exile and announces that the day of the Lord will purify Israel and prepare them for God's kingdom.
Samuel Johnson was born on September 18, 1709, and was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer.
The book of Haggai is the second shortest book in the Old Testament. It has 4 oracles (think: sermons), 2 chapters, and about 1,100 words.
This last Sunday, in Calvary’s morning gathering, we studied the book of Haggai together as part of God’s Whole Story. Together we heard God speak through his prophet to his people after the exile, challenging them to remain faithful and to rebuild the temple.
In the book of Jeremiah we read of God’s intention for Daniel and all of those with him who have been exiled from the land of promise.
We are in a sermon series called The Whole Story, so named because we started off with the assumption, and belief really, that the whole Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. Each and every book is a bit like a chapter that contributes to the overall story that God is telling.
To say that we live in times of rapid change may be the very height of understatement. Our culture, and its norms, is changing at an unprecedented rate, making it increasingly challenging for the church to remain relevant—and faithful—in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God, in a way that will bring about the expansion of that kingdom.
This past Sunday we (finally) made it out of the weighty, dark, somber, and serious writings of the Prophets of the Exile, and stepped into the Return from Exile of the people of God. Our first look into this aspect of the redemptive drama comes via three courageous servants of Yahweh—Zerrubabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. There story is found in the book of Ezra-Nehemiah (although our English Bibles separate them, through the centuries the Jewish people have always treated them as one book; so we will too.)
Sunday is just about my favorite day of the week (“just about”…because my day off each week, our family’s Sabbath Saturday, is a tie or really close second). I love getting up that morning, making my smoothie, sitting in my favorite chair in our fireplace room, and pulling my Bible onto my lap. I relish the time spent listening to my Father speak, and I delight in those moments spent talking with him about the morning’s ministry, the people in our gathering that I hope he will transform, as well as the eleven other pastors (and their congregations) on whom I pray his blessing every Sunday.
This past Sunday we completed our journey through the weighty, dark, somber, and serious writings of the Prophets of the Exile, focusing our study on Ezekiel. We discovered in Ezekiel a book filled with dark visions and confrontational language. And one of the visions (probably the central, controlling metaphor of the book) Ezekiel presents is Israel as a beautiful bride who turns against her bridegroom, God, and breaks all the stipulations of her covenant.
Yesterday, we heard from what was likely King Solomon’s mother imparting worthy words of wisdom in the area of leadership. For the sayings of wisdom we find here are those “which his mother taught him” (Proverbs 31:1). And she now turns her attention to the search for a woman of virtue and noble character, suitable to be a wife and mother.
Even Kings need to listen to their mothers, and Solomon is no exception. It is probable that Lemuel, meaning for God or devoted to God, is merely another moniker for Solomon. It may even be that it was a nickname of sorts, one of endearment that his mother used to call him in his younger, growing up years, and it stuck. And now as Solomon completes his book of Proverbs, his mother comes to mind. He looks back with Holy Spirit-inspired memory to recall worthy words of wisdom his mother had taught him, and were invaluable in the pursuit of a wise and good life. In particular, how to be a wise and good leader.
I am very near the end of this little writing experiment called “31 Proverbs.” While I’m unsure how helpful it has been to how ever many have read it, I know that the process of sitting down six days each week to read, ponder, and then ponder some more by plunking on a keyboard has helped me grow in my understanding of wisdom.
If you’ve been reading along in this little series, you’ve now read 29 of 31 chapters of Proverbs—well done friend! Today is a “Grace Day.”
This past Sunday we continued on our journey through the weighty, dark, somber, and serious writings of the Prophets of the Exile, focusing our study on Jeremiah’s epilogue to his large book, an extended treatment of his grief over Jerusalem and Judah, the five poems of Lamentations.
Anger. noun. “a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility.” (New Oxford American Dictionary) As I entered day twenty-nine of Proverbs this morning, and came to 29:11, it struck me that this book has quite a bit to say about anger, strife, wrath, quarreling, fights, and rage. It is a theme that Solomon keeps coming back to, probably because he knows that it is a theme woven through humanity and history. Sometimes the best way to see a theme is to pull on that string so all the wisdom he has offered comes together for our observation. The accumulation helps us feel the weight of it.
Many a time has a husband sat across from me in my study describing a difficult patch on his walk with God. After I listen for awhile, one of my first questions is always, “How is your relationship with your wife?” And most often that husband will say something like, “You know, it hasn’t been great lately. We’re really on each others nerves, I feel like she doesn’t listen to me…” and on, and on, and on.
One of the all-time movie classics is The Princess Bride. In the story, the beautiful Princess Bride is abducted in a complex scheme and escape, lead by the dastardly Sicilian, Vizzini. Vizzini is assisted in the abduction by the dashing Spaniard, Inigo Montoya, and the gentle giant, Fezzik. But there is one snag in their plan—Westley, the Princess Bride’s sweetheart and now the Dread Pirate Roberts, is hot on their heels as they attempt to steal away with the Princess.
A conversation that happened this morning as I came upon a visitor in our fireplace room….
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and Yahweh will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22, New Living Translation)
“First They Came….” They came first for the Communists, and I did not speak up— Because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak up— Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up— Because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Today is a “Grace Day.”
This past Sunday marked our entrance into the Prophets of the Exile: Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Given that the defeat of Israel and Judah by the empires of the Assyrians and Babylonians was a devastating, horrific, and tortuous series of events, you would rightly expect that these are weighty, dark, somber, and serious writings. And they are, which is just part of the challenge in understanding them and gleaning current implications for our lives from them.
Committing to any endeavor that takes time always carries with it the challenge of making it to the end. Refinishing that dresser. Repainting the downstairs. Reading all of War and Peace (or finishing any long-ish book for that matter). Completing the class you decided to take at the community college. Running a marathon. Taking up a new hobby. Learning a new sport. Trying to introduce a new habit into your life and routine. You often hit this pain-point, where you consider giving up. At such times, it can help to remind yourself why you started in the first place.
Every Thursday night is date night. For this reason, I really look forward to Thursday—it is a highlight in my week. I love date night, because I am in love with my bride, and, I really like her too.
It was my first trip out of the United States (well, I guess that’s not completely true, I had been to Canada, but does a trip to America’s hat really count?). I was headed to Cameroon with three other men to equip students at a small seminary in the northern part of the country.
“Youth is the glory of nature, and the glory of young men is their strength. Old age is the majestic beauty of nature, and the gray hair is the majestic splendor that nature has given to old age.” (Jermin)
The doctrine of God’s rule and reign in and over all things comes crashing into the human conception of the self-made man. We are tempted to think we have so much to do with our happinesses. But the wisdom found from James speaks a wakefulness into the pondering of our circumstances—the good gifts we have come not from our own hands, but by the grace and providence of our heavenly Father. And the wisdom of Solomon makes clear—one of man’s greatest gifts is something only God can give, an understanding wife.
The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit? A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. (Proverbs 18:14 and 17:22, New Living Translation) Many of you reading this know that I have an ongoing struggle with depression and generalized anxiety disorder. I received those diagnoses years ago from a trusted and helpful Biblical counselor, confirming I’ve been struggling with them most of my life. I am grateful for a small circle of close and loving friends who support me, and help me press forward through the good and bad days.
If you’ve been reading along in this little series—congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of the third week. Today is a “Grace Day.” So take the day off. Read another portion of the Holy Scriptures, or look back and review Proverbs 1-17. We’ll begin again tomorrow.
We have defined wisdom in these five books—Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, and now the Song of Songs—as applied skill and competence in our living. And this kind of wise living is only possible if we recognize that God has hardwired wisdom into the world, that there is an inner logic to the way everything works, and the only way we will discover how to live according to the inner logic and the way he has hardwired it is by listening to, obeying, and following the Creator and Designer of it all.
We live in a world where the temptation is constant to believe the amount of our wealth and possessions directly translates to our joy and happiness. The Bible, once again, confronts our culture and holds out another possibility. Namely, “better” does not imply “more,” “bigger,” or “expensive.” It suggests that the reason you still haven’t found what you are looking for is because you’ve been searching in all the wrong places. Wisdom opens our eyes and hearts to deeper wells of contentment.
