Calvary Church Los Gatos: Recent Episodes
Calvary Church Los Gatos
Here you'll find the weekend messages from Calvary Church. Whether you've gone to church for a long time or never been to church before, these messages are intended to provide practical and relevant ways to help all of us learn to walk more like Jesus did.
Seasons of prosperity and suffering each present a fork in The Path of wisdom. This morning, Tyler highlighted ways to navigate these seasons with wisdom rather than foolishness.
This Sunday, Dale looked at Ecclesiastes 9, challenging us to exercise the wisdom of Christ— which delivers life and order in the midst of chaos, even when doing so won't earn us popularity.
This week, Dale reminded us of God's sovereignty, freeing us from the burden of making the perfect decision because our future rests in the hands of a perfect God.
On Sunday, Pastor Rob revealed the heart of the Father within the instructions of Proverbs 4 and encouraged us to partner with the Lord as He transforms us from the inside-out.
This week, Kristi demonstrated how biblical wisdom plays out in the practical reality of our family life, as we build our lives upon the unshakable foundation of Christ.
Pastor Steve continued The Path series this Sunday by showing how wisdom leads us into honest self-awareness as we follow after the humility of Christ.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale presented a case study on the wise (and unwise) use of our words as outlined extensively through the book of Proverbs.
On Sunday, Danny continued The Path series by showing how a healthy response to fear converts information about God into knowledge, trust, and ultimately wisdom.
This week, Pastor Dale walked us through 5 steps along the path of Godly wisdom as outlined in Proverbs 3:1-12.
This week, Pastor Dale laid the groundwork for our study in the book of Proverbs and our emphasis on seeking Godly wisdom together this summer.
This week, Pastor Dale used snapshots from Jesus’ ministry to demonstrate just how deeply He sees, hears, and values His people— no matter what they walk through.
On Sunday, Kristi unpacked the practice of living each day united with Christ and shared how this leads us into peace even amidst difficult life decisions.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale closed out the series by unpacking how the daily decision to live in step with God’s Holy Spirit produces real Change That Sticks.
On Sunday, Pastor Danny emboldened us to release the habits of the old self and embrace the new; to fix our eyes on the goodness of God and let the Spirit transform our minds.
This week, Pastor Dale acknowledged our tendency to harden our hearts— encouraging us to remain ‘coachable’ before God, who delights in transforming us.
Danny continued the series this week by explaining how finding Change that Sticks can't be done alone. It takes inviting the right voices into our lives, people who will walk with us and speak truth in love.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale shared the good news that our purpose is not invented but received through the Spirit of God working within us, and the training of our minds.
Pastor Dale kicked off the series with the encouragement that transformation does not begin with behavior modification. It begins with intimate relationship with our God— who is able to do immeasurably more than we could imagine.
The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. Celebrate Jesus’ victory over death and the beginning of a journey for all of us!
This Sunday, Pastor Danny wrapped up the series by unpacking the significance of Jesus’ final I AM statements in light of the events leading up to His ascension as King.
On Sunday, Pastor Dale highlighted how Jesus’ revelation that He IS "the Resurrection and the Life” brings the reality of heaven into life right now.
This Sunday, Kristi shed light on the incredible depth— both for the original audience and for His Image Bearers today— in Jesus’ proclamation that He is “The Good Shepherd.”
This week, Pastor Dale continued the I AM series by unpacking Jesus’ powerful declaration that He is ‘the Door’ and the invitation extended to us as we follow Him.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale revealed the profound significance of Jesus calling Himself "The Light of the World” — within the Jewish tradition of the time, and for us, as we take up our cross and follow Him.
Pastor Danny kicked off the I AM series by revealing the importance of the words 'I AM’ in the Bible and for each of us personally. He focused on the significance of Jesus’ words when he says, "I AM the Bread of Life."
This week, Pastor Steve wrapped up the Sacred One Anothers series with an exhortation to Encourage One Another.
At Calvary Church, we are becoming a storytelling church, learning to not only live the story of God but to boldly share it. In this episode, Barry shares his story.
Listen in for:
- God moving behind the scenes
- A release of control
- An acceptance of God's plan
If Barry’s story encourages you, consider sharing your own at https://www.calvarylg.com/stories
This Sunday, Pastor Dale examined Godly compassion, and how to extend it to One Another.
This week, Pastor Dale continued the series by examining the challenge of Forgiving One Another.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale expanded up Jesus' call for us to Honor One Another above ourselves.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale continued The Sacred One Anothers series by walking us through the practical reality of Jesus' command to love one another just as He loves us.
This Sunday, Kristi wrapped up the Seasons series by leaning into this unique space between Christmas and the New Year. It’s a moment when the distractions of one season have faded, but the demands of the next haven’t fully arrived yet. That in-between space can be a gift if we recognize we are there. It’s an opportunity for a quieter, deeper intimacy with God.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale spoke about a Season of Harvest, looking at the story of the Magi and the power of generational faithfulness. He reminded us that while we think we’re waiting, God may already be developing a harvest. When we focus on what we don’t have or expect something different, we can miss the harvest that’s already right in front of us.
This Sunday, Kristi explored the Season of Doubt by reflecting on Joseph's story. She reminded us that doubt doesn't have to be our destination. It is part of the journey that can lead to deeper intimacy with God and a more authentic faith, choosing to believe God is who He says He is.
At Calvary Church, we are becoming a storytelling church, learning to not only live the story of God but to boldly share it. In this episode, Gene shares his story about The Things We Carry.
Listen in for:
- The presence of God
- Release of control
- A sense of belonging and purpose
If Gene’s story encourages you, consider sharing your own at https://www.calvarylg.com/stories
This Sunday, Pastor Rob walked us through a Season of Joy as we looked at Zechariah’s story. After 400 years of silence from God, the very moment He spoke again became the beginning of Zechariah’s own silence. Those nine months became a space for God to reset his heart, drawing him into deeper communion. And when the silence lifted, his first response was a song of praise.
This Sunday, Danny wrapped up The Mobilized Church by breaking down the Hebrew phrase "the festal shout." He reminded us that The Mobilized Church is founded on Jesus. It lives and worships as a victorious family—a family who is invested and selfless, showing up for each other, and reminding each other we belong.
This week, Pastor Dale talked about the foundation of the church. He encouraged us to show up for each other, to remind one another that we belong, and Who we belong to. He also warned us not to let the mission statement take the place of Christ as our foundation.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale kicked off the new series, The Mobilized Church, highlighting the two types of lives Jesus uses to build His Church: selfless and invested.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale wrapped up The Second Mile series with a look at what Jesus says when we find ourselves in need, focusing on living out Matthew 7:12 and embracing the idea that the Kingdom of God begins with us.
This Sunday, Govind reminded us that we read God’s Word as forgiven people, and the temptation to judge is actually an invitation to our own healing.
This week, Danny explored emotions and the difference between healthy and unhealthy ways to respond to them. He focused on Jesus’ teaching about anxiety, explaining that it is an unhealthy response to fear. Instead, we’re invited to ask for help and allow that need to be met, building faith, trust, and deeper relationship with God and others.
At Calvary Church, we are becoming a storytelling church, learning to not only live the story of God but to boldly share it. In this episode, Megan shares her journey of redemption and season of learning.
Listen in for:
- The presence of God
- Release of control
- A sense of belonging and purpose
If Megan’s story encourages you, consider sharing your own at https://www.calvarylg.com/stories
This Sunday, Pastor Dale spoke about what it means to “entrust to” and “trust in”, releasing control to the One who holds our best interests at heart. He reminded us that when we live with generosity and mercy, we begin to experience the treasures of heaven even now.
This Sunday, Pastor Steve encouraged us through what Jesus says about how we are to respond when others oppose us.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale explains the invitation Jesus gives us to live a life of simple honesty— where our yes is believable, and our no is accepted.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale encouraged us to confront how our desires can become destructive. He reminded us that Jesus meets us there with grace and redirects our hearts toward what truly satisfies.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale spoke about how we navigate conflict with one another and the importance of forgiveness.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale launched the fall series The Second Mile by looking at how to respond when others insult, persecute, or speak falsely against us.
This Sunday, Danny brought a fresh look at the Lord’s Prayer, setting the stage for the fall series that begins next week. He also previewed a church-wide invitation to pray the Lord’s Prayer daily and share our experiences together.
At Calvary Church, we are becoming a storytelling church, learning to not only live the story of God but to boldly share it. In this episode, Lizzy opens her heart and shares her journey of faith through seasons of deep loss, hidden grief, and renewed hope.
Listen in for:
- Honest reflections on grief and resilience
- The freedom of bringing burdens into the light
- Hope found in God’s faithfulness
If Lizzy’s story encourages you, consider sharing your own at https://www.calvarylg.com/stories
Today was a special moment in the life of our church family. Back in March, Dale shared four initiatives that would shape the focus of our church for the year. These initiatives were not just goals on paper but invitations to step into renewal through Spirit led kingdom building. This morning, we celebrated how those initiatives are developing and shared how you can continue to engage in them.
More than just updates, it was a time of rejoicing together in the rebuilding God is doing in His people. We heard stories of lives being transformed and witnessed baptisms—beautiful declarations of faith and tangible reminders that God is still at work, redeeming from death to life.
As we gathered in one room, united as one church, we were reminded of the joy of belonging to this community. Our prayer is that you continue to carry that same spirit of gratitude and celebration, as together we look forward to all God will continue to do in and through Calvary Church.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale spoke about the war going on inside us, and it starts with our words.
In today's teaching, we wrapped up the book of Colossians by talking about the body of Christ and the importance of community.
In today’s teaching, we explored what it means to be a community of reciprocal responsibility, submitting to one another and committing ourselves to each other out of love and honor.
This Sunday, we talked about mindset, putting off the old self and putting on our new identity in Christ.
In today’s teaching, we turned our attention to how our identity is shaped by the reality of Christ.
In today's teaching we look at growing in our faith so we won't be swayed by clever-sounding arguments.
In today's teaching we look at what it means to be filled in Christ so we can fully live the life God intends for us.
Today Pastor Dale starts the Colossians series in Ch. 1:1-8. We'll look at three significant words that are the very essence of the Christian life - faith, hope and love.
This week Pastor Dale wrapped up the series answering the question: What does a resurrection culture look like? Ultimately, because of the resurrection and Spirit living inside us, a resurrected culture is a community of Kingdom carriers.
This week Kristi continued the Resurrection Culture series by exploring how resurrection culture is a culture of power. The same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. In the midst of all the noise, the Spirit continues to remind us of the truth of the Father. We can partner with the Holy Spirit by listening, testing, and practicing, choosing in faith to act in the Spirit and not the flesh.
As we continued the Resurrection Culture series this week, Govind invited us to live out a culture of reconciliation.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale reminded us that Resurrection Culture is a culture of wonder, living open to the possibility of amazement. Without wonder, we are pone to disengagement and settling for less, convinced there’s nothing worth pursuing. But true wonder is rooted in curiosity and the courage to take risks, knowing the resurrection secures our identity as a child of God. It frees us to move from skepticism to awe.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale continued the Resurrection Culture series by addressing the cycles of fear we often find ourselves stuck in. We begin guarding our hearts for protection, but over time, this defense can distort our perspective. The stories we tell ourselves grow louder and more convincing, leaving us anxious and isolated. Jesus invites us into a cycle of peace: through compassion, curiosity, communing, and empowerment. If the resurrection is true, what do we have to fear?
This Sunday began the new series Resurrection Culture. Pastor Steve talked about how Resurrection Culture is a culture of change. When life gets stressful, it’s easy to slip back into autopilot and old habits, our default mode. This shapes the stories we tell ourselves about what has happened and reinforces the narrative that we are stuck and broken. But the power of the resurrection steps in and breaks that cycle. It reminds us that failure doesn’t get the last word—forgiveness does.
This Easter Sunday, Pastor Dale walked us through the unexpected responses to Jesus’ resurrection and what He invites us into.
This week, Danny spoke about worship. While there are many different ways to worship, we focused specifically on worship through song. It is praising God simply for who He is and profoundly for what He’s done. Biblical worship is loud and passionate, unashamed, joyful and embodied, truly reverent, powerful, communal, and eternal. It’s not just something we do, it’s something we’re invited into. A song that’s already being sung by all of creation.
This Sunday, Danny spoke about the burdens we carry in our fast-paced culture and how we spend our time. As Dallas Willard put it, "Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life." Jesus invites us to live differently. His life was full, but He was never in a hurry. You cannot live the life you were created for when something other than the Creator determines the pace at which you live.
This week, Kristi Gill talked about the things we are carrying that we put in our packs to quench the thirst for meaning, where we find our identity and where our value comes from. God created us in His image, giving us identity and purpose. God put it there, but we put other things in its place. We carry God's image. He put it there and we cannot take it out. It is our job to fully step into God's image as our identity. When we put things in our pack that try to sooth the longing, we find it to be meaningless. The longing is not fulfilled.
This week, Pastor Dale continued The Things We Carry by exploring the things we’ve inherited from previous generations, whether we asked for them or not. The blessings, sins, and patterns of our families, going back generations, can profoundly shape who we are today. At the same time, following Jesus well means putting off the sinful patterns of our family of origin and relearning how to live in God’s way as part of His family.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale kicked off The Things We Carry by unpacking the Biblical idea of nasah: to take with us, pick up, lift, or carry. Along the way, we all pick up things—some inherited, some chosen, and some absorbed from the world around us. Whether it's generational burdens, attempts to satisfy deep longings, the relentless pace of Silicon Valley, or the tension between fatalism and faith, these things shape what we carry. But to move forward, we must assess what is in our pack, letting go of what weighs us down so we can nasah the name of God well.
As Pastor Dale wrapped up the Rescued series, we reflected on the end of Moses’ life and the legacy he left behind. In his final message, he challenged us with a question: What do we do when we feel deep disappointment and resentment? The good news is that even in our disappointment, we can find peace through Jesus. No painful circumstance in this life can compare to the weight of an eternity without Him. Yet, God meets us in our pain and invites us forward, saying, "Let’s go for a walk."
This week, Govind Prabhu continued the Rescued series, exploring how God moves and shapes a people, and how He invites us into that same story. He challenged us to consider the Israelites' response to God's invitation to experience Him up close. Rather than drawing near, they chose to keep their distance, outsourcing their relationship to Moses. Will we do the same, settling for distance out of fear or comfort? Or will we step into the invitation to know God personally?
This Sunday, Pastor Dale spoke to us about Moses' staff, a symbol of divine presence and authority. God asks us to throw it down, letting go of what we have been relying on and then pick it up again, raising God's power against those in opposition to Him. Ultimately, God works through people who are willing to be held up and who are willing to hold up another.
This Sunday, Pastor Dale spoke about walking through the Wilderness. As he reminded us, God doesn’t just want to bring His people out of Egypt, He wants to get Egypt out of His people. That’s why He leads us through the Wilderness. In the Wilderness, God uses daily rhythms to heal us, feed us, and set us free—but we have to step out and gather.
This week in the Rescued series, Pastor Dale asked: What does it tuly mean to be free? Freedom is a journey, requiring us to leave something behind. God was not just getting the people out of Egypt, but getting Egypt out of the people, showing us that freedom from something opens the door to freedom to something greater.
This week, Danny continued the Rescued series. In this section of Exodus, we see how every revelation of God’s holiness is also a revelation of His nearness. He offers us an identity rooted in who He is, freeing us from the pressure to self-create or self-define. And He invites us into purpose, allowing Him to do through us what He has done in us.
This week, Pastor Dale walked us through the beginning of the Exodus story, reminding us that God’s methods often surprise us. It’s easy to focus on when God will move and miss the how. In the opening of Exodus, we see that God works in unpredictable and comprehensive ways, often using unexpected people and circumstances to fulfill His mission. Pastor Dale encouraged us to let go and trust, giving ourselves a front-row seat to God’s work. As you take faithful steps forward, you can trust Him to handle the rest.
This Sunday kicked off the new series, Rescued. Over the next nine weeks, Pastor Dale will walk us through the story of Exodus, a beautiful rescue story from the Old Testament. And one that is our story as well. This week, he provided an overview of what lies ahead, highlighting how Exodus is the story of humanity, intimacy, and freedom.
As we approach the new year, it’s natural to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re headed. As we consider resolutions and goals of who we want to be in the new year, Pastor Danny Busch invites us to consider a fundamental truth: we are not self-made, but intentionally created by God. What shapes your identity, that deep sense of who you are? And how do we recover the fullness of what God intended for us? We encourage you to take a moment to hear Danny’s insights as you step into this season of reflection and renewal.
On the final Sunday of Advent, Steve Dang concluded the Waiting Here for You series with a powerful reminder: while we wait on God, He is also waiting on us. In the wild and awesome nature of His love, God pursues us relentlessly. His love isn’t transactional, it’s rooted in relationship. And all are invited to the table.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In this third Sunday of Advent, Kristi spoke to us about hope. Hope is more than wishful thinking; it’s an expectant anticipation—a passion for the possible. Yet, hope can only exist in partnership with waiting. The two go hand in hand. We can wait with hope because the end of the story has already been written. Our hope isn’t just in what could be but in what we know will be.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This Sunday, as we continue in Advent, we reflect on waiting with God while we wait on God. What are we waiting for? Pastor Danny walked us through the story of God, from the perfection of Genesis’ Eden to the restoration promised in Revelation. The good news is that because of Jesus, the kingdom is already here—eternal life has begun. Danny reminded us to actively engage in this waiting, holding onto the hope of complete restoration and living in the wonder of God’s presence now.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each weekday during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, a season of anticipation and preparation. Pastor Dale encouraged us to embrace the spiritual discipline of waiting. While waiting can be the anticipation of something arriving, it is also the space between, the emptiness. It can be full of pain and longing, where we are tempted to pursue things that look good in the moment but ultimately do not fulfill. Our daily rhythms of waiting on God as He waits with us invite us to find His presence in the midst of longing.
This week we concluded The Stories We Tell by hearing a powerful story from Josh & Tara, a family in our Calvary Church community while Pastor Dale encouraged us to tell our own stories.
This Sunday, we heard from Govind Prabhu, a missionary to Silicon Valley and part of the Calvary Church community. Govind encouraged us to own our stories, even the unsavory and messy parts, because God can use our story to draw others into His story.
This week, Pastor Dale continued the series by exploring the untrue stories we sometimes believe. While Jesus is the ultimate storyteller, the enemy is also skilled at weaving narratives that aim to isolate and disconnect us from the truth. Whose story are you listening to?
This week begins the series The Stories We Tell. Pastor Dale discussed the power of story telling and the importance of telling God's story in our own lives to impact the lives of others.
This week begins the series The Stories We Tell. Pastor Dale discussed the power of story telling and the importance of telling God's story in our own lives to impact the lives of others.
This week wraps up the Pastoral Residency on Peace & Politics with Dr. Rick Langer. Today, Dr. Langer encouraged us on the topic of gentleness.
In today's midweek lecture on Peace & Politics, Dr. Langer guided us through how we develop, fully form, and understand our own convictions, with the goal of fostering healthy, peaceful and grace-filled conversations with others.
This week marks the start of a two-week Pastoral Residency with Dr. Richard Langer, retired professor and cofounder of the Winsome Conviction Project. In today's divisive cultural climate, how can we stay true to our convictions while maintaining peace and grace? Today, Dr. Langer explored the root of many conflicts and shared encouragement on how to navigate them.
In this final week of Formation, we talked about being apprentices of Jesus by doing what He did. In this episode, Pastor Dale talks to Govind Prabhu, a pastor, missionary, and member of the Calvary community, as he shares an amazing part of his story.
This week, Pastor Dale concluded our series, Formation, by talking to us about becoming apprentices of Jesus by doing what He did.
We have resources designed to help you dive as deep as you’d like into the topic from each week. The resources for Week 6 can be found at www.calvarylg.com/formation.
In the fifth week of Formation, we talked about being apprentices of Jesus by being like Him. In this episode, Danny & Dale continue the conversation about the Holy Spirit.
This week, Pastor Dale continued our series, formation, by talking to us about becoming apprentices of Jesus by being like Him.
We have resources designed to help you dive as deep as you’d like into the topic from each week. The resources for Week 5 can be found here.
In the fourth week of Formation we talked about being apprentices of Jesus by being with Him. In this episode Dale and Danny have a conversation about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives.
This week, Pastor Dale continued our series, formation, by talking about becoming apprentices of Jesus by being with Him.
We have resources designed to help you dive as deep as you’d like into the topic from each week. The resources for Week 4 can be found here.
In the third week of Formation we talked about how we change. In this episode we hear from Ken, a member of the elder fellowship at Calvary and longtime member about practicing one of the practices. We don’t just talk about the practices, this episode includes a guided time with the LORD through prayer, reflection and scripture.
This week, Pastor Dale continued our series, formation, by talking to us about how we are formed and how change can happen.
We have resources designed to help you dive as deep as you’d like into the topic from each week. The resources for Week 3 can be found here.
In the second week of the Formation series, we talked about our time and how we use it. We continue the conversation talking about how to make the shift from our calendars being driven by chronos to our calendars being shaped by kairos.
This week, Pastor Dale continued our series, formation, by talking to us about how the way we use our time shapes us.
We have resources designed to help you dive as deep as you’d like into the topic from each week. The resources for Week 2 can be found here.
In this first week of the Formation series we talked about the Good News, the Gospel according to Jesus. As we continue the conversation, we’re joined by professor and theologian Dr. Gerry Breshears to look further at what the true Gospel is and its impact on how we live.
This fall we will be looking at how to apply spiritual formation to our daily lives and actively pursue being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus did. This week, Pastor Dale kicked us off by talking to us about The Gospel According to Jesus.
We have resources designed to help you dive as deep as you’d like into the topic from each week. The resources for Week 1 can be found here.
The early church, as described in Acts 2, paints a powerful picture of what it means to live in authentic community. These first believers weren’t just about attending gatherings—they were all in, sharing life together in every way: spiritually, physically, emotionally, and missionally. Acts 2:42-47 shows us how they devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer, and caring for one another. They shared what they had, met each other’s needs, and praised God with joy-filled hearts.
This kind of deep connection is a reminder that we’re not meant to do life alone. True community isn’t just found in big Sunday services; it’s in the smaller, close-knit groups where we really grow and support each other. It’s a way of life that Jesus modeled for us, showing that real faith and transformation happen when we share our lives with others.
It was an amazing morning, hearing a mid-year update about the vision casted at our Night of Vision and Prayer in March, celebrating baptisms, and enjoying a meal together as a church.
This week Pastor Dale talked to us about loving our neighbor. Loving our neighbor involves more than simply avoiding hate or indifference; it requires actively working toward their well-being and embracing vulnerability. This genuine care and compassion foster a community where openness is encouraged rather than feared. Jesus calls us to expand our perspective and move beyond our current mindset, emphasizing that convictions without compassion lead to chaos, which He came to overcome with shalom.
Jesus further calls us to be perfect as God is perfect. The Greek concept of perfection is less about being faultless and more about realizing your intended purpose. Our purpose is fulfilled when we mirror God's love when by continuously caring for others regardless of their actions. Jesus’ command to love one another as He loves us highlights that true discipleship is demonstrated through this unwavering love.
As you encounter others this week, rather than asking, "Why don't you...?", we invite you to consider how you can ask, "What can I do for you?"
This morning Kristi Gill closed out our series in Philippians. As Paul concludes this letter, he leaves us with the secret to contentment, being wholly satisfied regardless of circumstances. The key is union with Christ. It is to align our hearts to the truth that He is all we require. It is not about denying our needs and wants, but rather not letting them control us. It is choosing again and again to rehearse the characteristics of who God is, maintaining steadfastness in the unity with Christ, and believing the truth of what Scripture says. As you go about your week, we encourage you to consider what this contentment looks like in your life.
What a joy it was to come together in encouragement and worship with you as our friend Patrick McDonald continued our series in Philippians. This week, we looked at Philippians 4:1-9. As Paul begins to wrap up his letter, he calls us to stand firm in Christ because He is the one who brings true peace, a sense of true contentment no matter what is happening in our lives. Paul emphasizes unity, prayer, and a focus on Jesus that moves us toward God’s presence and a peace that comes from no where else.
We invite you to reflect on these things as you go about your week.
How wonderful to come together this morning in worship of our Father. This week Pastor Steve walked us through Philippians 3:12-21. Oftentimes, we try to gain God’s grace or favor or attention through our accomplishments, but these things fade. Why do we work so hard to chase after glory we can’t hold on to? From Paul’s perspective, we don’t strive for what we don’t have, we strive from what we already have in Christ. Regardless of past success or failure, Paul is saying, “Look forward. All that matters is Christ.”
Pastor Steve encouraged us to follow Paul’s example, to press on toward the goal, to strive for Christ instead of what the world is telling us to chase after by:
- Reflecting often and realigning our selves with Jesus regularly
- Remaining persistent under pressure because pressure produces character
- Being determined in disappointment because disappointments redirect us, they do not define us
- Gaining clarity in chaos by remembering our unyielding allegiance to Jesus.
As you move throughout your week, we invite you to reflect on these things with our Father. What are you striving for?
It was a blessing to come together this morning as Pastor Dale took us through Philippians 3:1-12. In this section of scripture, Paul is imploring the people of the church to pay attention to Jesus and empowering them to join him in this work. His desire is for the people of the church to intimately know Jesus, to know with intimacy the power of His resurrection. This resurrection is not something that simply happened to Jesus. It is the dynamic power which operates in the life of the individual Christian. It is the guarantee that this life is worth living, that death is not the end of life, and that nothing in life or in death can separate us from him. As we look for intimacy with Jesus, to increase our intimacy with Jesus, we invite you to sit with the Father and ask, “What do I need to let go of? What burdens do I need to lay down?"
In this sermon, Pastor Dale took us through Philippians 2:19-30. In this passage, Paul takes the time to talk about authentic friendship. Friendships and people shaped like Jesus reflect three things: Availability, Sensitivity, and Reliability. These are the people who show up, care about the things Jesus cares about, and do so time and time again. As we strive to be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do what Jesus did, we encourage you to reflect on these attributes and ask, “Where are you asking me to show up, Lord? How can I bring Your heaven to earth? What can I do next?”
It was a blessing to be together with you this morning and hear from Pastor Dale as he took us through Philippians 2:12-18. If there is a simple phrase to summarize what Paul is saying in these verses it’s this, Get out of you what God has put in you. There is work that is to be done, from the inside out and Paul is directing that we are to keep going with this work until all that God has placed in each of us has had its full effect.
What a joy to come together this morning, engage with our Heavenly Father, and hear from Pastor Danny as he took us through Philippians 2:1-11. In the passage, Paul is asking the church of Philippi to be like-minded with one another, being one in spirit and of one mind, to do nothing out of selfish ambition, to value others above themselves. How would the church in Philippi, how do we as followers of Jesus, love each other completely, unify and link arms with one another, pressing forward together?
The way we approach that unity is through relying on the Spirit and taking on the mind of Christ – the inner conviction that determines the outer behavior. We cannot do this in our own strength, but it is possible by this incredible uniting force, this supernatural force, that is God’s very Spirit living in each of us.
This morning we were blessed to hear from Pastor Danny as together, we looked at Philippians 1:21-30. In the passage, Paul introduces that to live as citizens of the Kingdom, to live our story in light of Jesus’ story, is often backwards to the way we’ve been conditioned by the world. Paul is encouraging the Philippians not to stay away from others with different views, beliefs, ethnicities, socioeconomics, or otherwise, but to enter into culture and stand firm together, giving allegiance to the good news of Jesus. This encouragement and opportunity is the same for us today; to enter into culture as loyal citizens of the Kingdom of God. We invite you to listen to the message below and hear more about how we can live our story in light of and aligned with Jesus’ story, facing whatever lies ahead with confidence, as our allegiance shifts from the kingdom of the world to the Kingdom of God.
This morning Pastor Steve continued our series in Philippians as we looked at the possibility of living life with more joy, perspective, and less fear and regret. The Apostle Paul, even while imprisoned, fixed his eyes on the hope found in the good news of Jesus. This unwavering focus gave him a sense of purpose and joy regardless of his circumstances. We invite you to listen to the message below for practical steps to live with hope in difficult circumstances, perseverance through adversity, and eternal courage in the reality of our own mortality.
This morning we were blessed to come together, engage with our Heavenly Father, and hear from Pastor Dale as he began our summer series in the book of Philippians. We looked closely at grace and peace, examining what it would look like to live our lives speaking grace and peace to others. This week Pastor Dale challenged us, what would it look like to take a posture of learning this week? As we interact with others, as we engage with others who are hurting or experiencing injustice, what if we began a conversation and asked them “What does grace and peace look like to you? What would that mean in your life? What does it look like?” And then, as we listen to their response, would we be willing to take action?
What a blessing to hear from Pastor Dale this morning as he taught on following Jesus and loving our neighbors. He shared that following Jesus means not withdrawing but going further into the lives and circumstances of the world around us. To follow Jesus is to live as a servant of God’s love to others no matter who they are, where they are, what they believe, how they live. We were asked to reflect on how we can calibrate our hearts each morning so that we see people differently and love them differently?
What a blessing to hear from Pastor Tom this morning as he shared powerfully on the story we find ourselves in. It is a story, often one we would not write for ourselves, but through it and in God’s hands, He takes what is lost and restores, renews, and redeems for His glory and His kingdom.
Today Pastor Dale concluded our series in Psalm 23 as we looked at the final phrase, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” We were asked to reflect on what it is we dwell on, what it is adding up to, and who we are becoming as a result.
Today Pastor Dale continued our series in Psalm 23 and we were asked the question, “What does the hospitality of Jesus look like?”
In His role as host:
- Jesus prepares the table
- Jesus protects us at the table
- Jesus makes us participants in His identity at the table
- Jesus provides more than we need at the table
Today Pastor Dale continued our series in Psalm 23 and we saw, right in the middle of this “comfort Psalm”, the Psalm of rest, assurance and refreshment, that we will face tough times. We will struggle, maybe even suffer, even when we are following him. Though we may resist these ideas, we’ve probably all come to realize that discipline and redirection has benefits for all of us.
The Lord’s Shepherding plan is this:
He wants us to learn all we need to learn
He wants to form something deep, beautiful and powerful within us.
That still leaves the questions, why pain? It is in the darkest valley where we learn to know ourselves, to really understand what is in us and shaping us. Valleys reveal our fears, our lack of faith, hidden denials. The truth is, many of us would prefer a life of easy victories: growth without crisis, healing without pain, the resurrection without the cross. But what if God is actually found in our hard times?
It’s often in the valley and in the struggle, when we move from talking about God to talking to God. When we look back and pause, we have the opportunity to discern God’s presence in those events that have made us or unmade us. In that, it is possible to see God’s amazing presence being with us through the toughest of times and to honestly say “Even in the darkest valleys, you are with me”. Pastor Dale encouraged us with a few thoughts.
- To get out of it, you have to go through it, but don’t do it alone. Share with someone: “I have this weight I am carrying, can you, or someone you know help me with this?”. This always starts with prayer together.
- This process is also for our kids. Our children have to go through it. It’s vital to let them feel the weight of a struggle. Be there with them so they have a tangible example of what God’s presence is like.
- Be the presence of Jesus with others as they go through it.
- Ask “Is there anything I can do for you?”
- Listen to what God is bringing to mind as you talk with them
- Remember that God is doing his best work in these tough times
This morning we were blessed to come together, engage with our Heavenly Father, and learn more about who God is and the refreshment he offers us as we continued our series in Psalm 23. Pastor Dale taught us about nephesh, the Hebrew word for “soul”. In the Bible, people don’t have a nephesh, they are a nephesh––a living, breathing, physical being.
The nephesh we discussed today is connected to our identity - who we are and the battle for that place. Every person experiences moments when they’ve said or reacted to others in ways we wish we hadn’t. While these moments nag at us, the greater issue is when those moments turn into a path, that turn into a way of life. We create these paths for ourselves that can be incredibly difficult to get out of, ways of thinking, ways of behaving, that we think are righteous.
A shepherd is good when they keep moving you to different places, even though it may be a difficult path to get there. Often, fear can grab hold of us as our shepherd seeks to move us from one pasture to another. The fear can hold us emotionally captive where instead of self-confidence and freedom, we experience anxiety and paralysis. Instead of hope and joy, we hold onto an inner emptiness and sadness. Instead of living in the house of love, where God dwells, we live in a house of fear.
Without even noticing, we can build our lives on the opinions of others, and not on the path God leads us on. We ask ourselves questions and tell ourselves stories that can trap us in a spin cycle of emotional poverty. The invitation of Jesus is the invitation to move out of the house of fear and into the house of love. The paths of righteousness The Shepherd leads us on are not just a set of moral thoughts, or modifying our behavior. His path delivers our lives, our souls; it frees our nephesh from being crushed by fear.
The challenge for us is to let go of fear and claim the deeper truth of who we are or could be. When we make space for God in our lives and listen to His loving voice, we can start to realize perfect love and gradually let go of our fears.
Pastor Dale’s encouragement - every time we feel afraid, open ourselves to God’s presence with the community of God’s beloved and with meditative prayer on God. It is by doing these things, our souls can be restored.
Today Kristi took us through verse 2 of Psalm 23, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters”. In this verse, we find an invitation from God into a time of rest. A time where we relinquish striving and producing, achieving and consuming, and enter into a space where we are satiated and restored through nothing that comes of our effort. In our culture, this can seem an impossible task. There is a reluctance and for some even a fear of stopping. What is it that makes us reluctant?
Kristi shared lies we may be telling ourselves that may be underneath this reluctance.
The lie - I hold all things together. The truth - God holds all things together.
The lie - My identity is in what I do. The truth - My identity is in Christ.
The lie - Stopping prevents me from functioning how I need to. The truth - Stopping allows me to function in health and wholeness.
When we buy into any of these lies, we trade the truth of God’s promised provision for the lies the enemy offers. God not only invites us to stop striving, He also offers us rest. The renewal and restoration we need, comes from something deeper than just stopping for a while. It’s not a day off that sustains our soul, it’s the type of rest God invites us into that does that, a true Sabbath rest.
To enter into a true Sabbath rest requires preparation. So what does it look like to prepare? Kristi shared four steps to help prepare.
- Choose a day to begin and schedule in some periods of rest. Start with an amount of time you can commit to, even if it's just a couple of hours and work your way up from there.
- Once you know when you’re going to take a period of rest, schedule in a few smaller windows of time as you approach it, 10-15 minutes of time where you’re committed to eating and drinking from God and His word.
- Be honest with yourself on what's likely to derail you and create a plan to move past those things, keeping the mindset that you aren’t saying no to whatever comes up, but instead saying yes to being at rest with God.
- Come up with some ideas on how you want to spend this time of rest. You can spend time in prayer and scripture of course, but that’s not all it has to be. There's room for things that bring you pleasure and delight, for physical rest, for enjoying the beauty of creation.
The rest God invites us into is so much less about how we should or should not use the time, and so much more about the posture of our heart. Sabbath rest should be focused on God’s goodness, His provisions, His gifts and His grandeur. It’s a rest, in which we calibrate our minds to intentionally look for His goodness and glory in everything and as we do so, experience His grace and love.
We invite you to look at your calendar today and choose a day when you will begin the practice of sabbath rest.
This morning, Pastor Dale continued our new series in Psalm 23. The Psalm begins with the declaration, "The Lord is my Shepherd." We looked at two questions related to this declaration:
- Why would I want the Lord to be my shepherd?
- Am I willing to accept that I am a sheep?
We know our life experience is one of growth and change; that the nature of the human soul is dynamic and not static. As these changes occur, we are being formed. The question is, "Who or what are we being formed into?"
As John Mark Comer writes in his book, Practicing the Way:
"We are being either transformed into the love and beauty of Jesus or malformed by the entropy of sin and death. “We become either agents of God’s healing and liberating grace, or carriers of the sickness of the world.” To believe otherwise is an illusion, and to give no thought to this is to come dangerously close to wasting your life."
Being formed into the image of Jesus isn’t something we do as much as something that is done to us by God himself, but we are not off the hook. Godly transformation isn't something our Father will force on us. We have a responsibility, an action item. We are to cooperate with God’s transforming grace.
To cooperate with God's transforming grace, we can begin with an honest assessment of where we are today. What word would you place in this blank?
____________ is my shepherd
As we learned through our study through the gospel of Mark, we get to know what God the Father is really like through Jesus; what he said and what he did. As we look at Jesus' life we see Jesus is a shepherd who wants the role of Shepherd in our lives as he sees peace even in the midst of chaos. He is a shepherd who provides that peace, gives the peace, sends people out in peace. He is a shepherd like Psalm 23 who will be there “All the days of your life.”
He not only is the Shepherd, Jesus also knows what it’s like to be a sheep. He was the most vulnerable of all the sheep, the lamb for sacrifice. He experienced being led by a shepherd and took on the role of the lamb, fully living Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing."
The second question we asked ourselves, are we willing to accept that we are His sheep? Are there areas of our lives where we are trying to lead instead of being led by our Shepherd? Are we looking to our Shepherd to see where He is leading, trusting in His provision, aware of His presence?
We invite you to sit with the Father and as you read and meditate on Psalm 23 and seek His input on these questions and what steps He's inviting you to take to be formed by Him this week.
Pastor Dale started our new series, "All the Days of My Life." The 7 weeks following Resurrection Sunday mark an important time in the Christian calendar known as Easter Tide. This is a season spanning 50 days, reflecting the time between Jesus' resurrection and the day of Pentecost when Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit descended upon His followers. This is a season of new hope and growth, a season that celebrates: what Jesus said would happen, happened. As we navigate this season together, Pastor Dale will walk us through the 23rd Psalm.
In the beginning of the Psalm, we are met with a striking phrase: I lack nothing. Often we use "lack" to give us an edge, to drive us forward, to motivate us. The motivating piece we get from lacking is to somehow have it fulfilled. What we "want" is to "not want" anymore, and we end up connecting that to "I have no need because I have it all."
As Pastor Dale pointed out in Matthew 19:16-22, Jesus is calling us to so much more. Instead of pursuing stuff, status, or even religion to fill that lack, Jesus asks us to give up everything. He says, "I am enough, simply rely on me. With me, you never run out." A life without lack is rooted in our knowledge of God. What we place our minds on becomes the reality of our lives, so if we place our minds on God, the reality of God fills our lives. We cannot experience the riches of His glory however unless we leave Him the necessary space in which He can express Himself within us. "Give up everything, then come follow me."
Pastor Dale invited us to make a commitment over the next 50 days: to set our minds on God and see what happens. He invited us to read the creed of Psalm 23 out loud every day, paying attention to what the Holy Spirit brings up in you, listening to what God is saying to you, and taking a posture of submission to Him as He shepherds you.
Today is the final week of our fast together and our focus is aligning ourselves to and standing with the poor. Pastor Dale will highlight Scripture to guide us, offer prayers to pray in times of hunger and unite us as we fast together.
Today marks the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday. It’s the day we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, where the streets were lined with people shouting hosanna, save us. Palm Sunday is a day we're reminded of the choice Jesus gives us; a choice to accept him as Lord and crown Him as King, or deny Him and reject Him all together.
As Pastor Danny took us through Mark 14: 53-72, we see two things in this set of verses; Jesus is giving up his life and Peter is trying to save his life. Jesus is on trial and the high priest asks Jesus if he is the Messiah. Jesus responds "I am". Jesus, acknowledging he is the true Messiah and King, knows it will get him killed. Peter is watching from the outside. As Jesus is laying down his life, Peter denies knowing him in an effort to save his own life.
Peter’s denial of Jesus is at its core breaking the connection of a relationship. Mark highlights the disappearance of Peter in his gospel but if we look at the other gospel writers we see in Peter a couple things that happen when we are the betrayer.
- Peter is overcome with guilt and shame
- Peter numbs the feelings by going back to work. He returns to his old way of life.
And then hope breaks through. In John 21:4-7, we see Jesus on the beach where he meets with Peter and the other disciples and makes them breakfast. They share a meal together and three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Three times Peter confesses his love and in doing so, Peter is restored to new life.
Palm Sunday is an invitation to all of us and in Peter, we see how the response to the invitation plays out. It’s an invitation to make a choice - a choice to accept Jesus as Lord and crown Him as King, or deny him and crucify him. Peter denied Jesus, faced the spiritual death marked by guilt and shame and the need to try and deal with it by covering it up or numbing it. But in his restoration through Jesus, in his acceptance of Jesus as King he experiences the hope that restoration brings. That hope is marked by full transformation, full of purpose, and full of peace.
Jesus offers everyone the same choice. No matter how you’ve betrayed him, he sits on the beach calling. That same restoration is available to anyone who chooses to receive it. Transformation, purpose, and peace are available in part now, and the beauty of Palm Sunday is it’s a promise that it will be complete when he returns again.
Today is the third week of our fast together and our focus is amplifying our prayers. Pastor Dale will highlight Scripture to guide us, offer prayers to pray in times of hunger and unite us as we fast together.
What a blessing to come together with you this morning as our friend Pastor Steve continued our series looking at Jesus' final days in Mark 14:43-63. In the passages, we see Jesus experience the deep human pain of betrayal and abandonment. Judas betrays Jesus. All of Jesus' disciples, despite having declared their love and loyalty to Jesus, fall away and leave Jesus to go to the cross beaten, violated, naked, abandoned, and alone.
Jesus takes the betrayal he experiences, the pain he experiences, absorbs the trauma into his body and takes it to the cross where everything that he takes there gets transformed. Jesus chooses love over bitterness, vulnerability over protection, and forgiveness over retaliation. Because of Jesus, because of His great sacrifice, and the power of His resurrection, we have a promise that in our places of deepest hurt, healing is possible.
Whatever we bring to the Cross of Jesus, He is able to heal, redeem, restore, transform, and give it new life. We can bring all of our emotions, our burdens, our hurts, and entrust them to Jesus. Pastor Steve gave us three practical steps we can take to begin this healing process.
- Bring your full self to the cross today. Bring everything you're carrying to Jesus, every wound, every fear, every worry, and bring it to the one who covers it all.
- Don't give up on community. Welcome one another, encourage one another, forgive one another, show hospitality to one another.
- Take a step towards healing. Some hurts require help from others. A local resource is the Christian Counseling Center (cccsanjose.com).
Today is the second week of our fast together and our focus focus is growing in holiness. Pastor Dale will highlight Scripture to guide us, offer prayers to pray in times of hunger and unite us as we fast together.
Today Pastor Dale continued our series looking at Jesus' final days in Mark 14:27-32. In the passage we see Jesus praying with His Father. Jesus is about to step into the ultimate sacrifice, fulfilling God's will to reconcile humanity to Him through His son. While it's reasonable to wonder why God wanted Jesus to die the way he did, perhaps we should ask why God wanted Jesus to live the way he did.
What God wanted for Jesus, He wants for all of us, to live in the reality of God‘s kingdom. God wanted Jesus to live the kindness that is at the core of the divine identity, while also living as one of us facing all the trials and troubles that fragile human flesh must face. God wanted Jesus to live this way so that we could see what life in the kingdom of God, which is a truly human life, is all about. And not simply to show us, but also to forge a path into the kingdom and give us a way to be what God created us to be.
Jesus lived the life our Father willed for Him including death on the cross, all because His Father, our Father, IS love. When we exist in the love that is God, it is not just being at a place where we can say “It is truly well with my soul. It is love that makes it possible to join Jesus in saying “not what I will, but what you will.” It is from that place that dead things come to life.
Today is the first day of our fast together and our focus focus is offering ourselves to Jesus. Pastor Dale will highlight Scripture to guide us, offer prayers to pray in times of hunger and unite us as we fast together.
This morning we were blessed to hear from Pastor Danny as he taught on communion and The Lord's Supper. At Calvary, we receive the communion elements in our response time each week. We come forward and someone places the small cup in our hands and says something like, "This is the body and blood of Jesus given for you."
While many of us would not describe the cup of juice and the small wafer as a meal or even a snack, it's actually much, much more than that. It is a feast, a feast of rich meaning and delicate symbolism.
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The Lord’s Supper connects us to the past. It’s an invitation to remember. When we take the cup, when we eat the bread and drink the juice we are transported to the table with Jesus, where he gives the command to carry this act forward in remembrance of him.
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The Lord’s Supper connects us to God. When we take this cup, when we remember that Jesus is our redemption, our deliverance, our access to the life and goodness of God, we are reminded that in Jesus' victory, God is no longer separate. We are now reconciled and connected to God.
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The Lord’s Supper connects us to a future hope when Jesus will gather his followers from every tribe, every nation, every language and all will once again have full, unrestricted access to the tree of life and we will feast together with Jesus for eternity.
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The Lord’s Supper connects us to each other. We receive direction from Paul in 1 Corinithians 11, "So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together."
We are to celebrate communion, our connection to the past, our connection with God, our connection to a future as a unified people and as a healthy church body.
It was a joy to be with you this morning as Pastor Rob continued our series in the book of Mark. Today we looked at Mark 14:1-11. In verses 1-2 and 10-11, we see the plot put together to condemn and crucify Jesus. When we look at what Mark puts in the center of the story, we see a beautiful story of the anointing of the King. This moment shouts to the reader a reminder that we are to live in the moment, to remember what Christ did for us, and to put Him first and then let everything else flow out from there. Then, to reflect on how we can share his love and this message to others.
What a blessing to be together this first Sunday of Lent. As a part of the teaching for this season, Pastor Dale brought us back to the book of Mark as we looked at one of the most difficult chapters in the New Testament, Mark 13. From beginning to end, the text references ancient Jewish history and Jewish ideas and presents them in a non-linear way which for the modern reader, can be quite hard to understand. That said, as followers of Jesus, we shouldn't disregard this chapter as it is a source of many ideas about the second coming of Jesus.
Pastor Dale outlined five threads the scripture contains.
- There are prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem. (Mark 13:1-2, 14-20)
- There is a warning of persecution to come. (Mark 13:9-13)
- There are warnings of the dangers of the last days. (Mark 13:3-6, 21-22)
- There are warnings of the second coming. (Mark 13:24-27)
- There are warnings of the necessity to be on the watch. (Mark 13:28-37)
If we are living in the shadow of eternity with the constant possibility of the intervention of God, if the times in the seasons are known, only to God, there is the necessity ever to be ready. Our impatience attacks watching, guarding, and listening. We drift to things.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” - Matthew 6:33-34 NIV
When we seek God first, we become watchers. We are guarding. We are alert. That is what this season of Lent can do for us. Together we can pay attention to what we hunger for. Together we can confess and turn from the things we consume, thinking it will sustain us. Together we can encourage each other and remind each other to stay with Jesus.
On this Ash Wednesday, join us for a time of reflection and focusing our hearts and minds on this day and the days leading up to when we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection.
For more opportunities to engage together this Lenten Season, visit calvarylg.com/lent
What a joy to come together this morning as Pastor Dale concluded our series about the “First Things” of the Christian Life, things we do together as a church. Today we talked about community.
As we look at scripture, we see there is something deep about Jesus and the meal. For Jesus, the shared meal was the beginning of community. His intention was for it to go beyond just family and friends; it was to include all, the least, the lost, and the lonely.
Jesus is our great host of the feast, or as we said before, he is the head and we are the body. What that means to us as a community sharing a meal, is that the meal should reflect his heart, mission, and purpose. Jesus modeled for us inviting all to the table, including those we don't know to our table to share a meal.
In the news today, it was reported there is a loneliness epidemic happening in our county. People are lonelier than they've ever been before. We have to figure out how to help them belong. We invite you to seek our Father and ask Him what you can do. Is there someone you know he'd like you to invite over for a meal?
With Ash Wednesday just a few days away, we wanted to give you a glimpse of what the Season of Lent will look like at Calvary Church. We invite you to check it out for what to expect and how to get involved.
To view the Transformation series, visit www.calvarylg.com/transform
To learn more about how to participate this season, visit www.calvarylg.com/lent
It was a blessing to come together with you this morning and to hear from Pastor Dale who continued our series about the “First Things” of the Christian Life, things we do together as a church. Last week we talked about Ministry and how each of us, as followers of Jesus, is in ministry. Today we talked about living inside the purpose and power of God.
The birth of the church, the purpose of the church, is to live inside the purpose and power of God. To do so requires a deep inner posture that is turned towards God. When our hearts and spirit are turned toward God, we become able to see His face and feel His embrace. We are not distracted by the things of the world, but our attention is focused on Him. The stronger our love or attachment to whatever things of this world may be holding our attention, the more our posture is turned away from God.
To maintain an inner posture turned towards God, Pastor Dale made three observations from scripture:
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We must receive from the Spirit. His purposes cannot be accomplished by what we provide, it has to come from his Spirit.
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We must rely on the Spirit. We will know the Holy Spirit is powerfully at work in the church when the mission of Jesus and His church becomes deeply personal. It is when each of us seeks Jesus for what He is doing, how He wants us to join Him, and then take action in those steps of partnership that His purpose and power can be at work within us.
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We must relate to the Spirit. We are worshippers first, workers second. All of this flows from intimacy with the Father. If God is our first love, then we will love what He loves. His love fills us and is what is then poured out onto others.
Thank you for joining us this morning as Pastor Dale continued our series about the “First Things” of the Christian Life, things we do together as a church. Today Pastor Dale shared how we take our connection to God, our experience of God, incarnationally into our world, with people, and to people. This is our ministry.
The truth is, every one of us who follows Jesus is in ministry. We are to carry forth Christ’s mission in the world. Paul's illustration of how this works is seen in Romans 12, "For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."
We, the church, are the body of Christ. But what does this mean? Pastor Dale laid out three practical ways to minister and serve:
Ministry through Listening. It starts with listening, slowing down, and listening to Jesus, and continues with joining him. Beautiful questions to ask:
“Jesus, what ministry are you doing in my child … how can I join?”
“Jesus, what are you doing in the life of my spouse … how can I join?”
“Jesus, what are you doing in the life of a friend… how can I join?”
“Jesus, what are you doing in the lives of those around me… how can I join?
We seek our Savior for what He is doing and how we can join Him. It is from alignment and engagement with Him that we can partner with Him and take the love He places inside of us outwards to others.
Ministry through Serving. God has gifted each one of us with gifts that are meant to be used as a body of believers, to serve the body, and to serve the community. As a servant, we can show up differently looking at each day, and every interaction with a posture that seeks, "How can I serve in this moment?" and "What does this person need?". We can bring this to all areas of our lives, whether in our work, community, or relationships. We can minister by approaching the interaction as a servant.
Ministry through Character. Scripture says it best, "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." - Romans 12:9-12
Ministry is not about us, but those around us. At the core of it, we are called and asked to help people get their awe of God back. Our awe of God should inform everything we do and why we do it. It is the most beautiful thing we can give our lives to.
Thank you for joining us this morning as Pastor Steve continued our series about the “First Things” of the Christian Life, things we do together as a church. Today our focus was on worship.
As followers of Jesus, the notion or idea of worship is often linked to singing in church. While singing is certainly one of the ways we express worship, it's also more than that. We can worship sports, our careers, family, hobbies, money, even politics. While none of those things are bad, the place it holds in our lives, matters. What we worship shapes us; it is what we wrap our lives around and is the place where our identity is derived.
In John 4, Jesus talks about worship and says "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
What did Jesus mean when He said we'd worship in Spirit and in truth and what does that look like? There are three observations Pastor Steve highlighted as we looked at John 4.
True worship is available for everyone in Jesus. Through life, death, and the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus dissolved all confines of who can access God.
True worship involves our entire being. True worship brings our heart, mind, body and soul into alignment with our Father,bringing what is true about God into our daily lives. It reminds us of what is true when we lose sight of who God actually is.
True worship connects us to community and reorients us to the eternal. True worship brings all the awe and wonder in our lives and directs it towards God, drawing us to the reality that this is what heaven is like and what we'll have for all eternity.
The question for each of us - How we can take a next step to ascribe ultimate worth to God?
For some of us, it may be reflecting and repenting where it’s needed – maybe there's something we've put our time and treasure into that's been given a greater value than our Heavenly Father. For others of us, it may be laying down our preference for what we're looking for in a worship service and determining in advance that we will arrive at church with a predisposition of grace; that whatever happens in service, our God is worthy of our praise.
Whatever it may be for you, we invite you to take that next step.
What a blessed morning! We had the honor and privilege of partaking in a child dedication, connect gatherings, and sitting underneath the teaching of Pastor Dale as he continued our series about the “First Things” of the Christian Life, things we do together as a church. Today our focus was on discipleship.
In Mark 8:34, Jesus makes a strong statement about what it means to follow him. "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Jesus is first asking us: do you desire what I have placed in front of you? Do you desire me?
Jesus then continues saying something brilliant, and also incredibly confusing. In Mark 8:35, he says "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it."
How is this possible? Aren't these in conflict? What Jesus is saying is that to follow Him, something in us must die. To follow Him, something in us must follow. When we are called to deny ourselves, we are called to deny the false self. Paul calls this false self "the flesh". A life of alignment, alignment with who Jesus created us to be, whose life looks like Jesus, is what Jesus is calling us to.
C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity writes it this way,
"Your real, new self will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fiber on your being, and you find eternal life."
What is God asking you to die to? Instead of pressing it down, confess with God, with a brother or sister. It's in these ways we embrace Discipleship Together. Following Jesus together looks like this:
- Knowing Jesus: by learning to follow Him, taking in our life His life, His practices and His teachings
- Mediating on them by building a personal, intimate relationship with Him
- Obeying Jesus by bringing your life into conformity with all that He taught. This is keeping your moral lives in line with Jesus' teachings and by practicing justice, charity and faithfulness.
In its simplest form, being with Jesus, being like Jesus, and doing what Jesus did.
This morning we were blessed to hear from Pastor Dale as he began a new series of teachings about the “First Things” of the Christian Life, things we do together as a church. Over the next several weeks we will look at Faith, Discipleship, Worship, Ministry, Life in the Spirit, and Community. This morning our focus was on faith.
Faith is not just that moment of "belief" when we accept Jesus into our lives. It's not simply what we know, a structure of thought, or emotions. Faith is something we carry through all the circumstances of our lives, the ups and downs, when things go the way we'd hoped, and when they don't go the way we hoped. Even when we have this kind of faith or trust in Jesus, over time something happens to us. Our initial joy, trust, and belief can get worn down.
Scripture shows us faith has a persevering quality. Pastor Dale took us through several verses on faith that can be found here. What we learn from these verses is that faith is not what you believe, it is who you believe in. Faith is confident action in response to a living God, an activity rather than a possession. The activity of faith shows up in how we interact with the things we humanly value most, things like money, our family, our time. Faith involves ordinary people, in ordinary life, trusting God with the outcome. Faith says "Even though I can't control the outcome, I trust you."
There is a well-known prayer called the "Serenity Prayer." Many of us are familiar with the beginning of the prayer, but the whole prayer has a deep and enriching connection to the process of developing the kind of faith that perseveres.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.” - Reinhold Niebuhr (1926)
As you go through this week, we invite you to pray through the serenity prayer, to meditate on the words, and seek God's guidance on what he's asking you to surrender control over to Him, to trust that God has you, loves you, and will provide all that you need and more.
"None of us can prepare for 2024—if by “prepare” we mean to check off all the steps that can keep us from the mistakes and traumas of years past. That’s because no one knows what is out there ahead of us, waiting for us, in 2024. Here’s what you can do, though. You can prepare yourself to step into the mystery of whatever will be 2024. What I mean is that you can start to prepare yourself to be the kind of person who can handle it, whatever it is." - Russel Moore, Christianity Today
We were so blessed to have Danny Busch close out 2023 with a reflection on the last year. As we look towards the start of a new year tomorrow, the one thing we know for certain is that 2024 isn’t going to be any more uncertain than any other year. However, the kind of people we are, in the midst of whatever comes, can stay anchored no matter how choppy the water gets. We can stay stable no matter how shaky the ground becomes. As circumstances arise, the way we respond, react, and treat others can serve as a signpost to the One, to the reality of our Savior who provides that security.
How do we do this? How do we become the people we want to be? People who live with the hope, courage, and confidence that we have an incarnate God, who is with us through all things? How do we practice the way of Jesus in and under His authority and follow the selfless sacrificial way of the Kingdom?
As we learned this past year, this kind of transformation cannot be done in our own strength, by our own effort. It will take divine assistance. Pastor Danny shared a prayer that serves as a beautiful starting point for opening ourselves up to the reality that we can be who we want to be, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Father, I give myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you.
Help me to be ready for all this year has for me,
Help me to accept all that this year has for me.
Let only your will be done in me, I wish no more than this.
Into your hands, I commend my soul.
I offer this to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you Lord and desire to give myself into your hands, without reservation,
and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father. Amen.
We invite you to pray this prayer, as often as led, to invite Holy Spirit in to guide and transform you to be the person you want to be.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What a joyful morning! Not only were we able to witness six people declare in front of their church family that they believe in and will follow Jesus throughout their lives, but we also received the blessing of hearing from our friend Pastor Steve as he continued our series, Honest Advent. Today we stared together at Fatherhood.
There are desires and expectations we have of our earthly Fathers. We want them to be present, loving, even corrective. It's a desire that is within us all. And yet, when our Fathers don't meet these expectations, there's a sense of longing, even disappointment. Often, these feelings are transferred and projected onto God. Feelings and beliefs that we need to work in order to get attention from God, that He is uninterested in us, that God is cruel or critical, or that God is absent and inaccessible.
What advent shows us, is that God loves us so much, his desire to be with us so great, He comes to us. He enters the mess, vulnerability, and brokenness of humanity to be with us. Advent is proof that there is nothing God won't do to bring us back to Him. And in the mess of our daily lives, He continues to invite us into relationship, healing, and wholeness in Him.
Pastor Steve extended three invitations to us today:
- Invitation into relationship with God. A prayer you can pray: Jesus, I trust with you my life.
- Invitation to healing. A prayer you can pray: Jesus, I give you my _____ today.
- Invitation to action. A prayer you can pray: Jesus, I'm here. Show me where you can use me.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What a blessing to hear from Danny this morning as he continued our series, Honest Advent. Our goal in this series is to consider the humanity of Christmas. Today we paused and stared at three words: she gave birth. Those three words carry significant meaning. Birth is vulnerable, messy, complicated, stressful, painful, risky, and always traumatic to some extent.
If Jesus, God in human likeness, was willing to submit himself to the mess and risk and vulnerability of childbirth, let alone the dependency of a child, he’s undoubtedly willing to enter into the rest of the mess of humanity. The mess that we wade through every day: broken relationships, self-doubt, fear, anxiety, pain, sorrow.
“She gave birth” sets the tone for the rest of Jesus’ story and it is why the words in Matthew 1:23 are so important. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.” Matthew’s use of Immanuel links back to the prophecy of Isaiah and isn’t used for anyone else. It is only used of Jesus and means "God with us."
This says that we have a God who has experienced what we have, or are, experiencing. It means we can go through pain knowing the pain is temporary because the God who broke through and became like us, loves us. He’s been there and one day, in this lifetime or the next, he will take all the pain away.
While we wait, "she gave birth" reminds us that Jesus came as one of us, for us. As Scott Erikson writes, “A saving way came into the world just like we did - in all its goopy humanity. A birth is a rite of passage in human vulnerability…The Christ was born of blood – like we are. The Christ partook in the powerless vulnerability of coming into the world naked and weak – like we often still feel. That the Christ was born into the muck of human biology, which we seem to wade through for the rest of our lives.”
This Christmas, may "she gave birth" remind us Jesus came as one of us, for us. The invitation of the reality of the doctrine of incarnation is that anything is possible. That is the honesty of Christmas.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each week day during this Advent season we will have a few minutes together to read, listen and anticipate together the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This morning Kristi continued our series as we stared together at the mother of Jesus and the idea of motherhood to see how this binds us together with Jesus in our shared humanity. In the Advent story, we see an angel go to Mary and tell her that she will conceive and bear a son. Mary then asks the angel a question, "How?" While on the surface it seems as though Mary is asking a purely practical question of how this will be, a deeper question also seems possible. This is the first glimpse we get of Mary stepping into motherhood as she wonders “How can this be? And how can this be that I am enough?"
The angel Gabriel responds to Mary’s question of “how” with words that answer both the logistical and heart perspectives. The conception will take place through the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary. The promise of the Most High overshadowing Mary brings the answer her heart needs to hear. Through Gabriel, God reassures Mary that His power will overshadow her. God will hover. God will protect. Mary doesn’t have to be enough, because God is more than enough.
When we ask the question "Are we enough?," our Heavenly Father provides His gentle response that, “no, we are not enough.” There is a second part to this answer that we cannot miss and we see it throughout scripture. We do not have to be, nor were we created to be enough on our own. We need our Father. We need our Savior. We need His Holy Spirit, because He is more than enough for all our needs. That means all of the fear, striving, wondering, hiding, pretending, and avoiding can all be brought to the feet of Jesus and left there. In return we can take up the knowledge that His grace is sufficient, His power is perfected in our weakness, and we acknowledge that through the humanity of a teenage mom, God revealed himself as our all-sufficient shepherd, the one who is more than enough.
What a joy to come together with you this morning as Pastor Dale kicked off our new series, Honest Advent. In this Christmas season, we will look at the birth of Jesus with honesty, staring at the very humanity of Advent. As Paul famously wrote, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” - Philippians 2:5-7
Advent is the literal story of "becoming human." Throughout our series, we will explore that humanity and be given the opportunity to enter into a deeper intimacy with the one whom we celebrate and anticipate returning again. Pastor Dale began our series today as we stared together at something right in the middle of the Advent story, fear. We see Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and even Herod experiencing fear.
Fear is an emotion God created in us and there is both reason and purpose for it. In scripture, when God says, “Do not fear,” he is not commanding us to shut off a part of our brain. God wants us to wrestle with what we do with the fear. While fear is real and can be paralyzing and powerful, God is more powerful. Experiencing fear might not be the problem, it could just be that we are trying to fight it or simply denying it. When life is out of control, fear says: “Life is happening to me.” Trust starts to develop by seeing, “God is forming me into something better than I could imagine.” Courage says, "I refuse to miss out on what God wants to do in me, my relationships, my family, and my life."
In reality, Advent is a master class in courage.
A beautiful quote from Jesus Lives, by Sarah Young, was read over us during our response time. We invite you to read it again:
“Most of your fear stems from pondering bad things that could happen, leaving me out of that imaginary scenario. This is a very harmful practice; it’s also an exercise in unreality. Although your future stretches all the way into eternity, there is not even one second that I will be absent from you. Whenever your mind wanders into the future, make the effort to include me in that imagery. See me helping you, strengthening you, encouraging you. Instead of being intimidated by tough times ahead, view them as adventures that you and I together can handle." – Jesus Lives, by Sarah Young
This morning Pastor Dale brought our Transform series to a close as he taught on the practice of Sabbath. Sabbath is practicing the rest that Jesus invites us into. It was created in you internally as a God-placed rhythm or desire in your life.
Sabbath is a weekly period of time...
1) Where you don’t produce
2) You don’t instruct
3) You don’t compete
4) It’s a weekly rhythm where you live in such a way that “God will have to take care of the world without you for a few hours.”
The idea is to resist the artificial urgency of our days and lean into not worrying about tomorrow. It is an act of regular and intentional trust in God’s rule on Earth. When we practice this purposeful pause, we make room for God to take up residence in our individual lives and communities. And when we do this, we take part in the new creation story, setting the stage for God to make his dwelling place once again on Earth.
A sabbath card was provided to help guide you through different options to integrate this practice into your life. There's also a fantastic resource from a ministry called Practicing the Way which has a four-week experience around Sabbath. To learn more, visit practicingtheway.org/sabbath.
If you would like to join a group to learn and practice this gift from God, simply email info@calvarylg.com and write “Sabbath Practice.” For those who were unable to attend in person, the three practice cards from the series will be available in the chapel lobby next Sunday, and we invite you to take them. You can also access a digital version of the sabbath practice card at calvarylg.com/transform.
It was a blessing to come together with you this morning, engage with our Heavenly Father, and hear from Danny as he taught us about the practice of fasting. When we talk about fasting as a spiritual practice, it is abstaining from all food for a period of time, not as an end to make us more holy, but as a means to make room for the holiness of God to settle on our bodies. When we fast, four things are happening in our bodies.
- Breaking the habit of pursuing personal fulfillment through pleasure
- Revealing what’s in our heart
- Re-ordering our desires
- Drawing on the power of God to overcome sin
Fasting has long been considered one of the most powerful disciplines to free our body and soul from the chains of sin and the prison of shame. Fasting can be seen throughout the Old Testament and is mentioned more than 30 times in the New Testament. If we needed any more evidence as to why we should fast, we have it. Our Savior modeled this practice for us.
To get practical, Danny provided steps as to how we can step into this spiritual practice.
Start small. Put your body into a state of discomfort and use that discomfort to propel you into connection with God
When you feel hungry – Pray. The prayer card made available last week can be used to get started.
Do this in community. Fast with your spouse, significant other, friends, or community group.
A fasting card was provided to help guide you through different options to integrate this practice into your life. For those who were unable to attend in person, a card will be available in the chapel lobby next Sunday, and we invite you to take one. You can also access a digital version at calvarylg.com/transform.
When we actively deny the way of the world, the desires of the flesh, and focus those desires toward God we are entering into a deeper holistic experience with God through his Spirit, and it’s in those spaces that transformation happens.
This morning, we were blessed to hear from our friend Pastor Steve, who began diving into our third corner of the triangle of transformation that we are using as a guide in this series, practices. Practices do not save us. Rather, they tune our hearts to hear from our Father. One of the practical ways we do this as followers of Jesus is to put into practice what Jesus did, and that is to pray.
One of the most well-known passages in Scripture, the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1-4), is a central prayer for followers of Jesus. As we look at the prayer, three observations can be made.
- Prayer is Access. God desires a relationship with us, and through Jesus, we have access to the Father.
- Prayer is an Alignment. When we pray, we open our hearts to Him so that our will and desires can be submitted and realigned to those of our Father.
- Prayer is Authority. To pray in Jesus' name is powerful, and when we do so, we are claiming the reigning authority of God's Kingdom.
The question becomes, how do we put this into practice?
- Pray first. What would it look like to pray before taking action?
- Talk with God, not at God. When you pray, allow time and space for our Father to respond.
- Borrow prayer. When we don't know what to pray, we can borrow prayers from the saints who have gone before. One place to begin is the book of Psalms.
A prayer card was provided to help guide you through different options to integrate this practice into your life. For those who were unable to attend in person, a card will be available in the chapel lobby next Sunday, and we invite you to take one. You can also access today's teaching and a digital version at calvarylg.com/transform.
We were blessed to hear from Pastor Dale as he taught more on the Holy Spirit. In the triangle of transformation theory that we are using as a guide for this series, the Holy Spirit is at the center. To be transformed, we need the Holy Spirit.
The core of an authentic follower of Jesus is not simply obeying what God says but actually enjoying God. Transforming is not just adding Jesus to our lives but collapsing into Jesus as our life. This is what the Spirit does. He puts the spotlight on Jesus.
We know there is a struggle between our flesh and our Spirit. Paul gives us these words, "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." Galatians 5:17.
As we looked at the expanded text of Galatians 5:13 - 6:3, Pastor Dale made the following observations.
- The Flesh and Spirit cannot be co-pilots. One is always in charge.
- This cannot be done alone. Community is a must.
- If it's not a struggle, it's possible you do not have the Spirit in you.
It is not that you have lost your salvation. It means you may never have been saved; that you've been doing this all on your own. We can never lose the presence of the Spirit, but we can lose the power of the Spirit. If there was one takeaway from today's message that Pastor Dale wanted us to hear, it is that we no longer have to do this on our own.
What then, is “Life in the Spirit”? It is submitting to Holy Spirit inside of you. “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16. It is letting Holy Spirit direct you. When we yield to the Spirit, others benefit from our lives. To make a difference, for our lives to have the impact we desire, requires we flip the “This is what I want" to "how will others benefit from what the fruit of the Spirit is developing in me?"
"If you or I had never been to a church and had read only the Old and New Testaments, we would have significant expectations of the Holy Spirit in our lives … If we read and believed these accounts, we would expect a great deal of the Holy Spirit. He would not be a mostly forgotten member of the Godhead whom we occasionally give a nod of recognition to, which is what He has become in many churches. We would expect our new life with the Holy Spirit to look radically different from our old life without him.”
- Francis Chan, Forgotten God
This morning we were blessed to hear from Pastor Dale as he taught on the Holy Spirit. In the triangle of transformation theory that we are using as a guide for this series, the Holy Spirit is at the center.
There are some communities of believers where the focus is on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Scriptures. It's not that they don't believe in the Spirit, they just want to keep Him within the pages of the Bible. There are also communities of believers where the overwhelming focus is on the activity and visible works of the Spirit. They see amazing acts of healing, deliverance, renewal and they can also become separate from theology, doctrine, and scripture. As Jesus shared with the “Woman at the Well,” it’s always intended to be “Spirit and Truth.” The question Pastor Dale posed, is it possible to embrace the Bible as Truth, have a deep rich theology, and live an active Spirit-led life that is filled with the wonders and works of the Spirit?
We went through a wonderfully large amount of scripture today. For those who weren't able to grab a handout in person, you can find the verses here. A few key takeaways from the teaching, the Old Testament was an age of visitation by the Spirit. The prophets of the Old Testament saw “There was coming an age where the Spirit would live in the people of God." When we turn the page from the Old Testament to the New, it begins with the Spirit and a prophet preparing a way for the Lord and a womb for the Lord. Luke 1:15, "he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born." As we go through the New Testament we see the habitation of the Holy Spirit breakthrough.
God through His Spirit lives in us. It transforms us if we allow it to be unleashed through obedience, servanthood, and open-handedness. The same thing Jesus experienced at his Baptism, a declaration of identity and intimacy, is what the Spirit does within each of us. The Holy Spirit declares our identity and cultivates intimacy with our Father.
The invitation to each of us, minister to each other:
- Pray with and for each other.
- Express words of truth, blessing, and accountability to each other.
- Say to yourself “I have the Holy Spirit within me. Who does He want me to minister to today?”
This morning as Pastor Dale continued our new series, Transform. Last Sunday Pastor Dale proposed a theory of transformation based on the Triangle of Transformation you can see at calvarylg.com/transform. Last week we looked at the area of Truth on the triangle. If you didn't get a chance to hear it, we encourage you to do so now.
This morning, Pastor Dale took us through community. For many of us, what we believe to be true is influenced by how much we want it to be true and how the community around us reinforces that belief. Because of this, it matters what we say to each other. The words of community are always transforming someone, whether by creating a place for them to be honest or creating a space for them to continue to pretend.
- Communities following the way of Jesus experience joy by practicing vulnerability in telling and listening to people’s life stories.
- Communities following the way of Jesus hear the cries of the distressed and wounded and respond with active compassion.
- Communities following the way of Jesus, transform into an instinctive bias toward acts of grace, peace, mercy, and goodness for everyone.
As individuals, we each have a role in our community and how as followers of Jesus, we can impact the transformation of our community. There is much to unpack in this topic and we invite you to go deeper and join us on Tuesday nights to discuss and learn together about the nature of transformation. The group follows and builds on the Sunday teachings, leveraging materials from "Practicing the Way" by Pastor John Mark Comer. Learn more and rsvp at calvarylg.com/courses.
Over the next seven weeks we’ll be exploring the nature of transformation; What is it? How does it happen? What does it take to transform? It’s likely there’s something each of us would like to change about ourselves. We want to change. We want life to be different. We long for more. But we get stuck, tired, likely followed by feelings of shame and frustration when no matter how hard we try, we can’t seem to actually make the change we long for.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, a beautiful thing happens with our identity, we are a new creation in Him. The change in identity is real but it’s not often realized. The change God desires for us is to be like Jesus. To make what is now real about us, that we are new creations in Jesus, realized in our daily lives. The question is, how do we do this?
In his book “Spirit of the Disciplines,” Dallas Willard writes about a “Golden Triangle” of transformation. Based on that, Pastor Dale proposed a theory of how people transform that will be used as a guide throughout the series. It is the Triangle of Transformation with Truth, Practices, and Community at the points and the Holy Spirit at the center.
In this week’s message, Pastor Dale unpacked how the Triangle of Transformation will be used as a guide and provided an overview of each area highlighted in the triangle. Our Father in Heaven has invited us to be transformed. Why? So that the repetitive lies we have believed can be opposed and to realize our real identities in Him.
Danny closed out our last few months of study in the book of Mark with a look at longing in Mark 12:35-44. In our culture, the concept of longing is becoming lost. With so much available on demand, we've become conditioned to avoid waiting and longing. It's become uncomfortable for us. If we were to place ourselves in the story of Mark, they were a people deeply longing for the Messiah to deliver them and rescue them. They've longed so intensely for the Messiah that it’s shaped everything about them, and it’s been intensifying for centuries.
They carried the expectation that the prophesied king would come as royalty and would conquer the earthly kingdom. This expectation wasn't unreasonable, but it was misguided. So when the man claiming to be the Messiah they'd been longing for, even preparing for, is a homeless man claiming to be God, we can understand the Pharisees confusion and even outrage. But because their longing was misguided, they missed the very thing they had devoted their lives to.
Jesus was revealing the way of the Kingdom of God and inviting them and us to let go of the need to control. To accept the reality and freedom that comes when we put Jesus in control. It is by laying down our desires, our longings, denying ourselves, and giving our longings to Jesus, that we find peace. It is where we find fulfillment. Paul calls it the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, that will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7.
We invite you to spend time this week and ask our Father to show you if there are any misguided longings in your life, if there is something he'd like you to lay down for him, and what next step he'd like you to tangibly take this week.
This morning Pastor Dale taught on what Jesus said and did in Mark 12:18-34. In the verses, we see a man ask Jesus, what is most important to God? Jesus answers, beginning with the foundation of who God is. God is love. Since God is love, Jesus instructs that we are to respond to that love by being like God, back to God. To love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength.
Heart - this is your affection and will
Soul - emotional identity, the integrated part
Mind - cognition
Strength - body
Jesus then takes the ask a step further and while the man asked for one command, Jesus gives two, with the second greatest command to love your neighbor as yourself. As Pastor Dale unpacked for us, love for God is affection towards God and action towards His will. It is loving God's commands and acting towards others out of that love. God's laws and love work together to hold love together.
It comes down to a posture of heart, soul, mind and strength. It is the intentions of our questions to God and each other. It is the laying down of our rights - for the beautiful, intertwined laws and love of God, over and over, every day.
We invite you to spend time this week and ask our Father to show you what it looks like to take a step towards him this week, to love his laws and others from that posture this week.
This week, Pastor Dale continued our series, teaching on what Jesus said and did in Mark 12:12-17. In the verses, we see the Herodians and Pharisees try and trap Jesus by asking if the people should pay taxes to Ceasar. Jesus responds with an answer that amazes them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s." Jesus draws a sharp distinction between two kingdoms and two identities and asks the question “Which one are you in the image of?”.
In a culture that says "You be You", we are invited into this same question. It is a matter of identity. Your identity is not something you create, it is who you desire and how you express yourself. When you realize you belong to God, the ideology of “you be you" becomes “God be God in Me”. The Bible, God's story, tells us exactly who we are.
You are sought after - Isaiah 62:12
You are precious in His sight - Isaiah 43:4
You are a new creation in Christ - 2 Corinthians 5:17
You are forgiven - Colossians 1:18
You are loved - 1st John 3:1
You are accepted - Romans 15:7
You are a child of God - John 1:12
You are Jesus’ friend - John 15:14
You are free - John 8:36
You are the temple of God - 1 Corinthians 6:19
You are God’s treasured possession - Deuteronomy 7:6
You are complete in Christ - Colossians 2:10
You are called - 2 Timothy 1:9
You are an ambassador of the most high God - 2 Corinthians 5:20
You are God’s masterpiece - Ephesians 2:10
You are more than a conqueror through Jesus who loves you - Romans 8:37
We invite you to spend time this week, meditating on the verses above, praying through them with our Father, and asking Him to show you what it looks like to live life in this identity.
This morning we experienced the blessing of Kristi Gill teaching about what Jesus said and did in Mark 12:1-12. In the scriptures we see Jesus telling a parable to the Pharisees. Jesus often used parables but didn't always explain them.
As we read Mark 12, we hear Jesus talk about an owner and tenants of land. As Kristi unpacked the verses, we saw this was so much greater than a story about land, it is a story of God's relentless pursuit to restore the entirely of his creation by sending His son.
In 12 verses, we are given the story of God’s relentless, unwavering, never ending pursuit of us. A pursuit, a hope and a future, all made possible through His son Jesus. When we choose a relationship with Jesus, we are grafted into his authority. An authority that is complete and over everything. Over every detail of what is happening in our world, in our town, in our families, in our lives. Jesus has authority overall all of it.
Kristi encouraged us to to mediate on these words from Jesus:
“I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble but take heart, I have overcome the world.”
As you meditate on these words, consider what is going on in your life: what is bringing you anxiety or pain or confusion? Where is the road uncertain or the questions unanswered? Knowing Jesus is the owner and authority over everything, what does it look like to lay that at his feet and hear him respond to you with “I am the authority over that, too.”
It was such a blessing to come together this morning, to declare the goodness of God, to pray over one another, to celebrate the 75 years this church has been about Jesus, and to witness 16 people declare in front of their church family that they believe in and will follow Jesus throughout their lives. And to make a wonderful day even better, we were also able to share a delicious BBQ meal as one big family. So special!
In today's message, Pastor Dale provided an update on the goals that were outlined at last February's Night of Vision and Prayer. Pastor Dale also provided details around the ask of all members to "re-up" their membership as a part of rebuilding and renewing our church. The time has come to begin the process and so we invite you to learn more by watching the membership trailer video.
It was a joy to be with you this morning. Today Pastor Dale took us through a strange passage in Mark 11. It’s strange because it records the very last miracle Jesus does in the Book of Mark and it's not a healing or exorcism which has filled this book since Chapter 1. It's a curse. This final miracle of Jesus doesn’t bring life, it brings death. Jesus kills a fig tree by speaking to it.
Today's text in Mark 11:1-26, gives us a unique glimpse into what Jesus desires for His church, for us as His church. In the text, a specific phrase was used.
"The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.” - Mark 11:12 NIV
This hunger was about more than food. This hunger was about his desire, his longing for his brothers and sisters to do His Father’s will. From Genesis chapter 12, when God called Abraham and said “I’m going to bless you to be a blessing to the Nations.”, this is the longing of Jesus. The question we may naturally ask is, how does this fit into Jesus cursing a fig tree?
In Old Testament literature, the fig tree was a symbol of Israel and more specifically, the Temple in the middle of Israel. It represented the place where the presence of God dwelled, where God was with His people, and they had fellowship with Him. So when the text says Jesus is hungry and goes to look for fruit on a fig tree, it's about more than just this tree. It's about the temple, the purpose and the significance of the temple.
From a distance, the tree looked to have the promise of fruit. It didn't. Jesus curses the tree because though it looks like it has life and growth, fruit and activity, it doesn't. It's dead inside.
Jesus desires His followers to do more than go through the motions of life. Doing so is like a fig tree that seems alive and healthy but doesn't actually bear fruit. He desires for us to be a people who live out our identity as followers of Him. This requires honesty with God and with others. It requires seeking forgiveness from God and forgiving others. This is the way of the Temple of God.
We invite you to sit with our Father and ask him to reveal if there is an area in your life where he'd like you to seek His forgiveness. We invite you to ask Him if there's someone he'd like you to forgive. Jesus has a hunger for you and for your life. Healing is available today. We invite you to step into prayer and receive the freedom and healing God has for you.
Today our friend Patrick took us through Mark 10:46-52. If we read the passage in isolation, the importance may be seen as the miracle in and of itself, of Jesus healing a blind man. As we've been learning over the summer with the biblical literacy course, when we go beyond the passage we're reading, observing what else we know about the book and the topic at hand, we can get a deeper understanding of God's story. At this point in Mark, we’ve already read quite a few miracles, including a similar miracle where Jesus heals a blind man. Mark wrote about those miracles in the beginning of the gospel to show the reader who Jesus is. Why would Mark put this miracle of healing another blind man here?
When Mark writes this story, part of what he’s saying is do not miss this. The disciples expected the Messiah to look one way, to be this Messiah King, which likely looked like overthrowing the Romans. Instead, through these passages and through this miracle, Mark is emphasizing it’s not about our expectations or what we get out of the experience. It all comes down to the most important reason why Jesus came; to die and rise again as a ransom for you and for me, for the forgiveness of sins.
Bartimaeus recognizes he has something he cannot heal himself. He recognizes Jesus as Messiah. That is what Mark wants us to see. We have a choice just like every person. Who do we believe Jesus is? What do we understand about his identity? How are we going to respond?
Today Pastor Danny took us through Mark 10:32-45. Jesus is foretelling his death for the third and final time. Two of his disciples, the sons of Zebedee, make a request to sit on his right and left in His coming Kingdom. James and John are making a power move. In their minds, sitting at the right and the left next to Jesus on the throne would inherently mean ruling over people. Jesus has tried to make it clear - The power the world seeks is over people. The power the Kingdom seeks is to be for people.
As we see in verses 43-44, "Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all."
The way of the Kingdom is not power over people. It is service for the people. The picture of a servant is not easy work, but because we saw Jesus do it for us and because we have the Spirit living inside us, it makes it possible for us to do that work.
Part of what Pastor Dale identified at the night of vision and prayer is that the church, the global group of people, needs to rebuild. Specifically for us, the group that makes up Calvary Church there were 3 things he encouraged us to press into in order to rebuild and renew. As we finish up summer and head into fall, we are all invited to practice the way of Jesus.
Serve - Practicing the very way of the Kingdom in order to shape an alternative culture to the culture we live in that says "you do you". To find current opportunities to serve, we invite you to fill out the connect card and write "I'd like to get involved" at calvarylg.com/welcome.
Hospitality - Entertaining those we don't know, shaping an alternative culture to the culture we live in that says relationships are a means to an end.
Generosity - Giving back to God from what He gave to us, shaping an alternative culture from the culture we live in that says collect as much as you can for yourself.
Pastor Dale took us through Mark 10:13-31. It's a passage you may be familiar with, about a wealthy man who comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. This man has tried to live a life that will please the Father, that will earn his way to eternal life. He has kept the commandments. And yet he knows something is missing in his pursuit so he asks Jesus what he can do. Jesus tells him to sell everything he has, give it to the poor, and follow Him. The man's face falls and he walks away from Jesus sad.
For this man, the issue wasn't just the money. It was what was behind the money. The man's identity and security were found in his wealth. He was trusting in it and placed value in it. In his heart, the man was trusting his wealth to be his Savior.
Each of us has something in our lives we are trusting to be our Savior. We can love Jesus and still have something our identity is anchored in for our value, that we've made an idol above Jesus. It could be our wealth, our job, our role as spouses or parents.
We invite you to spend time with our Heavenly Father today and seek His voice, His revelation on any idols that may have a grip on your life. A question you can ask,
Heavenly Father, I love you. I want to follow you with all of my heart and life. Will you reveal any idols I've placed above you in my life? What step would you like me to take to give you this place of honor?
Pastor Dale took us through Mark 10:1-12 and we looked at a topic that statistically, has likely touched most if not all of us, the divorce of marriage. We may have experienced it personally, through friends, our parents. The passage is one that without context, without biblical literacy, can lead us to the incorrect conclusion. With that in mind, Pastor Dale took us through the passage unpacking:
- The Value of Context
- What was happening in context of the book/letter we read
- What was happening in other places in scripture
- What was happening culturally at the time it was written
We then looked at love and marriage through God's eyes and saw what he intends it to be. The real essence of the passage is that Jesus was insisting that the loose sexual morality and deference to covenants of His day be mended. Those who sought marriage only for pleasure were to be reminded that marriage is also for responsibility. Those who regarded marriage simply as a means of gratifying their physical passions and personal gain were to be reminded it was also a spiritual unity.
Whether you were able to attend in person or not, due to the complex nature of the topic, our experiences, and the passage, you may have questions. If that's you, Pastor Dale welcomed all to reach out to him to set up some time and discuss more. You may reach him by emailing him at dgustafson@calvarylg.com.
Today Pastor Dale walked us through what Jesus said and did in Mark 9:42-50. In the passage, Jesus talks about causing another to stumble.
"If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea..."
To stumble means to scandalize, to throw off another because of one's action, often causing them to sin. Jesus is giving a warning to his followers. His Kingdom is one of compassion and empathy. It is a Kingdom where followers serve one another, a Kingdom where people are to be at peace with one another.
This past spring we spent time looking at Emotionally Healthy Relationships. In one of the teachings Pastor Dale covered the need to:
1) Stop Mind Reading
2) Clarify Expectations
When we mind read and live with un-clarified expectations, covenants are broken. Stumbling happens. Relationships, families, communities of faith are in trouble. Stumbling can happen at any time. There may be people in our lives causing us to stumble or we may be causing others to stumble.
The invitation for us all is to seek the Father and ask him to speak into this. Ask the Father to reveal if you may be causing someone to stumble and what action step he'd like you to take. If there's something or someone causing you to stumble, seek His guidance on how he'd like you to move forward. He may be asking you to forgive, to reach out and have a conversation, or to continue praying with him about it.
What a blessing to come together this morning and hear from Pastor Rob as we looked at what Jesus said and did in Mark 9:14-29. In the scripture, we see a Father who is desperate to see his son freed from a demon. He comes to Jesus and in verses 22-24 we see the following exchange: "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
This man is in the presence of Jesus, the author of faith, and Jesus calls him to trust him. When this story took place, Jesus had been in his public ministry for three years and word had spread about his ability to heal and do the miraculous. The father had every reason to believe Jesus could heal his son. He just wasn't sure if Jesus would be compassionate enough to heal his son. So, he responds in honesty, and says, “I believe - help my unbelief.”
Each of us who follows Jesus has some level of authentic saving faith in our hearts, but the level of our faith is not constant. There are moments where our faith is assaulted by the enemy and sometimes our faith is barely hanging on and we make the prayer this man made to Jesus.
The strength of our faith can never be put on automatic pilot. When we face a formidable foe it's not enough simply to depend on the reservoir of faith that we have in our souls. We must stay close to God - immerse ourselves in His word, in worship, in prayer.
Pastor Rob provided many wonderful opportunities to deepen our prayer lives.
- Friday morning prayer, in the chapel, 8:30 am
- Sunday morning pre-service prayer, in-service, 8:15 am
- Sunday morning response time, receive prayer or volunteer to pray for others
- Attend Novo Prayer Cohort this fall
What a blessing to hear from our friend Pastor Andrew West this morning who continued our series in Mark as we looked at what Jesus said and did in Mark 9:2-13. In the scripture, we see Jesus take three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, to a high place. Jesus is transfigured before them and God the Father speaks saying “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
There are so many voices trying to influence what we think and what we do. God the Father is directing us, there is a singular voice we're to listen to above all others. To follow Jesus, we need to obey him. To obey him requires hearing what it is he wants us to do.
The words of Jesus are words of life that help us through every season. When life is good, when life is hard, when we have joy, when we have pain. The reality is, we will face hard times. We live in a broken world. And it can be incredibly difficult when Jesus doesn't remove the pain we're in the way we want. But what Jesus does provide is what we need in the midst of that pain. He will let us see the purpose in that pain and what he will make from that pain. So we listen to him. We hear him. We trust his words of life and that he will give us strength even in the land of death.
To hear him we must be with him. When we are with him, we must listen to him. When he speaks, we must act. Where he leads, we must go. In all seasons, in all times, in everything, we listen to him.
Pastor Andrew gave us practical advice to begin stepping into this. The invitation is to practice listening to God this week, to be intentional and set aside time. The other piece of it is to do what He's asking of you. To listen and obey. For some, setting aside time to listen to the Father may be new. For others, a common practice. For us all, the invitation is to make space to hear his voice and step into what he's asking us to do. A simple prayer you can pray to begin the conversation:
Father, as I come before you, I ask you to still my heart and quiet my mind. Father, I want to hear your voice. I want to be led by you. I ask you to give me ears to hear and courageous feet to follow wherever you may lead. Father, what would you like to say to me today?
If you've been to Calvary a few times, it's likely you've heard us say that the Bible was written for us, but not specifically to us. That to understand what God is saying, requires a bit of work. We saw a powerful example in this morning's scripture and Pastor Danny's teaching. In Mark 8:38, Jesus says "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
In our culture and context, shame is awful. It's a horrible and painful feeling of humiliation or distress. Shame is something that has become intertwined with our identity, with who we are, and something we've been conditioned to avoid at all costs. So when we apply that view to our King, to the Son of Man being ashamed of us, without a closer look we can interpret what God is saying and even who God is incorrectly.
In the biblical context, shame refers to being disgraced, bringing on "fitting" shame that matches the error of wrongly identifying (aligning) with something. It is Holy Spirit in us, convicting us, letting us know our behavior is not in alignment with who we are created to be. It is a process of sanctification where God is shaping us, through the work of the Holy Spirit, into the kind of person who lives within the Kingdom of God and reflects the King.
Our culture has encouraged us to define our identity with things that were never meant to be our identity - our jobs, possessions, passions, roles as spouses, parents, friends. The myth Jesus calls out is any identity outside of who we are as children of God is out of alignment with the way of God. Jesus is saying if we hang on to worldly ideologies, the things we enjoy doing, the roles and responsibilities we carry, things other people say about us, if those things are most important in our lives over and against what God says about us and who he designed us to be, our identities will fall apart.
Our identity is not just that we imitate Christ, but as we follow him faithfully, the form of Jesus takes form in us. This becomes our new identity which gives life to every other part of our life.
How do we do this?
To be with Jesus, be like Jesus and do what Jesus did, requires denying ourselves. It is taking up the cross in a daily posture, listening with sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and obeying His guidance. It's a posture we assume over our lifetimes.
- As we are with Jesus, as we read our Bible, as we study it (Biblical Literacy), as we pray and worship
- As we are being like Jesus, practicing the things Jesus practiced; generosity, service, solitude, fasting
- As we do what Jesus did we are actively denying ourselves
Jesus did this. He went first. And following his example draws us into the realities of the kingdom he experienced on earth and for eternity.
Today Pastor Dale took us through Mark 8:27-38, and we looked at what some call “A War of Myths.” As we know myths, rumors, and ideas get spread in a variety of ways. This is true for us today with social media, podcasts, the news, and has been true throughout history with writings, stories, and fables that have been passed on. The myths and stories are deepened through our family of origin, human interaction, and living from relative truth. We look to people to verify the myths and stories we've come to believe and we also bring these ideas and stories to how we approach the Bible.
The Bible was written for us, not to us. It is God's story. As we see scripture for what it is, the story of God, we get to know God. More than simply reading a book, to understand what God is saying to us, we need to know how to read the Bible. With that, we are so excited to announce the launch of our digital course on Biblical Literacy.
In this course, you’ll have the opportunity to discover more of what the Bible is about, how to approach it with consistent integrity, and develop a life that is shaped and empowered by the amazing story of God. Hosted on the Teachable platform, you’ll discover video teachings from Pastor Dale, opportunities for reflection, practice, and more.
For those who were able to come in person today, you received a workbook and quick instruction guide to access and get started in the course. Please note, the URL on the instruction guide included “www.” That was a mistake and we apologize. The correct URL to access the course on teachable is https://calvarylg.teachable.com.
We will have the workbooks available on Sundays for those who haven't yet received one. The resources are also available online and can be found at www.calvarylg.com/courses.
This is a course we are asking our entire church to take. Whether you're new to reading the Bible or have read it hundreds of times, we believe these teachings will allow you to go deeper in your relationship with the Lord as you gain tools and resources to further understand His word.
What a blessing to have our friend Patrick McDonald teach us as we looked at what Jesus said and what he did in Mark 8:22-26. Patrick spoke with us about spiritual sight, which can only come from Jesus. To gain this spiritual sight is a process. We must be intentional about it, about our spiritual growth, and we need a community to support it.
Patrick challenged us to identify one thing we can do to be more intentional about our growth in Jesus. We invite you to spend time with our Father this evening and ask him to reveal what he'd like you to do this week to set your heart and mind on Jesus so that you can be in a place and a posture to receive spiritual sight from Him. We encourage you to write down what you hear, share it with a friend or loved one, and commit to taking that step this week.
Today Pastor Dale concluded our series on Emotionally Healthy Relationships, talking with us about how to fight like peacemakers. We've all been mentored in some way around conflict. It comes from places like our family of origin and others who've had an influence on our lives. For many of us, we've learned to manage conflict in the following ways.
• Keep silent about it and within it
• Feel ashamed that things bother you
• Shame others that they don’t measure up
In most situations, we use these things to attempt to “Keep the Peace” instead of truly “Making Peace.” We bring these experiences into our personal, community, work, and church relationships. Peacemaking often causes waves, which can feel like a storm, but the end result is calm waters not just on the surface, but down into the depths as well.
Pastor Dale shared practical steps to “fight with the purpose of making peace.”
- Ask for permission then start with “I notice…"
- State why it is important to you. “I value…”
- Fill in the following sentence. “When you do this I feel…”
- State your request clearly, respectfully, and specifically. “I would like you to…"
- Listener: Consider the request. In a few sentences, share your feelings and perspective. Speaker: Agree to the request or offer an alternative. Listener responds.
- If needed, write your agreement and set a date to address it again in a few weeks.
The above may seem like a lot of work. The truth is, it is. The end result is worth the effort as we learn to not only make peace but in doing so, love one another well. The measure of spiritual maturity is the level at which we love one another. How we go through conflict with others reveals all of our emotional health and spiritual maturity.
This week, Pastor Dale continued our series on emotionally healthy relationships and talked with us about integrity and the integration of it in our lives. Living your God-given life with integrity involves remaining faithful to your true self. This requires something that is incredibly difficult - distinguishing your true self from the demands and voices around you while living out the calling and mission God has given you.
In order to do this, we must know who we are in Christ, that the truest thing about us, if we've accepted Jesus into our lives, is our union with Him. This is the most irreducible reality about us. If we peel everything else away from our lives, the solid, immovable truth is that "The Truest” thing about us is our union with the Resurrected Christ. God's mission for us is to integrate that truth with integrity into all the spaces of our lives.
This morning Pastor Dale talked with us about the importance of listening - why we should listen and how to listen.
“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” - David Augsburger
Listening well to others doesn't mean we have to agree with what they are saying. We can love others well by listening to them and being present with them. Ways we can be successful in listening to others is to:
- Clarify expectations. “I want to talk to you about something, is this a good time to be heard?”
- Set aside time for communication, maybe a weekly listen.
- Clarify how you feel heard.
Listening well also requires listening incarnationally. Listening incarnationally is to listen at a heart level with empathy, listening to the words and emotions of the other person. Ways we can help do this include:
- Speak using "I" statements
- Keep your statements brief
- Stop to let the listener paraphrase
- Include your feelings and properly connect them to something
- Be honest, clear, and respectful
While the above is helpful, often it's the HOW to practically do this that's missing. Pastor Dale provided specific steps from the Emotionally Healthy Relationships Workbook. The seven steps he outlined are below.
- Give the person your full attention.
- As you listen, begin to step into the speaker’s world. Try to feel what they are feeling. Listen to their words and their emotions.
- Avoid judging, interpreting, and fixing.
- Reflect back to the person what you understood them to say while acknowledging their emotions.
- Confirm what they said, how they felt, and if you interpreted it correctly.
- Ask, "is there more?" or "tell me more about that."
- Repeat the process until the person feels heard and you understand where they are coming from.
This morning we looked at the importance of what lies beneath the surface. Like an iceberg, a significant amount of what we carry emotionally is below the surface of our lives, unseen by others. Most of our time is spent keeping it down in an effort to protect the surface life, rather than confronting the reality of what lies beneath. Unfortunately, this can result in an untransformed life where we continue the patterns of the past no matter how damaging they are.
Our Father cares deeply about what’s beneath the surface and desires for us to let Him in to rearrange our inner lives. This isn’t to simply take the pain away, but to navigate our pain with Him. When we open the deeper places of our lives to Him, God meets us in that place and transforms us. You may be asking what you can do to begin this process of inviting God in and allowing Him to transform your inner life. Pastor Dale highlighted one way that’s become incredibly helpful in his life: becoming aware and paying attention to what’s under the surface within a relationship and/or in a community of relationships. One of the ways we can become aware is by answering these four assessment questions:
- What am I angry about (from the past or the present)?
- What am I sad about (small or big loss, disappointment, or choice)?
- What am I anxious about (money, future, family, health, job)?
- What am I glad about (a relationship, an opportunity, your church)?
The goal is to identify what’s going on below the surface so we know what we need to present to God. Once we’ve identified what’s beneath the surface, we have the opportunity to take that through the lens of what we’ve Pastor Dale has taught us earlier in this series:
- Is this an untrue story I’m telling myself? Who do I need to clarify with?
- How can I grieve this?
- Is this something that’s been passed on to me?
Pastor Dale’s strong encouragement to us is to practice the above with someone you love and trust this week. Then, take it to God. Talk to Him about it and ask Him what He wants you to know and what He’s asking you to do. It may be to forgive someone, to surrender it to Him, to continue talking to Him about it. He wants to transform your inner life and is awaiting the invitation to be brought in.
This morning, Pastor Dale helped us look at the importance of looking back in order to go forward. We're often told to forget the past, that God has made us new. And yet, both the blessings and sins of our families going back two, three, even four generations can profoundly impact who we are today. Discipleship requires putting off the sinful patterns of our family of origin and relearning how to do life God’s way in God’s family.
Your family and extended family are the most powerful influence/relationships into who you are as a human. The things learned, modeled, and normalized is in your bones. Each generation’s failures make the next generation’s environment in which they grow up even more difficult to be faithful to God and because of that, it’s like a compounding interest of sin and destructive family habits that continue to accumulate over generations.
“Unfortunately, it is not possible to erase the negative effects of our history. This family history lives inside all of us, especially in those who attempt to bury it. The price we pay for this flight is high. Only the truth sets us free.” ― Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
Even as followers of Jesus we often bring all of the patterns, thoughts, and influences to how we read the Bible, how we see God, and how we relate to each other. The great news, the gospel is transforming, life-giving, and renewing.
This week, Pastor Dale continued our new series on Emotionally Healthy Relationships. This morning's teaching provided powerful insight into a natural behavior that often leads to conflict in our lives. Our natural tendency is to tell ourselves stories about another person's behavior. It may be a text exchange, an expression on someone's face, a gesture, a behavior. We tell ourselves a story of what it meant. When we do this, when we interpret, tell stories, make assumptions, and don’t check for the truth, we do things that are destructive. We jump to conclusions about people and assume things based on our expectations and assumptions. When we do this, we are believing a lie and telling a lie about this person. Even if it's just in our minds, we could quite possibly be condemning an innocent person.
“Every time I make an assumption about someone without confirming it, I am at risk for believing a lie about this person. My assumption is just a breath away from misrepresenting reality. Because I have not checked out my assumption with the other person, it is very possible I am believing something untrue and effectively bearing false witness against my neighbor. I am especially prone to this temptation when the other person has hurt or disappointed me. That also makes it more likely I will pass on my false assumption to others. When we exchange reality for a mental creation (a hidden assumption) we enter a counterfeit world. At that point we exclude God from our lives because God does not exist outside of reality and truth. We also wreck relationships by creating needless confusion and conflict.”
― Peter Scazzero & Gerri Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Relationships
Pastor Dale provided two things we can do to improve this unhealthy behavior:
- Stop Mind Reading
- Clarify Expectations
If you missed the teaching, we invite you to take time and watch it today as Pastor Dale provided very helpful context around the expectations we have, how they can be problematic, and most importantly, how we can clarify expectations with others going forward. When we do this, we become healthy people, a healthy church, and a healthy community.
This week, Pastor Dale began our new series on Emotionally Healthy Relationships. When followers of Jesus are not discipled emotionally, we may come to one of two conclusions:
Emotions are bad and can’t be trusted because they will change or are a sign of weakness, lack of faith, or doubt.
Emotions are everything. How you feel is the truth. If something feels difficult, it must not be the right thing for you.
We even have an emotion about other people’s emotions. Our emotions affect our relationships, not only with others, but also with God. What Jesus taught and modeled was that our love for God was measured by the degree to which we love others. In fact, He was so clear about it, it would be unthinkable for His followers to think otherwise. And yet, they did – and so do we. (Matthew 5:44,46; Matthew 7:1; Matthew 5:23-24)
Emotional Healthy Spirituality, as we will continue to unpack as we go through this series...
...is not about you feeling good, more relaxed, more at peace, or finding your inner self
...is never about feelings over the truth of scripture - it’s actually taking scripture at its fullest truth, and embracing Jesus’ command
...is about your ability to love well
The marker of loving God well is loving others well. This can’t be done if we don’t mature emotionally and spiritually. Over the next many weeks, we are going to look at some things to help us be open, honest, and fully mature with our Father. For those feeling a pull to go deeper, you can find a link to Peter Scazzero's book here. There's also a community group that begins April 26th to discuss and learn together more about this important topic.
This morning, Danny Busch brought to a close our series in Ecclesiastes, and we looked at worship and obedience.
The wisdom of Ecclesiastes connects the fear of God and keeping his commandments very intentionally. When we worship God without keeping the commandments, without really knowing God, our worship is foolish vapor. When we keep the commandments without the fear of the Lord, it’s under the sun appeasement.
It is when we fear God and keep his commandments, we experience life as it’s meant to be. When we fear God and keep his commandments, we can bring that life into the community searching for wisdom around us. When we fear God and keep his commandments we can deal with our sin like David, not pacify our sin like Saul.
On this Palm Sunday, the beginning of the inauguration of King Jesus – What’s the kingdom you're longing for? Maybe more accurately, if you were to think about the kingdom of your life, who is the king in that kingdom? The kingdom Jesus brought is a kingdom of service and sacrifice, love and healing, self-denial and humility.
The risk we face going into this holy week, if we've separated the fear of God and obedience of his commandments, the worship of God and the knowledge of who He is, we too could be missing the Messiah we need when he’s right in front of us.
We invite you to sit with the Father today and seek His revelation.
Father, have I separated my worship of you and my obedience to you? Have I elevated one over the other?
Maybe you use the words of David when he says,
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
See if there be any dangerous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
This morning Pastor Dale took us through Ecclesiastes 9 and what the Teacher says about wisdom and foolishness. In the verses we see the Teacher impressed by the wisdom of a poor man. “But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom." (Ecclesiastes 9:15)
We all deliver something to those around us. The question is, what is it we’re delivering? Is it foolishness or wisdom? Questions we can ask ourselves to reveal what we may be carrying or bringing to others:
Where have my eyes been?
Where have my feet walked?
What have my heart and mind been dwelling on?
Where are my emotions directed?
What are my ears hearing?
We invite you to sit with the Father today and seek his revelation on what you may be carrying in your heart.
Father, is there something I need to let go of and release to you? Will you reveal what that is? Will you show me what next step I can talk to walk in wisdom and be led by you?
We encourage you to write down what you hear and continue to pray through it this week.
This morning Pastor Dale took us through Ecclesiastes 5 and what the Teacher says about approaching the house of the Lord. We are told to "guard our steps," but what does that mean? The Hebrew word that is used for guard is "shamar" and it means to keep, to watch, to protect. It's in our nature to carry things with us when we enter the house of the Lord. It could be we had a hard week. It could be an agenda of what we wish God would do differently in our lives or those in our lives. It could be thoughts and distractions or it could be wounds or unforgiveness we're carrying. The Teacher guides us as we enter the house of the Lord, as we approach our Heavenly Father, to prepare our hearts. That could be setting aside our agendas, releasing our burdens to him, opening our hearts to wait and listen for what He wants to say to us. To do this requires intentionality, honest and vulnerable intentionality with our Father.
When we do this, when we guard our steps …
- We slow down to be with Jesus
- We go beneath the surface of our lives to be deeply transformed by Jesus
- We offer our lives as a gift to each other, and the world, for Jesus
We invite you to sit with the Father today and ask: Father, are there places in my heart where I'm coming to you with an agenda or carrying things that you want me to release to you? Will you reveal what those are? Will you show me what it looks like to guard my steps as I approach you?
This week, Danny Busch continued our series in the book of Ecclesiastes. In the first week of the series, we learned about vapor management. Culture would say we're defined by the vapor we have. God asks what we're doing with the vapor He has given us. Last week, Pastor Dale taught how the uncreated places eternity in the hearts of the created. Jesus calls this the Kingdom of God. We can experience and cultivate the kingdom of God now by being in relationship with Jesus. This week, we looked at Chapter 4 where the teacher transitions into how we practically do this. It is through relationships.
In Chapter 4 the teacher shares how he had wealth, yet it was meaningless. The teacher then shares the importance of being with another and how two people are better than one. As the teacher looks back on his life, he realizes the success and wealth at the expense of isolation weren’t worth it.
In culture today, loneliness is rampant. People are feeling unseen, unknown, isolated. Isolation isn't something that just happens. It's something people drift into over time. The question becomes, how do we get out of isolation? How can we come alongside others to keep them from being isolated?
One of the best ways to combat loneliness is to serve. It immediately connects us to others and if you ask someone who has served or if you reflect on your own experiences serving, you'll likely hear about or remember the innate joy that is felt as you serve another. For opportunities to step into, simply scroll to the bottom of the email.
The second way to combat isolation and loneliness is to invest in relationships. Scripture shows us we are meant to do life with one another, to bear one another's burdens.
Our invitation to you is to sit with the Father and ask: Father, as I survey my life, are there places where I've isolated myself? Is there a wound that needs tending to?
If you felt the Father answer yes, if you feel lonely or isolated, would you be willing to tell someone you need help carrying your burden? If we can be this support for you we'd be honored to do so. Simply email us at prayer@calvarylg.com and we will connect with you and pray for you.
This morning Pastor Dale continued our series in Ecclesiastes. Last week, we looked at "hevel," the vapor we often try to manage our lives around - things we create, buy, obtain, consume, and desire. All of these things will go away. This morning we looked at another type of vapor, one the uncreated has placed in the created heart that does not go away. It is ageless, disconnected from the effects of time, it is "ha olam." Love, joy, peace, happiness, contentment, perspective all can be found in ha olam. Jesus called this place: “The Kingdom of God.”
The Kingdom of God is in us. It has been placed in us by our Father and is available to us. We can access peace, joy, contentment, despite the circumstances around us. The question becomes, how?
- It begins with a trusting relationship with Jesus.
- It is maintained with ongoing participation in this trusting relationship with Jesus.
To access this, we invite you to sit with the Father and ask: Father, as I survey my life, what do I need to give over to you? What do I need to surrender and what do you want to give me in return?
We invite you to pray this prayer: Jesus, I want to begin participating with you. Create in me a clean heart. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation. In your name I pray, Amen.
At the beginning of every year, our leadership lays out the pastoral vision and plans for the coming year and then we submit them to the Lord together in prayer.
It was such a blessing to gather with you this morning, worship our Lord and Savior, welcome back Pastor Dale, and hear his teaching in the book of Ecclesiastes. This morning we looked at Ecclesiastes 1 and 2 where the writer is talking about the meaninglessness of life. The Hebrew word for meaningless is "hevel" and it means vapor. The teacher is challenging the things we focus on in our lives. The teacher testifies that he lived his life with everything the world has to offer - riches, success, love, wisdom. And at the end of his life as he looks back he realizes it's all meaningless.
To apply this to our lives, it's the notion that we often live with the thought "my life would be better if I only had this..." It may be a job, a relationship, finances, etc. The teacher is showing us he had it all, experienced it all, and in the end, it was vapor, it was meaningless. This master teacher is expressing to you the things that are all around you…
- There is the created and the uncreated
- The things we long for with the flesh are vapor
- Responding to the life we have been given is the only thing that brings peace… joy
The question we must ask ourselves is - are we living our lives as an expression of something we've already received or are we striving for something we don't have?
We invite you to sit with the Father and ask the question: Father, as I survey my life, what am I living for?
We encourage you to write down what you hear. Ask the Father for a next step and write that down as well. We invite you as you go through the week to continue praying through what you hear from our Father and take that next step.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning as we were blessed to come together, worship our Lord and Savior, and hear an incredible teaching from Pastor David Kim. Our culture has never been more connected and yet research shows people are more lonely than they've ever been. The church is no exception. Pastor David recently wrote a book, Made to Belong, in which he provides five practices for developing meaningful relationships. Our Father designed us to do life together. Each of us wanting to be seen, known, and loved by others. We want to belong, we just don't know how. Pastor David highlighted the five practices that help to cultivate community.
- Priority
- Chemistry
- Vulnerability
- Empathy
- Accountability
We are so grateful to Pastor Dave Lomas and the incredible teachings he's brought to our church during his pastoral residency. Today Pastor Dave spoke to us about identity. Identity matters because all of us live from some core truth. For most of us, our identity is typically anchored in one of three things: what we do, what we have, and what we desire. Our culture tells us our identity is whom we desire sexually. The problem is, all of these fall short. None of these areas are the core truth Jesus wants us to live from. The truest thing about us, as we see in Colossians 3, is that we are in Christ. We are loved by God. Accepted by God. Put in right relationship with God through Jesus, not because of anything we have done but because of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. That is who we are. We belong to God. Our call is to become who we are and to live out that truth.
The quick summary above doesn't come close to covering the depth, the truth, and the power in Pastor Dave's teaching today. We encourage you, if you missed any of Dave's teachings or the lecture, to make time and watch them. We also invite you to sign up for the Grace and Truth class that begins this Wednesday, February 15. You can sign up here.
This morning, Pastor Dave Lomas from Realty SF joined us for the first Sunday of his pastoral residency. Pastor Dave began his teaching with 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. He began there not only because Corinth was a lot like our area, but also because what Paul heard from the congregation was a lot like the cultural understanding of our bodies and their purpose today. We encourage you to make time to watch this important teaching and to sign up for the lecture this Wednesday.
Today, our friend Patrick McDonald continued our teaching in Mark as we looked at 8:1-21. We see the disciples who having been with Jesus, having heard firsthand what He said and seeing firsthand what He did, still don't get it. We see the Pharisees approach Jesus with hard hearts trying to prove Jesus was wrong. What we learn from Jesus is that we need to be alert and pay attention to our hearts. We live in a culture and a time where it's so easy to make everything about us and how we want things to be - our thoughts, our opinions, our preferences. Instead, Jesus is asking us to make our lives about Him. He invites us to spend time with Him and to allow our hearts to be aligned to His.
We invite you to spend time with the Father and seek his revelation on one question:
Father, where is my heart being hardened?
As you hear His response, we encourage you to write down what you hear and invite you to both pray and act on what you heard.
Today we continued our teaching in Mark, looking at 7:31-37, where we looked at the power of mercy. The people knew Jesus could heal and they took their friend who could not hear or speak to Jesus and begged him to heal again. Jesus does so intimately. He pulls the man aside, communicates to him in a way the man could understand, pointing, touching, and then sets him free. He heals him.
What we see in Jesus is a powerful model of how we are to engage with others - in love, in compassion, in mercy. The ability to engage in this way comes out of spending time with Jesus. When we walk with Jesus, speak with Jesus, listen for His voice, seek His perspective and guidance on what he wants us to do and say, it changes our response. It moves us from fear, anger, and criticism to peace, forgiveness, compassion, and hope. When Jesus is in the middle of something, it is good. Something new and restorative should happen. Reconciliation should happen. His will should be done. And as in creation, it is good.
You may be in a situation where you're feeling hurt, angry, or let down. You or someone in your family may be dealing with a crisis that feels hopeless or as though things will never change. We invite you to spend time with our Savior so that he can speak into what you're experiencing. Jesus is with you. He is filled with compassion and wisdom. He knows just what you need and the step he wants you to take, but it requires going to him and listening for his voice. We encourage you to go to Him in prayer right now and ask Him to share what's on His heart for you, what he wants you to know, and what step he wants you to take.
Thank you for joining us this morning as we looked at Mark 7:24-30 and a parable that for most of us, is confusing. In it, we see Jesus interact with a Gentile woman who came to see Jesus for help for her daughter. On the surface, it appears Jesus insults the woman. But as we look deeper, we see a beautiful story unfold that reveals the beauty of the gospel, the redemption plan for the world, and how a person who others would view as on the outside and in the margins of life, who really understands Jesus. This woman comes to Jesus. She believes in Jesus. She understands what's possible in Jesus and in her faith and action, she receives it.
In John 6:28-35, Jesus says two things:
Come to me…Never grow hungry
Believe in me…Never go thirsty
These two things are linked – both are essential. You can have plenty of water, but no food will kill you. You can have plenty of food, but no water will kill you. What our Gentile friend shows us is how they always should be intertwined and interdependent.
She came to Jesus
She believed in Jesus
You may be feeling that you're in the margins. You might be feeling unheard, unseen, unloved. We want you to know, nothing could be further from the truth. You are seen. You are known. You are loved. That may be difficult for you to receive. We invite you to spend time with our Savior so that he can speak this truth directly to you. Jesus sees you – what do you want to say to him? We encourage you to go to Him in prayer right now and ask Him to share what's on His heart for you, what he wants you to know.
It is a new year, a new season, and this morning we joined together in two services, worshipping and praising the one worthy of our praise.
In his message today, Pastor Dale unpacked why we sing in church. Not what we sing or how we sing, but the reason why. As a church, when we sing together, we breathe in and out at the same time, we pause together and sing words together, and in all of this, we align ourselves with one another as we join the worship already taking place in heaven. Church is a place where we come together and sing about hope, faith, Jesus as Lord, and the Holiness of God. It is an act that believes for something different. An act where for a few minutes, we share in something heavenly together.
For some of you, singing with others comes easily. We need you. For others, it may not feel as comfortable. We need you too, to come, to join us at church, and for you it may begin with listening and singing along in your heart. When you feel ready, we invite you to lift your voice with us as we join with the angels in Heaven to worship our King.
This morning Pastor Dale unpacked the power and beauty in advent. While it's seen as a time of peace and hope, it is also a blatant resistance to something else. The Advent season confronts the cynical corrosion of the heart with the insistence that God has not given up and has certainly not abandoned the world. It shows us that hope is real and something good is coming.
When a longing or a burden comes upon us, it can still be a joyful, hopeful, peace-filled time. We can value someone by looking straight into their eyes. We can care by opening our arms and hands towards them. We can bring healing by speaking words of joy, hope, and peace toward others. That is how we direct the fire God created within us, incarnationally towards others.
We invite you to spend time with the Father and seek his revelation on one question: Father, who are you putting on my heart to reach out to?
Pastor Dale continued our advent series on the holy longing, the fiery energy of God that burns inside each of us. This morning we looked at the difference between a “Theist” and an "Incarnate Jesus Follower.” A theist believes in a God in heaven. An “Incarnate Jesus Follower” believes in a God in heaven who is also physically present on this earth inside of human beings. The theist believes God is transcendent and present only as some vague being. The “Incarnate Jesus Follower” believes God is also transcendent and has a physical body on earth that can be seen, heard, felt, tasted, and smelled. What this means for us in our daily lives is that as incarnate followers of Jesus, we have an active role to play in following Jesus. It is partnering with God in prayer and taking action, to bring his presence to those around us. When we do this, when we let Jesus tend the fire within us, when we shape our lives and our bodies in the way Jesus shaped his, we do our part to carry the incarnation forward.
We invite you to spend time with the Father and seek his revelation on one question: Father, how can I carry the incarnation forward this week?
This morning, Pastor Dale unpacked a truth that is at the very core of who we are. At the center of our lives lies a fiery energy, a perpetual disquiet, a lingering loneliness, an ache for something we can never quite name. It a holy longing and it's been placed there by our Creator. It is meant to be tended to by Jesus, but we often allow other things to give it life, things that don't lead to peace or rest.
Following Jesus is about what we do with that desire he placed within us. What we do with our breath, our lives, handling the hope and pain, how we handle the unrest inside of us, how we channel the passion within us, how we channel the longing with us...all informed by the way and the life of Jesus.
We invite you to spend time with the Father and seek his revelation on what is fueling the fire he placed inside you. Questions you can ask:
Father, what is fueling the fire you've placed within me? Are there areas I've allowed the enemy to tend the fire?
What does it look like for me to allow Jesus to tend the fire?
Is there an invitation you have for me to take a next step, to take action for you? Will you reveal it to me?
This week we continued our series in Mark looking at what Jesus said and what He did. As we looked at Mark 6:45-56, we saw how Jesus went away to be with God. Whether Jesus had experienced a season of success, a season of desperation, or even a season when the people were trying to force him into their expected role of him as their king, Jesus pursued time with His father. Jesus was seeking alignment with the heart of God. He wanted to be who the Father wanted him to be, to do what the Father wanted him to do. That required heart alignment which can only come with time spent with the Father.
Pastor Dale invited us to spend time with the Father and seek his heart.
Questions you can ask:
Father, what are my expectations of you?
Is there something I'm holding onto that you want me to let go to you?
Is there a storm I'm facing that you're waiting for me to invite you into?
Is there an invitation you have for me to take a next step, to take action for you? Will you reveal it to me?
As you hear His response, we encourage you to write down what you hear and invite you to continue praying through it this week.
This morning Pastor Dale brought us back to our series in Mark where we looked at what Jesus said and what He did. Jesus listened moment by moment to the voice of the Father. It was a steady rhythm he modeled for us, critically necessary for us due to the noise that surrounds us along with an enemy whose desire is to steal, kill and destroy. Pastor Dale mentioned last week and reminded us today, the goal of the Christian life is not to get to heaven, but to bring heaven to earth. We can only do this when we spend time meeting and engaging with our Father. It's in that quiet place when we hear his whispers, that compassion is activated in us. It is when we hear what God is saying, receive his guidance on what he's asking us to do, and then take action, that we live out our calling as sons and daughters.
We invite you to spend time with our Father this evening and seek Him on what he wants to say to you and what action he's asking you to take. As you hear His whispers, we encourage you to write down what you hear. Finally, we invite you to pray the following prayer taken from Psalm 23: Lord you are my shepherd, your provision leaves me lacking nothing. You lead me to and provide for me, the greenest pastures, the quietest waters. Both of these refresh my soul. You guide me along the right paths for your purpose and your plan. Even when I walk through the darkest valleys, the most difficult times a person can face, I am free from anxiety because you are with me, and stay with me to the other side. You're directing and correcting comfort me. You have blessed me beyond what I deserve, and you keep reminding me that I am your child. I am confident that your goodness and your love will stay with me every day I have remaining as we are with each other forever.
This week, not only did Pastor Dale bless us with his singing of Taylor Swift, but he also taught us about cruciformity. Cruciformity is the conforming to the crucified Christ. It is us dying to self, valuing others above ourselves, and in doing so, we bring heaven to earth. It is a process we are called to live out, but we must step into it. First by stopping and pausing to assess, to repent. Identifying what we need to let go of, repenting where it's needed, and letting it go, letting it ascend, so that we can receive what God has for us today.
This is resurrection work. We are in a period of 40 days whereas individuals and as a church we are prayerfully seeking our Father, identifying and surrendering what we need to let go of so that we can receive what God has for us today. We invite you to spend time with our Father this evening and this week to seek Him on what He's asking you to let go of. As a member of our church family, is there something he's asking you to release to him? Is there something that needs to be mourned or celebrated to be prepared to ascend?
This morning we had our dear friend Pastor Steve Dang join us to teach. He taught on the hospitality of Jesus, where people experience healing, belonging, and the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. Hospitality starts with us. It's not about having a home and hosting others, although that's a wonderful way to be hospitable. Hospitality is a heart posture. It is meeting people where they are at, being present with them, listening to them, connecting with others, and giving grace to others, all from the grace we've been given through Jesus.
Pastor Steve challenged us this week to take a step and offer hospitality to someone this week. It could look like:
- Being present with someone God is putting on your heart to spend time with
- Making margin for interruptions. When your day is interrupted by someone, perhaps it's an opportunity God is providing to be hospitable, to meet the person where they're at
- Take a risk. Take a step in saying hello, having a conversation, or grabbing coffee with someone who has a different perspective than you and enter into that conversation by simply listening
- Partner with Calvary to show hospitality by being a driver for the Send International conference. Transportation is needed in the mornings and evenings to drive the team to and from Calvary. We desire to host them well and are in need of drivers for the short distance each day. For more details and to sign-up, please fill out the form here.
This morning was significant in the life of our church and the work God is doing in us and through us. Pastor Dale taught on the paschal mystery, that in order to come to fuller life and spirit, we must continuously let go of past life and spirit. We see this in Jesus' teaching "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:23-24) Pastor Dale referenced two kinds of death and two kinds of life.
Two kinds of death
- Terminal death that ends physical life
- Paschal death that is ending one kind of life and opens the person undergoing it to receive a deeper & richer form of life
Two kinds of life
- Resuscitated life when one is restored to one’s former life & health
- Resurrected life is the reception of a radically new life, better than the previous
This is a process of transformation, within which we are given both new life and new spirit.
- It begins with suffering and death
- Moves on to reception of new life
- Spends some time grieving the old & adjusting to the new
- When the old life has been truly let go of, a new spirit is given for the life we are already living
God’s work continues to move us forward. It is not a resuscitation work, it is a resurrection work – one that begins with renewal in us so that others can be renewed through us. Over the next 40 days, as individuals and as a church we are going to prayerfully seek our Father, identifying and surrendering what we need to let go of so that we can receive what God has for us today.
We invite you to spend time with our Father this evening and this week to seek Him on what He's asking you to let go of. What in your personal life is he asking you to let go of and for our church, what is he asking you to let go of? What is it you need to admit is dead, what is currently alive? What needs to be mourned, celebrated to be prepared to ascend?
We invite you to write down what you hear and continue to pray through it. In our worship lobby and in Parkside rooms, we have ascension walls. The ascension walls are there to post the things you need to let go of to receive the new. We invite you to bring a representation of what you're letting go of and post it to the board. It could be what you've written down on paper, a photo, an old bulletin or handout from a ministry. There's also paper and pens by the wall where you can write down what you're letting go of and pin it to the board.
This morning was significant in the life of our church and the work God is doing in us and through us. Pastor Dale taught on the paschal mystery, that in order to come to fuller life and spirit, we must continuously let go of past life and spirit. We see this in Jesus' teaching "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:23-24) Pastor Dale referenced two kinds of death and two kinds of life.
Two kinds of death
- Terminal death that ends physical life
- Paschal death that is ending one kind of life and opens the person undergoing it to receive a deeper & richer form of life
Two kinds of life
- Resuscitated life when one is restored to one’s former life & health
- Resurrected life is the reception of a radically new life, better than the previous
This is a process of transformation, within which we are given both new life and new spirit.
- It begins with suffering and death
- Moves on to reception of new life
- Spends some time grieving the old & adjusting to the new
- When the old life has been truly let go of, a new spirit is given for the life we are already living
God’s work continues to move us forward. It is not a resuscitation work, it is a resurrection work – one that begins with renewal in us so that others can be renewed through us. Over the next 40 days, as individuals and as a church we are going to prayerfully seek our Father, identifying and surrendering what we need to let go of so that we can receive what God has for us today.
We invite you to spend time with our Father this evening and this week to seek Him on what He's asking you to let go of. What in your personal life is he asking you to let go of and for our church, what is he asking you to let go of? What is it you need to admit is dead, what is currently alive? What needs to be mourned, celebrated to be prepared to ascend?
We invite you to write down what you hear and continue to pray through it. In our worship lobby and in Parkside rooms, we have ascension walls. The ascension walls are there to post the things you need to let go of to receive the new. We invite you to bring a representation of what you're letting go of and post it to the board. It could be what you've written down on paper, a photo, an old bulletin or handout from a ministry. There's also paper and pens by the wall where you can write down what you're letting go of and pin it to the board.
This week, Danny Busch took us through Philippians 1:5 as he unpacked the deep meaning behind the word "partnership." It's so much more than our dictionary definition of doing something with another. Paul used the word "koinonia" and it described the intimate bond that unites followers of Jesus, followers who share everything in common as the basis for developing community. This instruction, this way of life, wasn't written just for followers of Christ living at that time. It was also written for us, as instruction for how God is looking for us to live in community with one another today. It seems impossible in our modern culture. And yet it is entirely doable, in us, if we are in Him. It requires actively resisting the lure of individualism as a built-in desire of our flesh. It's an active choice to value unity over division and Kingdom values over individual perspectives. It starts with each of us.
Danny invited us to sit with our Father and invite Him to speak to our hearts. We invite you to do this today. Find a quiet space, or perhaps it's putting in headphones and playing worship music, while you sit with our Father and ask Him the following:
- Heavenly Father, where have I let individualism take root?
- Where has individualism taken root in my role at Calvary? In my life?
- Father, what is my call at Calvary? In this valley?
- How can I support others so they can fulfill their part in the body?
This week, Danny Busch took us through Philippians 1:5 as he unpacked the deep meaning behind the word "partnership." It's so much more than our dictionary definition of doing something with another. Paul used the word "koinonia" and it described the intimate bond that unites followers of Jesus, followers who share everything in common as the basis for developing community. This instruction, this way of life, wasn't written just for followers of Christ living at that time. It was also written for us, as instruction for how God is looking for us to live in community with one another today. It seems impossible in our modern culture. And yet it is entirely doable, in us, if we are in Him. It requires actively resisting the lure of individualism as a built-in desire of our flesh. It's an active choice to value unity over division and Kingdom values over individual perspectives. It starts with each of us.
Danny invited us to sit with our Father and invite Him to speak to our hearts. We invite you to do this today. Find a quiet space, or perhaps it's putting in headphones and playing worship music, while you sit with our Father and ask Him the following:
- Heavenly Father, where have I let individualism take root?
- Where has individualism taken root in my role at Calvary? In my life?
- Father, what is my call at Calvary? In this valley?
- How can I support others so they can fulfill their part in the body?
This morning Pastor Dale took us deeper into what Paul meant when he began his letters with "Grace and peace." Far more than a greeting, it is an instruction of how we are to be. The Greek greeting with the Jewish blessing is consistent with Paul’s instruction of how we are to engage with others, a church of people who seek to listen and learn with a posture of learning and compassion. We are to be people who live in awareness of the grace we have received, the grace we are given each day by our Heavenly Father through Jesus, and from that grace, we receive his peace and give peace to others.
This morning Pastor Dale took us deeper into what Paul meant when he began his letters with "Grace and peace." Far more than a greeting, it is an instruction of how we are to be. The Greek greeting with the Jewish blessing is consistent with Paul’s instruction of how we are to engage with others, a church of people who seek to listen and learn with a posture of learning and compassion. We are to be people who live in awareness of the grace we have received, the grace we are given each day by our Heavenly Father through Jesus, and from that grace, we receive his peace and give peace to others.
This morning we kicked off our new series, Together. Our scripture focus in this series is Paul's letter to Philippi and specifically Philippians 1:1-11. Pastor Dale unpacked what it is to be set apart for God and began the conversation about what it is to be His church, the church Jesus intended, following His ways and developing an "empathy radar" with an instinctive bias towards acts of grace, peace, mercy, and goodness for everyone.
Our invitation today is to seek the Father on what he is speaking to us today, what he is asking us to respond to in our own lives.
Questions we can ask:
Heavenly Father…what are you saying to me? What do you have set apart for me that you want to do with me and through me?
Father, what am I hanging on to that is more about me instead of others?
We invite you to write down what you hear and continue praying through it this week. Ask God what next step he's asking you to take and we encourage you to be bold and take that step.
This morning we kicked off our new series, Together. Our scripture focus in this series is Paul's letter to Philippi and specifically Philippians 1:1-11. Pastor Dale unpacked what it is to be set apart for God and began the conversation about what it is to be His church, the church Jesus intended, following His ways and developing an "empathy radar" with an instinctive bias towards acts of grace, peace, mercy, and goodness for everyone.
Our invitation today is to seek the Father on what he is speaking to us today, what he is asking us to respond to in our own lives.
Questions we can ask:
Heavenly Father…what are you saying to me? What do you have set apart for me that you want to do with me and through me?
Father, what am I hanging on to that is more about me instead of others?
We invite you to write down what you hear and continue praying through it this week. Ask God what next step he's asking you to take and we encourage you to be bold and take that step.
This morning Pastor Dale took us through Mark 6:7-13. At this point in Jesus' ministry, his disciples have been with him for close to two years. They had witnessed Jesus' authority over nature, authority over the supernatural, and his authority over the physical. In each of those moments, there was a call to respond. Jesus implements his power and then asks for a response...a life of faith, mercy, and peace. As followers of Jesus, we are called to respond. Our invitation today is to seek the Father on what he is asking us to respond to in our own lives.
Questions we can ask:
1) Heavenly Father, what are you placing on my heart to do? Is there a place you're calling me to go? A step you're asking me to take?
2) Father, who have you placed in my life that needs a word of blessing?
3) Father, what do I need help with? Who would you like me to share this with and/or ask for help from?
This morning Pastor Dale took us through Mark 6:7-13. At this point in Jesus' ministry, his disciples have been with him for close to two years. They had witnessed Jesus' authority over nature, authority over the supernatural, and his authority over the physical. In each of those moments, there was a call to respond. Jesus implements his power and then asks for a response...a life of faith, mercy, and peace. As followers of Jesus, we are called to respond. Our invitation today is to seek the Father on what he is asking us to respond to in our own lives.
Questions we can ask:
1) Heavenly Father, what are you placing on my heart to do? Is there a place you're calling me to go? A step you're asking me to take?
2) Father, who have you placed in my life that needs a word of blessing?
3) Father, what do I need help with? Who would you like me to share this with and/or ask for help from?
This week we were blessed to have our friend Patrick McDonald back to continue our series in Mark and take us through what Jesus said and did in Mark 6:1-6. In the verses, we see Jesus in his hometown, unable to do any miracles. The lack of faith was so strong, that it amazed Jesus.
As followers of Jesus, there's a risk of getting complacent in our faith. We can go through the routines of our lives, even going to church on Sundays, and miss out on what God wants to speak to us, do through us, his purpose and plans for us. Our invitation is to seek the Father on what we can do this week to make ourselves more available to our Father.
Questions we can ask: 1) Heavenly Father, will you reveal what I can do to make myself more available to you? 2) What can I do to make myself more aware of how you are working in my life or my community?
We invite you to write down what you hear and tell a friend or loved one about it. Take that step today or tomorrow, and make a plan to connect this week and share how it went. Our Father has something special in store for you and how he wants to use you for His Kingdom.
This week we were blessed to have our friend Patrick McDonald back to continue our series in Mark and take us through what Jesus said and did in Mark 6:1-6. In the verses, we see Jesus in his hometown, unable to do any miracles. The lack of faith was so strong, that it amazed Jesus.
As followers of Jesus, there's a risk of getting complacent in our faith. We can go through the routines of our lives, even going to church on Sundays, and miss out on what God wants to speak to us, do through us, his purpose and plans for us. Our invitation is to seek the Father on what we can do this week to make ourselves more available to our Father.
Questions we can ask: 1) Heavenly Father, will you reveal what I can do to make myself more available to you? 2) What can I do to make myself more aware of how you are working in my life or my community?
We invite you to write down what you hear and tell a friend or loved one about it. Take that step today or tomorrow, and make a plan to connect this week and share how it went. Our Father has something special in store for you and how he wants to use you for His Kingdom.
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearingwhat they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Mark 5:35-36
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearingwhat they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Mark 5:35-36
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearingwhat they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Mark 5:35-36
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearingwhat they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Mark 5:35-36
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearingwhat they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Mark 5:35-36
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearingwhat they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Mark 5:35-36
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
This week, Pastor Rob took us through Mark 5:21-43. In the passages we see Jesus say and do what only he can - heal as only he can, resurrect what only he can. The question and the opportunity lies with us. Are we willing to reach out to Jesus and ask for his help? Are we willing to trust in his power to heal and to save not just us but our loved ones, our children, our parents, our broken dreams. We invite you to sit with our Father and allow him to speak to your heart. What is it in your life that Jesus wants to resurrect? Is there an area he's looking for you to surrender and trust in Him, His ways, and His timing? We encourage you to write it down and continue praying through it this week.
This week, Pastor Rob took us through Mark 5:21-43. In the passages we see Jesus say and do what only he can - heal as only he can, resurrect what only he can. The question and the opportunity lies with us. Are we willing to reach out to Jesus and ask for his help? Are we willing to trust in his power to heal and to save not just us but our loved ones, our children, our parents, our broken dreams. We invite you to sit with our Father and allow him to speak to your heart. What is it in your life that Jesus wants to resurrect? Is there an area he's looking for you to surrender and trust in Him, His ways, and His timing? We encourage you to write it down and continue praying through it this week.
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Mark 5:18-19
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Mark 5:18-19
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Mark 5:18-19
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Mark 5:18-19
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Mark 5:18-19
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Mark 5:18-19
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
Pastor Dale took us through Mark 5:1-20, where Mark tells us a story about walls, walls that need to come down. Sometimes walls are people who have hurt us. It could be lies of the enemy you've come to believe. Or maybe it's traditions, things of the past you're holding onto, afraid or unwilling to let go and step into the new thing Jesus has for you.
This afternoon we invite you to sit with our Father and invite him to reveal what walls are in your life that are blocking you.
Questions we can ask: Heavenly Father, will you reveal the wall in my life that you're looking to break down? Will you show it to me now? What does breaking it down and stepping into the new thing you have for me look like?
Pastor Dale took us through Mark 5:1-20, where Mark tells us a story about walls, walls that need to come down. Sometimes walls are people who have hurt us. It could be lies of the enemy you've come to believe. Or maybe it's traditions, things of the past you're holding onto, afraid or unwilling to let go and step into the new thing Jesus has for you.
This afternoon we invite you to sit with our Father and invite him to reveal what walls are in your life that are blocking you.
Questions we can ask: Heavenly Father, will you reveal the wall in my life that you're looking to break down? Will you show it to me now? What does breaking it down and stepping into the new thing you have for me look like?
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Mark 4:37-38
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Mark 4:37-38
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Mark 4:37-38
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Mark 4:37-38
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Mark 4:37-38
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Mark 4:37-38
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
Today we were joined by Pastor Dave Lomas from Reality SF. Pastor Dave continued our series in Mark 4:35-38 and we took a fresh look at what was happening when Jesus calmed the storm. What were the disciples' feeling? In a hurricane, their boat filling with water, as Jesus slept the disciples wondered and then woke him and asked "Don't you care?"
It's a question we often ask when we face storms in our lives. Jesus, where are you? Jesus, don't you care?
And yet, we know our Savior loves us beyond our understanding. So much so that he left his throne to not only be with us but to die for us. The opportunity before us today is to examine our hearts, to seek our Father and allow him to reveal what is keeping us from trusting him in the storms we face.
We invite you to sit with our Father today and allow him to speak to your heart. Questions we can ask: Heavenly Father, will you speak to me about the storm I'm facing? What do you want me to know? What does it look like for me to trust you more in this season?
Today we were joined by Pastor Dave Lomas from Reality SF. Pastor Dave continued our series in Mark 4:35-38 and we took a fresh look at what was happening when Jesus calmed the storm. What were the disciples' feeling? In a hurricane, their boat filling with water, as Jesus slept the disciples wondered and then woke him and asked "Don't you care?"
It's a question we often ask when we face storms in our lives. Jesus, where are you? Jesus, don't you care?
And yet, we know our Savior loves us beyond our understanding. So much so that he left his throne to not only be with us but to die for us. The opportunity before us today is to examine our hearts, to seek our Father and allow him to reveal what is keeping us from trusting him in the storms we face.
We invite you to sit with our Father today and allow him to speak to your heart. Questions we can ask: Heavenly Father, will you speak to me about the storm I'm facing? What do you want me to know? What does it look like for me to trust you more in this season?
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
“With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.”
Mark 4:33-34
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
“With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.”
Mark 4:33-34
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
“With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.”
Mark 4:33-34
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
“With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.”
Mark 4:33-34
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
“With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.”
Mark 4:33-34
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
“With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.”
Mark 4:33-34
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
This morning Pastor Dale taught on Mark 4:21-34. He encouraged us to seek our Father and receive the seeds of His Kingdom our hearts are in need of. What Kingdom seeds are you in need of? It may be:
- Seeds of forgiveness
- Seeds of grace
- Seeds of hope
- Seeds of a renewed spirit
- Seeds of peace
- Seeds to break roots of bitterness
We invite you to sit with our Father now and invite Him to speak to you. To reveal what seed you need from Him and to receive it. We encourage you to open your hands and through prayer, give Him what you've been holding onto, the pain, the disappointment, the frustration, the broken dream, the worry, the bitterness. Allow Jesus to take it and receive from Him the kingdom seed he wants to replenish and renew in you. As you receive from Him and as you're renewed, we encourage you to seek guidance on where and whom our Father is looking for you to spread His Kingdom seeds. Is there a next step He's inviting you to take this week?
This morning Pastor Dale taught on Mark 4:21-34. He encouraged us to seek our Father and receive the seeds of His Kingdom our hearts are in need of. What Kingdom seeds are you in need of? It may be:
- Seeds of forgiveness
- Seeds of grace
- Seeds of hope
- Seeds of a renewed spirit
- Seeds of peace
- Seeds to break roots of bitterness
We invite you to sit with our Father now and invite Him to speak to you. To reveal what seed you need from Him and to receive it. We encourage you to open your hands and through prayer, give Him what you've been holding onto, the pain, the disappointment, the frustration, the broken dream, the worry, the bitterness. Allow Jesus to take it and receive from Him the kingdom seed he wants to replenish and renew in you. As you receive from Him and as you're renewed, we encourage you to seek guidance on where and whom our Father is looking for you to spread His Kingdom seeds. Is there a next step He's inviting you to take this week?
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
This morning, Pastor David Kim shared God's word for our church on the posture of our hearts as we looked at the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:1-20. Pastor David encouraged us to take a step that may be difficult, and that is to let our Father examine our hearts. Questions we can ask:
- Heavenly Father, how is my heart? Will you reveal to me any areas where my heart is hard, shallow, or divided?
- What do I need to change? What is the step you'd like me to take to replace what is hard, shallow, or divided with good soil?
This morning, Pastor David Kim shared God's word for our church on the posture of our hearts as we looked at the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:1-20. Pastor David encouraged us to take a step that may be difficult, and that is to let our Father examine our hearts. Questions we can ask:
- Heavenly Father, how is my heart? Will you reveal to me any areas where my heart is hard, shallow, or divided?
- What do I need to change? What is the step you'd like me to take to replace what is hard, shallow, or divided with good soil?
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mark 3:24-25
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mark 3:24-25
Mark 3:13-16
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mark 3:24-25
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mark 3:24-25
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mark 3:24-25
Mark 3:13-16
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mark 3:24-25
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
This week, we had our dear friend and member of our church family, Patrick McDonald, teach us today. Patrick took us through Mark 3-13:16 as we looked at what it means to belong to God's family. While our valley and culture often point to achievements in our lives or our jobs to determine our value, in the Kingdom of God, our value and our identity are found in who we belong to. Questions Patrick encouraged us to ask ourselves and seek our Father's response on:
What does it look like for you to be part of our church family?
What could it look like on Sunday to become more involved at Calvary?
As a church family, we want to know you and journey alongside you. If you aren't certain what being connected looks like at Calvary or how to get involved, we invite you to fill out our connect card by clicking here. We'd love to meet you, hear about what God is putting on your heart, and help you get engaged with others here at Calvary. After listening to the message, find a quiet space, grab paper and pen, and go through the Lectio Divina, or divine reading, on this week's verses.
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelvethat they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.
Mark 3:13-16
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelvethat they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.
Mark 3:13-16
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelvethat they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.
Mark 3:13-16
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
As we looked at Mark 2:23-3:19 this morning, Pastor Dale unpacked a disturbing story. The Pharisees were at the Synagogue on Sabbath. They were in the very presence of Jesus, knew Jesus could heal and were watching him closely. They weren't there to worship him, looking to learn from Him, or watching with pure hearts for what miracle he would perform. Instead, they were there to scrutinize and criticize. They were looking for a reason to condemn. Their faith had drifted to a place where the very Messiah they were praying for to come was right in front of them and they didn't even see it.
The risk to drift is a risk for all of us. It might be work that pulls us away, the business of our daily lives, a relationship, parenting, striving to achieve, the list is endless. What's behind it? We don't stop and ask "what has become first in my life?", "why am I doing this?". We miss God when we drift. Drifting pulls us away from our first love and pulls us away from how to love others.
In our response time, Pastor Dale gave us time to engage with our Father and allow him to speak into our lives, to reveal if we've drifted in our lives. We invite you to sit with our Father now, to sit in the presence of the One who is present with you. Questions you can ask:
Heavenly Father, will you reveal where I've drifted in my life?
Father, where do you want me to begin?
What do you want me to remember?
What do you want me to repent of?
What do you want me to redo?
Who do I know that’s drifted and how can I help them get back to the beginning?
Allow our Father to speak to your heart and we encourage you to write down what you hear and continue praying through it this week. If we can be praying for and with you, we'd be honored to do so. You can reach out here.
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Mark 2:21-22
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Mark 2:21-22
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Mark 2:21-22
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
We love our Sunday mornings with you! Gathering with you and engaging with our Father, it sets the stage for a wonderful new week. The real goodness though, is what happens Monday through Saturday. As we are released into our weekly lives, our places of business, our communities, we have the opportunity to pour out and into others from what God has poured into us. Today Pastor Dale taught on Mark 2:18-22. How when we are connected with Jesus, His active presence brings freshness and newness each day. When we are submitted and following Jesus, he pours new wine into us, and we are made new in Him. We invite you to take time this afternoon and engage with our Father. Find a quiet space, grab paper and pen, and go through the Lectio Divina, or divine reading, on this week's verses. What new thing is our Father looking to do in you? What new wine does he want to pour into you? Allow him to speak to your heart and we encourage you to write down what you hear and pray through it. If we can be praying for and with you, we'd be honored to do so. Simply reach out to us here.
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
“Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”
Mark 2:13-14
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
“Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”
Mark 2:13-14
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
“Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”
Mark 2:13-14
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
Today Pastor Steve continued our series on Mark. This morning we looked at what Jesus said and did in Mark 2:13-17. Jesus chose Matthew, a tax collector, to follow him. That evening, Jesus has dinner at Matthew's house with many tax collectors and sinners. Jesus tells us he did not come to call the righteous but the sinners. He shows us with his actions he was not concerned with simply changing the culture. Jesus was concerned with creating a culture, one of invitation and participation. How can we do this today? As followers of Jesus, how can we step into the invitation and participate? Pastor Steve gave us three steps with a question to ask ourselves in each step.
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Creating the culture of Jesus begins by accepting the invitation of Jesus. Have you accepted the invitation to follow Jesus?
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Creating in the culture of Jesus requires repentance. Is there a relationship that requires a humble u-turn in your life?
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Creating the culture of Jesus is a journey of 1000 small choices toward philoxenia. Are we a steppingstone, a stumbling block, or completely silent to Jesus?
We invite you to take time and seek our Father on the above. Allow him to speak to your heart and we encourage you to write down what you hear.
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:4-5
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:4-5
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Mark 2:4-5
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
This morning we looked at what Jesus said and did in Mark 2:1-12. In the scriptures, we read about four friends who with faith and determination, bring their paralytic friend to Jesus, dig through a roof, and lower their friend to be healed by Jesus. Jesus was moved by the faith of four ordinary men who didn't just believe Jesus could heal, they took action from that faith and not only witnessed a miracle, but also played a key role in the miracle taking place.
"Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:4-5
The Lectio Divina verse for this week can be found at www.calvarylg.com/mark. We encourage you to pray through it as often as you're led, taking note of what our Father is speaking to you. What part of the story is our Father drawing your attention to? What does he want to say to you about it? Is there a step of faith he's asking you to take?
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:35-37. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”” Mark 1:35-37
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”” Mark 1:35-37
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”” Mark 1:35-37
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
This morning, Pastor Rob delivered an important and relevant message this morning. We looked at What Jesus said and did in Mark 1:35-45. Jesus was busy. He was teaching, healing, ministering. He knew what it was to have countless others needing him, wanting to spend time with him, things he had to do. While Jesus was undoubtedly tired, he shows us that what we need more than sleep, more than time to ourselves, is time with our Father. It is in relationship with our Father, in time spent with our Father, where we are replenished, where we are nourished, where our stress is exchanged for peace. It is where the demands on our lives can be prioritized by the one who knows exactly what should be done and what should fall away. It is time with our Father that gives us the strength to continue pressing on with the work that lies ahead.
Pastor Rob encouraged and challenged us to choose a day this week and set the alarm for 15 minutes earlier than a typical day. In those 15 minutes, he invited us to pray through the Lectio Divina for this week. For those who weren't able to attend this morning or didn't get to pick up the Lectio Divina this week, you can find the digital version at www.calvarylg.com/mark.
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:29-31. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
"As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them." Mark 1:29-31
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
"As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them." Mark 1:29-31
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
"As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them." Mark 1:29-31
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Amen
This week, Danny Busch Danny delivered an incredible teaching in our series looking at What Jesus Said and What Jesus Did. The passage we studied was Mark 1:21-34 and the authority of Jesus. Rather than impose His authority over others, Jesus offers something different. Jesus extends an invitation to everyone to accept His authority and live under his rule in the Kingdom of God. The authority Jesus offers gives us hope to believe, hope that in our darkest and most difficult moments, God sees us and is with us. When we accept His authority and when we believe and belong, there is a responsibility given to us to practice the way of Jesus and practice the values of the new kingdom. We are to go and share the good news with others, inviting more people into the kingdom, breaking down the barriers that might be keeping people from belonging in the kingdom. We are to use the authority Jesus gives us the same way we see Him use it, not over creation, but for creation, and for people.
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:17-18. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:17-18
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:17-18
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:17-18
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Amen
As we walk through the book of Mark this summer we're using a process called Lectio Divina to prayerfully meditate on specific passages. In this first week, we're focusing on Mark 1:7-8. You can follow along below or just listen. For more on this teaching series visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
Preparation
Find a place where you can sit comfortably and without distraction. Pay attention to your posture and your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. Quiet your mind, giving yourself grace when it wanders. Use the following to guide you through your time with the Lord today.
Prayer of Invitation
I acknowledge God is with me and I ask Him to speak through the passage I’m about to read.
God I know you are with me. Thank you for being here now. I pause to be still and to hear from you in this moment. Holy Spirit speak through the Word and fill my heart with the truth you want me to see, hear and live today.
Read
As I read the passage for today, slowly and out loud, I allow the words to sink deep into my heart and mind.
And [John] preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:7-8
[Pause]
Reflect
As I prepare to read the passage out loud again, I pause to pray:
Father, your Word is living and active and I know You speak through it to your people. Would You highlight a word or phrase You want to share uniquely with me today?
And [John] preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:7-8
As I sense God highlight a word or phrase for me, I repeat that word or phrase, several times, quietly in my mind.
[Pause]
Rehearse
As I read the passage out loud one final time, I allow the passage and God’s Word for me sink in, I ask him specifically what next step He’s asking me to take today.
Father, how do you want me to apply this to my life today? Is there something I need to release to you? Is there something I need to repent of and turn back towards You? is there something You’re calling me to step into today?
And [John] preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:7-8
I write a single sentence that reinforces how he’s asking me to apply what I experienced to my life today.
[Pause]
As I prepare to take my time with the Lord into my day, I remember, Jesus who loves me says:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And I align myself with Jesus, praying the model he used when teaching the disciples, by praying the Lord’s prayer:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Amen
Today we kicked off our new series in the book of Mark. What's so interesting about this book is that we know from the very first line who Jesus is and those who are reading this book know who Jesus is, but as the story unfolds nobody in the story knows who Jesus is. Our hope for this series, the challenge Pastor Dale has given himself and us, is that we would come open-handed and look for who Jesus really is. That we would look and listen to what he said or what he did, see and hear in a fresh new way, and come to know what it really means to follow Him.
For more on this teaching series, visit https://www.calvarylg.com/mark
In this second episode on personality temperaments, Marriage and Family Therapist, Tina Engel, joins to help us understand how to navigate conflict with others and recognize when as individuals, we're entering into a fight, flight, or freeze frame of mind.
In this multi-episode series on personality temperaments, Marriage and Family Therapist, Tina Engel, joins to help us understand the 4 main temperaments, how they likely experienced covid, what life may look like now, and how to navigate healthy conversations (and avoid arguments!).
In this multi-episode series on the effects of Covid, Marriage and Family Therapist, Tina Engel, joins to share practical steps we can take to restore peace in our homes. In this episode we talk specifically about how parents can best approach distance learning for themselves and their teens.
Marriage and Family Therapist, Tina Engel, joins to share the psychological and emotional impact Covid is having and practical steps to restore peace in our homes. In this multi-episode series, this third episode focuses primarily on teens and how to help them succeed with distance learning.
Marriage and Family Therapist, Tina Engel, joins to share the psychological and emotional impact Covid is having and practical steps to restore peace in our homes. This second episode of our mini series focuses on teens and how to support them through this season.
Marriage and Family Therapist, Tina Engel, joins to share the psychological and emotional impact Covid is having and practical steps to restore peace in our homes. In this multi-episode series, this first episode focuses primarily on kids and how to help them process the emotions they don’t even know they’re feeling.
In this special edition podcast, Pastor Steve talks with Dr. Lem Usita about how the use of technology during the Covid season is impacting our interpersonal relationships and what we can do to prepare to relate in person again.
Mercy changes us. According to Paul we used to be slaves to our sin nature. Our sin nature drove us out of control, but now in Christ, we are given a new life, a new humanity that gives us power, authority, and a new mission.
When things get rattled and rolled, sometimes we have no choice, but to rebuild. Human beings were made to rebuild whether in Jenga, Lincoln logs, Lego's, or whole cities devastated by nature, when things are upended, we start to rebuild. The question in rebuilding is whether we rebuild things as they were, or rebuild it better?
It's natural for our hope to decline when our circumstances decline. What if we could continue to experience hope despite the circumstances in front of us?
A special edition of our podcast in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic offering hope, encouragement and some additional thoughts to point you to Jesus in the middle of your week. In this episode our HSM Pastor, Miranda, shares a the encouragement she found looking at Scripture.
A special edition of our podcast in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic offering hope, encouragement and some additional thoughts to point you to Jesus in the middle of your week. In this episode our MSM Pastor, Patrick, shares a super practical way to pray.