Peace! Be Still.

There is a saying that says, “Don’t rock the boat.”  According to the dictionary of idioms and phrases, it means: “keep things as they are, stay calm, don’t cause a disturbance, don’t make anyone upset.”  It comes from the idea that when a boat is on the water during a storm, the force of the wind and waves cause the boat to rock back and forth; the stronger the wind and waves, the more the boat will be rocked and tossed about.   Mark 4:35-41 tells us about a time when Jesus and His disciples took a boat across the Sea of Galilee and a fierce storm blew in.  Jesus had fallen asleep in the back of the boat when the storm hit. The disciples were panicked, since the waves were threatening to swamp the boat. The fact that the disciples were frightened tells us something about the nature of this storm; at least four of the disciples were experienced fishermen; they knew what to do in a storm.  They were used to the lake and had seen and survived its storms before. They knew how strong of a storm their boats could endure; but their survival was threatened with this one, and it sent them into a panic.   So, in desperation, they woke Jesus and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”  “We’re about to go under here, Jesus. Don’t you care? Don’t just lay there! Get up! Do something! Help us!” Jesus didn’t answer the disciples directly. Instead, He got up, rebuked the wind and spoke three words: “Peace, be still” and the wind immediately died down, and things became completely calm. 

            If you are going to be in a storm, the one Person you want your boat is Jesus.  Jesus will calm your storm- at just the right time and in the right way.  When our world seems to be coming unglued, and our boat is being rocked, our ears are not always tuned to hear the words, “Peace! Be still; I am in your boat; trust Me, I am in control.”   Perhaps though, that is where the problem lies for most of us.  We become fearful when the storms of life howl and the waves threaten us because we think WE may need to save ourselves. We think WE may have to fix the problem on our own.  So we keep one hand on steering the rudder of our boat, “just in case.”  Just in case- what?  Just in case Jesus can’t be trusted?  Just in case Jesus won’t come through for us?  When the storms of life rock our boat, Jesus IS present and He IS in control and it is then that we need to be faith-filled and not fear-filled.  He knows exactly what to do at exactly the right time.  God exercises His power over the storms of life-both internal and external.  Don’t worry, God has you in mind; He knows and understands you and your situation; and He knows which storm to calm- the storm around us, or the storm within us, and He knows the right time in which to do it.    We don’t really understand who Jesus is or the power He has until we see Him in action; until He comes and meets us in our storm.   If you place your faith and trust in Jesus in your times of storm, in those times when life rocks your boat, you will have a greater understanding of Him, a deeper relationship with Him, and a new love for Him when your storm calms down.   When the storms of life threaten us we have Someone to call on. We have Someone who will carry us through it. We have Someone Who is in the boat with us. And that Someone is Jesus Christ.  Jesus asks us to hear His words, “Peace!  Be still.”  God calls us to turn our eyes FROM the storm TO the Savior.   Don’t tell God how big your storm is; tell the storm how big your GOD is!   

(Taken from the sermon- September 8, 2013 Facing Your Fears- When Life Rocks Your Boat Mark 4:35-41 by Clark Williman.  Resources for the message-

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Matthew 8-15 and Luke 6-10 by Dr. John MacArthur;  Sermon Central Messages by Rodney Buchanan, Tim Byrd, Robert Rust)

It's The End of the World and I Feel Fine by Pastor Adam

Once upon a time there was a little chicken, and everybody called him-- Chicken Little.

And one day while he was out walking, up in the sky a bird flew over and it dropped an acorn, and the acorn fell down and-- bip-- bopped him on his head. Chicken Little said “AWK! ” and looked up, and didn't see anything, and he looked down and didn't see anything.

So he said “Help, help the sky is falling! Help, help the sky is falling! I have to tell the King!” And he went running down the road, looking for the King.

Did you know that Christianity is dying?  While Time magazine asked the question about God's death a bit early(1966) , it seems that we we have finally caught up to their prophetic words...well not prophecy if these isn't a God,...so...good guess???..... This past week the Pew Forum published the results of their survey concerning the religious affiliations of Americans.  The big take away?  Self-identified Christians have shrunk as a representation of the population quite precipitously.

If you are a believer, the sky seems to be indeed falling.  If you, on the other hand, have been praying(I mean wishing to science) that religious sentiments would go the way of the DoDo bird, the report was an encouraging affirmation of personal bias and hopes.

Is the sky really falling?  Are we on the precipice of the end of Christianity as we know it?

Not exactly.

Ed Stetzer wrote a response to the Pew data and points out a glaring missing point.  Evangelical Christianity has GROWN nearly 3 million during the time period of the survey.  What the Pew survey shows is not actual numbers, but the share of the population.  During the time of the survey we have seen a rapid population growth from many regions of the world where Evangelical Christianity is far behind Catholic identification(though Catholicism shrank noticeably within their survey data).  And so while Evangelical Christianity clearly grew, it didn't grow as fast as the total population growth...THEREFORE...they shrunk as a portion of the population.

Something DID land on our heads.  It just wasn't the whole sky.

What are we supposed to make of all of this?  How should we respond?  Should we be worried.

Let's make a couple of important broad points clear;

1- Truth is not a popularity contest.  Even if Evangelical Christianity was shrinking, that doesn't prove anything one way or the other about its veracity.  Conversely, its growth, in and of itself, doesn't prove anything either.

2-  The goal of the Gospel is not to have the largest voting bloc and strongest political influence of other groups.  If anything, that is a distraction that has lead, historically, to terrible compromises and destructive behaviors.

Within this there is something that we SHOULD be glad of.  And let me be clear, I don't mean glad in the sense of this being something great because of what it means in an eternal sense.....

NO MORE PRETENDING!

For a long time Christianity has been synonymous with social/political order.  Meaning, without any personal thought or conviction, people would just identify as Christians without any concern of whether or not it really meant anything.  As the cultural pendulum has swung away from this there is no longer artificial social pressures to continue to identify with that which you do not really take seriously.

Look at the "mainline" denominations today and you will see what the results of generations of nominal Christians have created.  One of the largest historical denominations in the US is the Presbyterian Church of The USA.  About a decade ago guess what they took out of their doctrine?  That Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.  He is now listed as "unique to our faith tradition".

For those who are not nerds for etymology like myself....the term, "Christian" is rooted in identifying with, and proclaiming, Jesus Christ(hence Christian) as the Son of God and the one and only hope for Salvation for all man kind.  You may disagree with this statement, BUT, that is the definition in a nutshell of what a Christian is and believes.

Why do I think the mainline denominations are hemorrhaging members over the last decade?  Because they have become social clubs that don't make any claims to Truth, nor claims that that Truth has a claim on YOU.  At the end of the day, if what we do in "this" group is interchangeable with any other group, it becomes easy to become disengaged.

The modern church has become what we were warned about in 2 Timothy 4:3---people gathering around teachers to tell them exactly what they want to hear.  And lets be honest, deep down inside, we don't really want(or NEED) an echo chamber affirming our self-centerdness.  We are desperate for Truth. We are desperate for conviction.  Accountability.  ETERNITY.  And talking about things that are nothing special, just "unique" to us, ain't cutting it.

So they sky IS falling.  But not in the way some people are going to tell you.  And before your sky starts to collapse on you make sure you are building towards eternity in Christ and Christ alone, because that is the foundation that will never fall.

We Are About To Get Our Green On In Calvary Kids Ministry!

From the heart of Carrie Pauquette our Children's Minister: 

It’s that time of year … spring is barely here but we’re planning for summer already. We can’t wait to feel the warm sunshine, smell the roses, hear laughter and squeals from the kids running through the sprinkler, or taste the freshly picked vegetables from the garden. All these amazing experiences of summer are made possible because God created all of these things for us to enjoy. He also made these things for us to take care of. 

Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

In my anticipation of these summer experiences, the Lord prompted me to design this year’s Vacation Bible School around this very concept - He made so many things for us to enjoy AND care for. In June, the kids of our church and community will come together to learn a whole new perspective on dirt, a whole new appreciation for water, a keen awareness of trash, and a deeper understanding of our responsibility as caretakers of God’s creation. When we, as followers of Jesus, take care of God’s creation, we have an extra good reason … we do it out of love and appreciation for OUR Creator, the One who made it all just for US!

Get Your Green On: Taking Care of God’s Creation will be at Calvary Evangelical Church on Sunday, June 14 through Wednesday, June 17 from 6-8:30PM each night, with a free family meal beginning at 5:00 every evening. This 4-night event is open to all current 4-year-old Preschoolers through 5^th Graders. Register today!

I (Pastor Brad) was asked the question ‘Why do I do what I do?’.  And to this question I have two main answers… A short answer and a long answer…

The short answer is that I love teenagers.  More importantly, I love Jesus.  I recognize that no matter what happens in my life, Jesus Christ DIED FOR ME so I dedicate myself to LIVE FOR HIM!  But also, I see that God has given me an unique ability to build solid, lasting relationships with people, especially teens.

Now for the slightly longer answer.  I had a lot of struggles as a teen!  I kept most of these issues to myself.  I went through my daily routine of inwardly struggling with self-esteem and self-worth, while outwardly putting on a fake smile and going about my business.  Not only was I not willing to share my struggles with others, I really did not feel like I had someone that I could share them with.  I needed guidance.  I needed someone in my life to listen.  I just did not know who I could turn to. 

As the Youth Pastor here at Calvary, I am blessed to be the person that many of our teenagers turn to in a time of need.  I can tell you from experience that there are times during our teenage years that we need someone to confide in.  For me, nothing is more fulfilling in this position than sitting down with teenagers to help walk them through the difficulties of life, friendships, family issues and most importantly a relationship with our God.  I have learned that I clearly do not have all of the answers to this life, but my hope is that God uses me to help point our teens to Him!   I want all of our teens to know that our God is bigger than our problems.  Our God loves us despite our failures.  And honestly, we can take joy in knowing that we serve and AMAZING GOD!

I (Pastor Clark) am excited for our Tenebrae/Communion Service on Maundy Thursday, April 2^nd at 6:30pm.  Maundy Thursday is the night before Good Friday; the night when Jesus ate his last Passover supper with His disciples and where He instituted the first communion service. The word Maundy comes from the Latin word for “commandment,” which Jesus gave when He told His disciples that He was leaving them “a new commandment,” recorded in John 13:34-35 (NIV)  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

The service will begin with sharing the elements of communion together followed by the service of Tenebrae. The Tenebrae service is an ancient tradition in Christian history, being celebrated for generations. Tenebrae is once again a Latin word meaning “shadows” or “darkness.”    As scriptures detailing the events of Jesus’ passion are read, the lights are dimmed and candles are extinguished until at the end of the service, the room is completely dark.  The purpose of the service is to commemorate the betrayal, abandonment, and agony of the events of Thursday night and Friday when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, abandoned by His disciples, tried by the Jewish religious leaders, beaten by the Romans and crucified. Before the people leave the service in silence- remembering the suffering of the Savior, one candle is re-lit as a symbol of the hope that Easter Sunday is coming.  There is no closing prayer; the service is left unfinished, because the story isn't over until Easter morning where we will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection and victory over sin and death on Sunday, April 5^th at 10:00 am.

Tenebrae Service Outline:

·       Candle’s lit

·       Hymn

·       Communion

·       Tenebrae

·       Scripture reading

·       Closing Hymn

Pastor Clark Williman

Being a follower of Christ I have one priority...

From the mind of Pastor Adam...

Being a parent forces you to focus on priorities.   Every moment of every day is limited.  And this is especially true when your kids are still quite little.  You blink and another year has passed.  Just the other day, my wife and I had lost track of the time and realized that we were about an hour behind on starting the bedtime routine.  Clearly this made for a relaxed evening of well-behaved children……

Success means knowing what is and isn’t important and not compromising on getting those most important priorities accomplished.  It is easy to get distracted by the non-essentials and miss out on key moments.  A five year old needs to learn to pick up their own room, but it is more important that they know they are loved than they have a clean room.  And it is vital that they don’t confuse being loved with a result of the cleanliness of their room!

Well-meaning parents will sadly sometimes miss the most important priority in what it means to be parent; Love.  Nothing else matters if your parenting isn’t driven by love.  A child who doesn’t feel like their parents instructions are coming from a place of love is a person who will grow up to be resentful of the behaviors and habits they were unfairly “forced” to have.

“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless, and so is your faith” -1 Corinthians 15:14

Being a follower of Christ I have one priority.  Christ crucified and Christ risen.  As the Apostle Paul points out in 1 Corinthians, our faith begin and ends with the message of the Cross.  Everything else hinges on that.  It is easy to focus on the peripherals first.  What I like to call the behavior modification aspects.  But Christ didn’t come to help us behave better, but to die for our sins, defeat sin and death, and offer, through HIS finished work, hope for eternity. 

The power of whatever I do as a preacher is sourced from one place.  The unconditional love offered at the Cross.  The people in our lives don’t need a better approach to achieving some sort of “better life” goals.  They need to hear the Gospel of the Cross. 

My kids need to know that they are loved deeply before what I teach them, hold them accountable to, and expect from them, makes sense.  And they need to know that their success and/or failure at achieving these standards is not the basis of whether their daddy loves them.  The love is unconditional, which gives them the freedom and hope to get back up when they fall. 

We need to know that we are deeply loved BEFORE we are equipped to pursue the Holiness that Christ calls us to.  And the Cross tells us that this love is not dependent upon how well we are currently doing at running hard after Christ.  People change because they are loved.  They can’t change so that they can get loved.

Your kids matter to us!

My name is Carrie Pauquette. I am a mom of three beautiful children and the Director of Children's ministry at my church. I would like to share with you my vision and PASSION for our kids ministry (and your kid!) here at Calvary Evangelical Church.

Just like adults, kids need belonging and significance.

I am confident that Calvary is the place where they are going to find both. Kids want a God to belong to and a Heaven to go to. They want a peer group to belong to and a place to call home. That place will be Calvary and that God will be Jesus. They want to feel that their lives are significant RIGHT NOW, and that they have a significant future. I feel called to show them that they have significance in Christ NOW and that Christ has a significant future planned for them ALREADY.

How will they find their belonging and significance?

1. By building a foundation of basics in scripture, prayer, and worship
2. By providing a place where families worship together through creative and fun activities
3. By offering a clean, fresh, bright and happy environment at Calvary
4. By simply connecting with each child at their level

When will they find their belonging and significance?

1. When they come to Sunday School
2. When they worship, learn and have fun on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights
3. When their families participate in activities or events at Calvary
4. When their families take church home and utilize the weekly Parent Cue
5. When they participate in summer Vacation Bible School

I feel called to create a children’s ministry that focuses on the fundamental basics of following Jesus by instilling the importance of memorizing scripture, being in God’s Word, being in constant conversation with Jesus, learning how to worship the Lord in authentic and creative expression and connecting with Jesus and others on a very real level. I genuinely want to show each child that walks through the doors of Calvary that not only do they belong to Christ and have significance in Him, but also that they are a significant part of Calvary Kids Ministry and that they belong here.

I hope to see your kids (and you!) at church soon!

Carrie Pauquette