Pastor’s Ponderings

“Thanks”

Thank you to all who made our Easter services so special. The music was fabulous with the choir singing the first twenty minutes of the morning services. We had a great crowd and two indicated they got saved. Two more joined with us. The evening service was special as we had a hymn sing and testimony time. Again, thanks to all who made the day so special.

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By the time you read this, the Student Auction will be finished. I again want to thank all who worked so hard to make it happen. Many companies donated items, and I encourage you to support those businesses. We are praying for another successful year that will enable young people to go to camp who would not have been able to go. These fund also help the Student Ministries with year-round expenses, and we are truly grateful for you kind giving.

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Last month I mentioned an article by Thom Rainer, “Why I Attend Church”. He gave ten reasons, and this month we look at numbers 3 and 4.

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May might be the busiest month of the year in the life of our church. The teens attend a youth conference on the 4th, and the Ladies’ Bible Study will be Tuesday, May 7.

Out student ministries will have award night on May 8, and everyone will be in the auditorium. The following night our Young Adults play volleyball, and Friday the 10th our Golden Agers will take a train trip to Grapevine.

Mother’s Day falls on the 12th, and all the ladies will meet in the Family Life Center for brunch at 9:45am. During the 11:00 we will have Baby Dedication (though no one has signed up as of April 24).

Outreach is May 14, and all Teen and Children workers will have an appreciation meal on the 15th at 6:30. The teens will have Video Game Night on the 17th, and this is always a big draw for visitors! Graduation Sunday is May 19. We will honor all graduates in the morning service and have special displays for our high school graduates in the Family Life Center after the evening service. The Young Adults will fellowship again on the 23rd, the Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study is the 25th, and the last Sunday is Memorial Day Weekend. As I post all these events, I pray we understand that being busy is not always spiritual. While we have a lot of events, if our focus is not on Jesus Christ, we lose. With all these fellowships, let’s make sure and set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth. _{********************} Beginning April 28, I will preach a new series entitled The Walk: Measuring Our Maturity. I am basing it on all of the New Testament verses that speak of our “walk.” A few of these verses include: Ephesians 4:1  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, Ephesians 4:17  This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 ⁶Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: ⁷(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) Colossians 2:6-7 ⁶As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: ⁷Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. We hope to see you at church for this series! _{********************} I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have: 1) Courage 2) Wisdom 3) Strength 4) Victory 5) Vision  

Pastor’s Ponderings

“The Music of Easter”

Easter. Resurrection. Christ Arose. Because He Lives. He Lives. Christ the Lord Is Risen Today. Rejoice, the Lord Is King. I love Easter music. Our choir will present special music at both morning services on Resurrection Sunday. That night we will have an Easter hymn sing. Join us both morning and evening services as we lift our voices in praise to our risen Savior! _{********************} He talked about it for some time. We weren’t sure if he was serious. He was. My son moved back to Jacksonville, FL a few days ago. I will miss him deeply. He planned it well and already had a job and a place to stay, and a church home before he left Texas. As much as we hate to see our children go, we recognize the need for them to “spread their wings.” When he first mentioned the possibility of moving, I could not figure why he wanted to do so. After all, Texas was home! Then it hit me that he grew up in Florida, and it was more home to him than Texas (I know that sounds like blasphemy to some reading this). We, too, have a home, an eternal home! We will be on this sinful earth for a time, but we look “for a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Our hearts long for that place and the mansions that awaits us. We will be gathered to our people. We will see our Lord and Savior. What a day that will be! _{********************} One of my new favorite authors is Thom Rainer. He has written several books, and almost all of them deal with church growth. He also sends regular emails, and he had one recently entitled, “Why I Attend Church.” Over the next several months I am going to give you his ten reasons for attending church. The first two are:

_{********************} The Faith Promise Mission cards are available on the back table. Please be in prayer for what you can give to missions in the coming year. There is also a place on the cards to participate in the 60-day Tithe Challenge. If you are not already tithing (giving 10% of your income) consider taking this test. We ask that everyone in the church tithe in the months of April and May. I am convinced that most people do not give 10% out of fear. They look at their budget and think that it would be impossible to do this. But we must remember what Scripture says! In Malachi 3:8-10, God speaks to ancient Israel and says: “⁸Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. ⁹Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. ¹⁰Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Even our Savior said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). As you determine what you will give to missions, don’t forget the opportunity to tithe to the Lord. _{********************} As we approach Easter, please invite friends and family to join us that day! We have cards you can hand out, and our prayer is that many will respond to these invitations. Over 80% of non-church going people said they will go to church if invited by a friend. Easter is the biggest day of the year for Christians. We believe our Savior, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead! Let’s take this greatest news possible and let others know about our Savior and our church! _{********************} I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have: 1) Courage 2) Wisdom 3) Strength 4) Victory 5) Vision  

Pastor’s Ponderings

” The Power of Prayer”

I’ve prayed all my life. Sometimes my prayer life has run hot and sometimes not. We often hear people speak of the power of prayer, but how often do we experience it in our lives? I am not big on New Year’s Resolutions, though I try to change something in my life every January. Our minds are more open to change then, so I decided I would change my morning routine. Looking back, I don’t even remember what my morning routine was, but I sure know what it is now! When I wake up, I check the time. If it is 2:00 AM, I go back to bed! But if it is 5:00 or later I move to a recliner and begin reading the Bible and listening to podcasts of preaching. Sometimes this “Quiet Time” lasts for thirty minutes and sometimes for two hours. My wife’s morning routine has also changed. She got a new Bible for Christmas and sits in her chair reading and praying. Before, we always had the morning news on, and I don’t think we have watched it yet this year. I don’t write this to boast! I write it to say that I have been renewed, refreshed, and revived. This doesn’t mean that I don’t have trials and difficulties. In fact my trials and difficulties are very strong (more about that later). My life is not any easier because of this new routine. But when I pray, instead of asking God for a smoother trail, I ask Him for better shoes. _{********************} Did you notice the 18% jump in Sunday morning attendance between January and February? _{********************} I have spoken many times about something I firmly believe God laid on my heart last year: Discipleship! I usually do not speak like that. I have seen so many who have justified their sinful actions and bad attitudes by claiming that God wanted them to act that way. Thus, I rarely talk about God “speaking” to me. But I write this with a firm conviction: God is leading me to lead this church into discipleship. We began with one small group of four (you gotta start somewhere). It has been exhilarating studying God’s Word together, memorizing Scripture, and seeing God’s Word as “quick and powerful.” The deepest spiritual conversations I have had in 2019 have been in that small group. We have prayed together, encouraged one another, and learned more clearly what God wants in our lives. One of the group said he has looked all the way through the material and is excited about some future lessons dealing with the scriptural way to treat one another. But I have one fascinating reason I believe this is God’s will for my life and for Calvary Baptist Church: trials! I have been hit harder by the devil in the last nine months of my life than I have ever experienced before. I have been “troubled on ever side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:7-8). Do not interpret this as whining. I used to run from trials and difficulties. While I still don’t welcome them, I understand better how they shape my Christian life. _{********************} On Sunday nights in February we looked at several passages that contained prayers. They didn’t simply say, “So and so prayed.” They contained actual prayers Paul prayed for first century believers. The first week was Ephesians 3:14-21, and I present the prayer as I pray it every morning. “Our Father in heaven, I bow my knees before You and our Lord Jesus Christ, asking that, according to the riches of your glory, You would help me to be strengthened with might by Your Spirit in my inner man. “I pray that Christ would dwell in my heart by faith, and that, since I am rooted and grounded in Your love, I would know and comprehend with the saints the entire breadth, length, depth, and height of the love of Christ which passes all knowledge. “I ask You to fill me with all Your fullness, believing that you can do exceeding, abundantly above all that I ask or even think by Your power working in me. “I give all the glory to You in the church by Christ Jesus until the end of time. Amen!” _{********************} I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have: 1) Courage 2) Wisdom 3) Strength 4) Victory 5) Vision  

Pastor’s Ponderings

“A Great Start to a Great Year” 

Thank you for your prayers for me and for Calvary Baptist Church. We have started the year on a high note. Two of our teens who were saved last year got baptized on the first Sunday of January. That same day a couple came to Christ during the service. Two weeks later they were baptized, and last Sunday a wonderful couple joined our church. We began the year with our theme: Renew, Restore, Refresh. Psalm 51:10 states, “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.” If your spirit is poor, if you come to church with a bad attitude, if you gripe and complain without ceasing, you need a right spirit renewed within you. Psalm 51:12b says, “Restore to me the joy of thy salvation.” How we need restoration today. The Psalmist told us to “serve the Lord with gladness, come before his presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2). If you come to church grumpy, if you can’t find anything good going on around you, if a smile rarely crosses your face, you need the joy of God’s salvation restored in your life. The third term, refresh, is found in Acts 3:19 where Peter told the people, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” O, how we need to experience God’s refreshing power, and we can if we just repent! _{********************} I am excited to announce that online giving is now in place at Calvary. Page 7 of the newsletter has instructions how you can begin giving through our website, and soon through our church app. Next Sunday we should begin livestreaming our 11:00 AM service on our public Facebook page. We also will introduce a church app for your smart-phone or tablet in February. You can also go to our website and listen to recent sermons. Thanks, Evan, for the great work getting all of this in place! _{********************} In the month of February, all of my Sunday morning messages will be from Ephesians 4:11-16. This passage contains a description of the church as God intended it to be. Paul states that the Lord gave gifts to the church in the form of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These leaders are supposed to equip the saints for the work of the ministry so the church can be built up. God wants us to be unified in our faith and grow to be more like Jesus Christ. If we do this, we won’t be susceptible to all the tricky and crafty teachers who would try to lead us astray. As the truth is spoken in love, we grow up in Jesus Christ. The whole body grows together with everyone doing their part, and we are all built up in love. That description is not a fairy tale. It is God’s design, and I believe that it will be accomplished as we progress with our discipleship program. I have not said much about it lately, and it is in its infancy stage. But as it grows, and more and more members of Calvary are led through a systematic discipleship program, I believe we will see an incredible transformation of both individual lives and the church as a whole. Please continue to pray that we all become true disciples of Jesus Christ, and that we are all equipped for the work of the ministry so that our body of believers is built up. _{********************} I want to say a special thanks to all who supported Calvary financially in 2018. I often say before the offering that your giving allows us to take the gospel all over Cleburne and around the world. One of my favorite “promise” verses in the Bible is Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” But we often miss the context of that verse. Paul made it clear beginning at verse 14, that this promise only applied to those who faithfully give to missions through their church. The great apostle even states that the Philippians were the only congregation that consistently gave to him financially. I pray that we will all see God’s supply in our lives as we faithfully give our tithes and offerings. _{********************} I have asked from the beginning for you to pray for me and my family in five areas. Thank you for doing so, and please continue to plead with God that I would have: 1) Courage 2) Wisdom 3) Strength 4) Victory 5) Vision