6/2 Pastor's Perspective

Dear Calvary Family,

As believers in Jesus, we have numerous gifts that He makes available to us. Each gift is an expression of His grace towards us, undeserved favor. Some gifts are very personal, such as salvation. We can never save another from eternal punishment, or take the place of another, we can only point another to Jesus, the source of eternal life. Other gifts are given to us personally, but are simply designed to bless others, even at our own expense. We will begin to see that it is a real privilege to serve Jesus, an honor that often involves great personal sacrifice, and suffering. We are discovering the fact that when God is glorified, we are truly satisfied, period!

The spiritual gifts listed in our Ephesians 4 study this Sunday, are gifts of leadership within the church, helping us all serve in unity under the head of the church, Jesus Christ. No one deserves to serve as a leader of the church in any capacity, but in God’s eternal wisdom, and according to His grace extended, He does call some to serve in this way. Each person in the family of Jesus Christ, each believer who has been saved by faith, is given a spiritual gift that is to be used for the health of the body. As I described in last week’s teaching, as diverse plants bring forth different minerals and nutrients for the grazing cattle, so the different spiritual gifts bring about a spiritual health and fitness to the church. A healthy church will be grazing on a very diverse stand of spiritual grass and forbs. Spiritual gifts bring the deep boundless love and expressions of Christ and make them available to the church. May God make you a healthy plant, consumed for the glory of God, and for the health of the church.

I look forward to gathering with you this Sunday for several reasons:

Family Day with a family lunch. Our hospitality team will provide the meat, bring a side dish and dessert to share. Hellen says it will be a Father’s Day theme, maybe she meant for the side dishes to be more meat😊, the carnivore diet!

Nanda & Lisa Giri will be with us to give an update on the mission in Nepal, it is always special to have them here.

We plan to have the Overflowing Cup open for a walk-through. Thanks to all who have financially supported this ministry opportunity, we are halfway to our goal of $130,000!

VBS preparation is well under way, with still more opportunities for you to serve, and of course many more opportunities for children to register. We currently have 50 plus children signed up on our App!

Thanks to all who have been signing up to serve alongside the Yoder’s in our care for Cindy Ott, she is making progress in recovery from her stroke. For more information on serving, see our CCF App, or speak with Kristen.

Blessings to all, see you on Sunday!

Pastor Marv