For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her children." Matt 11:18-19
Sometimes it seems like you just cant win. No matter what you do, someone is there to point out how wrong you are.
For example, some people criticized John the Baptist. He dressed funny, he ate bugs, he was always talking about repenting. He just didn't fit in.
Jesus, on the other hand, did fit in - too well. He hung out with sinners, forgave a prostitute, He just spent too much time with the wrong people.
I suppose there are two lessons here:
1 - Be careful before you judge. Some people are different, but how do you think God see's them? Does God think they are weird? I beleive God see's past our weirdness, and He loves us for who we are!
2 - Be careful trying to please people. When you know what God wants you to do, DO IT! Don't worry about what people say. You will never please everyone, but there is one that you should always seek to please - God!
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Gal 1:10
...till the whole world hears,
Pastor Clay
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
God's Reward System
"He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." Matt 10:40-42 NKJV
Do you ever worry that you will miss out on something?
Maybe you tried playing the lottery, and you didn't win anything. Perhaps you invested in some real estate, and now you are underwater. Maybe you feel you boss doesn't appreciate your efforts, and you may never make the salary you feel you deserve.
This life has it's ups and downs. We can have seasons where we are receiving, being blessed, and all is good! There are other times when we feel undervalued, unappreciated, and unrecognized!
Jesus is encouraging us to look beyond the rewards of this world, and instead focus on the rewards of His Kingdom!
Join us Sunday as we explore God's Reward System!
In His Service,
Pastor Clay
Do you ever worry that you will miss out on something?
Maybe you tried playing the lottery, and you didn't win anything. Perhaps you invested in some real estate, and now you are underwater. Maybe you feel you boss doesn't appreciate your efforts, and you may never make the salary you feel you deserve.
This life has it's ups and downs. We can have seasons where we are receiving, being blessed, and all is good! There are other times when we feel undervalued, unappreciated, and unrecognized!
Jesus is encouraging us to look beyond the rewards of this world, and instead focus on the rewards of His Kingdom!
Join us Sunday as we explore God's Reward System!
In His Service,
Pastor Clay
Friday, February 13, 2009
Real Life
Greetings Calvary Community!
Another week is closing out on us, a week that has been full of events! Most notably, we are watching the largest spending bill ever to be signed into law (for my particular take on this, visit my personal blog, clayritter.blogspot.com, which is completely personal and in no way connected to Calvary Chapel {disclaimer!}).
We live in a world where there is conflict between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, but most of all between living for God, and living for self.
Jesus is clear - if we live for Him we will be in conflict with the world. The question we have to come to terms with is "Do I seek to please God, or myself?" For the most part, the people in our world seek to live for themselves. Jesus tells us to do the exact opposite, and by doing so we will in fact find that which we long for the most: A fulfilled life.
Join us Sunday morning for an in-depth look at Jesus teaching: He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
In His Service,
Pastor Clay
Another week is closing out on us, a week that has been full of events! Most notably, we are watching the largest spending bill ever to be signed into law (for my particular take on this, visit my personal blog, clayritter.blogspot.com, which is completely personal and in no way connected to Calvary Chapel {disclaimer!}).
We live in a world where there is conflict between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, but most of all between living for God, and living for self.
Jesus is clear - if we live for Him we will be in conflict with the world. The question we have to come to terms with is "Do I seek to please God, or myself?" For the most part, the people in our world seek to live for themselves. Jesus tells us to do the exact opposite, and by doing so we will in fact find that which we long for the most: A fulfilled life.
Join us Sunday morning for an in-depth look at Jesus teaching: He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
In His Service,
Pastor Clay
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Ambassadors
Dear saints, this Sunday we’ll be looking at part two of our “Ambassador” series, Matthew chapter 10. Last week we saw how Jesus picked twelve men who were not special in any way, other than the fact that they were ‘empowered’ by Jesus for the work He called them to. I hope that you were able to see yourself somewhere in the mix of those twelve men. We don’t have to be specially educated, or particularly gifted, in order for God to use us in a mighty way! We only need to have a heart that says “I will follow you Lord,” and a willingness to seek Him for the power to minister. Each one of us can be effective Ambassadors for Christ if we’ll seek Him for the empowerment!
Looking forward to Sunday!
Pastor Clay
Looking forward to Sunday!
Pastor Clay
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