The Power of Prayer - RECAP

Last week we finished out our three part series on prayer with a powerful reality:  Our primary calling as Christians is to be present, and active in the kingdom work of God to reach the lost with the life changing gospel message of Jesus Christ.  It is our purpose!

But working against us is the enemy of God, and the enemy of our soul; Satan, and his legion of fallen angels.  He is the god of this age who works to blind the lost to the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor 4:3-4), and the tools of his trade are lies, theft death, and destruction (John 8:8, 10:10).  We also learned that one of the most effective strategies that Satan has is to keep Christians bogged down and enslaved with every sin and problem and issue that he can lure us into. And know this: Satan isn’t interested in keeping you down just to be mean, he wants to immobilize you from your purpose and calling in the kingdom.

This understanding of Satan’s strategy helps us to realize the importance of a strong and faith-filled Christian walk: Our marriages need to be strong, our relationships need to be right, and our walk needs to be spirit-filled so that we can be ready and available for the role that God has for us in His kingdom.  When we become consumed with “our problems” and “our issues” and “our struggles,” we are unavailable for God’s purpose in our lives. We cant run a race with chains tied to our feet.  That’s why the writer of Hebrews wrote:

…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb 12:1)

Guys the race isn’t just about running, it isn’t just about getting to heaven;  It is about finishing well, with our glory being the people that will surround us in heaven as we stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, for all eternity. 

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy. (1 Thess 2:19-20)

That is why our prayer life is so important:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ… (2 Cor 10:4-5)

• Praying in the Name of Jesus; according to His nature, His character, and His will.
• Praying in faith; Believing God is who He says He is, and that He will do what He says He will do.
• Praying with authority; based on our position of authority under Jesus Christ
• Praying scripture: The truth and promises of God.
• Having a life of constant, open communication with God, praying always!
• Praying for our unsaved friends and family:  that God would break through and strongholds or arguments to the light of the gospel, and for an open door of opportunity to share Christ.

 So, what’s next in our LevelUpCCW series?  Well now that we’re strengthened by the word of God, and the power of prayer, now we need to look at our gifts and calling, and how God wants to put those gifts and calling to use in His kingdom.

Join us Sunday at 9:30 or 11:30 AM, for the next installment of our LevelUpCCW series: “Engage”

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Level Up Week 4 - PRAYER

Last week concluded our three week mini-series on “The Word of God,” and hopefully you came away from that with a few powerful truths:

The bible is the intact, inerrant word of God, preserved through the ages.

The bible is life for us, truth that we can apply to our lives, and useful for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

We will be blessed and grow if we will spend time reading, understanding, and applying God’s word to our lives.

I even issued a challenge:  if you are not currently reading your bible, I challenge you to spend time every day for thirty days – reading, understanding, and applying it to your life – and I guarantee you will see a change in your life!

But spending time in God’s word is not just for instruction; it’s also for developing a relationship with our God.  Learning who He is, what He thinks, how He feels about us.  It’s important that we get to know God!  Yet relationships are not one way, but two way.  Both parties express their thoughts, feelings, sharing their heart.  And that is where this next mini series comes in: Our communication to God – PRAYER!

Often we assume that all Christians know how to pray, and do so often.  That may not always be the case, as I have found:

• Some Christians don't pray at all
• Some Christians don't know how to pray
• Some Christians have never experience an answer to prayer, and they wonder why, perhaps even give up.
• Some don’t understand the powerful reality of what prayer can do in their life.

Starting this week, at Calvary of Wilmington, we will spend a few weeks unraveling the mysteries of prayer.  I hope you’ll join us!

Pastor Clay

The Challenge

So we’ve finished up the first part of our #LEVELUPCCW series, “The Word of God.”

Hopefully you have come away with a few things:

1. Why we can know that the bible we have today is indeed the inerrant, intact and complete word of God, handed down by the apostles and the prophets.
2. How to read, understand, and interpret the word of God:  Read, Understand, Live.
3. Our Relationship to the word of God

Now comes the fun part: The Challenge!  “The challenge,” you say?  Yes, THE CHALLENGE! 

Sometimes we need a challenge to help us form new disciplines in our lives.  Sales teams set a challenge to make a certain number of calls.  Personal trainers set a challenge to work out a certain number of times a week.  A few months ago my wife and I challenged each other to lose twenty pounds.  Having a challenge, a goal, gives us something to shoot for.  Otherwise, how do we know if we have made any progress?  It is also known that in order to establish a new habit, you have to do it for at least thirty days.

So I am going to lay a challenge out in front of you:  Read your bible, every day, for thirty days. 

I’m not going to tell you how much to read, that can be up to you.  The book you choose can be up to you.  But pick a book, and read at least a half-chapter each day.  If you are not sure of which book to read, pick the gospel of John, or the book of Romans.  Here is a pattern to follow:

• Budget your time – Set aside at least thirty minutes.  You have to budget the time, otherwise you’ll skip it. Yes you may have to get up earlier. You would do it to surf, so go ahead!
• Pray – Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you
• Read – Read through the section 2-3 times
• Understand – Remember the questions we suggested:

Who are the people mentioned in the passage?

Who is the author speaking to?

What event is taking place?

Is there a theme of the paragraph?

Is there a situation being addressed?  

Was there a specific right/wrong being addressed?

Is there an expected result or resolution being sought?

Is there a comparison or a contrast being given? 

• Apply – Write down at least one thing you can apply in your life

Is there a habit I need to change?

Is there a sin I need to confess?

Is there a truth I need to embrace?

Is there a lie I need to reject?

Is there someone I should apologize to?

Caution:  Our enemy, Satan, does not want you reading your bible.  It has waaayyyy too much truth in it for his purposes!  So recognize that you will experience some resistance. Push through it.

Here is the good exciting part:  If you will commit to read with word of God every day for thirty days, you WILL see a difference in your life.  Your peace will increase.  You’ll have more joy.  You’ll find wisdom that will be directly applicable to situations in your life.  Here's why:  The word is LIFE!

So, take the challenge, you won’t regret it.

Pastor Clay

The Bible: Dig in! #LEVELUPCCW

As Christians, we would all agree that we should be reading and studying our bibles. We should all be “bible literate.” But there is a dirty little secret in the family of God, and that is that many professing Christians spend very little time in the word of God. A recent survey found that:

• Readership of the Bible has declined from the 1980s overall, from 73% to 59% today. 
• The percentage of those who read the Bible at least once a week, has decreased slightly over the last decade, from 40% in 1990 to 37% today.
• About one American in seven reports an involvement that goes beyond reading the Bible. 
• Fourteen percent currently belong to a Bible study group.
• In terms of frequency of readership, 16% of Americans say that they read the Bible every day, 21% say they read it weekly, 12% say they read the Bible monthly, 10% say less than monthly and 41% say that they rarely or never read the Bible.

Those are some harsh stats.   Why do people not regard the bible as an important book to invest in?  Perhaps because it's one of those disciplines that can be easy to set on the back burner for a multitude of reasons:  I’m too busy; it’s too hard to understand; I listen to sermons on Sunday, etc.

But the question has to be asked:  So what? So what if Christians don't read their bibles?  Is it really that big of a deal? The answer is – YES!  There is an impact to not being in the word; Arrested Spiritual Development, which is another way of saying spiritual immaturity.  Arrested Spiritual Development (ASD) has many symptoms:

• Rash and inappropriate reactions to situations in life.
• The tendency to make poor decisions
• Inability to apply sound principles to life situations

 As an example, imagine two soldiers standing in formation:  Both have uniforms, equipment, and weapons. They look the same standing there in line. But when the bullets start flying, the one that has not taken part in the physical conditioning, or the combat training, that soldier will fall.  Those two soldiers might look the same, but they will no respond the same in battle. 

ASD is not a new malady; the writer of Hebrews gave a similar assessment of his audience:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (Heb 5:12-13)

That writer might be describing the Christian sitting in church today, raising their hands to praise the Lord, knowing the Christian platitudes, even having the bumper sticker, but that Christian is still a babe when it comes to the oracles of God. That Christian looks just like every other Christian, but when the bullets start to fly, how will they respond?

If someone cuts in front of them in line - what is their response?

When something doesn't go their way – how do they act?

When they are faced with the temptation to cut a corner to get ahead – what is their choice?

Or when one the huge storms of life hits – will they stand or fall?

When we have the truth of Gods word imbedded into our hearts and our minds, our responses begin to align with how God would respond to those situations. We will know how to act.  We will know how to make wise decisions.  We will be trained to instinctively respond to any situation that presents itself in our life. 

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Join us this Sunday for “The Bible; dig in!”  #LevelupCCW

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

#LevelUpCCW - The Bible: Is It True?

Before I became a Christian I never gave much thought to where the bible came from; it was just “The Bible!” And I remember that there were occasions when I would hear people make comments about the bible…

“You can make the bible mean whatever you want”

“The bible is full of contradictions”

“There are all kinds of errors in the bible”

To be honest I picked up a lot of those comments as being true, and even repeated them a few times.

After I became a Christian, I knew I was supposed to believe the bible was true, and I did for the most part.  I remember something that I used to hear “The bible says it, and that settles it”, but I still had some doubts.  Could I really trust it?

Some of you may have had a similar experience. Over the next few weeks I hope to accomplish several things:

• We’ll look at the history of the bible: Where it came from, who wrote it, how it came to be in the form we have today.
• We’ll answer some of the questions about the bible:  Has the bible maintained its integrity? Is it historically accurate? Can we believe everything that is in it?
• We’ll answer the question: Is there a good reason I should invest my time reading and understanding the bible?
• Finally, we’ll look at how we can get the most from our time spent reading and studying the bible.

I hope you'll join us Sunday, August 19^th, at 9:30 & 11:30, for #LevelUpCCW – The Bible: Is It True?

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Level Up 2012 - The Wake Up Call

This week we embarked on a new journey as a church; a journey to “Level Up!” Now I don't want you to get the impression that I am not satisfied with our church – I think we have an awesome church! However, it is a fact that human beings have a tendency to fall into patterns, and if we aren’t careful we can allow our Christian life to fall into routine as well.

It might look something like this:  Wake up, do a devo, go to work, come home, have dinner, watch TV, play a little ball with the kids, maybe surf the internet (or the waves) some.  Then Sunday morning comes we go to church, sing a few songs, say a few amens, go grab some lunch, and do it all over again!

Now there is nothing wrong with having patterns:  Eating regular, exercise, sleep, praying, study & meditate, these are good patterns to develop in our life. But if we aren’t careful we can pattern ourselves right into mediocrity. 

One of my favorite passages is in Revelation chapters 2-3, where Jesus is assessing seven churches: The ‘loveless church’ of Ephesus, ‘persecuted church’ of Smyrna, ‘compromising church’ of Pergamos, the ‘corrupt church’ of Thyatira, the ‘dead church’ of Sardis, the ‘faithful church’ of Philly... (anyone from Philly?)

But interestingly Jesus reserves his harshest correction against the ‘lukewarm church’ of Laodicea:

These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. (Rev 3:14-16)

I think it’s interesting that there isn’t any blatant sin on the part of the this church, but because they are 'lukewarm,' Jesus says He will vomit them out of His mouth. Interesting term.  To vomit is the forceful expulsion of something from the body that is making the body sick. Apparently this church is comfortable, they have money, it probably looked like a great church from the outside.  Matter of fact, if a person went to that church they might think “this place is happening!”  But in fact Jesus says they are “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” And the saddest part? They don't even know it! 

However Jesus’ final solution is not to vomit them, or expel them from the kingdom, but He urges them to repent!

I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. (Rev 3:17-19)

In a way, I can relate to how this church had become lukewarm.  We have such a blessed life here in the US.  For many of us times may be hard, but hard times for us is living like a king compared to the 80% of the world’s population that lives, literally, hand to mouth. Because of our ease of life, it is easy for us to fall into a pattern that can start looking like the church of Laodicea. We become self-focused, self-serving, and we might even forget that there is an entire world around us that will die and go to hell without Jesus Christ!

I for one do not believe that the church, the body of Christ, YOU AND ME, were ever intended to settle into an easy pattern. Our call is not to become relaxed and try and set up the best quality of life we can afford. Our call is to reach the world with the life-changing gospel message of Jesus Christ. To make disciples, raise up other believers who are equipped to do the same.

If you look at the early church in Jerusalem, man that church was on fire! After Jesus left they were spending time in prayer, the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were speaking and preaching with power and authority! People were getting saved in droves, and the church was growing every day.  The saints walked in the supernatural gifts; the sick were healed, lame men could walk again, blind men could see again, people lives were being changed! They were rocking the city of Jerusalem!   The gospel was changing how they lived, how they interacted, it changed the very social fabric of the community.  The church sold everything they didn't need, and brought it to the apostles to be used to spread the gospel. It was so viral that in Acts 17 when Paul and his outreach team came into Thessalonica, the leaders exclaimed, “They are turning the world upside down!” (Acts 17:6).

I believe part of my role as a pastor is to encourage the church to wake up, to rise up and live out our Christian life in the way that God intended it to be.  Yes, it may be a little crazy, a little radical, a little on the edge; it might even get a little weird! But I believe that we, like the early church, should have a vision for reaching our city, and even beyond with the life-changing gospel message of Jesus Christ.  I believe we are called to walk in the fullness of the incredible gift that God has given us: 

• Forgiveness of our sins
• Inclusion in the family of God
• Filled with the power of the Holy Spirit
• Equipped with unique spiritual gifts
• Given a call and a purpose for our time on this planet

That is the heart behind this series:  That we would look closely at the word of God, seek the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction, move in the power of the Holy Spirit, embrace the gifts He has given each of us, and live out our calling as a church and as individuals.

Stay tuned church, it’s just beginning!

Pastor Clay