Category: Pastoral Ministry

Worshiping the Ascended Christ

Forty days after He rose from the dead, Jesus was taken up from the earth and disappeared into a cloud.  He passed into the heavenly abode of God and will remain there until He returns.  Right now He is at the right hand of the Father representing us (Hebrews 7:25), listening to us (Hebrews 4:14-16), and preparing a place for us (John 14:1-3).  Our study at Calvary this summer of Ephesians 4:1-16 brought us to verses 7-10 last Sunday.  Here Paul declares that the ascended Christ imparts abilities to every member of the body of Christ (the church), enabling “each one of us” to represent Him on earth and to help the church grow (see vs. 16).

Ephesians 4:10 says that He is the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. The Ascended Christ is worthy of our worship.  In our musical worship last Sunday, we included several hymns that reflect the exalted position or the present activity of the ascended Christ and the benefits that come to us from what He is doing right now.  Here are the hymns we used, including congregational, instrumental, choral, and solo selections.  I’ve included links to the lyrics of the selections that are available online.

As the body of Christ we join hearts and voices to worship our ascended Savior and Lord.

The Church Should Be Growing

Our church should be growing.  It’s in the Bible.  Ephesians 4:16 talks about “the growth of the body,” and the body is the church.  In fact, this verse says that something “causes” the body to grow.  With that in mind, here are four questions every church member should ask and answer:

  • What is growth?
  • What causes growth?
  • Am I helping or hindering my church’s growth?
  • How can I help make my church a growing body?

During June-August on Sunday mornings at Calvary, I will be preaching from Ephesians 4:1-16 on A Growing Body.  Will you plan and resolve to join us every Lord’s Day morning you can this summer as we discover the answers to the above questions?

This Sunday we will put in the hands of everyone who comes to our 10:30 service a tool that we will use to facilitate our learning and application of the truths in this passage.  I will also share with you how you will get to interact with your church family about these truths in small group gatherings.

Pray that God will help each of us do our part in making Calvary Baptist Church a growing body of believers for the glory of God.

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So Where’s the “Good?”

In times of crisis, most Christians affirm intellectually that “God is good,”and “all things work together for good,” etc., etc. But in our hearts many of us ask the question, “So where’s the good?” Tomorrow morning at Calvary I will answer that question from one man’s personal experience, journaled in beautiful literary form, in simple principles you can easily own and apply to your crisis. Join us at 10:30 am!

You can now listen to the message here.