Archive for March, 2008|Monthly archive page
The Centerpiece
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AN OFFENSIVE TRUTHThe CenterpiecePastor Mark JohnsonMarch 30, 2008
The technical term for the attitude portrayed in the skit is a human tendency called avoidance.The Scriptures teach that there is a deeper and even scarier kind of avoidance pattern that many of us engage in. We could call it spiritual avoidance.
Romans 1:20
I. The Nature Pathway
When you’re born, one of the first things you have to sort out is what belongs to you and what belongs to the external world. The more you see the grandeur of nature you have to ask yourself these questions – What about this external world? Who created it? How must I think about it? How does it pertain to me?If there is a God, and He made all this and human beings, there are implications.
Why spiritual avoidance?
No God = No Accountability
II. The Relational PathwayYou were created for relationships.
The life-giving quality about biblical Christianity is that at its root it is not a self-improvement plan. It is not just a lifeless set of creeds and doctrines. At the root of it all is a relationship – God knowing your name.
III. The Moral Pathway
There are some dangerous, even evil people in this world. There is this untamable kind of rebellion in you.
IV. The Painful Path
There is going to come a time when the phone will ring, and what is said to you from the other end will change your life forever.Some of you today feel the weight of pain and suffering, and you wonder how long you can bear it. The good news is you weren’t designed to carry this alone. There is a God who understands suffering and pain and says He’ll help.
V. The Mortality Pathway
When you’re young, mortality is a distant thought.
The question eventually comes – Is there life beyond the grave?
One of the most important issues that you can sort through in the course of your life is what you believe about life after death.
Those who trust Christ, have a relationship with God, and walk with Him through this life will be invited into a conscious, vital existence with God forever.
Small Groups Avon Fundraser
Leave a CommentIf you would like to be a blessing to Calvary Temple’s Small Group Ministries please pick up an Avon brochure (Campaign 9) in the Corner Cafe or from Pastor Dawn. This is our spring fundraiser to help with training our Small Group Leaders. All orders must be submitted to Pastor Dawn on or before Wednesday April 16. Thanks for your help! dstuemke@calvaryspringfield.org
Prayer For Our Deployed Military
Leave a CommentPlease continue to remember to pray for our deployed military personnel and their families. You may check out the Military Prayer Board in the main foyer to get specific names to pray for.
Coloring Books Needed
We have an ongoing need for new “Fun Pads”, “Activity Pads”, and “Coloring Books”. These are being collected to put in the “Operation Christmas Child” Shoeboxes. The boxes are not shipped until November, but our goal is to prepare at least 300 boxes this year so we need to get a jump on collecting items. You may drop the coloring and activity books off at the Information Booth before or after any service or at the Church Ofice anytime. Thanks!
3.25.08 District Prayer Needs
Gene Cowsert, retired minister from West Frankfort, is still waiting for a cardio-conversion, a procedure which “shocks” the heart. The procedure has already been delayed twice, due to blood clots in his heart. Doctors will attempt it once more on April 4.
The Price of Love
Matthew 28:1-10
AN OFFENSIVE TRUTH
The Price of Love
Pastor Mark Johnson
March 23, 2008
Matthew 16:24
What do you really desire?
What do you really want from life?
What do you think would make your life complete, satisfied, and happy?
Here is something many people don’t understand about Jesus’ work on the Cross:
- The Cross paves the way for you to have the Life of God in you.
- Jesus wants your life to be complete, satisfied, meaningful, and joyful.
John 10:10, James 1:17, John 14:2-3
God is not the ultimate dictator: He is the ultimate loving Father.
There is a problem: We are damaged goods.
Do you ever feel like something is missing? That’s because there is.
What we want to have, we have no way of finding on our own.
1 Corinthians 15:57
God has offered us a Divine re-do opportunity. He sent His Son to open the door to a reconnected life with God’s presence.
Our desires can only be met as we go through the Cross.
But from the second century on, the Christian symbol has been the Cross. (Matthew 16:24)
To the person who says, “Yes”, to the Cross, he discovers the resurrection power that follows.
There is NO resurrection power until we are reborn by the crucifixion power.
A Sign For Tomorrow
AN OFFENSIVE TRUTH
A Sign for Tomorrow
Pastor Mark Johnson
March 16, 2008
Jesus on the Cross should remind us of eternity.
Matthew 7:13-14
The Cross proclaims there is a price to get into Heaven.
If we could get to Heaven some other way, then the Cross was not needed.
The Cross says we need help to get to Heaven. In fact, the Cross says we need Divine help.
We have to face up to the difference between what the voices of our day say and what the Bible says.
Today we hear:
1. Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to Heaven.
2. Small is the gate and narrow is the road that
leads to Hell.
If there are many ways to Heaven, then why did Jesus die on the Cross?
Jesus came to meet our biggest need.
This world is so messed up that we can’t really fix it until we fix the cause. You are the cause.
This sounds like most people are not going to Heaven.
When we say almost everyone is going to Heaven, we call Jesus a liar.
You have been told, and are going to be told, there is no Hell. Think about this as a motive for the enemy.
The picture the Bible draws of Hell is terrifying.
Think about this lie – Hell is fun and Heaven is boring.
Hell is the single greatest tragedy in the universe.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
The Cross says Hell is a real place, and the destiny for men without Christ.
Here is the good news: There is rest at the Cross.
The message of the Cross is that there is a Hell.The hope of the Cross is that there is a Heaven.
Bill & Kim Snider
Dear friends and partners in missions,
Warm greetings!
On February 29, we signed a contract with GMA Television Network, one of the largest commercial TV networks in the Philippines, to broadcast our new movie “Rebound” on Good Friday, March 21, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. We have been praying for many months that we would have this opportunity.
Good Friday and Holy Week are unique in the Philippines in that all businesses close their doors and most television stations sign off in reverence to the passion and death of Christ. Only two major commercial networks are on the air at this time. If they can’t afford to go on vacation, families stay at home. Many people stay at home particularly by 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday, believing Jesus is actually dead. What an opportune moment to be on television in Philippine primetime with a strong Gospel message targeting teenagers and young adults!
The national church is excited about this opportunity and will be doing a nationwide SMS text blitz to alert our churches and believers to this showing. We have arranged agreements with a counseling center in Manila and with a website targeting young people to be a part of the follow-up team to this broadcast. But with all of these, I truly believe “’it is not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit’, says the Lord.”
Would you join us in prayer for a genuine outpouring of the Spirit of God in conviction upon literally millions that we anticipate will watch this movie? Please go to our website and see the trailer, www.reboundphilippinesmovie.com.
Thank you for your partnership in missions that makes these moments of ministry possible.
Blessings in Christ,
Bill & Kim Snider
A Sign For Today
AN OFFENSIVE TRUTH
A Sign for Today
Pastor Mark Johnson
March 9, 2008
1 Peter 2:22-25
No one was talking about pretty crosses in Jesus’ day.
In Jesus’ day, the cross was not simply a place of execution.
The Cross was a place of torture, hopelessness, and death.
Jesus laid His life down on the Cross.
John 10:17-18
Why would Jesus submit Himself to the Cross when He didn’t have to?
1 Peter 2:22-25
The Cross was once a place of hopelessness, but it turned into the place of mankind’s one and only hope.
When we see a cross, it should crash down right in the middle of our lives and shout to us “We are in need of rescue!”
The Cross says we are flat out broken.
The Cross is a picture of how bad off we really are.
The Cross is a picture of how much help we really need.
The Cross is the ultimate price for rebellion, then and now.
Isaiah 53:5-6
Jesus committed no sin, but He bore our sin on the Cross.
Every time I see a cross, I should think…
- “Without it, I am far from God.”
- “Through Christ I can be close to God.”
1 Corinthians 15:3, 1 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 9:26,
1 John 1:7, Revelation 1:5
The Cross of hopelessness has turned into the Cross of hope.
Pastor’s Comments on Prayer 3.25.08
Filed under: Pastor's Comments, Prayer |
In August of 2007, I felt that the Lord was telling me to raise the bar for prayer in our church. The core of who we have been since the inception of this fellowship has been founded on prayer. For years, my parents led a powerful Saturday night prayer service. We believed that the blessing of God was on us because of our prayers. Several years ago, we moved that service to Wednesday nights. I believe it is the most important service of the week. We face so many obstacles as a church and as believers that are absolutely too big for us in our own power, but they are not too big for God. One thing that has resonated with my heart these last few weeks is that we don’t have to beg or convince God of what we know He wants to do. We are just required to ask in faith and to present our prayers and requests to Him. He desires to move in ways beyond our ability, but He waits on our faithful appeal. Let’s make the appeal and see what God does.