To God be the Glory!
Hello Calvary Church Family!
This Sunday is Father’s Day! A day to honor the generation of Dads who have raised us and a day to thank the Dads who are raising up the next generation.
This Father’s Day Sunday at Calvary, we continue our “Proverbs: Way of Wisdom” series with a familiar face to many in our Calvary Church family, Tim Celek! Tim was Calvary’s College Pastor in the 80’s. In September of 1988 he went on to launch a church plant in the city of Costa Mesa, with his wife, Sue, and a small group of people. This church plant became The Crossing Church and today it serves thousands of people in Orange County with a mission to "help people who are saying 'No' to God say 'Yes' to Him through Jesus.”
Tim wrote me earlier this week and asked me to give him some highlights of what has been happening lately in the life of Calvary Church. In responding to him, I thought of the words of the Apostle Paul’s words to the Church in Ephesus in Ephesians 3:20-21:
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
So, here is what I wrote to update him:
Eric Wakeling kicked off his sabbatical by finishing an Iron Man Triathalon in Iowa last Sunday! (16 hour journey, amazing!)
To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations!
We had Dan Kimball share last Sunday on “How (Not) To Read the Bible” based on his latest book. We had 200 people come back that night to hear Part 2 of his talk! There was lots of good discussion on how to study the Bible correctly, answer tough questions with humility and clarity, and the urgent need to pass down these skills to the younger generations.
(By the way, while we aren’t able to make Sunday Night’s session available online, HERE is a link to a great podcast Dan did with Western Seminary covering the same themes!)
To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations!
We just sent an overseas short term missions team to the island of Cyprus. This is our first overseas team since 2019!
To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations!
We launched a guys' Bible Study on Wednesday Nights, and the courtyard has been full of men studying God's Word and praying for each other!
To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations!
We just completed our first bi-lingual Alpha Course in English and Spanish with 45 graduates.
To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations!
The Hospital across the street is partnering with us (OC Global), and we are preparing to send volunteer chaplains to be present at the hospital throughout the week.
To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations!
With two weeks to go in our financial year (June 30th), we are on target to finish ahead of budget in both our General fund and Reach (Missions) fund!
To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations!
We thank God for these highlights. We are excited to see what the Lord does next with Middle School, High School, and College summer camps, and VBS right around the corner!
To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations.
See you this Sunday,
Matt Doan, Reach Pastor