Let's Remember What It Is All About

The lights are finally twinkling. The sounds are ringing through air. Christmas time is here! Unfortunately, the true meaning, and the true blessing of Christmas are often lost on the commercialism that has invaded our society. For many Christmas is nothing more than some pretty decorations and exchanging a gift or two. How sad to miss what Christmas is truly about. This Christmas I pray that you and your family will celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.


To help us, we are introducing a new Christmas tradition to Calvary—the advent wreath. From the Middle Ages, Christians have used this evergreen and holly wreath to help them prepare their hearts for Christmas. The wreath has four red candles, representing the four Sundays before Christmas. The red reminds us of the reason that Jesus Christ came that fateful night: to save us from our sin. Each candle has a special significance in what it reminds us about Christ.

The sermons on Sunday during Advent will also coincide with the week’s theme. The series is titled: Joy to the World: The Difference that Christ Makes. Christmas celebrations change when one becomes a believer. Christmas is not about packages, parties, and pleasantries. Remember that was the lesson the old Grinch learned in the classic Suess tale. “Perhaps Christmas doesn’t come from store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.” Yes indeed Mr. Grinch. Christmas is about Jesus Christ coming to earth to save mankind from the curse of sin. God gave the greatest of gifts. “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

That first Christmas two thousand years ago would forever change the world. Has it changed you? I sure hope so.

Pastor Aaron

Revival Coming To Calvary

If you are anywhere near the Columbus Georgia area, you should join us at Calvary FWB Church this week. We will be in revival with Bill Crank, pastor of Cartersville Family Church. We are looking forward to God doing some amazing things in our midst this week and would love you to be a part of it.

Before asking you to make a commitment to do something, I am going to tell you what I am going to do this week.

In just a moment, I am going to pray for every member, attender, and visitor that has recently come to Calvary by name. I am going to ask the Lord to speak to my heart and to their's about areas that we as a church need to work on individually and corporately.

After I am done with that I am going to annoint every pew and the pulpit and pray that God would show up in a BIG way at Calvary Free Will Baptist Church in Columbus Georgia tomorrow. I am going to ask Him to remove every excuse that anyone has for not coming to church tomorrow. I am going to ask the Lord that He would speak to hearts.

Then, I am going to come to church Sunday morning EXPECTING that God will hear and honor my prayer. Not because I am some big spiritual power house, but because my God is a BIG GOD that can do amazing things.

Well, that is what I am going to do.  What do I want you to do?

1.  Take a minute today and over the next four days and pray for Calvary Free Will Baptist Church and the meetings that we hold this week.

2. If you live in or near Columbus, GA, come to church tomorrow at Calvary.  We are having Family and Friends day and will have a great lunch after the morning service. Sunday school starts at 10 am. If you do not live in Columbus, tomorrow find a church near where you do live and go to it.

I have said repeatedly over the two years that I have had the privilege of pastoring this great church that God is preparing Calvary for great things. I believe that this revival will be the tool that God uses to bring our church to the next level for His Kingdom.  I have told you what I am going to do, what are YOU going to do?

Quit Complaining and Get Involved!

A great truth of harvesting that we have also been talking about in our Sunday morning worship hour at Calvary is that the harvest that you get is dependent upon the seeds that you sow and how you take care of that seed as it grows. If a farmer merely throws out some seed on the ground and leaves it there, he might get a sprout or two, but not much of a harvest. Why? Because he did not take care of the seed. He was not a good sower. So often we are like that in our spiritual life. We come to an altar and ask Christ to come into our life. Then we go about business as usual. Not much else changes, except we come to church occasionally on Sundays. If that is the way that you are living your life, can I tell you that you are not going to have the harvest that God intends for you to have!


I recently received an email that mentioned how empty church seemed to this person. I can assure you that Calvary is not empty of God’s presence and power. So what is the problem? It is not the church. It’s the person. Remember, you get out of something in proportion of what you put in to it. No time, no effort means no harvest and no reward. Does church seem empty to you? Perhaps it is because you have not been putting much into it. Does your spiritual life seem dull and routine? Often it is because you have not nurtured it the way that it needs to be.

Well, what do you do about it? Make the determination that you are going to get a better harvest from now on! How? Get involved! Find a good Bible believing, Bible preaching church and get involved in it. Find one and get busy. However, it is important to remember that busyness does not equate with nourishment. You need to be involved in your church, but you more importantly need to be involved with your Lord. Spend time individually in prayer and Bible study. Find a group to get involved in as well.

Most of the time complaining will not do any good, but getting involved will.

Help Support Operation Christmas Child

Christmas is such a joyous time for most of us. Even when times are hard like they are now for many, we are still able to gather with family and celebrate this wonderful season.


Imagine though that you lived in a place of great poverty. You have never heard of Jesus Christ. You have never seen a Bible. You have never heard of Christmas. You have never even seen a toy.

There are boys and girls all around our world that fall into that category. This year Calvary is partnering with Samaritan’s Purse and participating in its “Operation Christmas Child.” This SP project collects shoe boxes filled with toys, crafts, and personal items from people around the US and then ships them to parts of the world where the joy of Christmas has never been known. In addition to the gifts, a gospel message is given in the child’s own language. For many of these children, and their families as well, it is the first time that they have met a Christian and heard about Jesus. Each year many come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through this ministry.

We have been so blessed at Calvary and in America. Maybe we do not have as much as we think we need or should have, but God has seen to it that our needs our met.

Operation Christmas Child is a great opportunity to share God’s love in a tangible way with those that need the hope of Christ so desparately. Families, this is also a great opportunity to show your children in a very tangible way the true meaning of Christmas.

If you would like to help support Operation Christmas Child, pack a shoe box with small toys and personal items, and bring it to the church on Nov. 8th. There are instruction pamphlets and information in the vestibule or you can download the information on the internet by going to www.samaritanspurse.org.. During our morning service Nov. 8th we will pray over the shoe boxes that have been collected.

If you are able, please also include $7 to help defray the cost of shipping the shoeboxes overseas. If you would like, you can donate online at the Samaritan Purse website
 
Outside of the Columbus area, go to http://www.samiritanspurse.org/ today to find your drop off location.

Wednesday Nite Dive

Join us at Calvary Free Will Baptist Church on Wednesday evenings as we dive deep into a study of God's Word. This month we are diving into Psalm 119.

Oblivious

Has the Lord ever taught you a lesson in the most peculiar of ways? A couple of weeks ago, He spoke to me one afternoon at lunch time at the Arby’s on Manchester Expressway. The other day on the way to the hospital to see one of our church members I stopped at Arby’s and had lunch with Bro. Willie Martin. As I was leaving this elderly lady who had parked in the back parking lot came to cross the parking lot. Or so I thought. Instead of crossing to the other side, and walking down to the door, she decided to walk down the middle of the road to the front door. I patiently waited for her while several cars had piled up behind me. What took the cake was she apparently knew the people that were in the drive thru lane and stopped, waved, and talked for a minute or two, all the while standing in the middle of the parking lot. Eventually this lady finally made it to the front door, completely unaware that she had been holding up traffic for about five minutes.
I had finally made it to the hospital parking garage. The Lord was not finished teaching me my lesson just yet, because the exact same thing happened again. As I rounded one of the levels, there was a man and lady meandering down the middle of the road looking for their car. Unaware, oblivious, to the fact that they were walking in the middle of the road! This time after only a few seconds, the man noticed the car and scooted the lady over to the side.
So Preacher, what was the lesson that you learned that day? Well it wasn’t not to get in a hurry, because I still do. The lesson was how oblivious I am, we all are, sometimes to the world around us. We become so absorbed with what is going on in our world, that we forget that we are a part of something bigger. We go through problems and forget that there are others going through them too. I wonder if your experience is like mine. There are times when I become self absorbed. Absorbed with myself, my family, my church. I forget about others who are hurting. Others who have needs. Sometimes I wonder if we miss the Lord’s moving and working because we are oblivious to Him! Although I have not fully learned, it is my sincere prayer, “Lord help me to never again be oblivious!” I hope you will make it your prayer as well!

Pastor Aaron

A Lesson From 2 Fish

Today as part of my Bible reading, I read Matthew 14:13-21. This is a familiar passage of Scripture to most of us. It is the story of Jesus feeding the thousands. As I read, reflected, prayed, it was as if the Lord was drawing me into His story. Through the years there have been a lot of sermons preached from this passage. The Lord brought a new old thought to my mind this afternoon about the meal that the thousands of people enjoyed with the Savior.

Let me share with you the background of the story before I share the application that I got today. Earlier in the chapter John the Baptist, who was Jesus’ cousin, was beheaded by Herod. John’s disciples took the body of John and buried him. They then went and told Jesus about what had happened. No doubt Jesus was heartbroken. (BTW, it is certain I think that Jesus already knew the news before these men came to Him.) He did something quite understandable. He got into a boat and sailed off alone. Matthew goes on to tell us that the crowds that had been following Him and listening to His preach followed Him along the shoreline. When Jesus came back to shore, the crowd was waiting for Him. The day was gone. It was nearing dark. Jesus’ disciples begged Jesus to send the crowds away so that they could go to town and get something to eat. His response: “They don’t need to go anywhere. You feed them.”

His disciples were a bit clueless, and replied to Him, “Jesus we just cannot afford it. We only have five crackers and two sardines. That is not enough” (my paraphrase of Matthew 14:17). The disciples did not realize how true their words were! Jesus knew the situation though and knew His resources. “Bring it here,” Jesus demanded. Matthew then tells us the most peculiar thing. Jesus took this lunch for one, lifted it up to Heaven, prayed, and told His disciples to feed the people. I am sure the disciples wondered what on earth was going on, but they did just as Jesus had told them to do. They were astonished. They came to the second person, there was still food, the four thousandth person, still food. In fact, Matthew records that after everyone had eaten, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.

This is indeed a miracle story. We must not lose sight of what drove the miracle though. In the hands of Jesus’ followers, those few pieces of bread and two tiny fish were barely enough to feed one person. In the hands of the Master, those same few pieces of bread and two tiny fish feed thousands of people (5000 men plus women and children). I love this gospel story. Have you ever thought that the same Jesus that fed those people nearly 2000 years ago is the same Jesus lives today! If He could do that then, He can do that now! I applied this story today to life here at Calvary Free Will Baptist Church, where I serve as pastor. In my hands, or the hands of our church members, we can accomplish very, very little. However, in the hands of the Master, He can feed thousands with our “little church.” And leave more leftovers, than we started with!

I’m hungry, how about you?