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Revelation Preview Video

The sequel to last Summer's blockbuster hit, "The Book of Daniel" is coming soon. Check out the preview to "The Book of Revelation" here:

Doubts about Christianity open forum this Sunday...I can't wait!!!

Do you have doubts about Christianity? Do you have some really tough questions you would like to ask? This is your chance to deal with these issues head-on as our church service is transformed into an open forum to deal with doubts!

Guest theologian John Rankin will kick off with the top 3 tough questions we have received throughout the "I Doubt It!" series:

1. How could a loving God send good, moral people to Hell simply because they do not believe in Him?

2. How could a loving God allow so much suffering in our world?

3. How does the biblical account of creation hold up against the scientific theory of evolution?

After John addresses those issues, he will open the mic up for ANY question about God, faith and the bible. Skeptics get to go first!

Come out and bring a skeptical friend with you!!!

Biblical Counseling Class begins tonight!

Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach them to fish and you feed them for a lifetime. Teach them to teach others to fish and it goes viral!

That is the hope as we begin our Biblical Counseling class tonight. I am excited to really take to heart the Ephesians 4 mandate of equipping the saints for the work of ministry as we teach people to use God's word to minister to themselves and to one another.

Having been a part of a similar course myself three times in South Florida, I know how edified by and equipped in God's word the participants will be.

Everybody Believes

This morning we continued in our "I Doubt It!" series with a message entitled, "Everybody Believes." In this message we dealt with an issue the many find challenging -the exclusivity of Christianity. While we examined the Christian belief of exclusivity we also examined three core beliefs that generally form the objection to it:

1. All Religions are basically the same
2. Good people deserve to go to Heaven
3. People are not responsible for their disbelief

Click here to download or listen online to the message.

The Calvary Fellowship podcast: Now 33% better!

Why is the Calvary Fellowship podcast better?

Better teaching? Nope.

Enhanced sound quality? Nope.

Fancy bumper music? Nope.

The answer: a brand new podcast logo!

Yes, substance and sound will change in time; in the meantime you'll have to settle for style!

Design by Annmarie

The top three questions of our "Doubts About Christianity Open Forum":

The top 3 lead-off questions for our "Doubts About Christianity Open Forum" featuring Dr. John Rankin (on 5/2) have been released. Go to the Facebook event page to find out what they are...

"How Do We Know the Bible is God's Word?'

This morning at Calvary we continued in our "I Doubt It!" series with a message entitled "How Do We Know the Bible is God's Word?" I attempted to tackle four big questions about the Bible:

1. What is the Bible?
2. Where did it come from?
3. Why should we believe it?
4. What Should we do about it?

Click here to download or listen online to the message.

I Want to Believe

This morning at Calvary we continued in our I Doubt It! series with a message entitled "I Want to Believe." In the message we answered two questions submitted last week summarized as: "Why should I believe?" & "How can I believe?" We did this by examining Mark 9 to discover how we can access and experience more power and more faith in our lives.

Click here to download or listen online to the message.

Easter Sunday is a picture of what your church could be

Every Easter service is a picture of the church that puts it on. It is not picture of what the church is, but of what it could be. It is no secret that on Easter Sunday, churches swell and in many cases double in size that day. It is also no secret that the Sunday after Easter, most churches shrink back to their regular size and things go back to normal.

Settling for "normal" is sad, because quite often, special things happen on Easter. I know they did at Calvary Fellowship! Consider that fact that seven people made first time commitments to follow Jesus at our Easter service this past Sunday. Or consider this e-mail I received from a family that has been searching for a church home:

"I wanted to send a quick note after attending today's service. My family and I have been searching for a church since moving from Dallas to CT in 2006. Today, we found our new church family. The music today was incredible, the service was motivating and insightful, the kid's service was educational and entertaining - all things we have been searching for and lacking in our area. We are so excited about the next service and learning about opportunities to meet other young families, getting involved, etc. We have a wonderful burning in our hearts that I haven't felt in a while and I am not usually a guy who randomly looks up email addresses online to send emails to people I don't really know. That is how much you meant to us today. Incredible." -Ian

I don't know about you, but when I hear stories like these I ask myself, "What if these things could happen every week?" Don't you want to be a part of a place where God is so deeply moving that more seekers come to faith and more believers deepen their faith regularly? I know I do! But how do we move from what if to what is?

If we want our church to resemble the picture we got to see on Easter Sunday, then we need to consider all the things we did in the lead-up to Easter and keep doing them! We need to be praying to God in faith, inviting people to come to church, using our gifts and talents to play our part in serving one another and our guests, giving generously so that we can have all of the resources to plan and promote, and encouraging each other when we grow weary that building the kingdom of God is worth all of the sacrifice!

Perhaps we can't permanently maintain the same intensity level we had during the build-up to Easter, but that doesn't mean we have to go back to normal. God has so much more planned for us than normal if we'll tap into His power and imagination!: "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

I say we remember the picture God gave us on Easter Sunday and allow it to inspire us to move forward in Christ's power to turn what if into what is!

Reflections on our Easter Service

Now that our Easter service is done, I just wanted to share a few things I am very grateful for:

• God, for sending Jesus to live with us, die for us, and be resurrected so all of us can be too!
• My wife who has been a great support and encouragement to me in the Easter lead-up, and my kids who have kept things fun!
• Our staff who have worked diligently in preparation for today; everyone planned diligently and executed with excellence!
• Our volunteers -we had more people serving today than ever before. Thank you for making our guests feel welcome and well cared for as you worked hard with gracious spirits. (And special thanks to those who served in the Children's Ministry and didn't get to participate in the service.)
• Our church body -thanks for bringing your friends and family!
• The many people who visited Calvary for the first-time today -thanks for taking a chance and celebrating Easter with us!
• A whole bunch of 2nd time guests -thanks for returning for more punishment! :)
• The people who submitted some really good difficult questions/doubts for us to explore in the remainder of the series. (Thanks for keeping me on my toes!)
• The 7 people who made first-time decisions to follow Christ today -this alone is worth it all!!

I wanted to share one other story that I am thankful for and encouraged by. One family that moved to CT 3 & 1/2 years ago came for the first time today because they received one of our mailers. After the service they told me that they loved the entire experience and that this is the church they have been searching for the whole time they have been here! They had a great time, their kids had a blast, and they plan to be back next week. Amen. (Sounds like we need to do an even better job about getting the word out about Calvary!)