Vacation Bible School for CBC

What a great week it’s been at Calvary with Vacation Bible School.  All the effort and work brought great results – from the worship rallies, staging, teaching, crafts, food, recreation and all … There were no less than 170 children here each of the four nights, and on Tuesday there were a number of decisions to accept Christ.  Thanks to everyone’s hard work and willingness to serve – there was probably in excess of 100 adults and other workers this year.  We’ll report more later, but just wanted to say thanks. 

And remember, this Sunday we will complete the VBS emphasis with church wide rallies in both services followed by a meal and fellowship time.

Update on Children’s Promise 6-8-2010

Just wanted to give you the latest totals on the Children’s Promise Campaign, which puts us at $34,000.  It’s a good start as we move into the summer.  Continue to pray about what you and your family can do to help us reach our goal of $400,000.  Remember, our commitment is to “build it when we get it” so we’ll look forward to the Lord prompting and moving us forward.

Children’s Promise

This Sunday we will conduct a special offering for the Children’s Promise Project. Information is available on the website that details the scope of the work; but let me address a couple of aspects here:

First, this Sunday will be the “kick off” of the campaign; in essence the cash offering will jumpstart the process. If we receive $5,000 or $10,000 – that’s great. If we receive $40,000 or more – that’s great. We’ve not established a target goal for the first Sunday; but we do believe that it’s time to get the ball rolling and let the steam build. Since this is the starting point, we intend for the contributions to keep coming in over a period of time. How long? It would be great if in just a few months everything would be in place, but our commitment is to “build it when we get it” so if it takes three months, six months or one year, that’s okay. Please keep in mind that we’re asking members to give to Children’s Promise above and beyond normal tithe giving so that the budget doesn’t suffer.

Second, for many of our new members, there may be a question about the difference between Land of Promise and Children’s Promise. These are two very different campaigns. The Land of Promise was and still is the initial campaign to pay for our land purchase and building. We started raising money toward the end of the first year of Calvary, calling it the Nehemiah Fund. That fund folded into the major campaign (Land of Promise) that continues to help pay the monthly loan amount. We encourage our new members to join us in giving to the Land of Promise (above and beyond their budget giving).

Children’s Promise is focused on the new project for the children’s wing expansion that includes new classrooms, worship space, extra parking, etc… This is a short term (hopefully) campaign that allows us to pay for the expansion without incurring additional debt. The estimate for the project is $400,000 and once that has been completed we’ll then turn our attention to the youth room project – which will be a totally separate campaign. So, in short, the Children’s Promise, as identified on the drawings, is the way we hope to expand the facility and provide for our children’s ministry.

New Sermon Series to begin in May

If you would like to begin reading  ahead, I’ll start a new sermon series the first Sunday in May on “Life in the Spirit” based on Galatians 5:16-26 and selected passages in Romans.  The first few weeks we will explore the nature of living under the control of the Holy Spirit as compared to yielding to the flesh.  Then I’ll turn attention to the fruit of the Spirit as they are detailed in verses 22-23.

I’ve asked our Youth Pastor, Mark Smith, to preach the next two Sundays to prepare us for this series.  He’ll lead us into a deeper look at John 15 and the principle of “abiding” in Christ.  Pray for Mark as he preaches and pray for me as I prepare for this “in-depth” look at the work and fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Easter – Where are you?

Where are you in the walk of faith? At what point of maturity do you find yourself?  This Easter Sunday, the sermon text of John 20:24-31 concerns Jesus’ interaction with Thomas, who is often called “Doubting Thomas.”  Let’s turn this around and call him “Believing Thomas” which is the end result of the story.  How did he get to that point?   Just like him, we’re all at different stages and points of our spiritual journey.  Some have not taken the first step of faith and invited Christ into their lives; others have made an initial commitment, but need to walk more deeply with Him.  This sermon explores those points along the way and how to “get there.”

The schedule for Easter Sunday is normal, with the addition of an Easter Sunrise Service at 6:30 am (this service is an abbreviated devotional service that is different from the 9:00 and 10:30 am services).  Join us and bring some one with you to celebrate Easter.

Calvary Live: March 28th at 6:30 pm

The second of our two concerts will be held this Sunday evening beginning at 6:30 pm in our sanctuary.  We have two groups sharing their music with us – The Artisan Stage and Daniel Gregory (with band).  I was so pleased with the turnout and the response to our first concert last month, let’s invite our friends to join us again for a full evening of music.

March Mission Madness – did you miss it?

The Mission’s Madness weekend was an excellent emphasis with work being conducted in four areas in our community.  It’s our chance to support the sister ministries/organizations in Murfreesboro.  There was a group cleaning brush at the Greenhouse Ministry, two scattered to pick up the groceries from local stores, then another group stacked the canned goods.  We did work at the Journey Home which houses the Community Cafe – a ministry that we’ve been a part of for many years.  Also we were at Room in the Inn and helped with a project for Domestic Violence Center.  There were about thirty-five of our members who participated.  

The Weekend was completed by a Mission’s Variety Show with about twelve different acts, emceed by John Horn.  There were musical groups and solo performances, at least three dancing groups (including the children’s dance team), and a comedic monologue.  A quick count puts the attendance at about 350.  As the line kept filling up, we kept bringing out more tables and chairs!

Thanks to Mike and all the Mission Team for their efforts for the March Mission’s Madness Weekend.