Living Nativity Information

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving with family and friends.  As I think about the next few weeks I know we’re looking forward to an incredibly fruitful Christmas season at Calvary.  One change is that Calvary is not conducting the Living Nativity this year.   There were a number of factors that led to this decision and I thought it might be helpful for you to know of them.

We’ve conducted the nativity for at least six straight years and have been so blessed by your serving and  participating. It’s a huge effort by many behind the scenes as well as those who stand in the cold and display the stations of the nativity.  Even though the brutally cold weather last year led to calling it off each night, we still had to have all preparations in place and were ready to go until the weather prohibited us from presenting it each night.  This has also happened on another occasion or two such as when rain or storms leading to partial showings or nightly cancelling.

From this and other observations, we’ve learned a thing or two: One, we need to have  weather provisions, such as constructed shelters or blinds that shield the actors and scenes from wind, rain, or the cold.  The beauty of the nativity is that people can drive through – but the actors must stand in the weather, and some years that’s a tough thing to do.  As we move forward and consider next year, we’ll think about how that might be done.

Also, since it’s so intensive a production, it’s a good idea to give our people a breather this year and consider the possibility of doing the nativity every other year, or resuming it on a yearly basis in 2012.  In particular this year, the choir is conducting a major drama and musical production.  We know how hectic the Christmas season can be, and to give proper emphasis of resources and effort to the musical, it seems best to not have two weekends back to back where our people were stretched so thin.

We’ve also noticed that the attendance at the Living Nativity has been slowly trickling downward, this due possibly to having conducted it so many years straight in a row.  It seems clear that the future uniqueness and interest in the event could be enhanced by a break this year.

These thoughts give you a snapshot into the decision making process and hopefully helps you understand the reasoning for not conducting it this year.

Clearly we have a full month of opportunities for ministry and fellowship at Calvary and I’m confident the Lord will bless us as we honor Him.  In addition, I hope that you will support Christmas House and the Adult Choir in prayer and by your presence. 

Dr. Mark

Rebuilding Your Broken Marriage

I’m posting here the sermon points from yesterday.  For the full length video and the broader context of the sermon, go to our church website, www.cbcol.net and click the “watch sermons” category.

Rebuilding Your Broken Marriage: Ephesians 5:21-33

Three Assumptions:

1. A Recommitment to a relationship with Christ (or the establishment of a new)
2. Reaffirm desire for reconciliation with spouse
3. Re-consecration of the marriage to the Lord

I.  Seek help and Intervention – agree together to get help

• Diffuse the immediate crisis
• Seek Godly help and counsel
• Keep intensity level down by having a referee

II. Rework the Communication System

• Make your communication Honest but not Hostile
• Identify the core issues – what’s underneath the surface?
• Resolve issues, do not regurgitate them
• Receive coaching and clarification

III. Create a Process for Restoring Trust

• Eliminate distractions
• Define acceptable behavior
• Create and environment of openness and vulnerability
• Expect accountability as a necessity – accountable to spouse and to others
• Set markers to celebrate

IV. Draft a Plan for Personal Health

• Immerse in a healthy Christian culture/environment
• Immerse the mind and heart in the transforming power of scripture and prayer
• Eradicate unhealthy and unholy behaviors
• Conduct periodic evaluation and have consistent accountability

Real Marriage, Real Expectations

After preaching this sermon recently, we received a request for the the points to be posted.  For the full sermon and broader context of the points please go to our website, www.cbcol.net and view the full length video under the “watch sermons” category.

Real Marriage, Real Expectations  --  Ephesians 5:21-33; 1 Peter 3:1-8; Colossians 3:18-21

The Pyramid of Expectations

Top Tier: The Lord expects of your marriage relationship:

• Faithfulness and Loyalty
• Respect and Love
• Encouragement and Nurture

Second Tier: Your Spouse expects:

A. Realistic examples -

• You will set Christ as a priority and will lead or follows as Christ guides
• You will not physically, verbally or in any way emotionally
• You will not be the manipulated object of the relationship
• Your spouse can know where you are and what you’re doing at any time
• That you will be honest and fully disclose, not deceptive, about matters and issues
• That you will include your spouse in decisions, especially when they affect family or the other person in some way
• That you will inform your spouse of any untoward advances or awkward situation that you encounter

B. Unrealistic examples -

• That my spouse can make me happy
• That my spouse can be everything I need them to be
• That my spouse can meet all my needs
• That my spouse is perfect
• That my spouse can change or fix me – or I change or fix them
• That my spouse can fulfill me
• That my spouse should be the center of our universe

Third Tier: Individual Expectations – of yourself in personal growth and in relationship with the Lord.

Lifeway Men’s Webcast – with Tony Dungy

Just a note to all the guys of Calvary.  I heard about a webcast for this Thursday at noon that you might find interesting.  It’s a Lifeway presentation that should be fun, and spiritually uplifting.

And to top it all, the guest is Tony Dungy!  Check it out Thursday at the following link:

http://www.lifeway.com/Event/Mens-Webcast-Stand-Firm-September-2011

What About Giving?

Recently, one of our new church members asked about the different levels and ways of giving to Calvary.  Thinking that there might be others with the same questions, here’s an overview:

Budget giving: as typical, these are the areas of general ministry including utilities, ministry line items, salaries, missions giving, Vacation Bible School, etc ...  To meet the budget, people generally give based on a tithe. The combined amount of the general budget and the Land of Promise is slightly over one million dollars this year.

Land of Promise: For many years, the ongoing part of our larger budget that is directly tied to our mortgage payment (land and building) has been called the Land of Promise.  Originally called the Nehemiah Fund, the capital program that led to the initial purchase was renamed when we bought the land and began building a facility.  We encourage members to give above and beyond the tithe to fulfill this responsibility.

Children of Promise: Early in 2010, we began considering the need for expanding our building to accommodate growth in the children and youth areas.  We determined to begin first with the greatest need, the children’s wing.  The design calls for an end cap including a large assembly room, extra office and storage areas, and classrooms.  We are raising money for this and will “build it when we get it.”  We anticipate somewhere between $300,000 – $400,000 to add the extension and parking.

What about ways to give:

Obviously, you can drop a check in the offering basket on Sundays, and members often mail their checks to the church office, where the financial secretary posts them. But there are other ways …

Bill Pay is a feature that is included on most online banking systems.  It’s connected to your online account management from your bank. It includes sending paper or electronic checks to companies or individuals.  I use it all the time for bills, and I use it for my contributions. It will set up payments with a number of different schedules.

We do have the ability to draft accounts.  Since we have that set up with the bank already, our financial secretary has the forms to use.  Please contact our financial assistant and we will assist you in that process.

Heaven and Hell DVD sermon series now available …

After beginning to preach a recent sermon series on Heaven and Hell, I began to receive requests for copies of the videos. We decided to put together a package of the six sermons; they are now available.  If you’d like a DVD set, please contact the church office and we’ll have one prepared for you.

Sermon Audio Clips: The Founding of America Parts 1 and 2

As an addendum to the sermon last Sunday, I wanted to provide the full length links to the audio versions of The Founding of America Parts 1 and 2. The podcasts are provided by Focus on the Family and feature historian David Barton.

Part 1: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/radio.aspx?ID={B42B2063-7BA8-4A8E-B25B-9AC8C0275213}

Part 2: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/popups/media_player.aspx?MediaId={368E1D9E-07B6-49A5-B249-3203B78DE384}