Calvary Temple

The condition of our heart when we approach God matters very much to Him! In Numbers 20:6-13 Moses assumes a very acceptable posture of falling on his face prostrate before God and prays for a very worthy cause of needing water for the Children of Israel. All looked good from the surface.

The scripture says that the glory of the Lord appeared to them there when he prayed.  But, despite God answering the prayer with very specific direction to speak to a rock and God would miraculously cause it to produce water for the people, Moses blatantly disobeyed and struck the rock instead.

God called this disobedience unbelief.  Unbelief separates us from God, and ultimately, if not corrected and repented for, prevents us from achieving our goal of making Heaven our home.  It certainly kept Moses out of the Promised Land.

Do you want to be perfect? Me, too! And Jesus told us exactly how to do it, and how to be identified as children of our Father in Heaven. Sometimes it’s not easy. Sometimes, it's messy, uncomfortable and even unwanted. But our very identity is tied to it. And that is, showing the love of God to others. Even the unjust and unrighteous.

Jesus showed us an example in Matthew 5:43-48 of Father God sharing his beautiful gifts of sunshine and rain with those who don’t deserve it, because he loves us so much...and he expects us to do the same. And, though it isn’t easy to do, it comes with great reward, for Jesus said in Matthew 25:37-40, if we show love to the least of these, we’ve shown it unto Him.

In Titus 1:5-12 Paul told Pastor Titus how to choose workers within the church and, very specifically, what kind of leader to avoid. We would do well to follow this pattern in electing government officials as well as church leaders!

In II Timothy 1:5-8 Paul also told Pastor Timothy to remind himself of his godly heritage and the powerful gifts he’d received when he was ordained for ministry and to stir them up inside himself and see the power of God move.

Paul was very clearly admonishing these young pastors that the teachings of Christ must remain pure in leaders in the government and the church, undefiled by evil men’s plans and motives and that they should not tolerate such behaviors. And, neither should we.

We find many beautiful parallels between the relationship of Jesus Christ with the church, his bride, and Jewish wedding traditions. Many of these traditions are reflected in the events surrounding the rapture of the church. Join us as we study this today.

Join us for a bible study on the rapture of the Church.

Pentecost Sunday is the observance of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the earth.

It is celebrated 50 days after Passover. Just before Jesus ascended from earth back to Heaven, He instructed His disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait upon the Holy Spirit to come to them, which He’d promised to send to them so they wouldn’t feel so alone after He left. He called the Holy Spirit "another comforter". Jesus told them, you will receive power to be my witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and not to fear when they are taken before governors for preaching His word, because the Holy Spirit would give them the words to say.

The book of Joel tells us that in the last days, another outpouring of the Holy Spirit will occur. We are praying for this outpouring to begin on us! The power of the Holy Spirit is undeniable, and something every Christian needs. Thank God, He sent us this precious gift of another comforter!

Memorial Day. A day to remember those who lost their lives while serving their country. God thought memorials were very important. In Joshua 4:9-10 God told Joshua to have the priests set up stones to mark the very place where they stood in the Jordan River on dry ground. For God had performed a mighty miracle for them by rolling back the waters. He wanted there to be a permanent memorial of the event, and another memorial at the campsite in the Promised Land for them to use to teach their children about it.

We memorialize Christ’s death, burial and resurrection by taking ‘communion’ elements of bread and grape juice, too. It wasn’t the stones in the memorial that caused the miracle God performed, nor is it the elements in the bread and juice that saves us from our sins. It was the living sacrifice of the Son of God, Jesus, our savior. Be sure you are anchored in Him for these perilous times.

The wilderness is a desolate, uninhabitable for very long, in-between place that’s full of physical obstacles and dangers. Except that, sometimes, that’s exactly where God wants us to be, just as he did the Children of Israel, so that he can not only meet all our physical needs while we’re there, but he can also teach us valuable spiritual lessons.  Deuteronomy 8:2 says “And thou shalt remember all the ways which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart whether thou would keep his commandments or not.” But after the wilderness, if we remain faithful and prove true, the promise will come.

…Be ye filled with the spirit. Are you hungry for more of the things of God? We’re commanded to be baptized in the spirit and Jesus is the baptizer. The Apostle Paul met with some of the disciples and they’d never heard of the Holy Spirit before—they’d only heard of salvation and water baptism. But when Paul explained that yes, they’d completed the salvation and water baptism as they should, but now they can have more, they wanted ‘the more!’ So Paul laid his hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. And you can, too! Only you don’t need Paul to lay hands on you; anyone who’s received this gift from the Lord can do it, or you can even just pray and ask Him for this wonderful gift without anyone laying hands on you! Thank you, Father God, for sending us this wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit.

Happy Mother’s Day to all our wonderful moms, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and friends, and anyone else who has invested into the lives of others! Not all moms have biological children, but many are loved by those they serve as a mom would. Psalm 68:6 says that God sets the solitary, or lonely in families. What a wonderful provision!The Apostle Paul was born into a very religious Jewish family. It wasn’t in their plan that God would choose their son to help convert stoic Jews to Christianity, but that was precisely what God’s plan for Paul’s life included. In fact, Galations 1:15 says that God had called Paul into his service from his mother’s womb.  It is thought that Pauls’ family disinherited him when he became a Christian because there is no mention of them in scripture, but thankfully, God provided another mother for Paul.  The wife of Simon the Cyrene, who carried Jesus’ cross to Golgotha was that substitute mother for Paul. She cared for him, fed him, dressed his wounds when he was in need. When in Romans 16 Paul was greeting many friends in Christ, he referred to her as his mother!  What a blessing it is that God finds a place for those who need a family, and finds a family for those who have a capacity to love others.