Calvary Temple

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

Job had it made, until that fateful day came when all was lost. He literally spent himself trying to solve the puzzle of why. Like Job, we can waste so much time acting as our own defense attorney, when all the while, God, who is so rich in pity and mercy towards the righteous, is trying to show us things in ourselves that He wants to change. And God used an unlikely source, a very young Elihu, to deliver God's words of clarity, chastisement and mercy, to Job and when Job responded with humility and remorse for his actions, God was able to show his great mercy and restore him doubly for what he'd lost. Join us as we follow Job’s journey back to wholeness, when he finally sees the end of the Lord’s intent for him, as James 5:10-11 says.

God Things. Those events that happen in our lives that we really have very little to do with; things we don’t cause or arrange, but that have huge impact on us. How did they happen? Psalm 37:23 says that, The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Not everything that happens to us is good on its own merit, but we serve a God that can take them all individually, the good, the bad and the ugly, and weave them together into the perfect tapestry that becomes the very fabric of our lives--built around Him. Our country needs some God Things right now. Be encouraged because we serve the God who never changes. If He has ever done one God Thing (and He has!), He’ll certainly do it again, and again. Romans 11:36 says, Everything comes from Him, everything happens through Him, and everything ends up in Him. Do you trust Him to perform God Things in your life?

The most impactful event in all of history. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ completed the sacrifice that He made and provided so much to believers! He freed the souls of those who’d died before he was crucified and resurrected so that they could join him in Heaven; He gave life eternal to all of those who would believe in Him after his death and resurrection, and He gave us power and authority in His own name to do His work here on earth. Celebrate with us the greatest event in history—Christ’s Resurrection Day. The Angel said, Jesus, whom you seek is not in the grave, For He is Risen, as He said!

Seeing Jesus. It is all that really matters. So much rides on our will, our desire and our faith to find Him and look upon Him. For He offers so much. The Old Testament points to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, such as through the story in Numbers 21:5-9. People were dying from snake bites. When the people repented of their sin, God told Moses to make a brass serpent and lift it high up on a pole, so that all who were bitten lived. God gave His own son, Jesus Christ, to be lifted up on a cruel cross on Mount Calvary, to bear the cost of the sins of the world. To all those who look upon Him in faith believing that He will cleanse them of their sin, He gives life eternal. What a wonderful trade. Just turn your eyes upon Jesus.

In today’s study of John 13, we’ll see the significance of the last Passover, why Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, how much Jesus loved the disciples and cared about them after he would be gone. How Jesus’ whole focus was completing the assignment given him by his Father, and he called it glory. Study this phenomenal chapter along with us!

In Exodus 17:14-16 The Lord told Moses that he would have war against the Amalekites from generation to generation, and finally eliminate them for their hatred and persecution of the Jews. In the Book of Esther, an Amalekite man, named Haman, a self-proclaimed Jew hater, set about to annihilate the Jews, but through Divine intervention and a magnificent series of events, the tables turned and the king ordered Haman to be hanged on the very gallows he’d built to hang Mordecai on, the leader of the Jews. God used both Mordecai and Esther, for such a time as this, to free the captive Jewish people, and the king gave them jurisdiction over anyone in the land of Persia who opposed or oppressed them. Mordecai was elevated to the highest position in the land under himself, and Esther was Queen of all Persia. God’s mercy and justice were on full display in this epic story in the Book of Esther.

God’s covenant with Abraham was very serious business to God and God required a pretty heavy price from Abraham and his descendants to enter into this covenant, but the reward was to be continual blessing and the promise of Canaan Land for all his future generations—as long as they were willing to pay the price of circumcision. This was to mark them as belonging to God. When Moses erred and failed to have his and Zipporah’s son circumcised, God had to honor his word and exact punishment for breaking the covenant. But, at the last minute, Zipporah circumcised their son and Moses lived on to be mightily used of God. God chose to forgive Moses and continue honoring him under the Abrahamic covenant, also. In Exodus 33:19, God said, "Moses, I know you by name and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy!" No man can merit God’s mercy. No man can cause his own worthiness in God’s sight. It’s the mercy and compassion of a loving God towards fallible man that meets us where we are.

Solomon gave us these beautiful words in Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." The scholars say that the word 'pure' means flawless, tested, proven, and true. Jesus quoted during his temptation that EVERY word of God is for us to live by; man cannot live on bread alone, but by EVERY word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. In Psalm 28:6-9 David, the Psalmist repeats these words of Solomon, that "...the Lord is my strength and my shield and my heart trusts in him and I am helped. Therefore, my heart rejoices and I will praise him with my song…for he is the saving strength of his anointed." What song are you singing to praise and bless the Lord?

Jesus said, in the parable of the wheat and tares, that when the good seed (the wheat) and the bad seed, (the tares) grow up together into ripened fruit, the difference between them will be very apparent.  But, he said, even though an enemy sowed the bad seed while the gardeners were sleeping, it’s important that they grow together until the harvest, so that no harm will come to the good seed.  Then, at the time of the harvest, Jesus will send forth the reapers, first to remove the bad seed into bundles to be burnt, and then, the good wheat can be safely gathered into his barns. Such excellent and current teaching in this parable found in Matthew 13:24-30.  

Jesus taught His disciples to preach two things to the Lost Sheep of Israel: Repentance unto salvation and the demonstration of the power of God through the working of miracles. Paul, the Apostle, called by God to preach to the Gentiles, preached repentance unto salvation, righteous living, and the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, cast out demons, raise the dead and heal all manner of sickness and disease, in His name. Oh, how we desperately need these simple, direct messages preached among the church body, so we can present Christ to the world. We long for those we love to hear the repentance message, and we long for the moving of the power of the Holy Spirit among us. Ask Jesus for both, right now!

Every relationship requires character, trust and encouragement to be both Godly, and successful. In I Chronicles 22:6 King David learned the importance of Godly character when he set out to build a temple for the Lord and found out that it wasn’t God’s plan! Trust is also vitally important for a relationship to be blessed. Jeremiah 17:5-8 says "Cursed be the man that trusts in man…but, Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters…" Song of Solomon teaches us encouragement through the Shulamite woman’s insecurities about her very dark, sun-tanned skin, which wasn’t desirable in the culture. But the Shepherd boy who loves her so encouraged her through her insecurities, telling her that she was the fairest of all women. Jesus will surely shine through in all of our relationships if we practice these three fundamentals.

Sometimes it can be hard to understand why bad things happen to us. Why would our own family hurt us? Why don’t things work out for us, but instead always seem to be against us? Joseph had this problem. He was blessed of God. He was righteous and loved God and his family. Yet he endured terrible hardship and pain at their hand. But in the end (and sometimes we also must wait until “the end of a thing”), Joseph was the clear winner. Only God was able to take what was meant for evil against Joseph and turn it into something beautiful that was clearly for his benefit. And not only for Joseph’s benefit, but for the benefit of those who had perpetrated the evil against him, and many others as well. Even in the hardness of life, God’s ways can turn what was meant for evil into our good. Romans 8:28 provides this promise: “And we know, that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.“ Joseph’s deliverance required that he forgive the evil intent