Day 35 :: Rare Elements

Daily Worship: Plan-changing
Kent Oviatt, Associate Pastor | Multi-cultural Ministries

Toss out the word “worship” in casual conversation and see what kind of definitions you get. Most likely you will hear words like church, liturgy, music, preaching, and Sunday. For many people, they connect worship to a Sunday event at a local church.  While this definition is not technically wrong, it is incomplete. The New Testament has a much deeper definition.

In John 4, Jesus and the Samaritan woman discuss this. She had just referred to genuine worship as a place, but Jesus told her that true worship must worship in Spirit and in Truth (4:23-34). Our question today: “Am I worshipping God daily?” should involve practicing God’s presence in every moment. Then as we practice this lifestyle of worship, our plans and agenda will more purposefully align with God’s plans and agenda.

Romans 12, affirms this lifestyle of worship. As we surrender our lives to Christ and allow him to transform our minds we participate in worship. Worship must begin in our hearts, before it can genuinely be demonstrated in our actions. Are you worshipping God daily? Is this worship transformational? Are you allowing God to conform you into the image of his Son? Do you notice that as you worship your plans begin to change?

When true worship occurs daily in our hearts, it will then be demonstrated through our actions. Our plans will change as we align around God’s agenda rather than our own. 

Day 34 :: Rare Elements

Daily Worship: Practicing
Gary Byrum, Associate Pastor | Pastoral Care & Sr. Adults

The joy of having a friend – the discipline of mutual accountability.

The joy of being a child in a loving family – the discipline of respect, obedience, and trust.

The joy of being married to Jan – the discipline of sacrificially loving her as Christ loves the church.

The joy of being born again as a Child of God – the discipline of a daily walk, immersed in His Word, accountable to brothers and sisters in community, with a heart that is filled with intentional worship, praise, and thanksgiving.

Joy and discipline are inseparable in healthy, transforming relationships. Yet, in the rush of life, we can overlook the need for discipline in our relationship with Jesus, the need for an intentional, genuine hunger for daily worship of our Savior. Is it any wonder that we sometimes find ourselves drifting and feeling far away? Discipline strengthens our faith in Jesus, even when our feelings tell us the circumstances are overwhelming.

Are you worshiping God daily? Is the word of Christ dwelling in you richly as a result of your time in the Word? Are you growing in community with others, being transparent and accountable to them in confession, fellowship, and prayer? Is praise and thanksgiving a daily experience? Today is a good day to start. Walk in rich relationship with Him.

TWEETABLE QUOTE: Discipline strengthens our faith in Jesus, even when our feelings tell us the circumstances are overwhelming.  #mynext

Day 33 :: Rare Elements

Daily Worship: Participating--An Attitude of Expectation
Larry White, Associate Pastor | Worship

Worship is a verb, but it's more than an outward action. Here in Psalm 95, we see a song of praise to our God. In the first five verses, the writer helps us to see just how great our God is in character and deed. We are reminded that from the highest mountain to the deepest sea, it is all in His hands. Throughout this passage we are directed to see and honor the greatness of our God. Verse six reminds us to kneel before Him.  

The act of kneeling is important here. Not only am I acknowledging who God is by knelling down, but I am taking a place of humility. As a Christ follower, it is important that my attitude be kept in check. Every day I'm given the choice to better know God and to offer Him worship with my life. When I kneel in worship, I'm saying to God and to myself that I am not in control.  When I bow low before the creator, ask for His forgiveness, and request His leading in my day, I rise to live life as a true worshiper. The very kind that Jesus Himself said the Father is seeking in John 4. 

From this humble place, I can recognize the work of God in and around me. I can join the work of God and watch as He is exalted through my availability. Lifestyle worshipers then take on an attitude of expectation as we await all that God will direct in our day and walk through every moment in fellowship with Him!

Prayer/Challenge

Today, will you kneel before the Lord? Will you lay yourself before him? Will you choose to offer him your WHOLE life? Will you go through your day honoring the Lord in all you do? Will you look with expectation throughout your day for how God may be working in your life and join Him? 

TWEETABLE QUOTE: Lifestyle worshipers take on an attitude of expectation and await all that God will direct in their day and walk through every moment in fellowship with Him!

Day 32 :: Rare Elements

1 Thessalonians 5
Daily Worship: Prayerful
Tammy Priest, Executive Assistant | Office of the Pastor

"What is God's will for me?"

How many times have you heard this question? Or asked it? Probably too many times to count. Most people wish there was some place in Scripture that spelled out what God's will is for their lives. 

Actually, there is.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

God's will for you and for me is to rejoice and be thankful and pray no matter what is happening to us or around us. And the only way to develop and maintain a joyful heart and thankful mind is to pray without ceasing. To literally be in conversation with the Creator of the Universe "without intermission, incessantly, without ceasing." To be engaged with Him in such a way that, whether it's a question or a praise or a plea, our thoughts and hearts are continually inclined toward Him.

This is what Jesus was talking about when He said to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37). This "Greatest Commandment" calls us to be intentionally connected to the Savior all the time, because that is how we will thrive.

That is God's will for your life: to thrive through continual, prayerful fellowship with Him. The result will be a heart and mind filled with His peace, His perspective and His purpose.

TWEETABLE QUOTE: Following the #GreatestCommandment fills us with God's peace, perspective & purpose. @tammy_priest @Calvary_Now @CalvaryWest  #RareElements

Day 29 :: Rare Elements

2 Timothy 2 

Transformed in Community: Empowered

Steven Ackley, Associate Pastor | College and Young Adults

Are you familiar with the way a jet engine works? I’m far from an expert, but it has been explained to me that there are three primary components that result in the power that these engines produce—air, fuel, and pressure. Air enters an encased engine enabling fuel to be burned, creating a pressure that produces a tremendous amount of power. 

When it comes to empowering people, Paul teaches us a process that is similar to that of a jet engine. The three components are people, the Word of God, and accountability. First, people must be welcomed into your life, family, community. Once brought in close, Paul speaks of entrusting or passing on the message of the gospel that has been given to you, a message that is contained in the Word of God. Alongside of this Paul sets expectations that provide a clear anticipation of accountability.  Community with this type of focus produces an empowerment for Kingdom impact unlike anything that we could craft ourselves.

Who have you welcomed into your life? Are you passing on the message of the gospel to them? Is there meaningful, and grace-filled accountability? Are you empowering these other believers to have significant Kingdom impact for years to come? Whether you are or not, today find great hope in being strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. As you find that strength, may you empower people to further the mission of the Church.

TWEETABLE QUOTE: Empowering people for Kingdom impact begins by welcoming people into your life.

Day 28 :: Rare Elements

Galatians 6 

Transformed in Community: Equipped

Don Schmidt, Associate Pastor | Connections

The New Testament is full of instruction for how we are to do life together as a community of Christ followers. Hebrews 10:24-25 instructs us to “consider how to stir one another up to love and good works.” Hebrews 3:13 instructs us to “exhort one another every day … that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Matthew 18:15-17 gives clear instruction on the process for confronting a believer who has fallen into sin. And Galatians 6:10 admonishes us to “do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

And that doesn’t happen just because a person attends a corporate worship service with 400 or 2,000 other worshipers; this only happens when you and I come together in small groups and experience New Testament community with other believers.

As you prayerfully apply Calvary’s Values and Measures to your own life, can you say you are being transformed through community? And can you say that God is using your life to impact (and transform) another believer’s life in the context of your small group community?

Join me in praying that the people of Calvary will be regularly transformed into the image of Christ as we engage each other for the purpose of New Testament community.

TWEETABLE QUOTE: Can you say that God is using your life to impact (and transform) another believer’s life in the context of your small group community?

Day 27 :: Rare Elements

John 13 

Transformed in Community: Established

Jay McGuirk, Associate Pastor | Discipleship

What is so “new” about this commandment that Jesus gives to his disciples just before he moves to the cross? Moses taught us to love God and love our neighbors. Here, Jesus’ love and teaching deepens and transforms these commands. The newness is that we are to love each other as Jesus has loved his disciples. This happens best when we are established in ongoing community with other believers.

You’ve likely read the stories of Jesus and the disciples. They were not a selfless and spiritually mature group of men during their time with Jesus. They argued about being first in his kingdom, betrayed him, slept when they should have prayed, denied they knew him and even asked to destroy some people who rejected him. Yet, Jesus loved them in spite of their flaws and empowered them to change the world.

You can’t really love someone unless you walk through life with them. When you are around them only occasionally, you see them at their best. It’s when you live your lives together that you find out their moods, weaknesses and annoyances. Jesus lived with his followers day in and day out for three years and he knew them completely—yet he still loved them.

Growing in our faith means really learning to love others as we follow Jesus together. The more we do this, the more we see that this love does not come from anything we create, but from the presence of the Holy Spirit working through us.

TWEETABLE QUOTE: Establish yourself in community so that Jesus’ example and teaching can transform your love for others.