Calvary Assembly of God

On Sunday, Pastor Craig shared the second message in our new series. These notes here are the short recap he shared on his blog. If you would like to watch the video of the full sermon, please scroll down to the bottom of this post.

Just as assuredly as Jesus fulfilled God’s promise of His crucifixion and resurrection, we Christians are fulfilling God’s promise that we would take the message of forgiveness of sins to the whole world (Luke 24:45-48). We are taking Him to every street where God sends us. There is a song written by Michael McDonald called “Takin’ it to the streets.” One verse says—

Take this message to my brother 

You will find him everywhere 

Wherever people live together 

Tied in poverty’s despair

We know what the “it” is. He is a Savior, a God, a Redeemer, a Father who has made it possible for everyone everywhere to be in a personal relationship with Him for all of eternity! 

When anyone talks about taking the Good News of Jesus to people, our minds typically think “missionary.” 

What is a missionary? What comes to mind when you think of a missionary? 

Quite simply, a missionary is a person sent on a mission (see Luke 24:47; Matthew 28:19-20). 

(You can read all of the Scriptures I reference in this post by clicking here.)

We are not sent on our mission unprepared, but Jesus promised us both His authority and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-19; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). In both Luke and Acts, Jesus says that our witness is to begin in Jerusalem. 

I recently looked up a list of the most common street names in America. I found that the most common street name is “Main Street.” But Main Street is also used as a way for people to describe the average setting in the USA. 

Going to “Jerusalem” or “Main Street” first is foretold in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 3:4-5). We’re not first sent to people with an unknown language or obscure customs, but to people we know and understand. These are people to whom we can easily find common interests. 

There are two simple steps when we take Jesus to our Main Street.

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you today and every day. 

You cannot give to others what you do not first have yourself, so you need to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to you first. Pray before reading the Bible to ask the Spirit to give you insight (Psalm 119:18).  

2. Find a friend and tell them what was revealed to you.   

After Jesus was revealed to Andrew, he found Peter and told him what he had discovered. And after Philip met Jesus, he found Nathanael and brought him to Jesus (John 1:35-46). 

Every person with whom you interact today is precious to God. Our mission is to help them realize that awesome truth. 

So get filled up with the wisdom from the Spirit and then find a friend on Main Street and bring them to Jesus! 

Follow along with all of the messages in this series Takin’ Him To The Streets by clicking here. 

Pastor Craig shared about a new series of messages that begins this Sunday.

Just before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He told His followers that they would have the joyful responsibility of taking the good news of forgiveness and eternal life to all the highways and byways of every nation. Later on, Paul would get more specific about all of the groups to which he was taking the message of Jesus (see Luke 24:46-47; 1 Corinthians 9:20-22). 

That commission is still in effect for Christians today: We are to share the gospel with everyone—from easy street to skid row, from Wall Street to Main Street, and every street in between. 

The streets on which you live and work are different from the streets where I travel. In fact, all of us live on different streets, but everyone we meet on every street needs to hear about Jesus. In this new series of messages, we are going to learn how the Holy Spirit can help us be ready to take Jesus to those on each street where God sends us. 

We hope you can join us at Calvary Assembly of God for this highly practical series of messages. If you miss any of the messages, you can come back here to find a list of all of the lessons.

Pastor Craig likes to end the year with a review of all of the sermon series we had during the year. Check out this 2023 edition. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom to find the video to watch the full sermon.

The apostle Peter said he wrote two letters to the church “as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking” (2 Peter 3:1). And Paul reminded his young friend Timothy to “keep reminding [your congregation] of these things” (2 Timothy 2:14). 

In the spirit of those great apostles, I have made it a practice to take time at the end of each year to look back on all that we have learned in the previous year, and then to look forward to where God may be leading Calvary Assembly of God in this upcoming year.

Clicking on each series title will take you to a list of all of the sermons in that series. 

Intimate Conversation—The dictionary defines the word “intimate” with these phrases: associated in close personal relations, characterized by warm friendship, and closely personal. These words perfectly describe the relationship God wants to have with His children through prayer. Pete Briscoe said, “Prayer is an intimate conversation with the One who passionately loves you and lives in you.” The One who loves you so passionately desires to walk with you and share intimate knowledge with you. Prayer is not something formal, cold, or mechanical, but it is vibrant, warm, engaging, and life-changing.

A Christian’s Mental Health—I don’t think there is any arguing that Jesus was the healthiest individual who ever walked planet Earth. Some may want to push back with, “Of course He was because He didn’t have any problems to deal with!” But the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus experienced everything you and I will ever experience (Hebrews 2:17), so His deity didn’t exclude Him from the stressors that His humanity would have to face. And yet, He handled all of these things successfully. Luke the physician observed the growth of Jesus and tells us that it all began with Jesus having a robust mental health. From that foundation, everything else—physical, spiritual, relational—all could develop properly. We must learn from this example and pay careful attention to our own mental health.

Bold Claims—“That’s a pretty bold claim. Are you prepared to back that up?” I’ll bet you have heard something like that said to you, and maybe you have even said that yourself to someone else who made a big, audacious statement. After Jesus is arrested by the religious leaders—an arrest that will ultimately lead to Jesus being crucified on the Cross—there are some incredibly bold claims spoken by key people in this part of the Story. For the most part, these are claims that we don’t read earlier in any of the Gospels, but as this story is heading toward its most crucial moment, we have these audacious statements pronounced. But here’s the most important part: These bold claims weren’t just made, but they were backed up with proof as well.

We Are: Pentecostal—Pentecost for over 1500 years was a celebration in Jerusalem that brought in Jews from all over the world. But on the Day of Pentecost that came just ten days after Jesus ascended back into heaven, the meaning of Pentecost was forever changed! Followers of Jesus—now empowered by an infilling of the Holy Spirit—began to take the good news of Jesus all over the world. These Spirit-filled Christians preached the Gospel and won converts to Christ even among hostile crowds, performed miracles and wonders, stood up to pagan priests and persecuting governmental leaders, and established a whole new way of living as Christ-followers. We, too, can be Pentecostal followers of Jesus Christ today. 

Ascending—Every year, Jews from around the world made four pilgrimages up to Jerusalem for various feasts and sacrifices. These journeys reminded them of God’s goodness as they went to the Temple to worship, and they helped refocus on God’s ways as they returned to their regular routines. Jerusalem is over 2500 feet above sea level, so the pilgrimage there was a physical workout as well as a spiritual workout. These workouts were beneficial for God’s people, preparing them to minister in their cities in the following months. The Book of Psalms contains 15 songs that these pilgrims would sing to and with each other as they traveled up to Jerusalem. These Psalms of Ascent are still instructive for Christians today.

Saints Together—Throughout the New Testament the word “saints” is always in the plural form. This is a clear indication that none of us can develop into the full-fledged Christians we were meant to be on our own. We all need each other. More specifically, we all need the most mature version of each other. A key component of an individual saint’s development is the time spent alone being forged by the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Maturing saints then come together with each other to continue to strengthen and sharpen everyone in the church. Strong individual saints make a strong church, and a strong church makes strong individual saints! Let’s learn about six important spiritual disciplines that each individual saint must put into practice so that they can use their newly developed strengths to help other saints in their own development. 

The Great Attitude Of Gratitude—There’s something about gratitude that distinguishes people. Think about it: would you rather hang around with grumblers or grateful people? The gratitude of Paul and Silas certainly made them stand out from the crowd when they were in Philippi. Wrongly accused, beaten, and thrown in prison, but instead of bellyaching, they were praising God. Later on, when Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Philippi, the theme of gratefulness permeates his letter. The distinguishing mark is actually in the title: The GReat ATTITUDE spells out GRATITUDE!

Long Live The King Of Kings—Throughout human history, whenever a king died, the people would say something like, “The king is dead. Long live the king!” They would say this because the next king ascended to the throne immediately after his predecessor died. Except when a nation had been defeated, the cry, “The king is dead” was unanswered by, “Long live the king!” Israel must have felt like this. After being defeated by Nebuchadnezzar and spending 70 years in exile, it appeared to many that the line of kings was broken. Even after retuning to their homeland, Israel continued to live under the thumb of other powerful nations. And yet, some still clung to the glimmer of the promise God had made about an eternal King sitting on Jerusalem’s throne. The First Advent of Jesus revealed to us in the Gospels reassures us that the promise of an eternal King is true. Jesus came to earth to reveal His majesty to us. The First Advent is so important because it bolsters our faith for the imminent Second Advent when Jesus will return as the King of kings! Christmas is a great time to be reminded that even now we can confidently declare, “Long live the eternal King of kings!”

2024 promises to be an exciting year! If you don’t have a home church in the northern Kent County area, we would love to have you join us! 

We had a special guest speaker on Sunday. Here is the recap Pastor Craig shared on his blog.

Douglas Carmel from Rock Of Israel ministries shared an amazing overview of the seven Jewish feasts that are listed in the Book of Leviticus, and how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of these feasts. Doug was born into a Jewish family and became a Christian in his late teens, so he has firsthand knowledge of both the traditional celebrations and the Christian understanding of these feasts. 

One of the things I appreciated was Doug’s explanation that the feasts were merely a shadow of the reality—Jesus is the Reality! 

Please check out the message he shared at Calvary Assembly of God. I encourage you to visit his website to get more information on all of the ministries Rock Of Israel.

Passover—celebrated on the 14th day of the first month 

• Leviticus 23:4-5
• Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-20
• Jesus was crucified on the same day that the Passover lamb was being sacrificed 

Unleavened Bread—celebrated on the 15th day of the first month

• Leviticus 23:6
• 1 Corinthians 5:6-9

Firstfruits—celebrated on the 16th day of the first month (or the day after the Sabbath) 

• Leviticus 23:9-14 
• 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 

Seven Weeks—celebrated 50 days after Firstfruits 

• Leviticus 23:15-21 
• Also known as Pentecost 
• Acts 2:1-41

Doug called our attention to the calendar on which these feasts appeared. Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Seven Weeks all happen in the spring. All four of these feasts have already been fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

There are no feasts in the summer months, as these are the months of field work (Leviticus 23:22). This is where we are now, which is why Jesus told us, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). This is the time for us to tell others about Jesus the Messiah! 

The final three feasts appear in the autumn—Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. These are feasts that are still to be fulfilled at Christ’s Second Advent. 

Trumpets—celebrated on the 1st day of the seventh month

• Leviticus 23:23-25 
• This is also known as Rosh Hashanah when the shofar is blown 
• 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

Atonement—celebrated on the 10th day of the seventh month

• Leviticus 23:26-32 
• This is also known as Yom Kippur—the one day of the year the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies 
• Romans 11:25-32; Matthew 23:39 

Tabernacles—celebrated on the 15th through the 21st days of the seventh month

• Leviticus 23:33-43 
• The “New Testament” reference actually occurs in Zechariah 14:1-16 because it is a prophetic word looking ahead to the Millennial reign of Jesus in the capital of Jerusalem 

Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). Jesus is THE Reality and THE Fulfillment of all of these celebrations! 

You may read a quick overview of our 16 foundational beliefs statements by clicking here. In 2021, Pastor Craig T. Owens taught on all 16 of these statements, unpacking how we can apply them to our daily lives. Please click on any link below to be taken to each of his messages. On that link, you may read a short recap of his message, or watch the video of the entire sermon.

1. The Scriptures are inspired 
2. One true God 
3. The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
4. The fall of man
5. The salvation of man
6. The ordinance of the Church
7. The baptism in the Holy Spirit 
8. The initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit 
9. Sanctification 
10. The Church and its mission
11. The ministry
12. Divine healing
13. The blessed hope
14. The millennial reign of Christ
15. The final judgment
16. The new heavens and the new earth