o serve God in any way or capacity is a joy and privilege. Just think, according to Ephesians 2, before Christ we were spiritually dead. But by faith in Christ, we are saved masterpieces of God’s handiwork. We are works of His grace and kindness for the world to see and He is not ashamed to use us!

If you are wondering how do you logically unite all nations into one family and then keep peace and harmony at the same time? You would need the most powerful love and clear boundaries or standards to keep the integrity of that community, to keep it together. The answer, once again, is Jesus, who Paul calls The Cornerstone.

The work of Christ doesn’t stop at uniting and reconciling us to God. The cross also reconciles and unites us into one body, one group, no matter our social class, our race, our knowledge of God, or our past. Paul reminded the gentiles they were included, no longer separated from God. The gentiles inherited by faith in Christ, the same blessings and promises of the Jews. It would take a miracle (or the blood of Jesus) to unite Jews and Gentiles into one new people group or family. The hostility between these two people groups goes very deep. The blood of Jesus accomplished this miracle!

We dug deeper into Ephesians 1:3-14 today. Pastor Ryan helped us understand that this portion of scripture in the greek and original manuscript is one very long sentence. Some say it was Paul’s hymn of praise. When we read these 12 verses in their full context we get a better understanding of how critical Jesus is to our lives.

Who are you following this year? Who is leading your life? Who’s teaching you how to live, what to think, how to treat others, and what to focus on? It’s a new year, so where are we headed? Do we have a plan or vision for who we want to become and where to go? Pastor Ryan urged us to follow Jesus and he used a scripture we all probably didn’t expect…

Pastor Ryan unpacked portions of John 4 showing us the intentionality and the purposeful love Jesus had for the people of Samaria. We learned that historical and cultural barriers can be broken down if were willing to stop avoiding and start embracing people different than us. Jesus shocked the Samaritan woman and his own disciples through this encounter at the local well in Samaria. Jesus built a bridge by going through Samaria and caring for one woman.

Pastor Ryan starting building further into the series by showing us how we are called to build bridges too. We learned from John 1 that God uses people to build bridges or point and show the way to Jesus. Last week we learned Jesus is the bridge to God, this week we learned we are like bridges to Jesus. Some of us may not feel all that worthy...

Pastor Ryan wrapped up our Together series taking us through a journey of the early church going into the world to make disciples (devoted followers) of Jesus. We discovered that we are not alone because the Holy Spirit goes with us and that there is strength in numbers.

This past Sunday Pastor Ryan began a new series entitled TOGETHER. We heard Pastor Ryan’s heart come out and really the Word of God as he showed us in scripture that we belong together, therefore we are not alone.

Pastor Ryan wrapped up The Essentials series with the importance of being ready at all times for Jesus to return. Maybe you’ve heard the comments or have said them yourself recently… “It feels like Jesus could come back at any moment now.” Pastor Ryan unpacked the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (Virgins). Most scholars drive home two major points

Pastor Ryan continued to cover essentials to the Christian faith and things we need to carry on into life as it reopens. COVID 19 sparked a renewal in prayer at Calvary and in our personal lives. Pastor Ryan said we’ve had more time to pray and more things to pray about. It doesn’t mean we all grew in our prayer life, but it definitely rose to greater importance in the church, as a whole.