For the City

My greatest desire is to pastor a church that wants to impact the city with the gospel of Jesus Christ through our words and through our actions. It is this desire that drives me as I seek to lead Calvary Baptist Church. I am so thankful for the men that God has placed around me to help me in this process of leading Calvary back to a place of health and growth.

As I seek God's direction for His church, I am constantly reminded that it is God's Word that is to direct me in leading His church. In Acts 1:8, we are given clear instruction on how we are to go about fulfilling the Great Commission. The Bible tells us in Acts 1:8 (ESV), “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

1. The Mission: WITNESS unto Jesus
    The command is that we are to be His witnesses! A witness is someone who provides legal testimony, and establish facts to convince an audience of individual's innocence or guilt. As a follower of Christ it is our responsibility to proclaim the truth of who He is and what He has done on our lives. This responsibility doesn't fall to a select well trained group of experts, it is our responsibility.

2. The Power: the HOLY SPIRIT
    This power was given to Jesus' followers on the day of Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came the believers were empowered and equipped to be Jesus' witnesses and as Peter stood and preached over 3,000 people were added to the Kingdom of God. The promise here in Acts 1:8 that they would "receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon" them is still happening in our day! At the moment of salvation, God's Spirit comes to dwell in us to empower and equip us to fulfill the mission of being Jesus' witnesses!
    It is not by programs or personalities that we are to expand the Kingdom of God, it by submitting ourselves to the lordship of the Holy Spirit that He empowers and equips us!

3. The Strategy: Jerusalem, Judea and SO ON
    The strategy that we will use as a church is based on the strategy that Jesus laid out in Acts 1:8. "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." For us this passage clearly defines the strategy that we will use in making disciples of all nations. We will seek to have a strong presence in our local community, while seeking to take the gospel to America, and the ends of the earth. 
    The apostle Paul took this command seriously. We are told in the last verse of the book of Acts that the apostle Paul was “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (Acts 28:31).

I want to encourage you to pray about a few things:

1. Pray for your friends, family and co-workers who are without Christ in their lives. Pray that God would open their eyes to their real condition. They are dead and need to receive the life that can only come through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. Pray that you would be bold and unhindered in sharing your testimony of what Jesus has done in your life.
3. Pray for Calvary Baptist Church that we would be truly committed to fulfilling the mission that Jesus has given us.