Archive for September 2017

Waking Up by Trina Hall

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Trina Hall has been attending Calvary Baptist Church since 2012 and resides in Grand Prairie, TX with her husband. Trina can often be found helping out local missions organizations and advocating for miscarriage and infant loss awareness in the Grand Prairie area. 

Waking Up

On July 27, 2007 I faced a tragedy that not only changed my life, but also many others lives;  like a ripple in a pond. My daughter and my grandson were in a major car accident on a country highway. My grandson was killed and my daughter was severely injured, suffering eight broken bones and undergoing nine surgeries.  Ultimately she lost both of her legs and spent three weeks in a coma.  That moment in time shocked me to my core and grief filled my life. When my daughter finally woke up, I was there to tell her that her son was gone.  Instead of crying or screaming like I expected, she was reserved.  I asked if she heard me and her reply was, “Yes I know Dale is gone.”  I asked her how she knew and she told us she had seen Dale with Jesus.

I was completely shocked. Until then, I had spent my time seeking God in the wrong direction. I had a nature-based belief system, but in that moment my whole life changed.   God brought my family, and me, to the realization that there was heaven and God was in charge!   I felt like I had woken up.  God has a plan, and even though we may not know it, we have to seek Him for guidance daily.  We cannot control our lives the way we think we can; we need His path, His word, and to seek His face.

My husband and I re-dedicated our lives back to God.  I asked God to remove this pain and replace it with something that would bring glory to Him.  In the weeks that followed, I prayed hard seeking what God wanted me to do. Then one day I knew. I asked my husband for a sewing machine. He thought I was crazy since I have never sewn before, but he bought it for me anyway.  I had no idea how to work it but God gave me a gift to sit and learn that machine so I could use it for His work.  I felt like God wanted me to start making children’s clothes and send them to missionaries across the world.  I started making clothes for children in Papua New Guinea and Haiti.  The smile of those children and love that God was sharing was the gift that God has given me.

From there I also started making angel gowns and blankets for those that have lost tiny babies. I donate them to the hospitals each year.  God has also given to me a gift to make jewelry help the missionaries with things they need.  Along with a portion of the proceeds, I send medical items, baby bottles and clothing, as well as formula to regions of the jungle where mothers are too ill to care for their children or have died in childbirth.

I thank God for changing my life to help others and share His love to those who needs him in their lives.  God wants all of us to be the ones to share His word and His love to everyone in this world. All Glory goes to God for giving me the gifts he has given to share His love.  The motto in my heart is verse Matthew 25:40 which says “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ”

May The Peoples Praise You

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Psalm 67:1-7

1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. 5Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

We introduced a song couple weeks ago called “May the Peoples Praise You” written by Keith and Kristyn Getty, Staurt Townend, Ed Csh, and David Zimmer. I have learned to appreciate songs that have been written by multiple writers. The depth of Biblically based lyrical content combined with a singe-able and beautifully written melody shows that the song has been labored over, prayed over, and written from the perspective of multiple different sources. This song comes directly from Psalm 67 and gives the call to proclaim the name of the Lord because we have “been called out of darkest night”. (Romans 3:23) The purpose of our redemption is to make Christ known! What a challenge to make praise the name of the Lord and work towards making His name known throughout all the earth!

Here is a link to the song so you can continue to listen to it! I am looking forward to singing this song with you again on Sunday!

 

Keith & Kristyn Getty - May The Peoples Praise You (Live)

September 2017 Guatemala Report

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[BRIAN LOVELESS]
We are about two weeks off of, we just got back from, a trip to Guatemala where we took 13 of our members down to see the work that our church is doing there in Central America. It was a fantastic trip and for those of you who don’t know, we partnered with Manna worldwide to go into that incredibly poor, depressed area and start feeding centers and orphanages, medical clinics, and churches. We don’t think these two things are separate; blessing people physically and blessing them spiritually. We started in a place called El Arado, Guatemala. Saw a great church built, that church is thriving! Hundreds of people coming every week, people getting saved every week, kids being fed every week, the whole climate of the thing is changing.
Our most recent project, we’re continuing to support El Arado, but we found a church in a place called San Lucas where they had built the first story of a new building, started the second story, and ran out of funds. Basically you had a church with 100+ coming, with kids getting fed and all that going well, but you had a second story that every time it would rain, it would gather water on that roof, seep into the building, mold issues, all of that. So our church said, all of you who designate money on a weekly basis said “we can’t let that happen, we got to do something.” Our church determined to help build that second story and that was a lot of the focus on our trip to Guatemala this time.

This morning I wanted you to hear from a couple of them. First of all, Josh Moody come on up and tell us a little bit about your experience on this trip.

[JOSH MOODY]
So Brandon told us to come up with a couple of things that had impacted us on the trip.  First of all was just the beauty of God’s creation.  Being able to see a different place and just good old flat Texas, right?  The gorgeous green mountains, volcanos actively going off, being able to visit the coast where they have a volcanic sand beach which looks like west Texas blacktop but still feels like regular sand.  That was totally incredible but the thing that impacted me the most was seeing the most beautiful characteristic of the Gospel at work: that was hope in hopeless situations. We went to the dump, we pulled in and as soon as you opened that door you are hit with the foulest odor. Some of the most intense, depressing scenes that you could see going on; the look of hopelessness in some of the faces that you see as you walk those couple of blocks into where we got to go to a feeding center that was there in the dump. Really hits you right in the gut.

As we made a couple of house visits we watched a couple of beautiful ladies who were living there in the dump raising their families without father figures for their kids absolutely break down into tears. To see that hopelessness leave their eyes and the hope of the gospel, as we shared it with them, and they accepted Christ as their Savior there in those homes, really just all of the sudden all those smells, all of those sights, all of those sounds meant nothing. It was no longer a hopeless cause. What we would normally see as something where they’ve got no chance, it’s completely hopeless, we would write it off, normally our human element would say those people don’t have a chance but they do have a chance when they have the gospel of Jesus Christ. And what you are doing by giving, what you are doing by helping to send us to go, and you going yourself (some of you have gone before us, this was my first time, definitely won’t be my last) you are making a lasting impact for the kingdom of God by giving every week, by sending others. We’re doing a great thing down there and you can see pictures, you can see videos all day long but nothing replaces the experience of going and having your senses touched. By smelling the smells, seeing the sights, physically touching the people getting to play with the kids there in the orphanage. It will totally, radically change your life and how you view what the gospel can mean not only in your life but in the lives of others who need to know him. And that’s what impacted me.

[BRIAN LOVELESS]
Thank you Josh. As Jaye comes and Jaye’s going to say a word here in just a minute, but I wanted to tell you for Josh this was a real moment because the last mission trip Josh took a number of years ago to South America, Ecuador, he had a blood clot on one of those flights that came within just an inch of taking his life. And so to go on another mission trip, to go down there, I know had to be incredibly daunting for him but he felt moved by God to do it and got on that plane and went. And I thank the Lord we saw such great stuff from Josh during that week and by the way we both rode horses to the top of an active volcano (Josh says they’re not horses anymore) one was named Glue Stick and the other was named hammock and they had some real struggles getting us to the top of that mountain but they made it.

[JAYE BRIGGS]
Well I’ve never been good at telling the short version of any story so I wrote it down to keep me on track. This trip was an eye opening blessing and made a profound impact on my heart. I was not prepared for the contrast of emotions and experiences. There was beauty and brokenness, happiness and hopelessness, resilience and restoration, and gratitude and grace. Nor was I prepared for the magnitude of the need both physically and spiritually. According the CIA Fact Book more than half of the total population lives in poverty or extreme poverty, and nearly half of the children under the age of five are chronically malnourished, which is one of the highest rates in the world. Despite this the children at the feeding centers and the orphanage are some of the sweetest children you will ever meet. Spiritually, I’ve never experienced a more palatable need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. This was especially magnified at the dump. I sensed a real spiritual battle to disrupt the witnessing from distracting teenagers, loud music, to the real feeling of an elephant standing on my chest. But the highlight of my trip was meeting Viviana Grande the young lady who’s made such an impact on my daughter as well as many of you. She’s such a sweet girl who’s returning to others what she received. The delicious cake she made for us and her detailed retelling of the first time she met those from Calvary Baptist melted my heart. Calvin said faith alone saves but a faith that saves is never alone. And I end with these two verses that were brought to life by this trip, James 2:15-16 “If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day and one of you should say to them “Go in peace; keep warm, eat well”, but does not give them what is necessary for the body, what does that benefit?”

[BRIAN LOVELESS]
Amen, give Jaye a big hand if you would. Watch this.
 

August 2017 Guatemala Trip Footage begins at 9:36

Thank you to our worship pastor Brandon who put together that entire video but he also coordinated this trip and did a magnificent job. We had two go with us this time, two students from our youth ministry, that I was very excited about them going. I was just in awe and I’ll tell you why in a minute, I want them to come up; Jenny Conway and Tevyn Cook.

[TEVYN COOK]
So as most of you know this was my first mission trip that I ever went on, my very first time out of the country alone, without my mom. So as you can imagine I was kind of nervous and so was she. Honestly, I never knew what to expect, but I knew that God was going to work through me; but I didn’t know how well, or how hard, he was going to work in me. I went through a major change on that trip. I learned just how fortunate I was, and how selfish I was. I had no option but to humble myself. I just couldn’t handle it at one point and I almost lost it. For anybody that hasn’t been on a mission trip, I 100% suggest that you try one especially with our church. You’ll be so encouraged, so comfortable, and you’ll love it to death. It’ll change you for the better.

[JENNIFER CONWAY]
Well, like Tevyn said this was also my first mission trip and for those of you who don’t know I was born and raised in Brazil, and I lived 15 years of my life there.  I wasn’t really expecting anything because I lived my entire life in a third world country.  was just like “Its going to be the same thing.” I was expecting the same emotions and the same feeling that I had whenever I helped out in Brazil. Then I got there and I was like “this is different because I’m not here just to give someone food or to help someone out. I’m here because I am giving them something a lot more than temporary. This is going to be forever in their lives” and it ws just an amazing experience. I couldn’t have asked for a better group to go with. I just loved every second I was there. I know you guys already heard a lot about the dump, but once you get there you feel all kinds of emotions. You feel scared because you don’t know what’s coming next, you don’t know what’s behind those doors, you don’t know what they want to do. You feel mad and you feel angry because people are there and they don’t have anything. They live in the trash, they feel like trash, so that’s what they’re told; that they are trash.  You just feel angry that you have so much and they have so little, but at the same time you feel so thankful because you know God allowed me to be here today and give them a better gift than just food for a week. He gave me the option to be here and show them how good He is. That’s what this whole trip was about and I’m just really thankful to be there. For all of you guys who support Guatemala just keep doing it because it’s an amazing place!

[BRIAN LOVELESS]
Thank y’all very much. Adam Brewter is going to come talk to us. I tell ya with those two we really never saw them on that trip as teenagers, because they were just part of the team.Tthey worked like everybody else, gave the gospel like everybody else, and it was a real privilege to have them. Another gentlemen here who’s pretty new to Calvary and great to have on this trip, Adam Brewter.

[ADAM BRUDER]
Thank you. I kinda didn’t think I’d be here. Not because I don’t particularly enjoy public speaking but similar to Josh Moody, last summer I went on a trip and became pretty ill afterwards. So even before the trip I felt the Lord really working through Josh and Brandon, and just the convicting word from them to get out of the boat on behalf of the gospel. I felt the need to respond and kind of wasn’t sure what to expect. Why was the Lord working? Why was he putting this pressure on me to go down? I’ve kind of discovered I’m a tactile learner, I’m a visual... I have to go see it, feel it and getting out in that dump just where the smell is kind of like you are in the garbage truck, there’s this dust blowing in the wind that is getting all over you, and even beyond that the way the children were kind of treating one another. I mean little boys here in America kind of fight with one another, they kind of pick on one another, kind of tease one another, but these kids were hitting one another just out of violence; out of anger. I mean the atmosphere there was something totally different than I had ever experienced.  They’re just throwing rocks at one another; just the violence.

The lord kind of brought a couple of scriptures to mind Isiah 64:6 All of us have become unclean ; all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags. Thinking of that it’s like “here I am trying to do this righteous act and it’s really just filthiness before god.” It’s kind of that same environment we were in, its kind of the feeling that came to mind.  When we turn to the new testament we see something a little different Romans 3:21-22 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. That was really challenging because here in America we have so much. We’re all clean here in this building, we’ve all showered within the last 24 hours probably, and you go down there and you see the physical filthiness, but to realize that we’re all just sinners; it’s only Christ Jesus that makes a difference!  To really see that in action down there, with some people accepting Christ, was a beautiful thing. It’s a beautiful country made some beautiful friendships!

[BRIAN LOVELESS]

I want to ask our ushers to come down this morning A little different service today than our normal worship hours but I wanted you to get to hear from this team. If you’ve not been on one of these trips yet and your physically able to go... maybe you’ve got some trepidation about it like some of these folks did... but I would encourage you take that step of faith. It will change your life and for those of you, who can’t go, man alive, we can pray, we can sponsor, we can give on a weekly basis.

The Scarlet Thread - Pt. 2 Adam and Eve

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The Scarlet Thread
Pt. 2 Adam and Eve

The Scarlet Thread is the story behind the stories of the Bible. It is the Gospel and it is present in each chapter of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. In this blog series, we’re doing a very brief survey of this truth. We’re picking out some of the big stories and finding the main points of the Gospel.

Last month we explained that God made everything and it’s all for His glory. He rules. That’s the first point of the Gospel, and it’s absolutely necessary that you understand it.

This month we’re going to explain the next part of the Gospel; how mankind ruins everything by making it about our glory. We call this sin, and the story of Adam and Eve illustrates this point very clearly.

Here’s how it goes: God makes man from dirt. God puts His breath in him. Literally, God put His Spirit in him, and that’s what separated Adam from the other animals. Mankind was the crown of all creation, placed in the most beautiful scenery of Eden. Of course, Adam is lonely, and so God finishes His creation by giving Adam a partner from His side (to indicate equality.)

The story of the Gospel begins with God introducing mankind to His universe. And then says, “Here, you take care of this planet.” It’s here that Adam and Eve lived in the gorgeous world, with a loving and caring marriage, surrounded by peaceful animals. Life was extremely good for Adam and Eve. It’s peaceful and nice. We all would love to live in Eden.

This was life as it should have been. But the best thing above everything else was this; they had a perfect relationship with God. They had nothing to hide. They were never angry at what God did. They submitted completely to His will. And they enjoyed complete honesty and openness. As a result of this perfection, God physically walked with them.

After creating this perfect world, God handed it over to Adam and Eve and said, “It’s now your great privilege to take care of this beautiful world.” What’s crazy is that God knew what was going to happen. And yet, in His love He did not withhold this wonderful gift. So after He gave it, mankind ruined it.

Now, many people think the original sin was disobedience. And while it’s obvious that they did disobey, I believe that was only a secondary sin. The original sin behind the disobedience was idolatry. The worship of themselves. We call this pride.

Genesis 3:1-7 tells us exactly what happened. If this isn’t the oldest trick in the book then I don’t know what is. Satan, the serpent, tells them that if they eat the fruit then their eyes will be opened and they will be like God. And of course they wanted to be God. Truthfully, that very sin is what’s been passed down to us. We ALL want to be God.

Within all of us is a need to control. Like Adam and Eve, we want to be God. And we’re devastated when our plans and expectations aren’t met. As a result of our idolizing ourselves, the relationship was broken with God. The world was broken and now sin runs far deeper than we realize.

This is some pretty stark truth. The reality of this is dark, uncomfortable, and often times feels hopeless. So, in one word, let me tell you some good news: “protoevengelium”. This is what theologians call the verse, Genesis 3:15. This is when God is delivering the consequences to Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, and he promises a Savior. He says there will be a Savior who will fix what’s been broken, reconcile the sinful world to God, and kill the serpent while also suffering a minor blow Himself.

The Scarlet Thread in this story is pretty clear. God made the world perfect, He gave the world to mankind, Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with Him, but mankind ruined the perfect world and wrecked the perfect relationship with God. So God promised a Savior while telling mankind that we are not the hero.

The sin inside all of us wants control. We still want to be God. The Gospel is the correction of this stubbornness. Here’s the action point for us all: Surrender your pursuit of control. Let go of your pride. Accept the promised Savior. Submit to His will.

The Scarlet Thread is the story behind the stories of the Bible. It is the Gospel and it is present in each chapter of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. In this blog series, we’re doing a very brief survey of this truth. We’re picking out some of the big stories and finding the main points of the Gospel.

Last month we explained that God made everything and it’s all for His glory. He rules. That’s the first point of the Gospel, and it’s absolutely necessary that you understand it.

This month we’re going to explain the next part of the Gospel; how mankind ruins everything by making it about our glory. We call this sin, and the story of Adam and Eve illustrates this point very clearly.

Here’s how it goes: God makes man from dirt. God puts His breath in him. Literally, God put His Spirit in him, and that’s what separated Adam from the other animals. Mankind was the crown of all creation, placed in the most beautiful scenery of Eden. Of course, Adam is lonely, and so God finishes His creation by giving Adam a partner from His side (to indicate equality.)

The story of the Gospel begins with God introducing mankind to His universe. And then says, “Here, you take care of this planet.” It’s here that Adam and Eve lived in the gorgeous world, with a loving and caring marriage, surrounded by peaceful animals. Life was extremely good for Adam and Eve. It’s peaceful and nice. We all would love to live in Eden.

This was life as it should have been. But the best thing above everything else was this; they had a perfect relationship with God. They had nothing to hide. They were never angry at what God did. They submitted completely to His will. And they enjoyed complete honesty and openness. As a result of this perfection, God physically walked with them.

After creating this perfect world, God handed it over to Adam and Eve and said, “It’s now your great privilege to take care of this beautiful world.” What’s crazy is that God knew what was going to happen. And yet, in His love He did not withhold this wonderful gift. So after He gave it, mankind ruined it.

Now, many people think the original sin was disobedience. And while it’s obvious that they did disobey, I believe that was only a secondary sin. The original sin behind the disobedience was idolatry. The worship of themselves. We call this pride.

Genesis 3:1-7 tells us exactly what happened. If this isn’t the oldest trick in the book then I don’t know what is. Satan, the serpent, tells them that if they eat the fruit then their eyes will be opened and they will be like God. And of course they wanted to be God. Truthfully, that very sin is what’s been passed down to us. We ALL want to be God.

Within all of us is a need to control. Like Adam and Eve, we want to be God. And we’re devastated when our plans and expectations aren’t met. As a result of our idolizing ourselves, the relationship was broken with God. The world was broken and now sin runs far deeper than we realize.

This is some pretty stark truth. The reality of this is dark, uncomfortable, and often times feels hopeless. So, in one word, let me tell you some good news: “protoevengelium”. This is what theologians call the verse, Genesis 3:15. This is when God is delivering the consequences to Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, and he promises a Savior. He says there will be a Savior who will fix what’s been broken, reconcile the sinful world to God, and kill the serpent while also suffering a minor blow Himself.

The Scarlet Thread in this story is pretty clear. God made the world perfect, He gave the world to mankind, Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with Him, but mankind ruined the perfect world and wrecked the perfect relationship with God. So God promised a Savior while telling mankind that we are not the hero.

The sin inside all of us wants control. We still want to be God. The Gospel is the correction of this stubbornness. Here’s the action point for us all: Surrender your pursuit of control. Let go of your pride. Accept the promised Savior. Submit to His will.
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