What better time to reflect than on Thanksgiving God’s remarkable faithfulness. It is a reminder to all of us of how the Lord has been there for us from the beginning of Calvary Chapel in 1961. For those of us who were there in the very beginning, and there are only a few of us left, we need to share with the following generations of what GOD has done.

I wonder if the generations that have followed us realize what a rich heritage they have. Psalm 145:4 says, “One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.”

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa began with a couple of mere 20-year-olds joining hands with about 10 seniors in a little trailer court recreation room on Newport Blvd. in Costa Mesa, CA. Little did we know that God had an amazing plan. We soon grew out of that small place and rented the Girls Club building in Costa Mesa. We thought “this is getting serious” as people wanted to donate money to pay the rent and buy hymnals. It was necessary that we incorporate as a non-profit organization…but it came to our attention that we didn’t have a name. Lois Nelson, the wife of the then leader Floyd Nelson, called my husband Hal and asked, “What would you think if we named our little church Calvary Chapel?” Hal immediately thought, “This sounds like a great name since we were a small group of about 25 and could never think of ourselves as being anything more.” So, Calvary Chapel it became!

As we invited family and friends to join us, we grew and had to find another place to meet. A gentleman in the group heard that a little church on Church Street in Costa Mesa was for sale… for over $24,000. That was an impossibility; we could barely pay our rent and small expenses. By this time, though, we did have a small savings account. The board was presented with the idea that with a $10,000 down payment we could purchase the little church. Miraculously, an elderly woman in our congregation said she would make up the difference between our savings and the necessary down payment. Within a few months, we were sitting in our own little church that seated a whopping 100 people; we filled barely half of it, but we were up and running with a Sunday school room, nursery and pastor’s office. But we needed a pastor for this little congregation.

The services were led with the help of professors from Southern Bible College and others for several years. Another miracle was about to take place when Pastor Chuck Smith agreed to speak on a Sunday morning. We then asked him to speak again; we loved the teaching we heard. We brazenly asked if he would consider being our pastor. It took a lot of nerve because we couldn’t begin to pay him as much as he was then receiving. Yet, we witnessed another miracle when Chuck said he was feeling led to come back to the area. The board then asked the congregation to vote, and they unanimously voted Chuck Smith to be our pastor.

Once again, through an act of God, our congregation grew until we outgrew our precious little chapel. Toward the end of 1965, a few hippie types attended our services, and another miracle was about to happen. They accepted Jesus into their lives and left their drugs and old lifestyle behind them and began telling others about Jesus. They came by the hundreds and then by the thousands…

This posed a difficulty. We had to sell the little chapel and rent a larger church, yet the miracles kept happening. Pastor Chuck made a low-ball offer on a school in Santa Ana; surprisingly, it was the only offer. The old school had to be torn down, and our new church on Sunflower and Greenville was built….and that was even too small. Cars filled the parking lot and parked up and down the streets. Costa Mesa police officers offered their off-duty time to help with the hundreds who came early to get in line, in order to find a place to sit or stand when Pastor Chuck began teaching. I saw a picture of Chuck with a pensive look on his face observing the congregation of people, young and old, crammed into the church, maybe what he was sensing and asking himself is, “What just happened?” He was simply teaching God’s Word, and we were all absorbing it like sponges.

Miracles were still on the horizon. We erected a huge circus type tent on the 20 acres that God miraculously made available to us, to accommodate the thousands of young and old alike. In retrospect, it was a roller coaster ride we could not have imagined, and it got the attention of the media. Out of those early years, young men rose up to pastor Calvary Chapels, and to this day, there are Calvary Chapels around the world.

Just as the church was built on the Apostles and the Prophets with the cornerstone Christ Jesus Himself (Ephesians 2:22,21), we at Calvary Chapel modeled that same foundation by the simple teaching of God’s Word. We have inherited a great legacy. From my memories of those early years, how can I not be so thankful this Thanksgiving? And how can I not share it with those generations that are following behind, with the encouragement that God is still doing the miraculous? We shouldn’t expect anything less. To God be the glory; great things He has done this Thanksgiving and beyond.

^{Originally published in 2020}

CGN Giving Tuesday Testimonials

Ministry leaders and believers alike have faithfully donated to the network to help support churches in their calling to share the gospel around the world!

One story is from Esteban Valenzuela!

Esteban leads Raíces Madrid Evangelical Christian Church in Madrid, Spain. Through YOUR giving, Raíces Madrid has been able to secure their own building to facilitate their church gatherings that also meets city requirements. Esteban was able to complete a few necessary installments that approved their congregation number to grow by city standards. Praise the Lord!

Read About Our Story in India and More!

CalvaryChapel.com has two extension sites that are led by two awesome ladies! We are excited to introduce Denisa Stanciu who manages Calvary.ro! She is a part of the CGN and CalvaryChapel.com Team, based in Romania! Below is a note from Denisa, an excerpt of an article from CalvaryChapel.com that is available in Romanian and an interview with Denisa and Pastor Nicu Hagiu from Brasov, Romania!

“I’m Denisa from Romania! I’ve been a translator for CGN since 2017, and I’m happy to be giving people good, uplifting Christian resources in their language!”

Resources:

Romanian Extension Site: Calvary.ro

Calvary Chapel Brasov: calvarychapelbrasov.com

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Cum să te bucuri mereu în lucrare

8. BUCURĂ-TE DE CRUCEA LUI CRISTOS

Pavel spunea: “Căci mie nu îmi e rușine de Evanghelie, fiindcă ea este puterea lui Dumnezeu pentru mântuirea fiecăruia care crede (Romani 1:16).” “Dacă toate sursele de bucurie secătuiesc, crucea lui Cristos rămâne un râu dezlănțuit de bucurie. În orice circumstanțe, putem sărbători ceea ce a făcut Cristos pentru noi – aceasta este o fântână adâncă cu implicații veșnice și trebuie să ne bucurăm de ea întreaga viață.”

Lista noastră “de bucurie” poate fi infinit de lungă, însă punctele de mai sus sunt câteva motive de pe lista mea, care m-au ajutat în lucrare de-a lungul anilor. Dacă te străduiești să ai înaintea lui Dumnezeu o inimă care sărbătorește, gândește-te la câteva dintre acestea sau întocmește-ți propria listă; însă petrece câteva momente în fiecare zi să I le spui lui Dumnezeu.
Pe măsură ce îi mulțumești Lui, bucurându-te de harul Lui pentru tine, cred că vei vedea că povara ta va fi mai ușoară. La fel ca Pavel în temnița din Filipi, vei începe să cânți despre El și harul Lui.

Citește Articolul

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How to Rejoice Always in Ministry

8. REJOICE IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST

Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). And if all other sources of joy dry up, the cross of Christ is a raging river of joy. In any and every circumstance, we can celebrate what Jesus has done for us. It is a deep well with eternal implications, and we must rejoice over it for the duration of our lives.

Our “rejoicing” list could be infinite in length, but the above are a few of the items on my list, which have helped me in ministry over the years. If you struggle to have a celebratory heart before God, consider some of them, or make your own list, but take some time each day to say them to God. As you thank Him, rejoicing over His grace toward you, I think you’ll find your burden lighten a little. And, like Paul in the Philippian dungeon, you’ll find yourself singing of God and His grace.

Continue Reading

_{Also Meet Cinthya Rios: Spanish Translator for esp.calvarychapel.flywheelsites.com!}

CalvaryChapel.com has two extension sites that are led by two awesome ladies! In the next few weeks, we will introduce them, share their background and share the resources available with each extension site! We are excited to first introduce Cinthya Rios who manages esp.calvarychapel.flywheelsites.com! She is a part of the CGN and CalvaryChapel.com Team and assists with the Spanish translation for our CGN conferences! Below is a note from Cinthya, an excerpt of an article from CalvaryChapel.com that is available in Spanish, and an interview with Cinthya!

“Hi, I’m Cinthya! I’ve been serving as a translator for Esp.CalvaryChapel.com since 2015. I reside in Ensenada, Mexico.”

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Cómo regocijarnos siempre en el ministerio

“Estén siempre llenos de alegría en el Señor. Lo repito, ¡alégrense!” (Filipenses 4:4).

¿Que clase de hombre loco le dice a un grupo de personas que siempre estén alegres? ¿Que siempre celebren en el Señor? El apóstol Pablo era ese tipo de hombre.

¿Por qué les dio esa instrucción? ¿Lo hizo porque su vida era perfecta? Para nada. Pablo les escribió desde prisión (Filipenses 1:7). ¿Fue porque sus lectores tenían una vida perfecta? Para nada. También fueron llamados a sufrir por Cristo (Filipenses 1:29). ¿Lo hizo porque creó una nueva doctrina donde Dios los apartaría del dolor? Para nada. Pablo quería ser partícipe de los sufrimientos de Cristo y ser como Jesús en su muerte (Filipenses 3:10-11). ¿Lo hizo porque vivía fuera de la realidad y era un optimista efervescente? Para nada. Él vio la depravación de la humanidad con gran claridad y sabía que la ira de Dios se revela contra toda impiedad e injusticia (Romanos 1:18; Romanos 1-3; Romanos 3:10).

Sin embargo, Pablo quería que se regocijaran. Su fundador estaba en la cárcel, pero ellos debían regocijarse. La misión global de Cristo se encuentra constantemente en conflicto, pero debemos regocijarnos. La vida con Cristo incluye participar en cargar su cruz, y aun así regocijarnos. El mundo se encuentra roto, apartado del evangelio, y bajo la ira de Dios, pero la iglesia debe regocijarse.

¿Cómo es esto posible? ¿Cómo es que los creyentes, viviendo en un mundo roto y corrupto, rodeados de dolor y corazones rotos, debemos regocijarnos? ¿Cómo es que a las personas que Cristo llama a vivir una vida de sufrimiento debe tener gozo también? (Mateo 5:4)

Aquí hay unas sugerencias para ayudar a los creyentes de la actualidad a regocijarse aun en medio de todo el caos y agonía.

sigue leyendo

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How to Rejoice Always in Ministry

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).

What kind of wild man tells a group of people to rejoice at all times? To always, in the Lord, celebrate? The Apostle Paul was that kind of man.

But why did he instruct them this way? Was it because he’d lived the high life? Not at all. He wrote from a prison cell (Philippians 1:7). Was it because his readers were living the high life? Not at all. They were also called to suffer for Christ’s sake (Philippians 1:29). Was it because he was creating a new doctrine that God would keep them from any pain? Not at all. He wanted to share in Christ’s sufferings and become like Jesus in death (Philippians 3:10-11). Was it because he was out of touch with reality, an effervescent optimist? Not at all. He saw the depravity of humanity more clearly than anyone and knew the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness (Romans 1:18; Romans 1-3; Romans 3:10).

But Paul wanted them to rejoice. Their founder was in prison, but they should rejoice. The mission of Christ is constantly in conflict, but they should rejoice. Life with Christ is one which includes partaking of His cross, but they should rejoice. The world is broken, outside the gospel, and under God’s wrath, but they should rejoice.

How is this possible? How can believers, living in a broken and corrupted world, surrounded by heartache and pain, rejoice? How can people Christ calls to a life of mourning (Matthew 5:4) also have joy?

What follows are a few suggestions to help modern believers, amid chaos and agony, to rejoice.

Continue Reading

_{Also meet Denisa Stanciu who manages our Romanian site: Calvary.ro!}

Having pastored a church without small groups, and now having pastored a church where always at least half of the congregation is in a small group, I can tell you the latter is preferable. People need to know each other. People need to interact with healthy Christians. People need community.

But many churches have a hard time establishing a thriving small group ministry. I know this through observation, but also through many conversations I’ve had with pastors and leaders who ask me for advice about small groups in their setting. And it has been a joy, over the years, to help a handful of churches lead and launch fruitful small group ministries.

What follows is some of the advice, along with some observations, I give to churches.

1. My Bible teachings aren’t the only things needed for transformation to occur.

I love the Bible. I dedicate roughly half my work week to studying, writing and teaching the Bible. When I was 18, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “I’ve called you to teach my Word.” I haven’t looked back. This task has consumed my life. I love the Bible.

But I know people need to live out the Bible with other Christians. Someone can hear about purity from the pulpit for 20 years, yet remain in secret sin. However, when they get into a small group, the impurity manifests itself. Someone can hear about wise financial management, but never do anything with the word they’ve heard. But in a small group, they’ll interact with Christians who have handled their finances well. Their lives will back up the message. From the pulpit, they will hear about the cross of Christ. I try to teach everyone about the importance of their newfound identity in Him. I urge them on toward sanctification. And I apply the great doctrines of Christ to their personal holiness, relationships, workplaces and family life. But I’ve seen how someone can hear those messages for years, yet never evidence any real change, and then, through interaction with other believers, watch it all come together.

You see, I can talk about confession, but where will they confess to others? I can talk about loving others, but where will they have an outlet to do so? I can talk about the importance of Christian fellowship, but where will it occur? I can talk about parenting your children in Christ, but where will they see it exemplified? So often, it’s been in the context of the smaller group.

If my pulpit work alone is responsible for transformation in people’s lives, I’ve put too much weight on the pulpit.

2. I shouldn’t overemphasize the personal aspects of the Christian life while neglecting the communal life of the church.

The early church expected to go through life together. They were instinctively tuned toward a “together” life. But our modern age and western thought often highlight the individual rather than the community. We think a lot about ourselves, focus on ourselves and prefer ourselves.

But the Christian life cannot be lived alone. Yes, our faith is personal. Each individual must submit to Christ and follow His lead personally. A Christian’s devotional life, consecration and service to God are personal in nature.

Still, we shouldn’t only emphasize the personal aspects of the faith. We are a community, one which reinforces the doctrines and practices we want to employ as individuals. In other words, the group helps each person become what they should. The “one-another” of the New Testament helps the church live life together, and this leads to greater spiritual health in each individual.

3. I don’t need to develop small replicas of a church service.

As I said, I love the Bible and have received a strong tradition in the Scripture from those who came before me. I love Bible study. I like teaching it. I like listening to others teach. It’s one of my favorite things to do, just not in a living room.

In a small group, I want to know people, not hear another sermon. I want to hear how the Word of Christ has affected the people I’m in regular interaction with. I want to know what the Lord is saying to them.

Honestly, hearing people talk about how the previous Sunday’s text and teaching ministered to their hearts is so encouraging. Then, over the years, watching people grow and develop as the Word messes with them is one of my greatest joys.

But, often, because we love the Word so much, churches will let small groups be a little replica of a Sunday or midweek church service. First, the small group sings. Then, announcements. Finally, a teaching.

All this can be fine, but we need places to apply the Word, pray for others and be known. We need a place to talk about the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, break bread and pray together (Acts 2:42).

4. I have to get out of my comfort zone.

Many pastors are more comfortable behind a pulpit than in a living room. They like communicating to, but not with, others. Get them sitting on a couch in someone else’s living room, without any other assignment, to listen to and love the people they’re with, and their palms get sweaty. Can’t we just have a church service? They might think.

But the Lord wants us to spend time with people. Many people claim to be introverted, but I assure you, I am. I try to let God use it for His glory. It’s part of what makes me comfortable with extended hours in private study, writing or prayer. But I also know it would be unhealthy for me only to be alone with God; I must also be with God’s people. And though I can’t spend personal time with every member of the church, I certainly can with my small group.

If a pastor doesn’t like being in a small group, he won’t emphasize them. If he doesn’t value Christian community, he won’t prioritize it for the church.

5. I must recognize the need for a holistic approach to spiritual development.

Since the Word of God is perfect and pure, our teaching of His Scriptures helps shape the mind, heart and soul of the people we serve. But people need other venues to become balanced and whole believers. While the development of the mind and intellect are important, so is the maturation of the emotions or the body. Feelings and habits are often shaped in the context of a Christian community.

I’ve found many pastors have been so powerfully shaped over the years by the teaching ministry of others, that they forget this isn’t the normal experience. I spent my first decade in Christ, consuming massive amounts of teaching and preaching from others. I am still an avid listener and reader of Bible teaching. And I feel all of it has shaped me into a more Christlike version of Nate Holdridge. But, if I’m not careful, I will think my experience normative. Many folks, though, will need more of their breakthroughs to take place in the context of community.

Let me give an example. When I was younger, I went through a phase where I wasn’t taking care of my physical health at all. It was a what-really-matters-is-the-kingdom-not-my-weight kind of attitude. Now, obviously, people obsess and worship their health quite often in our modern world. But I kind of let myself go. All the while, I received teaching about stewardship, even stewardship of the body. But I did nothing about the message.

One day, some friends and I got to talking. We determined we weren’t taking care of the bodies God gave us, so we challenged each other to start taking our physical health seriously. And that short season changed my life, setting me on a trajectory of physical fitness. Now, I try to steward my body well so I can, with strength and stamina, serve Jesus for many years. But it took Christian community for the lesson to sink in. The Word had shaped my mind, but I needed a community to live it out in.

And in small groups, the Scriptures are discussed, but we also talk about our feelings. When we vocalize our feelings, doubts and insecurities, the Spirit receives some room to operate. When we commit to various habits and disciplines, the community helps us recognize whether we are staying the course.

6. Our small groups don’t have to threaten the unity of the church.

I don’t think you can be a church with small groups if the secondary and tertiary doctrines of Scripture are treated like primary ones in your church. For example, if a pastor can’t talk about eschatology without humility, and instead insults Christians with views other than his, then the small group experience will suffer. People won’t know how to handle Christians who, though being solid on the primary doctrines of Scripture, aren’t exactly like them in the others.

But if a church is able to give treatment to the secondary and tertiary doctrines with conviction and charity, then they will become a place that can more easily handle small groups. A pastor’s tone in the pulpit will help set the atmosphere of the small group.

And, yes, small groups can unearth all kinds of things: not just doctrinal differences, but interpersonal conflict. The thing is, these often already exist. Why pretend they don’t? Instead, face them head-on. And, though life gets real inside small groups, I have found our church much more unified than before. Every awkward moment, disappointment, or conflict, in my estimation, has served as an opportunity for sanctification to take hold.

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Our fellowship has enjoyed a prioritized and vibrant small group ministry for the past eight years. We were a collection of people before, but now, after years of meeting together in smaller settings, thousands of quality relationships have formed. We know and love one another.

It has been a joy for me, as a pastor, to watch this development. It has been messy. People have gotten hurt. Complaints have come. But sin is going to be part of the church until Christ returns, so it’s inevitable, especially when you put people in the same room with each other, that offense and misunderstanding and anger will occur. But, through it all, we have encouraged, loved and walked with one another through life. We have so far to go to become like the earliest church, but we are growing more into Christlikeness every day, and I believe these smaller settings are working so well with our larger gatherings toward that goal. If I had to do it all over again, I would lead us toward small groups because people need community.

In my last article, I discussed two key components for successful church planting: prioritizing and preparing. By prioritizing, I meant establishing “church planting” in the DNA of your church’s mission. By preparing, I meant sending out church planters and team members that are fully equipped. In this article, I want to address the third component of pastoring a church that plants churches. That third component is partnerships.

PARTNERSHIPS

We can do more together than we can on our own. I doubt anyone would argue against that idea, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. It feels easier and less complicated to do it on our own, preferring our way as the best way, unencumbered by the potential milieu of challenges partnerships present. But my pushback on that is: What about learning from each other? What about considering better ways of doing ministry? What about the strength of ministering together instead of solo? What about your wisdom and gifts being used to bless other ministries? Effective church planting means strategic partnerships.

This is one reason why I appreciate Calvary Global Network’s emphasis on collaborating for the kingdom. It’s clear that the vision of CGN is: big picture partnerships that facilitate healthy ministry relationships, leverage expertise and experience, and unite likeminded people in order to grow God’s kingdom for His glory. Strong partnerships make flourishing ministries. In this article, I want to suggest three key ingredients to having healthy partnerships.

1) Servant Attitude:

The purpose of partnerships isn’t to be served, but to serve. Of course, there is the strategic piece to partnerships that enables you to execute the mission of your church more effectively. But the disposition of each partner must be to serve the other. Certainly, this was the mindset of Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 20:28). Servant-oriented partnerships provide the soil to grow humility, transparency, love and unity. This will assist in eliminating conflict that’s generated by pride, ego, self-centered ambitions and ungodly agendas. Of course, that would never happen in ministry (smile). This also causes the partnership to be of greater mutual benefit.

For example, we have an “Awaken Crusade” in Mexico City happening in 2019. We partner with well over 100 churches and organizations with the goal of, equipping churches to evangelize, reaching the impoverished with food, medical care and clothing, through an event called Blessfest, hosting a major evangelistic crusade and conducting church planting training conferences. The local church leaders have been overwhelmingly gracious to us, catching the vision, engaging their congregations and providing people to serve. As a result, people will be saved, the saved will be equipped and more churches will be planted!

2) Relational:

Having a servant’s heart creates partnerships that are relational. Partnerships do not exist to just execute an initiative. While that may be true for institutions, it’s not true for the church, which is a living organism composed of people. Honestly, sometimes I can become more focused on the system that is executing the goal, than I am on the people who are doing the work. That leads me to be impatient, uncaring and unrealistic expectations I place on others.

Collaborating for God’s kingdom means investing time in people and developing relationships founded in love, being unified in the Spirit, and having like-minded theology and ministry philosophy. Taking the time to develop these relationships makes partnerships a joy instead of a burden and maximizes their effectiveness. But not only that, these types of partnerships have the greatest capacity for alignment in theology and ministry philosophy. What’s the point of partnering if you are not going in the same direction? As the Scriptures say, “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” (cf. Amos 3:3). Relational partnerships not only begin with alignment, but deepen the alignment over the course of time, making them stronger.

3) Strategic:

Finally, healthy partnerships are complimentary. There’s no reason to partner if it means unnecessary redundancy. Be honest about the areas that are weak in your ministry and prayerfully consider partnering with an organization that can fill those areas in a way that is excellent. A few years back, we decided that we needed to engage an organization that excels in equipping Christians in apologetics. By God’s grace, a strategic partnership with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries was birthed and has become an integral part of our church.

Areas of partnership include: a regular rotation of world class speakers equipping the congregation, utilizing their home group curriculum called Everyday Questions, developing apologetics curriculum for our Christian School, hosting a ReBoot event to address relevant issues facing our youth, sending evangelists to RZIM’s Emerging Apologists Program and working together to reach the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. It would be impossible for us to replicate what RZIM brings to the table. Working strategically together enables us to fulfill our mission more effectively.

Years ago, a handful of us in New England had the desire to reach Canada with the gospel. Most of our churches were really small, and we felt by ourselves there was little that we could do. But we banded together, created Calvary Chapel French Outreach Initiative, and partnered with a Calvary in Montreal. God blessed the fruit of those labors! We discovered that what we were unable to do on our own, we were able to do together. Two truly are better than one (cf. Ecclesiastes 4:9).

From the very beginning of Christianity the disciples of Jesus gathered for worship, prayer, community, evangelism, and the reading and teaching of God’s Word. It could be said that all Christians through all ages practice these things, but different groups place different emphasis on the individual parts.

In the Calvary Chapel family of pastors and congregations, reading and teaching the Bible is important. It’s not the only thing we do when we gather, but it is an essential thing. By our understanding of God’s Word, we know how we should do all the other things. We know the importance and practices of worship, prayer, community and evangelism because the Bible tells us of them.

This is something deep in our character, going back to what God did through Pastor Chuck Smith in his early years at Calvary Chapel. Pastor Chuck emphasized the verse-by-verse examination and explanation of the Bible. He practiced and promoted what is called expository teaching or preaching, which works to draw the meaning and emphasis of the teaching from the Bible itself, hoping to let the Scriptures speak for themselves.

Chuck Smith practiced and promoted this, but he certainly did not start it. As God has done many times through history, He simply used Pastor Chuck to renew a focus on the Bible itself. A noted scholar of preaching (Hughes Oliphant Old) said that Chuck Smith was “reviving the systematic exposition of Scripture . . . In our day, he is one of the purest examples of a preacher who follows in the footsteps of Chrysostom, Augustine, Zwingli, and Calvin.”

Our goal is not to merely teach from the Bible as a starting point, but to have the theme and emphasis of our teaching come from the biblical text itself.

The verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, book-by-book approach to our preaching and teaching work is essential in our Calvary Chapel family. Our goal is not to merely teach from the Bible as a starting point, but to have the theme and emphasis of our teaching come from the biblical text itself.

In this we bring forth the whole counsel of God, letting Jesus work through His Word to build His church. Ideally, we stress the simple and clear teaching of the Bible and are careful with speculation and diversions.

It’s not that topical preaching is forbidden in Calvary Chapel churches. There is a time and a place for preaching on topics rather than through books of the Bible. Yet, the foundation of teaching and preaching ministries in our congregations is solidly built upon the verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter examination and explanation of the Bible. If the foundation is strong, there is no harm in the occasional topical message or series. Still, even when we teach topically, we hope to do it in an expositional manner, drawing our preaching on the Bible itself and not on what we would impose on the text.

Our sincere desire is to, as much as is possible, let the Bible text speak for itself. We don’t exalt the Bible to the place of God; but we do recognize that the Bible is God’s voice, and we hear it with both awe and love. We know that what the Bible says is far more important than the opinion or wisdom of even the best among us. For those reasons we try to give the Bible itself prominence in our teaching and preaching work. We also encourage everyone to read and study the Bible for himself or herself daily, as part of normal Christian discipleship.

Not all of us are great or even good expositors of the Bible, but we humbly ask God for the gifts of wisdom, discipline, and humility necessary to deliver His message to His people and a needy world. We know that Jesus meets His people in and through His Word, and that the work of God’s Word never comes back empty (Isaiah 55:11).