God’s Vision For Calvary Presbyterian Church

This is a vision of how we believe God will view Calvary on Judgment Day. The vision must be clear, challenging and visual in its content to each and every member. This vision has not originated from Calvary, her session or her pastors but is how God wants us to be and is based on scripture. It will not be accomplished by means of our own effort or resources but with God nothing is impossible. This vision is our heart conviction of what Calvary will become.

The first question we must face as a church is whether Calvary exists as a community, regional or a global church. Acts 1:8 solves this question for us which states: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We clearly have the responsibility to begin with our own immediate community and then to gradually move outward and reach the nations of the world. Therefore, we are community, regional and global in our commitment as a church.

Calvary Possesses A High View Of God

We possess a deep appreciation of God’s sovereign majesty. We are in amazement and wonder of our God who is far more glorious than we could ever imagine. We have a great passion to know our God. We serve our God with boundless energy. We are privileged to know this God of heaven and are desirous to proclaim His name to everyone we meet. We are comforted with the realization that our God is our heavenly Father who takes pleasure in us and cares for us.

Jer 9:23-24

Questions:

Do you enjoy personal, intimate communion with God, your heavenly father, on a daily basis?
Is God more precious and desirable to you than anything else in life including your material wealth, your job, your family, your reputation, the entertainments you enjoy, even your own comfort, safety and fulfillment?
Are you daily being confronted with your sin and your need for a savior?
Will you display your love and reverence for God in your commitment to the church?
How do you express your reverence for God?
Does your interaction with God culminate in continual praise of God?

Calvary Lives By Grace

Calvary is filled with joy. We are entirely assured of the Father’s love enabling ourselves to rest completely in Him in all circumstances. This means that we are identifying areas where we are relying on self instead of God and seeking to confess our pride when it rears its ugliness. We possess a unique freedom to confess our sin and to continue in our acceptance towards one another due to our confidence in Christ’s sacrifice as payment for our sin and His perfect life of obedience that is transferred to our account. Our relationships are characterized as always complimenting, delighting in and encouraging one another. We take time to patiently listen to one another and be genuinely interested. We enter into loving conflict when offended and always have a heart to forgive. All of this is possible as we continually rest in the finished work accomplished by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Titus 3:4-7; Gal 3:1-5

Questions:

Are you resting in Jesus Christ as your righteousness or do you feel the need to maintain your own righteousness by blaming others, defending yourself, making excuses, living in denial or through gossip with others?
Do you possess continual joy as a beloved, adopted child of God?
Are you generally accepting towards others as God is towards you or do you place demands and expectations on others?
When you go to God after consciously committing some sin, do you resolve to do better or do you rest exclusively on Jesus Christ and His gift of forgiveness?
Are you secure in Christ to the point where you find the freedom in being open and transparent in confessing your sin with others?
Do you live as an orphan with the responsibilities of life placed on your own shoulders or do you live as a son/daughter who entrusts everything into the father’s care?

Calvary Is Filled With Families Who Are Devoted To One Another In Love And Look To Christ In All Matters

We are greatly concerned to nurture healthy marriages, parent-child relationships and sibling bonds. Marriages at Calvary foster communication, unbreakable bonds of commitment and intimacy. Fathers and mothers are concerned to teach their children about God, pray with and for them, be a godly example to them and faithfully discipline them when they are errant. Fathers lead their families in modeling openness and transparency. Men tenderly love their wives and children by serving as the spiritual leaders of their homes. Further, Calvary serves as a family to those who are single, widowed or without such ties. They will have all the privileges afforded them as any member who has a family of their own.

Gen 17:7; Eph 5:22-6:4; Acts 2:38-39

Questions:

Would your spouse characterize your marriage as healthy, loving, growing in a positive direction and reflecting Christ’s marriage with His bride, the church?
Are your children learning to live dependant lives upon God through your example?
Do you delight to spend time with your spouse and your children?
Is the husband/father the spiritual servant/leader of the home?
Would you characterize your home as a “little church”?
Do you model openness and transparency in your family?

Calvary Is A Community Consisting Of A Wide Variety Of People

Like the community and region surrounding Calvary, we will reflect the diversity, which will one day mark God’s people as we stand before the throne of the Lamb. We worship and serve side by side with those who maybe different from ourselves. The mixture of peoples could include those from varying races, economic backgrounds, religions and other differences. Our unity will be a testimony to the world of the power of Christ’s blood to destroy the barriers that commonly divide us.

Gen 12:3; Gal 3:28; Eph 2:11-16; Rev 5:9-10

Questions:

Have you separated yourself away from people who are different from you?
Are you willing to step out of your area of comfort in order to share your life with people who look differently, live differently and act differently than you do?
Is the unity we share in Christ more compelling to you than the outward similarities that often attract us to others?

Calvary Is A Church That Exists For Others

Calvary desires to have the same mind that is also in Christ Jesus, who considered the interests of others more important than his own. He became a selfless, sacrificial servant so that through his death many might come to have life. Calvary shall exist for others with this attitude. Calvary seeks to minister to others in primarily two ways:

Calvary Exists For Others Through The Ministry of God’s Word. The ministry of God’s Word includes fulfilling the Great Commission in which Christ commands us to go and make disciples of all nations and to teach them all that Christ commanded. The Word of God is effective, so that when God wills it, people are made new creatures in Christ. Calvary seeks to further the message of salvation through the planting of churches in our own region and abroad. We also see Calvary having a significant role in foreign missions by supporting missionaries, sending out missionaries from our own church and fulfilling short-term mission trips. Further, it is through our relationships that every member of Calvary has an opportunity to share this message of truth and salvation.
Calvary Exists For Others Through the Ministry of Mercy. Our ministry of mercy includes ministering to those in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress. This is done primarily through our material resources and our deeds that help to relieve people’s suffering and move them on toward a healthier life in service to God.

Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 10:45; Luke 10:25-37;John 13:14-15; Phil 2:3-4

Questions:

Have you been intentional in seeking to establish relationships with unbelievers?
Do you have a concern to help those who are in need, sick, friendless and in distress?
Do you have concern for those who are spiritually lost and without a savior in our immediate vicinity and throughout the world?
Does your life reveal that you are a giver or a taker?
Are you saddened for the people who have no Savior on foreign soil? What are you doing to encourage the spread of the Gospel to the nations of the world

Calvary Possesses A Future Hope

We are a people who realize that our material comforts, our daily circumstances, our earthbound lives are secondary to what awaits us in eternity. Calvary is expending great amounts of energy in the work God has given us as we view each day as a precious gift while eternity awaits our arrival in a very brief period of time. We are experiencing peace and calmness in the midst of painful trials because we are aware of the glories that await us. Even while facing death, we have a deep abiding joy and assurance as we continually live on the edge of eternity.

Acts 7:54-60; Col 3:1-4; Heb 11:1; Heb 11:8-10; Heb 12:1-2

Questions:

How far are we making manifest our crucifixion to the world?
Does our daily walk show that we are “partakers of the heavenly calling”?
Have we ceased looking on this world as our home?
When we pray, “Lord make me more like Your Son,” do we mean “strip me of all my worldly comforts that hinder me”?

Calvary is a Community of Believers Dedicated to One Another in Love

Calvary shares a common life with all believers, which is the direct result of our union with Jesus Christ. It is our union with Christ that sets us apart from other organizations and gatherings because in Christ we belong to one another. In other words, our fellowship is much more than Christian social activity. Rather, it involves a relationship in which we share with one another on a close personal and spiritual level. We are moving beyond the surface topics in our conversations to the issues of the heart and soul. The goal for Calvary is to grow in love and to mature in Christ likeness. This occurs in our one-on-one relationships and in our small groups as we share biblical truth, foster openness, encourage mutual accountability and pray with one another. We also desire to avoid gossip and criticism of one another, while committing ourselves to honor and build each other up through words of encouragement. We further desire to share our possessions with one another when there is need. We own nothing but are stewards of all that God has entrusted to our care. We are devoted to this kind of community life even as the believers were devoted to one another following Christ’s ascension.

Malachi 3:14-16; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:5; I Corinthians 1:9; II Corinthians 8:13-14; Ephesians 5:21; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 3:13; 10:24-25; James 5:16; I John 1:3

Questions:

Are you involved in a small group at Calvary?
Are you seeking to counter the individualism of our day by loving and gathering with fellow believers on a regular basis?
Does the sharing in your small group include the struggles and failures we all encounter on a daily basis?
Do you feel the freedom to share your material resources with fellow believers who are in need?
Do you have one or two individuals that you meet with regularly to openly confess sin, share Biblical truth and support through prayer?
Do you regularly engage in conversation that moves beyond the surface topics to more personal and spiritual issues of the heart?