Whatwhyhow

They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers. In verse 46, it says they continued daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house. They ate their meals with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for the way that you provide. As we think about your provision for these gloves for the servicemen over in Iraq, Lord, we thank you for that provision. God, we also thank you for the comfort you provide when we go through difficulty and trial. I pray for my family, Lord. I ask that you would open a wide door of opportunity to share your grace and your truth.

We know that all things work together for good to those who love you and are called according to your purpose. Even in the midst of trials and difficulty, we know that you are able to work a work. I know that you're at work in this situation, Lord. We pray for Brooke this morning. All of us united together in prayer come before you, asking that you would touch and heal this little child. Remove this cancer from her young body, Lord. Heal her completely and wholly to glorify your name.

We also pray for Pastor Pat this morning. Touch him and heal him so that he can get out of the hospital quickly this afternoon, perhaps. We pray that you would heal him completely, relieving him of this problem with scar tissue. God, bless this time as we look into your Word. Teach us and instruct us by your Spirit, for we ask it in Jesus' name. All God's people said, "Amen." You can be seated.

Last week, I shared with you some of the things that the Lord had impressed upon my heart as we enter a new year. Specifically, the two words: simplify and focus. I've talked with many people this week who said that this is exactly what the Lord has been speaking to them as well—that they need to simplify and be able to focus. We are going to provide opportunities for that this year.

As we step into this new year, I want to consider some of the things we do here at Calvary Chapel. I've been thinking about the what, why, and how of our activities. What is it that we're doing? Why are we doing it? How are we doing it? As we look at the Scriptures, we are given very clear instruction.

First, Christ gives us commands as a church regarding what we are to do. We see that the early church practiced a certain form of church and followed the Lord in their service. Additionally, there was the exhortation of the apostles. This morning, we will look at a few of those aspects: Christ's command, the early church's practice, and the exhortation of the apostles. We will explore what the church was doing 2,000 years ago, which is the same mission we are seeking to fulfill today.

As I observe the church in general, both in our nation and around the world, I believe the church has largely drifted from what the Lord initially called us to do. What is the commission that He commanded us to follow? This is found in the Gospel of Matthew, specifically in Matthew chapter 28. If you turn there, we will start this morning with Christ's command. What has He told us to do, and why are we doing these things? First and foremost, it comes from the fact that He commanded us to do it.

At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, in the very last words before Jesus ascends into heaven, He speaks to His disciples. Many of you could quote this verse because you have memorized it. In verse 18, Jesus says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

As I look around the world today, I truly believe we are living in the last days. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first began. Amen? We pray for the soon return of our Lord. The conditions of our world seem to align perfectly with prophetic passages in the Word. Therefore, I believe we are indeed living in those last days. However, we are promised that the Lord would be with us even until the end. We know and are assured, because of His promise in His Word, that God is with us and will never leave us or forsake us.

In His presence, He has given us a commission. He sent us on a mission to go into all the world and make disciples. The word "go" here is interesting when you read it in the original language, as it seems to imply that as you are going, you should make disciples. This is something we should be doing in our daily lives, wherever we are. We should be seeking to preach and teach God's Word. We will see that this was one of the exhortations that the apostles provided.

The Apostle Paul specifically addressed the early church, particularly Timothy, emphasizing that they were to understand and know the Word of God. They were to preach and teach it—not just the pastors, elders, or ministers of a church, but the entire body of Christ. We are called to make disciples as we go, seeking opportunities to share God's Word, the truth of the gospel, and to provide doctrine, instruction, and teaching.

As we go, we are to make disciples, teaching all nations and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are to teach them to observe everything that Jesus commanded. This encompasses both preaching and teaching, as outlined in the Great Commission.

I believe this Great Commission stems from God's Great Commandment. What is the chiefest of all the commandments? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. From the Great Commandment flows the Great Commission. Because God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We are to take that word of eternal life into the world and share this message.

At the end of His ministry, just before He ascended into heaven, Jesus told His disciples in Luke 24:47 that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. They were to go and preach repentance and remission of sins. We saw just a few weeks back in Acts chapter 2 how, when Peter stood up to preach that day, he delivered that very message: "Repent, all of you, and be converted."

This was the same message that Jesus gave in Matthew 4:17 and that John the Baptist preached in Matthew 3. It was the message Peter proclaimed to the Jews on Pentecost and to the Gentiles at Cornelius' house in Acts chapter 10. Paul also preached this message during his missionary journeys in the book of Acts. The message was consistent because it was commissioned and commanded by God, our Lord Jesus Christ, to go and preach repentance and remission of sins to all peoples, beginning at Jerusalem.

This mission is one that God has given to us, and it is a mission that we at Calvary Chapel of Escondido want to fulfill. We are committed to doing whatever we can to preach the gospel and to disciple the saved. One of the threefold missions of our church has been, for a very long time, to win, disciple, and send.

We want to make sure that we're preaching the gospel so that those who don't know the truth come to the knowledge of the truth. Once a person has been saved and has placed their faith in Jesus Christ, receiving Him as Lord and Savior, we want to disciple them. We are committed to discipleship here at this church, ensuring that every single person is thoroughly equipped for every good work. That's why we have the ministries that we have here at Calvary Chapel.

What we're going to do this morning, in just a few minutes, is ask different ministry leaders to come up and share with you about the men's ministry, the women's ministry, the youth ministry, and Josh from school discipleship and young adults, and so forth. This will allow us to share some of the different things that are going on here. All of these ministries have the same aim and purpose: we want to win the lost, disciple the saved, and ultimately take those who have been discipled and send them out into effective ministry.

When I say "send out," I mean a couple of different things. Yes, we send people out into foreign mission fields, just like we saw the Belize team leave yesterday morning for a short-term trip. We have seen other missionaries from our body go out on long-term missionary trips, whether to the Philippines, Scotland, Germany, or Donna down in Belize. We are committed to sending people out into the greater mission field around the world.

However, we need to recognize that mission starts at home. Every single one of us here in this room today, if you know Christ Jesus as Lord, is a missionary here in Escondido, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts. It starts right here at home. In this year, 2009, we want to look for opportunities to reach out into our community and take the precious, glorious truth of the gospel to those who don't know Him. We also want to offer opportunities for discipleship here, because that's what Jesus commanded us to do. Shouldn't the church be doing what Jesus told us to do? It makes sense to me, and I hope it makes sense to you.

We are called to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. We are to preach repentance and remission of sins. Not only do we have the command of Christ, but we also have the practice of the early church. We will be studying that through the rest of this year as we go through the book of Acts. We started this morning with Acts chapter 2, which gives us a peek into the practice of the early church. What were some of the things that they, the gathering, the assembly of those who follow Jesus, were doing? It was very clear and very simple.

They continued, as we see in Acts chapter 2, verse 42. They continued in the apostles' doctrine, which means they studied the Scriptures. They were those being discipled by the apostles. They continued in the apostles' teaching, in fellowship, and in breaking of bread and communion. We do that once a month here on Sunday mornings, but we also offer communion during the week on Wednesday mornings. We want to provide opportunities for fellowship.

I hope that if you're part of a home fellowship, as the early church was, you partake of communion within that context as well. Several years ago, I was talking with a friend of mine who was attending a seminary that was not part of Calvary Chapel, but a different denomination. They had gathered together for a Bible study at someone's home, and someone suggested, "Hey, let's partake of communion." A few of the people responded, "No, we can't do that. We don't have a priest to lead us." I thought to myself, that is heartbreaking. You don't need a priest to lead you.

What we see in the book of Hebrews very clearly is that we have Jesus as our mediator. He has made the way open, and we can partake of communion together anytime, anywhere. Maybe you don't have crackers and juice; perhaps you have Skittles and water. I don't care. You can remember the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ with whatever you have. I don't know, maybe that's a stretch—Skittles. But we can take the time to remember His death, burial, and resurrection with whatever we have. We have a tangible way of doing so.

The early church broke bread together in remembrance of what He had done. They continued in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and in prayer. We want to be committed to prayer. Why? First and foremost, we see that Jesus, even though He is God, was a man of prayer. Throughout the Scriptures, we see Him going to a quiet place alone to pray. His disciples noticed this and came to Him in Luke chapter 11, saying, "Lord, teach us to pray." They saw something in Him that really stood out regarding His prayer life.

We offer opportunities for prayer here at the church, whether it's Wednesday mornings at 6 o'clock or Josh's Sunday night prayer meeting at 7. Additionally, Kelly has a group of ladies that get together and pray on Wednesday afternoons.

And so, there are many opportunities for corporate prayer. There are a ton of different prayer cell groups within our church that I probably don't even know about. Many different people get together on a regular basis to pray, to intercede, to bring their own needs before God in supplication, and to bring others' needs in intercession. The early church engaged in these practices as well.

We see in Acts 2:46, which I read earlier, that they continued daily with one accord in the temple. They gathered together as a corporate group, and the largest place for them to meet during that time was still at the Jewish temple. Within the temple, there were different covered patio areas, and it seems that the early church often resorted to a place called Solomon's Porch. This is where they frequently gathered, especially on the first day of the week. They would meet corporately in the temple, but they also broke bread from house to house, participating in what we today might call home fellowships. They didn't refer to them as home fellowships; that was simply the way they did things. They gathered together from house to house in smaller groups.

We have about seven home fellowships here at the church, and it is my desire in this new year to raise up new leaders for these fellowships. If you have gone through our school of discipleship, we would really like you to take our inductive Bible study class. If you would like to teach a home fellowship, please come talk to me, Josh, or one of the other pastors. We want to start some new home fellowships this year and provide opportunities for the body of Christ to gather together from house to house, to eat their meals with gladness and singleness of heart. This is how a church is united as one—through fellowship, breaking bread together, praising God, and having favor with all people. The Lord added to the church daily those who should be saved.

The church was evangelically minded; they were preaching the gospel, but it was God who added to the church. As we saw a couple of weeks ago in Matthew 16, Jesus said, "I will build my church." We have the command of Christ in Matthew 28, Luke 24, and other places in the gospels. We also have the practice of the early church here in Acts 2, which we will study more as we go through Acts this year. Additionally, we have the exhortation of the apostles. One such exhortation that stands out to me is the one that the Lord used to call me into the ministry, found in Ephesians 4.

So, if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, right after the book of Galatians and just before the book of Philippians, we will look at Ephesians chapter 4. Here, the apostle Paul speaks about the ministers within the church.

The body of Christ, within the church, includes those who are leaders in the church. These positions are appointed or ordained by God. God is the one who sets these positions up. We read in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11, that He, Jesus, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. It is Jesus who has established these roles. He has called and ordained people to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

Why? What is their purpose? For a long time in church history, it was viewed that the purpose of the leaders was to do all the ministry, all the work of the ministry. However, that is not what Paul said. The exhortation of Paul was that God has given these leadership positions, as stated in verse 12, for the equipping of the saints, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the building up or edifying of the body of Christ.

You see, it is God's call upon my life to ensure that you are equipped to do the work of the ministry. God has called every single one of you here this morning to the work of the ministry. This call takes many different forms. In fact, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that this body has many different members and many areas of ministry. Here at this church, throughout the week, there are numerous activities taking place. Whether it is with cleaning crews and security teams in the parking lot, or the video ministry next door, or the children's ministry, youth ministry, ushers, greeters, and the men's and women's ministries, there are so many things happening right here at this campus from week to week.

Additionally, there is a lot going on outside the walls of this room. People are involved in various ministries, such as the convalescent ministry, home fellowships, the ministry that Dave is doing in the parks, and the Most Excellent Way at the Pine Tree Lodge. God is doing many different things. To effectively carry out the ministry that has been committed to us here, it cannot possibly be done by the several pastors on staff alone. It can only be accomplished as we, as a whole, are equipped and ready to do the work of the ministry.

Paul exhorted the church at Ephesus to ensure that the elders were equipping the saints, perfecting them, and raising them up to maturity so that they could effectively do the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ. There is coming a day when we will all be gathered to the Lord, and we look forward to that.

Ephesians chapter 4 gives us a clear outline of the leadership of the church. We follow that here at Calvary Chapel. We have a hierarchy of leadership, but the purpose of it is not so that you can exalt us. The purpose is so that we can teach you and equip you, so that you are ready to do the work that God has called you to. We want to be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Another great exhortation is found in 1 Timothy. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul is writing to a young man in the faith, who was probably in his late 20s or early 30s. At that time, he was the leader of the church at Ephesus. In 1 Timothy 4, verse 12, Paul says, "Let no man despise your youth, but be an example of the believer." He is to be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. He was to be someone that people could look up to in his understanding of the Word, in the way he conducted himself, in his love for God and for others, and in the fact that he was filled with the Spirit.

How do we know if a person is filled with the Spirit? What is seen in their life? The fruit of the Spirit, as described in Galatians chapter 5, is the evidence. He was to be an example in spirit and faith, willing to take steps of faith. He was also to be an example in purity; he was to be a saint. A lot of times, when I say "saint," your minds may go back to a very Catholic understanding of a saint, but that's not what the Scriptures describe. A saint is a person who is saved by grace. Amen? If you and I have been saved by the grace of God today, we have been made saints by Him, by the work that He has done in us.

Paul instructs Timothy to be an example to the believers in word, conduct, faith, love, spirit, and purity. He then gives him an exhortation: "Until I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine." This was the command, the exhortation that Paul gave to the young pastor Timothy at the church of Ephesus. I believe it is the same sort of command or call that the Lord has given to me and to the other pastors here at this church. He says, "Until I return, give attendance to reading."

The word "reading" in the original language simply means to read through the Scripture, but it also means to read it to the point where you own it, where it becomes a part of you.

You see, I don't know about you, but I have a tendency sometimes to read various things. People send me emails, I read articles, and sometimes we just peruse through them and scan through them really quickly, and we don't really get a lot from it. It's that first form of reading where you just briefly read through it. Sometimes we can read our Bibles like that, where we might say, "Hey, I read 10 Psalms today." But when asked what we read about, we might respond, "I don't know. I read 10 Psalms." We just kind of speed read through it.

The word for reading here means reading to the point of understanding and owning that it's a part of your life. You hold it now; it's yours. It's not just words on paper anymore; it's the word of God in your heart. So, he says, "Give attention to reading." From that reading will come exhortation, which could also be translated as preaching. He said, "Church, you're to give attention to reading and understanding the word of God." Then, pastor, you're to give attention to preaching the word of God.

The third word is to give attention to doctrine, which can also be translated as teaching. Reading, preaching, and teaching are important aspects of the church, and that's why we do the things that we do here at Calvary Chapel. He goes on to say, "Do not neglect the gift that was given to you by prophecy and the laying on of hands. Meditate upon these things and give yourself entirely to them, that your profiting may appear unto all." Essentially, he is saying, "Do these things, and you will be an example in word, faith, love, purity, and so forth."

Take heed unto yourself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in so doing, you do both save yourself and those that hear you. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, says you are to read, preach, and teach the word and be an example. This message is not just for Timothy; it is what God has spoken to me and to the other pastors here at this church. It is also a message for every single one of us. We need to be those who are reading the word of God.

As we read the word of God and own it in our own lives, He will give us opportunities to share it with others, to preach it, and to teach it. There are many people in this world who have questions about the Scriptures and about God. You are likely going to come into contact with them more than I will because you work with them, go to school with them, or are just around them in the community, whether at your kid's soccer game or elsewhere.

You will encounter people who do not know God and have questions. They want to know, and they will ask you. It's okay to tell them, "I don't know, but I'll find out." However, make sure you seek the Scriptures and find out. Study to show yourself approved as a workman or workwoman who is rightly dividing the word.

Of faith, the word of truth, and you're not ashamed. Paul also gave another charge to Timothy in his second letter to him in chapter 4. In 2 Timothy 4, verse 1, he said, "You need to be one who is ready to preach the word at any time, anywhere, and that you're able to convince, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."

He gave another exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2, just a couple of chapters before that. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 1, he wrote, "You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ. And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit unto faithful men who shall be able to teach others also."

That's what I'm looking to do. I want to be able to raise up, and so do the other pastors here at this church, other godly men and women who understand and know the word of God. They can do biblical counseling, teach home Bible studies, and be a part of the children's ministry, the nursing home ministry, the women's ministry, and the men's ministry. This way, we can effectively fulfill the commission and the command that God has given us to go into all the world and make disciples. Not just converts, but disciples.

The church has been bent on making converts. That's why sometimes, at the end of a service, they will say, "Here, just pray this prayer with me." Then, at the end of that prayer, they say, "All of you that prayed that prayer, you're saved." No. God desires that we would be disciples, not just merely converts, that we would be raised up unto maturity.

That's why He has called and set apart the ministers of this church, the leaders of this church—not just the pastors, but the elders and those that are leading different Bible studies and overseeing those things. We want to be committed to this.

It is my desire that every single one of you who are here would not just be here only on a Sunday morning, but that the Lord would stir in your heart to be raised up, to step out, and to effectively minister to this community. There are a lot of people within five miles of this building who don't know God and don't have a clue about His word. They think they know something; they have some form of spirituality.

Spirituality is a big thing these days. People often say someone is very spiritual, but they have no idea what that really means. They might say, "Yeah, he's very spiritual," but when asked why, they often respond, "I don't know, but he's spiritual." The question then becomes, what spirit are they following? We want to ensure that people understand and are built upon the Word of God.

So, what is the "how" of spirituality? One of the best descriptions is found in the Old Testament, specifically in Zechariah chapter 4. There, a man named Zerubbabel was tasked with rebuilding the city of Jerusalem after it had been destroyed. It seemed like an impossible task, and indeed, it was. However, in Zechariah 4:6, God told Zerubbabel, "It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." This emphasizes that it is not a work that can be effectively done by oneself.

This principle is echoed in Acts chapter 1, where Jesus instructed His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. He promised that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from then. The Holy Spirit's power is available to you and me today. We need to rely on the Lord, asking Him to fill, equip, and direct us, and He will. He has promised to do so every single day.

If you think, "I don't think I can be an usher," or "I don't think I can be a children's ministry teacher," or "I don't think I can help in a nursing home," you are correct in your own strength. You can't. But by the power and strength of God, you can. This will serve as a testimony to Him and His power, as He is the one to be glorified.

These are some of the reasons we do what we do here at Calvary Chapel. We ask ourselves: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How are we doing it? All of this is laid out in the Scriptures. We want to be a church built upon the Word of God, and I believe every ministry we have here shares that same focus and purpose.

With the time we have remaining this morning, I want to invite some of our ministry leaders to come up and share what the Lord is doing within the ministries they oversee and what He is laying out before them. First, I would like to call Ken Pilbin up. Ken is an elder at our church and has been for a number of years. He oversees our men's ministry and has done a great job for quite some time.

All of you who are a part of it know that he is a great leader. So, Ken, I want to give you a quick update on what's going on with the men. God has given men a great responsibility in the church, at home, and all around. He certainly desires to equip us. The goal of the men's groups and the men's ministry is to equip men to accept that responsibility and to administer it everywhere we are—at church, at home, and at work.

I understand how hard it is to be out in the community and try to live a Christian life while also being a part of the world around us. My desire is for us, as men, to get together as often as possible. We can see other guys who desire to seek the Lord and are facing similar struggles. It’s important to have godly friends—men who want to seek the Lord together.

We have quite a few opportunities to gather throughout the year. We often have potlucks, probably at least four a year. We host men's breakfasts a couple of times a year and have a retreat every February. Additionally, we attend a men's conference every October at the convention center in Anaheim. In the last couple of years, we've participated live via satellite here at the church.

We also have Bible study groups that meet every Thursday, and I will talk about that in a minute. There is a share group that meets on Saturdays. Once a year, we come together for a golf fellowship. We organize a Storm baseball fellowship night in the summer and have a softball team that plays on Friday nights. Occasionally, we go paintballing.

There are many opportunities for guys to find a Christian friend, someone to hang out with during tough times, whether at home or at work. Right now, many of you have lost your jobs, and there are guys in our men's groups who are unemployed. It’s a blessing to have someone to pray with and talk to, especially when seeking the Lord together.

Some of the upcoming events include the men's potluck.

We have that coming tomorrow night. The men's potluck is a time when we get together at about 6:30. We circle around the grill and talk to Jim as he's cooking. We have a meal together, and there's a potluck. In the bulletin, you can see that if your last name starts with A through D, you're bringing a drink. If your last name starts with E through whatever, you're bringing side dishes or dessert.

We eat for about 45 minutes to an hour, followed by a time of worship. Jared Beck is going to be leading us in worship tomorrow night. After that, we have a time of teaching, and Pastor Eric will be teaching. It's just a great time of fellowship. We have a bunch of guys who get together, hang out, and enjoy great food and great fellowship. It's a wonderful opportunity to meet new guys, and again, that's an important part of our walk.

Also coming up this Thursday is our men's Bible study groups. We have three groups that meet on Thursday, and this session, we're going to have one that meets on Friday as well. On the back table, you'll see a blue sheet that you can grab, which has maps to each of the groups. One group on Thursday night meets here, while a couple of others meet at different homes. The Friday night group also meets at a home.

Any of the men's leaders, assistants, or hosts, please stand up. Bruce, Dave, thank you. Look at the maps if you're interested and see which group is closest to you. The format of the men's group is designed for busy guys. We desire to have fellowship, but it's not a stressful situation. It's an interactive Bible study. We start with a time of worship, and then we get into our Bible study.

There are only five questions, which is not a rough thing. The format allows you to spend a question a day or just five minutes on a question, depending on what works with your schedule. This way, you can come to the Bible study prepared and hear how God has spoken to each of us through these questions. We also have a time of prayer at the end, which is great.

As Pastor Miles was talking about with the small groups, it's just a great opportunity to have someone pray for you. What an amazing thing it is to hear somebody praying for your wife, someone praying for your job, or someone praying for your son who is not feeling well. It's a blessing to be able to pray for one another on a personal level, and we get to do that on Thursday nights.

Also coming up is the men's retreat. We have those once a year up in the mountains, where there is plenty of snow. Our kids are coming back here this afternoon. We go up to Big Bear, and it's scheduled for the second weekend of February, so it's not on Super Bowl weekend. The dates are the 6th, 7th, and 8th. You can sign up in the back. The theme is "No Compromise," and the speaker is Brad Dacus, the president of the Pacific Justice Institute. It looks like it's going to be a great retreat, and I am looking forward to it.

The format for the retreat is that we go up on a Friday afternoon. On Friday evening, we have dinner and a main session. Then on Saturday, we have a couple of main sessions in the morning, free time in the afternoon, and another main session along with an afterglow type event on Saturday night. Sunday morning, we have a main session, and then by lunchtime, we are headed back home, ready to go for another year. That's the format of the retreat.

I want to encourage you guys to get involved. There are a lot of great opportunities to serve all the time, whether it be helping folks in our church move, assisting with landscaping, painting, or whatever it might be. One of the things I want to encourage you to do is to get on the men's ministry email list. Does anyone here receive emails from me periodically? If not, I encourage you to get on that list.

By joining the email list, you will receive reminders about what's going on, including events and opportunities to serve. It's a great way to connect with other guys, go out and serve, and bless someone in need. It's an awesome opportunity. On the men's table in the back, you can add your email address to the men's ministry email list to get added.

The theme of the men's ministry, the theme verse, is in Hebrews 10.

And again, we have an opportunity to get together. We have an opportunity to spur one another on to love and good deeds. I'm telling you, when you get together on a Thursday night, it's hard to get back out after work, but you get there and you're blessed. It's a great opportunity.

Guys, you're in the Word. Everybody's got issues going on and comes from all different walks of life, and yet we get in there and study together. When I first came to this church ten years and two weeks ago, I didn't know anybody except for my neighbor, Eric Jeltness, and my dad, Ken Sr. He calls me Ken Jr. He's supposed to be Ken, but he's not too excited about the Ken Sr. thing. Those are the only two guys that I knew when I came here.

I went to a Bible study with Eric. Tom Bruce led that study. He has since gone on to start a church. Josh Olson was in that Bible study; I think you know Josh. Scott Hirschlub is leading a men's group. Jason Brower has been in that group, and he's leading the men. Jim Bollinger was also part of it. There’s just a lot of fruit that comes from a men's Bible study.

I want to encourage you to head out to the back table and sign up for something. Get involved. At least get on that men's ministry list so you know what's going on. God bless you guys.

Robbie, if you want to come up. Robbie Rear leads our women's ministry. Robbie and Richard have been a part of our church for a long time now, and she's done a great job leading the women's ministry. If you want to share with us, go ahead.

I was thinking it would be fun if the women could join the guys sometime and do paintballing. That sounds like a lot of fun. I was telling Lorraine next to me that I want to do that.

I just want to share with you that the goal for women's ministries is to provide the women here at Calvary opportunities to grow in your walk with your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to meet one another, to have those fellowship opportunities, and to have opportunities to serve one another.

A couple of things to share. The best place for you to grow in your walk with the Lord is through our women's Bible study. I had a chance to share a little bit last week, but just to recap, the women's Bible study meets on Tuesdays. We have a 9 a.m. study and a 7 p.m. study. Our morning study just started back this last Tuesday, and they are continuing their study in Isaiah. I don't get a chance to attend that because I work, but Jeannie DeBenedictus heads it up, and I understand it's a wonderful study. If you're available Tuesday mornings, I really encourage you to get plugged in there. They provide childcare on Tuesday mornings for infants through preschoolers.

We have notebooks available at our women's ministries table out front. I want to remind you that every Sunday, our women's ministries table is available. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions, always feel free to stop by. There is always someone to talk to.

Now, the Tuesday evening study begins this Tuesday, and we will be starting a new study called "Live Intimately." It is a 10-week study focusing on the time Jesus spent with His disciples in the upper room. It sounds like a really good study, and I'm looking forward to it. Both studies meet in the Youth Center.

I was also thinking of places where you can meet one another for fellowship. We have something new beginning, which Pastor Josh mentioned earlier. It's called Girls' Night Out, and it will be a once-a-month fellowship on the third Friday of every month. Our first one is this coming Friday. The whole purpose is to provide a fun way to get to know one another. Each month, we will have a different theme and a different activity. Of course, we will have food; we always have to have food.

We will have sign-ups every month, and there will be a small supply fee so that when you come that evening, you don't have to bring anything. You just show up, and we'll have a good time. We are currently taking sign-ups for that at the back table.

Another opportunity to meet one another is through a ministry called Mothers of Grace. This is also a once-a-month fellowship that meets on the first Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. in room 7. This group is specifically for moms of little ones, and Teresa Pilbin heads it up.

If you have any interest or questions about that, you can contact her. We do have a flyer on the table about it, so you can pick that up as well.

For places to serve, I was thinking about our women's breakfast. They are held quarterly, and Christy Olson heads that up. They meet on Saturday mornings from 8 to 10 a.m. It's an opportunity for those interested in getting involved, perhaps by helping to set up the tables or cleaning up afterward. Our first one for this year is on the 31st of this month, and Donna Kent is going to be sharing with us. For those of you who don't know Donna, she and her family just recently returned from many years in the Philippines. I am really looking forward to her sharing with us that morning.

We also have a women's ministries newsletter called Salt and Grace, and Jennifer Brower is the editor. We have a flyer here, and it's always available on our women's ministries table. If you are interested in submitting an article, we would absolutely love that. Whether you want to write out your testimony or share something that the Lord has been doing in your life, that would be a great way to serve the women here at the church.

Additionally, we have our annual women's retreat, which will be held on the last weekend in June at Murrieta Hot Springs again. It's a beautiful facility. If you haven't had a chance to go, I hope you can join us this year. The theme of the retreat is "Don't Look Back," and we will have more information as it gets closer. I encourage you to start tucking away $5 or $10 each pay period so that when registration begins, it won't be such a hardship. We would love to have you join us, get to know you, and provide you with a chance to get involved.

Lastly, I wanted to read a quick scripture from Jude. Jude 20 says, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Spirit." I just wanted to reiterate what Ken already shared. We want to create opportunities to get to know one another, grow together, and serve one another.

It’s a blessing to be able to serve you ladies here at Calvary. Thank you. Eric, are you here? Come on up. Eric Siaka is one of the pastors on our staff. He oversees all the chaplaincy activities that are going on in the county, and really, the Lord has opened up huge doors for him. He could probably talk for hours about that, but you know Eric. He'll talk for 30 seconds.

Eric also oversees our young adults ministry, and he's doing a great job with that. So, Eric, share with us.

Good morning! Really quick, the young adults group meets on Monday evenings. We're going to start back up on the 19th. It’s been a blessing. We have about 15 to 20 young adults from different backgrounds, not only from our church but also from other churches and some of the colleges. Some of them don’t even attend a full-time church, but they show up on Monday nights.

It’s an interactive Bible study, and there’s always a point to it. We go through scriptures, but we focus on the practicality of living our lives. If you know me, you know my mentality: it’s about practically living God's life out for people to see in the environment they're in. That’s what we stress, and we work really hard at addressing the situations they’re dealing with. We attempt to fellowship as much as possible, and we have different venues and activities.

This year, we had our first Christmas dinner as a group, and it was a blast. We did a white elephant gift exchange, and everybody brought a different ornament to hang on the tree. It was just a neat little thing we did, and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like I’m the guy to do it, but the Lord has really laid it on my heart that we need to train up these young adults in how to live Christian lives in their environments. That’s the primary ministry I do besides the chaplaincy work.

On the chaplaincy end of it, what I really covet is the prayers that I receive from the folks here. If you don’t know by now, I oversee the California State Firefighters Association as their chaplain. We’re putting together a program to have chaplains throughout the state who are trained and qualified to minister the word of God to a 24,000-member organization all over California. It’s truly humbling that the Lord would allow me to do something like that.

I definitely don't feel I have the qualifications. But as Miles said earlier, it's the spirit that moves within us and works within us that does what needs to be done. I am moving over from Vista Patrol with the Sheriff's Department to Search and Rescue, which is a whole different ballgame. You can pray for that. It requires a little bit more movement on my body, so I would really covet your prayers for that.

I still work for Escondido Fire and for the county medical examiner's office once a week. Ninety to ninety-five percent of the time, as I minister to the people, it's never a good situation. Usually, when you leave, you find yourself asking the Lord, "I have no idea how you're going to work this out, but I know you will." Every now and then, the Lord allows me a little tidbit to know that something went right. He actually lets me know. I know He does, but just that He lets me know is such a blessing.

Again, I covet your prayers tremendously. As you go throughout your day, if it comes to your mind, just pray for us, all the chaplains. Miles is the latest addition to Escondido Fire, and we'll be bringing him on here in about a week. We are just looking forward to what the Lord is doing. He is moving in a mighty way.

Oh, one last thing. While out on a call with the medical examiner's office, we ran into some park and recreation folks who have really been in some interesting situations. Their hearts and minds are open for a chaplain. If you understand, and I think you do, the way society is heading, being the religious representative to these folks who don't have a clue as to what God is doing is tremendous. There is a lot of opposition. One chaplain's program is being disbanded, having their badges pulled and no crosses. It is just crazy. But the Lord continues to open up the door for us, and I really believe it's because we solely and totally rely on Him and His spirit to do the work. Amen?

Thank you, and God bless. If anything, the ministry that Eric is involved with, the chaplaincies throughout the county, is a real declaration of God's ability to open doors. The Lord just keeps opening great doors of opportunity before him, and he has to be one of the busiest people I know now because of the things that the Lord is opening before him.

One of the things we desire to do is to raise up chaplains within our church. If the Lord is stirring your heart to be God's representative in a very unchurched environment, come talk to Eric. We want to set you up in that capacity.

Another important aspect of our church is our youth ministry. Jason is next door right now teaching the youth. He had a video that we would show, but it would take a little too long this morning. I want to run down a few things, and I’ll probably have him share in a couple of weeks about what’s going on with the youth ministry.

This year, we’ve turned the junior high ministry over to Nick Burt. Some of you know Nick; he is a young guy in our fellowship who grew up within our church and was discipled here. He’s on our staff as our facilities guy, but now he’s doing the junior high ministry. The Lord has opened up great doors for that. Steve Dodd was leading the junior high for several years, and now he’s focusing on the youth worship team. You’ve seen them lead here on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, and he has done an awesome job. To see what he’s done with the youth worship team is a great blessing. The Lord is doing neat things in our youth ministry.

A number of our kids in the youth group, specifically in high school, are signing up to be junior counselors at Camp Allendale. We have three different high schoolers teaching their Christian clubs on campus at their public schools here in town. One of the neat testimonies from junior high camp involves a junior high girl in our fellowship who wanted to help some of her friends go to camp. She started baking cookies and selling them, ultimately raising $1,200 and sending six people to camp. It’s wonderful to see how God moves on the heart of a junior higher to stand up and provide in such a way.

Of course, we also have our Spanish ministry, which Roberto oversees. I will have him share in a couple of weeks about what’s going on with that. Pastor Mark is overseeing the convalescent ministry and the seniors ministry, and I’ll have him share about that soon as well.

Josh, if you want to come up quickly and talk about the School of Discipleship and what the Lord is doing with that, it is a desire the Lord placed in me a long time ago. I want to ensure that we have a clear, systematic way of raising people up and developing disciples in Christ. I know that’s how I was trained. The Lord raised me up into the ministry through the School of Ministry here at our church. Many of those serving today were part of that program. Ken was a part of it, I believe, along with Todd Kent, Matt Dotson, and so many others who have served here at our church after going through the ministry. Josh is now overseeing our School of Discipleship.

It is an awesome thing to see God's faithfulness. He has raised countless individuals who have gone through our school of ministry in the past. They have been effectively released into ministries all around the world, not just here. It is truly amazing.

We strongly encourage each and every one of you, if you haven't already, to get plugged into the school of discipleship. It really is the foundation for everything we are doing. I mean, it's a solid foundation, and God has blessed us with the materials we are using. Courses one and two will begin on January 26th, as part of our 2009 calendar for the school of discipleship. Classes will be held on Monday nights at 7 p.m. here.

Course one starts off by discovering the good news and exploring what biblical salvation is. It takes you from ground zero, assuming you don't know anything. The whole purpose of the courses—one through five—is to lead you to maturity in Christ, where you will understand all the things that Miles was talking about at the beginning, including sharing with other people.

However, discipleship and going through those courses is not the starting place. Evangelism and sharing your faith are also crucial. On the 26th, we will not only have course one begin, but we also encourage those who have completed courses one, two, or three to participate in "The Way of the Master." This course teaches you how to share your faith simply and effectively, the way Jesus did. Scott Kramer will be teaching that, guiding you from ground zero on how to share your faith with people in a practical way.

I can honestly tell you that after all the years I have been sharing my faith, this is the method I use now. Ninety-nine percent of the people I share with, even if they walk away, always come back and say, "Thanks, I've never understood this before." Even Christians have told me, "Man, it makes so much sense."

So, again, there is the evangelism class, course one. If you have completed courses one and two and have not yet taken course three, Dr. TV will be here starting the 26th to teach course three.

It's an apologetics course. How can you trust the Bible? Why is the Bible even put together the way it is? What is the authority of Scripture, and how can you rely on it? These are just a few of the many questions we will cover, including world religions, in a very practical way.

Dr. TV will be teaching Course 3, starting on the 26th. Additionally, we are starting something new. Todd Kent, who just returned from the Philippines, will be teaching a five-week class called Exploring Missions. Why do we even do missions? What is missions all about? What is the motivation behind it? If you're interested in missions or want to understand why we do what we do, Todd has put together some material based on his experience and the Word.

So, we have four courses: Evangelism, Course 1, Course 3, and Exploring Missions. As Miles mentioned, we all have questions and problems; every single one of us does. You likely know people in your family and at work who have the same questions and problems. We want to equip you so that you can effectively, simply, and directly share the truth from the Word of God with them. That is our desire for the School of Discipleship.

Let's stand together. We could continue discussing many different topics, but we've gone over our time. There are lots of different things happening here at the church. In the next few weeks, we will have some of the ministry leaders come up and share about those activities.

Before we go, I want to ask how many of you have seen our show on public access cable before? A number of people have come to our church because of that, and the Lord has really used it. Most of you know that the cameras up here are for that purpose. Every service during the second service, a few guys next door in what they call the "bat cave" are making the show, and they have been faithful in doing so. We will talk a little more about that in a few weeks, but they are in need of someone who could help as a director and producer for the show. They would love to train someone in those technical video skills. If you're interested, please come and talk with me after the service.

Every week, our services here at Calvary Chapel reach a million homes in San Diego County, and it has not really cost the church anything for the last 12 years that we've been on the air. It's an amazing thing that God has done. Amen?

Let's pray together. Father, you have done amazing things; great things you have done, and you are not finished.

And Lord, I pray that you would raise up within this church more and more servants to start new ministries. Sure, we've got a lot of different things going on with men's ministry, women's ministry, youth, and children's programs. However, there are many other things that need to be done.

I pray that you would equip us, Lord, and that you would raise us up to fulfill the ministry that you've called us to. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.