1 Corinthians 1:26

For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. The base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen; yea, and things which are not to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That according as it is written, "He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Let's pray. Father, as we just sang, we glorify You. You are to be glorified. You are awesome and powerful, Lord. Your word here says, "He that glories, let him glory in You." We boast in You today because You are an awesome and good God. We thank You that You, in Your wisdom and by Your righteousness, have sanctified us and redeemed us.

We pray, Lord, that as a sanctified and redeemed people, we, being Your people, would shine brightly in a dark world. Lord, continue to fill us, continue to guide us, direct us, we pray in Jesus' name. And all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." You can be seated.

We are going to do something a little bit differently today than we normally do on a Sunday morning. Being that we are now at really the middle of the year, I wanted to take a service to share some of the things that are happening, some of the things that are going on in the church. At the beginning of the year, I shared with you out of Micah chapter 2, verse 10, where the prophet Micah says, "Arise and go, for this is no place to rest."

I shared with you that I really believe that this is one of the things that the Lord has called us to as a church for this year: to arise and go, recognizing that this is not our place of rest. This is not our inheritance. I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that at the end of this life, we're not just going to inherit a nice earth. We're going to inherit the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Our inheritance is being with God in His presence, in His heaven eternally.

While we can sometimes be very focused on this world and working towards the goal of maybe retirement or the goal of some sort of fortune or wealth here in this life, we're told in Micah 2:10 that we are to arise and go, for this is no place to rest. I believe that the Lord reminds us of that truth: this is not our inheritance. This is not our rest. God has yet a rest prepared for the people of God. While we're here on this earth, at whatever age we are, we have a calling from God to serve and follow Him.

One of the greatest strengths of Calvary Chapel is the openness within the movement to allow the body of Christ to be the body of Christ, to serve, and to do the work of the ministry. From the time I started attending Calvary Chapel as a child, I was 11 years old when we first started coming to Calvary Chapel of Escondido and being taught the Word. While I was in high school, I was given the opportunity to serve as a high schooler, whether within the youth ministry or just around the church. This has always been a great privilege and a blessing.

God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, those things that are weak to bring to nothing those things that are. God has chosen us to serve Him. He has called us to be His servants, His disciples. We want to give the body of Christ here at Calvary Chapel the opportunity to be equipped for the work of the ministry. We go through the Word of God whenever we have an opportunity, and we have the chance to disciple and train everyone within the body for service through our school of discipleship and our school of ministry.

There are many opportunities to serve. We've been sharing over the last several weeks about the opportunity with Vacation Bible School. I believe most, if not all, of the spots are filled by willing volunteers within the body here to serve in the Vacation Bible School at the end of July. Even starting tomorrow, there is a kids' party club or a Vacation Bible School that...

Ken and Teresa Pilbin, both servants within the body here at Calvary Escondido, are doing a Vacation Bible School (VBS) in their own neighborhood in Fallbrook, starting tomorrow. These outreach opportunities are important. The idea of arising and going has been on my heart, and as we go through the Book of Acts, I hope the Lord is impressing this upon your heart as well. We are to be those who arise and go, bringing the Word of God wherever we go, whether it's right here in our own county or to the uttermost parts.

This year, we have made many opportunities to take the Word of God to the uttermost parts. At the beginning of the year, a small group went to the Philippines, then to Russia, and then to Peru. Currently, we have a team in Belize. Please keep them in your prayers, as there is a tropical storm that originated in the northern part of Belize. They are at the southernmost tip, so it hasn't really affected them, but tomorrow they begin the drive back up to Belize City. From there, they are supposed to fly out to Texas. Keep them in your prayers, and we will see what happens. The Lord has kept them safe so far.

We have a team in Belize bringing Donna Burkle back. Donna has been a missionary there for more than a decade. In a few weeks, we have another team going to Mozambique, and I will be leading the team to Africa again this year. We also have a team planned and ready to go to Brazil in September, along with another team planning to go to Oaxaca, Mexico. There are great opportunities to serve the Lord in the uttermost parts.

This church, this ministry that God has given us here, is a gathering of believers, followers of Jesus Christ who desire to serve the Lord and make Him known. We have boiled down our mission statement to just three words: win, disciple, and send. We want to share the gospel at every opportunity we can, giving forth the Word of God to see people brought to faith in Jesus Christ. For those who become followers of the Lord, we want to disciple them and raise them up to maturity so that they may be sent out.

Being sent out doesn't only mean going to the uttermost parts; it could also mean serving right in our own community or within our own church. We have opportunities to serve in the men's ministry, women's ministry, children's ministry, or youth ministry—so many different avenues to explore.

In 1994, the Lord blessed us with this facility. The story of how we came into this facility is interesting; it was lying vacant at the time. This building was not built yet, but it was originally supposed to be an In-N-Out Burger.

In fact, the register probably would have been right about here. Some people are still very disappointed that this is not an In-N-Out Burger. I, for one, am not. I'm thankful that supposedly we're supposed to get one here in town. However, the city of Escondido said, "No, you can't put up your sign." So, In-N-Out Burger said, "Well, fine, we won't build." That was to be the anchor tenant here, and the developer that was building this facility, this little strip mall, went under.

During the early part of the last decade in the 90s, we were given the opportunity to purchase it at a really bargain rate. Since then, when we last had it appraised about a year and a half ago, its value has increased ten times in equity since we purchased it. It is a great piece of property right here next to an exit on the freeway. The position the Lord has given us here is awesome. In 1998, we were able to build this facility and the offices across the way. God has just blessed us.

Around that same time in 1997, one of the gentlemen within the fellowship, Tim Tompkins, who had his own video production company, asked Pastor Pat, the senior pastor of the church, if we could put the messages up on public access TV. Pat said, "I don't know. Can we?" Tim responded, "Yeah. What will it cost?" It wasn't really a lot, and he offered to donate the equipment. So, Tim started to do it.

For the last 13 years, we've been on public access here in San Diego County, to the point where now we're in over a million homes a week. Every single week, we receive phone calls, letters, and emails from people who watch it. It's amazing to me because you don't deliberately tune into public access; you kind of just stumble upon it. Here in Escondido, on Cox Cable, it's Channel 18. There have been a number of times when I'm flipping through and hit Channel 18, and there are some weird things on there. I hope we're not counted as one of the weird ones. Thankfully, we do have one of the better-produced programs on that channel.

Every single week, people stumble upon it, and some deliberately tune in to watch. They call us and let us know that it's a blessing to them. Many times, when I meet new people who are coming to the church, I ask them how they ended up coming to Calvary. They say, "Well, I saw you guys on TV." In fact, I want to ask, how many of you came to Calvary after you saw us on TV? If you wouldn't mind raising your hands. See, look, there are a number of people. God has blessed the video ministry, and that's what these cameras are for. Typically, during the second service, they're recording, and they produce it right in what they call the bat cave next door.

It's a simple setup that they have, using humble means, but it reaches a million homes every single week. It's absolutely awesome what the Lord has done. About a year and a half ago, we started really pushing all of the messages onto the Internet. If you go to our website, you'll find a little media section on the right-hand side in the navigation. By clicking on the media section, you are taken to the media page where you can select a message given here and listen to it right on the Internet. Some people subscribe to it through an RSS feed. We also put it up on iTunes about a year and a half ago, so you can subscribe to the podcast there and have it on your iPod, iPhone, or whatever device you prefer.

The amazing thing to me is that we can have a message given here on a Wednesday night or a Sunday morning, and by Sunday afternoon, that message can be downloaded anywhere in the world. You might wonder how many people are using it. In a year and a half, we've had 30,000 downloads of the messages given here, and we can see the data showing where that's happening. I was looking at it just last night and saw downloads from Australia, Italy, Hungary, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan, Malawi, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Germany, Israel, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Poland, Sweden, and Guatemala, among others.

To be able to take the message, the Word of God being shared here, and put it on the Internet in the afternoon so it can be downloaded in Malawi is mind-boggling. It's an incredible opportunity that the Lord has given us. Along those lines, at the beginning of the year, we shared the opportunity for you to be involved in missions ministry on the Internet. I know it sounded kind of weird at first. When Kelly first shared it with me, I thought, "Yeah, sure, I guess we could be involved with that," but I wanted more information.

So, we had John Blanchard come out and share about Global Media Outreach and the ministry they've developed to reach people for Christ on the Internet. There are many people searching for the Lord on Google, and they are there to meet them with the gospel. I looked at their website last night, and you may remember we showed you their website with the map on it. It pops up when someone visits their site. Most of the people that come to their site experience what's called a bounce; they get there and leave within about 30 seconds. You may recognize that phenomenon as well.

When you're searching around on the Internet, sometimes you think you found what you wanted, but you didn't. So, you just go to the next thing. Last night, at 11 o'clock, I looked at a site that had already received over 500,000 visits—half a million visits—just yesterday. A lot of those people come and leave, but over 50,000 said they made a decision for the Lord, and that's awesome.

Of those 50,000, 8,000 expressed a desire for follow-up. That number is what we're really interested in. The 8,000 said they would like follow-up because they have some questions. We presented the opportunity for you to be one of the people who can answer those questions. A number of people in the church have stepped up and said they want to be a part of that. If you're interested, you can come and talk with me after the service. It's neat to see what God is doing with that.

We have different resources on our website, and one of the things that has been requested—I'll be honest, I feel kind of funny sharing it—but it's something that has been requested. We were able to set it up and get it all working; we now have secure online giving on the website. If you want to give to the church, you can do so right on the Internet, and it's secure.

Another opportunity that the Lord opened up at the beginning of this year is the chance to have an online school. If you've gone to our website recently, you may have seen a link on the right or even a picture in the middle of the screen. If you click on that, you're taken to the website for the Calvary Online School. To explain what the Calvary Online School is, I really can't do it justice, so I want to have Jared Beck come up. Jared is the administrator of the school, and he's going to share with us a little bit about what's going on and why we're doing this.

So, if you would welcome Jared.

Thanks, Miles. So, what is an online school? It's pretty interesting because when my wife and I first got married, we celebrated our 10th anniversary last year. She was telling me how, in the years to come, schools would be going online. I said, "No way." I didn't believe it, and I couldn't envision it at the time.

We've seen technology come so far, so fast. I remember when I was in school; there was a computer in the lab that had the Internet on it. We were kind of confused as to what that was. Now, it's come so far that Miles is broadcasting his phone through the computer in the back into a screen behind me. It's pretty amazing how far technology has come.

Even just things like Google Earth are incredible. Miles is going to get that out later, but I don't know if you remember the first time you ever flew out of Los Angeles and saw all the homes like ants—millions and millions of them. It's incredible when you take a step back and look at the world, with 6.2 billion people in it, and how we can reach them through these tools that God has given us.

The verse we've chosen for the school is the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus told his disciples after he was risen from the dead, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Two thousand years after Jesus gave that Great Commission, it's incredible to think of all the ways it's been applied and the different arenas and people who have taken that commission and stepped out in faith. From the very first disciples to the saints throughout the years, think of famous missionaries like St. Patrick going to Ireland or Jim Elliott in the 1950s being martyred in Ecuador. It's amazing to consider the different applications. No one could have envisioned what would happen 100 years later.

In our age, we are seeing this new arena open up with the Internet, and we can see so many doors opening. Miles has already shared quite a few of them. One of our goals with "Disciple and Send" is to disciple, and we started this online school. Let me tell you a little bit about it. I have been involved in online education for several years now, and God put it on my heart, in talking with some missionaries over a year ago, to get started on this.

Right now, we're enrolling for grades 9 through 12, but eventually, we want to expand into K through 8 as well. We've had several missionaries contact us saying they need that.

We also want to expand into discipleship for adults. Everything is online, including the classes, teacher meetings, and all of your work. You have live virtual meetings and projects, all held through the platform of the Internet. It's not quite distance learning where you watch a video PowerPoint, fill out a brochure, and send it in through the mail. It's much more interactive, and the technology has enabled us to do some incredible things.

We partner with a nonprofit designed to bring Advanced Placement (AP) college credit courses into rural areas where none existed. They have since expanded their curriculum to include all levels, from remedial to AP. We work with them and also develop our own online courses, such as Bible courses and other supplemental courses. This approach is not for everyone. Some students may prefer a brick-and-mortar school, and that's perfectly fine. Sometimes, there is a Christian school right here in town, which is great. However, many areas lack such options, and through the Internet, we can overcome geographical barriers.

I was just visiting a friend whose kids live in a rural area without a school. Through the Internet, we can bring education and educators to them. We serve students who need flexibility due to travel, work, professional careers, health, or simply personal preference. One of our main goals is to support missionary families. Many of our missionaries step away from everything, and they obviously don't have Starbucks or Walmart or all those comforts. Education for their kids is a primary concern for me as a father. Being able to provide that support helps keep our missionaries from having to return home or hesitate to go out into the field.

On a personal note, this school has woven together many of my own interests, abilities, and experiences. It has been really cool to see how God has led me every step of the way, confirming His presence and bringing everything together. I want to emphasize that, regardless of your expertise, experience, credentials, or aptitude, serving God is still a venture in faith, and you must step out in faith.

I like to hike, and in my hometown, there is a particular hike that we go to. It's kind of a quasi-secret.

To take the initiates and our guests, we go to these hot springs, and we keep it on the down low. We go at 10 o'clock at night. You show up, and the trail is very winding with many branches. You go through the canopy where it's pitch black, and there are even places where you go through a tunnel. You would never find the place if someone wasn't guiding you.

Faith is like that, too. A lot of times, we want to be at the starting point. We want to look up and see the goal, and we want to know where we're going. We think that by our own ability and aptitude, we can get there. But in reality, what really matters is who is guiding you. If you're not following that guide, you're going to get lost. You're not going to make it, and you're not going to make it back.

What's really cool about this school and what we've been doing is that God has been guiding us each step of the way. God has been providing in miraculous ways, and it's amazing to see Him leading us. We want to let you know that this is not something we're doing on our own; it's something God is doing, and we're excited to be part of it.

Taking another look at the Great Commission, it starts with verse 19, which says, "Go therefore." As Miles always said, what's the therefore therefore? Look who our guide is. In verse 18, it says, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." Jesus is our guide, and He has all the authority in heaven and on earth to guide us. The very last verse says, "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." We can trust in that guide. He knows where we're going, and sometimes we may not see the end goal or understand why, but God is leading us. As long as He is with us along the way, we can trust that we will end up in the right spot.

We are really excited about this. The doors it is opening are numerous. If you want to get involved or learn more, the website is linked on our site, and I have some flyers out back as well. Thank you so much. If you go to calvaryonlineschool.com, you can find more information about the school and what they are doing.

I know, as I've talked with several different people, that many in our fellowship and many churches across the country homeschool their children. However, it can be more difficult to homeschool during secondary education. This offers another opportunity for that. It is neat to see the doors that the Lord opens.

I took about 900 of the flyers that Jared and Kim printed up for the school to the pastor's conference. I asked Brian Brodersen if he would allow me to put them on each of the chairs in the main auditorium for the pastors across the country to know about the school. He said, "Well, why don't you get up and share about it?" He gave me a couple of minutes to share with all the Calvary pastors about what's going on with the Calvary Online School.

Afterward, I had a lot of guys coming up to me, saying, "Hey, this is a really neat opportunity." I know several different missionaries that I met when I was in Germany who were tempted to come off the mission field because they didn't know how they were going to educate their kids, especially at the secondary education level. God has opened up a neat door with this, and it's pretty cool to see. So, if you would just keep that in your prayers, and if you have any more interest, you can talk with Jared about it and check out the website.

Open in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, the Sermon on the Mount, for just a moment. In Matthew 5, verse 13, Jesus tells His disciples, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall the earth be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bush, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light, therefore, shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

God has called each of us to be salt to the earth and light to this world. It is our desire to fulfill that commission, even as Jared shared from the Great Commission in Matthew 28. We want to be those who are taking the glory of God and the Word of God into this world, so that people would see and know the Lord as a result of seeing and knowing us. We are ambassadors of Christ.

A few years ago, actually five years ago, I was flying to Germany just for a visit to see some friends there. Many of you who fly regularly know that when you're getting ready to get on a plane by yourself, you start to wonder, "Who am I going to be sitting next to?"

I oftentimes will pray, "Lord, please have me sit next to someone that, at the very least, I can talk with and perhaps even share the Lord with, or maybe we have something in common we can discuss."

So, I got in my chair on the plane. I'm taller, and it's not very comfortable, but I sat down there as we were getting ready to taxi out onto the runway. I looked over, and the guy sitting next to me had a book that looked like a Bible. I asked him, "Hey, what are you reading?" He said, "Oh, that's my journal." I thought, well, not many people journal. A lot of times, Christians journal. So, I just asked him, "Are you a Christian?" He said, "Yeah, I am." We started talking, and I asked him, "Where are you going?"

We were flying out of San Diego, and I think my first stop was in Michigan or something. He said, "Well, I'm on my way to go speak at a missions conference." I thought, man, the Lord works in interesting ways. His name was David Bardet. As we continued to talk, he shared with me how he oversees a ministry down in Mexico that trains people for missions.

We discussed the Perspectives in World Missions course, or the Perspectives in the World Christian Movement class. I had heard about the class and had several friends who had gone through it. He happens to be the head of a group down here in San Diego that teaches the class. He mentioned they were looking for a place in North County to hold their class. I thought, well, I come from a church in North County, so we exchanged information. He gave me his name and contact information.

However, while I was in Germany for a couple of weeks, I lost his information. When I came back, I remembered this guy Dave involved with Perspectives, but I kind of put it on the back burner and had forgotten about it. About a year ago, I received an email out of the blue from Dave Bardet. He said, "I don't know if you remember me, but we sat next to each other on a plane, and I'm with Perspectives." I replied, "Man, I totally remember you."

We got together and started discussing the course and the possibility of offering it here in Escondido. Since then, we've made quite a bit of progress. We are going to be offering it this fall, beginning at the end of August. A couple in our fellowship has agreed to be the coordinators for Perspectives for our church, and we have a whole team developing it.

I wanted to have Ron Hendricks come up and share with us a little bit about Perspectives. As he's coming up, I just want to say that this is the Perspectives in the World Christian Movement. Yes, there's an emphasis on missions, but really the focus is that you and I would have the right perspective, a biblical perspective. So, please welcome Ron Hendricks.

Good morning. What a privilege it is to be able to work and coordinate this class that's coming. We're really excited about what God is going to do and all of the people that will attend. Miles alluded to a team, and there is indeed a team. He is obviously a part of it, along with Josh, Kelly, my wife Mary—would you raise your hand, Mary?—Jessica, Cato, and Terry. There are actually some people from Emanuel Faith who are involved in this as well.

You have a brochure; I think it was in your bulletin. If you take a look at that for a second, you will see that there are 15 weeks. Actually, we're going to make it 16 weeks because the last week, which is the 16th week, will be a celebration dinner to honor what God has done in the lives of all the people who participate over the course of the class. There are three different levels at which you can participate: you can audit the class, take it for a certificate, or actually take it for college credit. Each of these categories implies a certain amount of work, including reading and so on.

Now, we have 15 different speakers. The gentleman that Miles just mentioned, whom he met on the plane, is one of them. I would say it's probably been a little more than five years since the beginning of time when God put His plan together. He said, "Well, I think I'm going to have Miles sit next to this guy on a plane because I want this guy, who is new to the church, to come with his wife and help coordinate this class."

Miles also asked me to mention a little bit about who we are, since I am relatively new to the church. I was saved at Big Calvary in 1980 and found my lovely wife in our singles group. We have been married for 28 years, going on 30 as far as being Christians is concerned. We have been pretty involved in the Calvary Chapel movement in Capo Beach with Chuck Jr. and also here in San Diego with a Calvary Chapel-type church.

About a year and a half ago, we moved to Escondido. We thought, "Where are we going to go?" Having had that tradition in our family, we decided to check out this church I saw right off the freeway. When we came, I said to Mary, "This is where we're going to go." We have a pastor who is really good at teaching the Word, and there are all kinds of opportunities to get involved and live out what God's will is for your life.

Because we know that He has a plan for each one of us, He has things that He has said. The fear that I have is, "Okay, Ron, I'm going to stand before You, Lord, and these are the things You did, and all that. That's great. But these are the things that I had for You that You decided not to do." I don't want to be in that place. I want to be able to do the things that God has for me, and I'm sure that you do as well.

We sang this song with these words: "Take my heart and form it. Take my mind, transform it. Take my will, conform it to Your will." Part of our responsibilities as Christians is to try and conform our wills to God's will. How do we do that? We do that through understanding what God's plan and what His will for our lives are.

This class that we're offering over the next 15 to 16 weeks is an opportunity for you to search your heart and to find out what part you may play in God's plan here in Escondido or perhaps somewhere around the world. You can be someone who gets involved in just prayer, praying for our missionaries, or supporting our missionaries, sending or receiving them back when they come back from the field, or actually going, either short-term or long-term.

I've been blessed to go to Russia, to England on short-term mission trips, and to Mexico to serve. These are things that I had never dreamt I would be doing. But God opened these doors, and I stepped through in faith, and I'm sure that He would like you to do the same. I would ask that you please pray and consider taking this class in the fall. I hope to see many of you there. God bless you, and have a great day. Thank you.

The course does have what many consider to be a significant cost: $195. However, in reality, everyone I've talked to who has gone through the Perspectives and World Missions course says that it transformed the way they think and transformed many aspects of their lives. I'm looking forward to taking the class, and many of our staff and leadership are taking it as well.

We have asked that our men's ministry and women's ministry be on hold through the fall while we offer the Perspectives class. I've had a number of people ask, "Why are we putting them on hold?" Living here in Southern California, and really just in the modern age that we live in, it tends to be rather difficult for people to commit to too many things.

In fact, there have been studies that show that any one organization will generally see a person commit to only two things with that ministry or organization each week. Everybody is gathered together here on a Sunday morning, and many of you are involved with women's ministry, men's ministry, or come to Wednesday nights or home fellowships. It is rare for someone to attend a home fellowship, come on Sunday morning, attend Wednesday night, and be part of the men's ministry. While there are some who do participate in everything, we wanted to make this a focus of the church over the 15-week or 16-week period.

The first speaker who will come and share is a gentleman by the name of Don Richardson. He is a powerful and dynamic individual. He will actually share with us here on a Sunday morning, just a couple of days before he speaks in the Perspectives class. Don has written "The Peace Child" and "Eternity in Their Hearts." Perhaps you have heard of some of these books. They represent the powerful work that God has done through Don. We have a whole list of dynamic speakers who will be coming, and our desire is that this would change our perspective.

We do not expect that we would all become missionaries sent out onto the field, but we want to recognize that God has called us to the work of the ministry right here. There are many different ways that He desires for us to serve Him. We live in a very big world, and when we look at the whole, it can be hard to comprehend how the Great Commission will be fulfilled. However, when we get right down to it, we have just this little piece of ground that the Lord has given to us here.

Our desire is that the body of Christ, the gathering of believers that God has brought together, would be equipped to serve the Lord wherever He calls us. Perhaps it is right here on this campus, in this county, somewhere else in the United States, or even somewhere else in the world. God has called every single one of us.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the things that is a blessing to me about Calvary Chapel is that God takes the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. He takes people who, in reality, are weak and nothing. Of ourselves, we can do nothing, but in Christ, we can do all things. As I look at our church, which is not just this building but this gathering, this body of people here, I am reminded that the word "ekklesia" in Greek, which is translated as "church," means gathering.

And so we are the church, and God has given a commission and a call to each one of us who is a part of this body. He has gifted and called you for a specific work. Over the last year or so, I have been reading a lot about church history. One of my desires is that we would offer a church history class as a part of our school of discipleship. The more I read and the more I look through different materials, the more I hope that my good friend David Guzik will either be willing to come down here and teach the class or provide us with the DVDs of when he taught it. There is just so much information, and he has become quite an expert on church history.

In studying church history in America and in the West, particularly in Western Europe and America over the last hundred years or so, I have noticed something interesting: a cycle, a season, a pattern. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon says that to everything there is a season. There have been bands that have taken those words and turned them into songs. However, Solomon goes on to say that there is nothing new under the sun.

About five or six years ago, a friend of mine was attending a well-known Lutheran seminary back east. She was in their missions course, and every time I spoke with her about seminary and the course she was taking, the words "social justice" kept coming up. I found it interesting that the emphasis of what she was saying about missions was always on social justice. I didn't really know that term prior to our conversations, so I started to research it and look it up. I discovered that the idea of social justice is not a new concept. Although it has recently gained prominence in our nation and in the press, this concept of social justice—egalitarianism, equality, and bringing socioeconomic equality to the masses—is really a political philosophy.

This political philosophy is permeating the church at large, even at the seminary levels and in the training of those who will be in ministry or missions. The idea behind it is essentially a social gospel, where the gospel, as we know it from the Scriptures, is altered to focus more on man's needs here and now. It emphasizes making life better for man in this world. The social gospel suggests that Jesus' teachings are primarily applicable in terms of what they can offer to man in the present, aiming to make man happy and better, and to remove all social inequalities in the world. While some of that might be a byproduct of the gospel, it is not the primary focus of the gospel.

The primary focus of the gospel is the redemption of man's soul because the Scriptures reveal that man is lost in sin, dead in trespasses and sin. Every single one of us. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way. But God made provision in His Son, the death and resurrection of His Son, so that you and I could be saved. That is the emphasis of the gospel.

As a result of the gospel going forth, God does transform people. God transforms society. There are social changes that happen where the gospel is preached. However, the emphasis on the social justice movement and the social gospel movement is really about taking the gospel to ease pain, ease suffering, ease hunger, and ease poverty. Addressing issues like AIDS in Africa are all good things, but they are not the primary focus of the gospel.

There are great missions organizations whose primary focus has shifted. They have become non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that go overseas seeking government money. As a result of seeking government funding, they have to completely water down the gospel. Their primary focus is to bring medication and aid to people. Again, these are all good things, but they are not the focus of the gospel.

As I have talked with various people within the body of Christ about this, I hear social justice brought up, and people refer to it as a real new thing. It is not new; there is nothing new under the sun. There are cycles and patterns. Over the last couple of years, I have been looking at church history, specifically the last hundred years in America and the United Kingdom, and I found something very interesting.

In the early part of the 20th century, there was a progressive movement in the United Kingdom and the United States. This movement found its way into the church and into the body of Christ, most specifically in the United Kingdom. The focus began to shift toward a social gospel, trying to change society with the gospel. As a result, people in the churches started to say, "Well, if that's what the gospel is about, if it's just about political things, then we might as well get involved in politics." Many left the church.

Even today, over a hundred years later, the churches in the United Kingdom are largely empty. Many of them are being turned into pubs, mosques, or museums, but not into places where the gospel is being preached. Fast forward from the early part of the 20th century to the middle part, specifically the late 1940s and early 1950s, during the post-war era in America. The same push occurred again, and that cycle continued with a social gospel and social justice movement in the United States.

A lot of people went out on the mission field primarily to bring food aid to other parts of the world and to try to help nations, which is all good. However, that's not the primary focus of the gospel. Fast forward to the early part of this century, the 21st century, and we see that we are coming up to that peak again of focusing on social justice and the social gospel, really easing suffering, easing pain, and easing hunger. All good things, but not the gospel.

There's something else interesting that I've seen as I've studied church history about these cycles. As the church ramps up to this place of focusing primarily on a social gospel and social justice, people start to leave the churches. If you look at our nation today, the Pew Forum and many other statistical agencies have reported that people are leaving churches and leaving the faith. The focus has shifted to changing society instead of bringing forth the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What often happens is that as the church departs from its primary purpose of preaching the gospel, we see exactly what the prophet Amos foretold. The prophet Amos said that in the latter days there would be a famine of hearing the word of God. This is what you saw in the United Kingdom and in the United States during those periods in the mid-part of the last century and at the beginning of the last century. There was a famine of the word of God. When there is a famine of the word of God, people begin to hunger and thirst for it.

The result, on the flip side of that social gospel movement, is a great move of God. If you look at history, especially in the 1940s and 1950s in America, there was a movement towards the social gospel, which led to a famine of the word of God. On the tail end of that, coming into the 1960s, you had the Jesus movement in America, where there was a hunger for God's word. A simple guy and a simple church in Costa Mesa, California, began to teach the word of God simply, and people came in droves to hear it.

I believe that as we move into this time of real focus and emphasis—though we are not yet at the height of it in our nation—on a social gospel, the tail end of it will be a great move of God. God is going to move in a powerful way. Therefore, I believe that we, as the body of Christ here in Escondido and in Southern California, need to be ready for what God is doing. That is why we are so dedicated to equipping the body of Christ here for His work.

As part of that, Pastor Richard and I, along with some of the other pastors, have a tendency to find each other in our offices at least once a week.

As we begin to think about where we are going and what we are doing, we have been looking at this piece of property that God has given to us. We are asking, "Lord, as you continue to do these great things within our church and as we see what is to come, do we need you to move and grow us physically?" We are a little landlocked.

Now, I am not sharing this to tell you that we have found a piece of property and that we are going to get it. We are not. However, there is a little piece of property, that park and ride, that we have had our eye on. We started to pray and put it before the Lord. As we did, we discovered that it is owned by two different owners. The first half, with the entrance side, is owned by the city of Escondido, and the second half is owned by Caltrans.

We figured we would talk to the city of Escondido because their entrance is actually illegal; it is against code and too close to the intersection. We wanted to say, "Hey, we will take that off your hands." They responded that they were open to selling it to us if Caltrans would agree. However, when we talked with various people who know Caltrans, they said it was impossible and would never happen.

Pastor Richard started talking with Caltrans and was able to meet with the head lady who oversees all of Caltrans properties in the San Diego County area. He met with her a few weeks ago and proposed what we would like to do. Initially, they thought we wanted the whole Greenbelt property behind the area, which they plan to use for freeway expansion. We clarified that we just wanted this little piece of land. She said they were open to the idea but needed to get it signed off by Caltrans in Sacramento.

The reason we are presenting this to you this morning is that we would like you to pray. Pray that God would open the doors if it is His will and if He desires us to have that piece of property. If we were to acquire it, we would likely build a three-story structure there for offices and some classrooms for the youth ministry. We would move the youth ministry from its current location to down below. The children's ministry would take over the entire building because it is growing.

Our current offices, bookstore, and nursery would become completely dedicated to the nursery and toddler room. I don't know if you have noticed, but we have a lot of kids being born around here, and we need more room for the nursery and toddler area. We would move our offices, youth ministry, and some other classrooms down there.

That is just what we are thinking, imagining, and throwing out before the Lord, saying, "Lord, if you will it, then bring it to pass. Guide us and direct us." I am asking that you begin to pray that God would move the paperwork through the proper channels at Caltrans and that He would open it up for negotiation at a good price.

Who knows? They might come in and say, "Well, we want X." We would respond, "Wow, that's a little bit too much X than we thought." So, we just pray and see what the Lord will do. We have already seen how God moves in miraculous ways. Our desire is to be firmly fixed and planted here in Escondido and to affect this community for the gospel.

This does not mean that we do not desire to socially move and work within the community. One of the things I have presented a number of times is our desire to develop a chaplaincy for the community of Escondido and the surrounding area. As you know, both Pastor Eric and I are chaplains with the fire department. Eric serves as a chaplain with about twelve different agencies. Pastor Pat was a chaplain with the Escondido Police Department for a number of years. We desire to work within the community to bring the gospel of Christ into those areas by simply showing the love of Christ.

One of the things I have observed over the last year or so while working with the fire department is that there are times when the paramedics are called out to a scene where a family member is having a heart attack. Some of you may have been in that environment before. If they are unable to revive the individual and the person dies, the fire department will leave when the sheriff's department arrives. At that point, the family member—a father, a husband, or a wife—may be lying on the floor with all the equipment that the paramedics just used on them. If they had to intubate, whatever it is, it is all left there because the sheriff's department has to come in, call the county medical examiner, and determine if an investigation is necessary.

Here is a family member who is distraught over what they have just witnessed, and their loved one is there on the floor. If the sheriff's department calls the county medical examiner and the medical examiner decides that an investigation is not needed, the sheriff's department will give that family member a card with a number on it and then leave.

It used to be, when the budget was a little better in Escondido, that there was a group contracted by the city to help individuals through the process of what they needed to do next. However, with the budget cuts, that support is gone, and there is now a vacuum. I desire that we would fill that vacuum and be there to lovingly guide individuals through the first steps of grief and what they need to do.

Because they're hurting, they need the comfort of the Lord. It's not about us standing there and giving them a Bible study; it's about simply being present and asking, "How can I help you? Is there anybody I can call for you? Let me put you in touch with the right people that you need to talk to." Our desire is to reach out with the love of Christ to people who are hurting.

Along those lines, we were presented with the opportunity a number of months ago to start a new ministry here at Calvary Chapel called Hope Keepers. Perhaps you've seen it in the bulletin; we've announced it. It happens every third Friday of the month here at the church, where we minister to people who are chronically ill. I wanted to have Jim Johnston come up and share for a few minutes about Hope Keepers, what it is, and what we're doing with this ministry. So, come on up, Jim.

Technology really is awesome. I've just been watching Miles run everything up here on the screen from his pocket, basically, with his iPhone. And Jared has been sharing about online high school. I wish online high school had been around when I was in high school. But I've got a MyPhone. I don't know if any of you younger folks have a MyPhone. MyPhone is nailed to the wall of my kitchen, and it's amazing because you can actually talk to living people. It's pretty remarkable in this day and age. I hope there's hope for me.

Anyway, Hope Keepers is amazing. Flashing back to April of this year, I was sitting out there just like you, reading my bulletin and listening to Josh do the announcements. He mentioned this Hope Keepers ministry, and it kind of tugged at my heart. He was talking about, as Miles said, the ministry being for chronically ill folks—those with multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, arthritis, or even a grieving person who has lost a loved one, either to death or suicide. There are any number of reasons hurting people need the love of Christ, and it really touched my heart.

Hope Keepers, as we've already discussed, is for people who are chronically ill. There is a saint, a woman in our body here named Pat Kearns, and many of you know her.

Many of you have seen her. If you don't know her, she's in a wheelchair and has multiple sclerosis. She is just a rock. She loves the Lord with all her heart and is part of Hope Keepers, where she is very much a leader. I know I'm going to be leaning on her because she is an amazing woman who loves the Lord wholeheartedly. She has been a blessing to me during the times I have spent with her.

Hope Keepers is really very simple. As Miles said, it meets the third Friday of every month at 1 o'clock in either room 3 or 4, depending on availability. It is essentially a Bible study. We do worship and study Scripture. Sometimes, one of the people suffering from an affliction will bring in a word that the Lord spoke to them since the last meeting, and we will go over that. We search the Scripture for how it can minister to the other people in the group. We also have a time of prayer. It is a very simple format, but it is there to provide comfort for those who need it.

To go back to how the Lord has prepared my heart to become involved in this ministry, I need to mention the birth of my wife Candy and my daughter Ashley in 1970. When Ashley was still a toddler, she became ill, and we went to a pediatrician. He called us into his office, just the three of us, and told us that our daughter had a terminal illness: cystic fibrosis. For those who don't know, it destroys the lungs and digestive abilities of the body over time. We didn't know how much time we had, and we were in shock upon receiving this news. One of our first questions was, "How long? What does terminal mean?" He told us that she would probably be fortunate to live five years.

Dealing with that was difficult enough, especially since at that time we were not saved. However, the Lord had other plans. Don't let anyone tell you what your life expectancy is; there is only one who knows the number of our days. Ashley went on to live for 32 years. When she was in high school, she came to the Lord and was the first in our family to do so. She was instrumental in my wife, our son, and me receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior.

And in fact, we felt like dominoes right after her. We all got baptized on the same day in Gloria at a bay in Coronado by Pastor Pat. That was in 1987, so I've probably been coming here longer than Miles has been breathing. I don't know how old he is, but whatever.

We were caregivers for 32 years, and I believe God was sowing the soil of my heart to comfort others who were suffering. This is where He has put me. When I started, I remember saying, "I'm going to this meeting" when I heard Josh announce it. I went to the meeting, and it was really neat. The people there are not whiners; they are not cursing God or complaining. They are praising the Lord from wheelchairs, and it's amazing. I was blown away and had the greatest time. It truly ministered to my heart, and I left feeling totally fired up.

Not long after that, I received a call from Kelly Kierstad. She said, "Jim, the woman who's leading it, Don Vallely, is a neat sister, but she lives far away and doesn't go to church here. She wanted to start Hope Keepers but needs to step down." I said, "Okay." Kelly continued, "We're really glad you came to the meeting." I responded, "I may not look stupid, but I am." The bottom line is that I agreed, "Yes, Lord, use me. Any way that you can, I will submit the time it takes to minister to these wonderful folks in any way that you want."

I have now dedicated myself to this ministry, and I'm excited about what the Lord is going to do in it. I'm thrilled for the wonderful people who need our care, love, and prayers. The one thing I would ask of you is, if you're an able-bodied person who enjoys the blessing of physical health, to remember those who don't have it. They love the Lord just like we do, but they face challenges. They don't complain about them; they welcome them and even glorify God in them, which is amazing to me.

Please remember them in prayer. I will be out in the courtyard afterward if you have any questions or would like to be a prayer warrior for these wonderful folks. You can approach me.

And this is all new to me, so I have a lot of unanswered questions myself. I don't know what the Lord's going to do. I do want it to expand outside our church and welcome people from all over. So let's just see what the Lord does. Please pray for these folks, though, and get to know them whenever you see them here at the body.

God bless you guys. Let's stand together. This is different from a normal Sunday morning, perhaps, but we wanted to take the time here in the middle of the year to share with you some of the things that have happened and some of the things that are upcoming, so that you would know how you might be involved with what the Lord is doing here. God has called each and every one of us to serve Him. If you don't feel like you're able because you feel like you're not equipped, we want to equip you through our school of discipleship and through whatever opportunity arises.

Please keep these things in prayer. I am just sharing with you that God is doing great things in our midst, and it's awesome to see.

Father, we do thank You that we take our cue from You. Lord, we look to You and we pray for Your wisdom and direction. We ask, Lord, that You would be the one who leads us daily. I pray for my brothers and sisters here as we prepare to go into our mission field, into this world that You have called us to. Lord, help us to shine brightly as lights. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. God loves you and blesses you. Amen.