Apologetics Class - The End Times (Robby Beum)

The End Times - Apologetics Class from Calvary Aurora on Vimeo.

"Giving Shade To The Enemy"

Joshua 17:15 (NKJV) “So Joshua answered them, "If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you."

Have you ever thought about how you might be giving ‘shade to the enemy’, making him comfortable around you, giving him a place to rest and relax close to you?

As the children of Israel are inheriting the land, the half tribe of Manasseh get their allotment of land, but are very unhappy with it. They want something else. They want more. They don’t like what they have been given at all.

But rather than cave into their moaning, Joshua tells them to go up and clear up what they have. One of the instructions was to clear out the high places, to go up to the mountaintop and clear out the dead wood.

Mountaintops in the Bible often speak of devotion and sacrifice to God. They represent those areas in our lives that are filled with sweet worship and deep devotion. Yet we can allow ‘dead wood’ to grow in our devotions, essentially giving ‘shade to the enemy’ in our lives. One of the first steps in giving ‘shade to the enemy’ is our discontentment with what God has given us.

We don’t want the enemy anywhere near our devotional life. We don’t want to create an environment where he’s comfortable near us at all. Consider your mountaintop life today, and allow the Spirit to minister to you heart in those areas of shade. The only shade that should be there is the covering of the Lord in our lives!

In Love -- Pastor Ed

RESPONSES: - Pastor Ed - I have never attended your church, as I live 1.5 hours away, but a dear friend of mine shared some CD's of yours with me. And now, I check your website regularly and love listening online to your sermons! You are such an encouragement, and speak on my level with relevance in every sermon! I'm writing you today to say thank you for posting the letter from Russ. It is so amazing to me to hear a man be so excited about the Lord, so desiring Him. That isn't something I see often. It really touched my heart to read about this man coming to Christ. What an awesome story! Thank you for your work - I pray you get the rest you need in order to continue His work.

Serving Jesus is a Joy!

Luke 10:2 (NKJV) Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

In Jesus day, the harvest was great, but the laborers were few. Did you know that the same ratios exist today? There is still a great harvest available to us, but the laborers are so few. There always seems to be more harvest than laborers, which tends to make those that to labor very tired now and then. On the one hand we can get a little discouraged, but on the other hand we can be encouraged to jump in to serve.

Even if we’re tired, don’t forget the beauty and joy of Serving in the Spirit. In the ministry that God has called you, the way God has called you, in the power that God has given, joy is abundant! Serving Jesus can be tiring, but the joy of the Lord is our strength.

When we start to do things that we’re not supposed to do that we get wearied and bummed out so quickly. It’s when we’re trying to accomplish the work of God in our own wisdom and strength that we start to get stressed out.

It’s true that there is more harvest than laborers. Yet, Jesus has enlisted you to go into that harvest. Tell someone about Jesus today and watch Him work in a wonderful way! You’ll be filled with a tremendous joy!

In His Strong Love, Pastor Ed

RESPONSE -- Pastor Ed - I have never attended your church, as I live 1.5 hours away, but a dear friend of mine shared some CD's of yours with me. And now, I check your website regularly and love listening online to your sermons! You are such an encouragement, and speak on my level with relevance in every sermon! I'm writing you today to say thank you for posting the letter from Russ. It is so amazing to me to hear a man be so excited about the Lord, so desiring Him. That isn't something I see often. It really touched my heart to read about this man coming to Christ. What an awesome story! Thank you for your work - I pray you get the rest you need in order to continue His work.

Many Shall See God's Work in You

Acts 3:11-26 - Many Shall See God’s Work in You from Calvary Aurora on Vimeo.

Can't Be Your Disciple Jesus?

As I was sharing with the congregation a few weeks ago, we collectively turned over to Luke’s gospel the 14^th chapter and read the following words of Jesus:

Luke 14:25-33 (NKJV) Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- 29 "lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 "saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 "Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 "Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Three times our Savior lays down reality what it costs to follow Jesus. I’ve just been meditating on these the last few weeks and want to encourage you to spiritually chew on them as well, remaining open to all that Spirit wants to do in and through you.

By His Abounding Grace,

Pastor Ed

RESPONSES: Your email was literally an answer to my broken hearted prayers--THANK YOU!

REFRESH 09 UPDATE

Mark your calendars for October 12th-14th, 2009

for our first annual

REFRESH ’09 Conference

JUST 11 WEEKS AWAY

As our ministry team prayerfully prepares for our first Calvary Aurora Regional REFRESH ’09 conference, we are getting more excited about how God will use this time in wonderful ways. More than just a few days filled with Bible studies, our heart’s desire is to give those that serve faithfully in our fellowships an opportunity to be edified and refreshed in Jesus (Acts 2:42).

In the coming weeks we will have available bulletin inserts, web logos, registration forms, and other information you can use to invite your fellowship and community to join us.

We have posted a REFRESH ’09 page on our web site, which can be found here: http://www.calvaryaurora.org/whats-new/refresh-2009/

Remember, this is not just a conference for ‘Pastors & Leaders’ but truly for every single person that serves or wants to serve in our congregations. We have purposely kept the cost low ($20 per person) to encourage everyone to invest their precious time in refreshing themselves in Jesus. By the way, if you have any ideas or suggestions, email them to us at teresa@calvaryaurora.org or call me directly at (303) 628-7200. I’d love to hear what the Lord has put on your heart!

Thanks so much for your prayerful support as the days draw nearer. Maranatha!

In His Great Grace,

Pastor Ed

Judges 19-21 “Apart From God - Utter Chaos & Confusion” from Calvary Aurora on Vimeo.

Seeking His Spirit as we Lead

Acts 3:1-10 - Interruptions Are Really Divine Appointments from Calvary Aurora on Vimeo.

Little Obedience

Luke 6.46 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?”

Someone once described the Christian life as a ‘long obedience in the same direction.’ I think he really hit a nerve of truth. It’s when obedience is short lived, that mistakes happen. It’s when obedience is half hearted that problems come. It’s when obedience is not in the same direction that issues, serious issues arise.

We can avoid all this by paying attention to the details and steadily obeying in the small things of life. As each new decision comes up, willingly make the right decision. As each new challenge arises, surrender yourself to God’s will. Then, as the larger things in life come your way, you are ready and trained and already in the habit of obeying.

Obey in the small things and you’re obedience will carry over into the large things. The result over time will be a ‘long obedience in the same direction’ which is a great definition for the spirit-filled, abundant, overflowing life that Jesus promises to those who put their faith in Him.

In His Strong Love,

Pastor Ed

RESPONSE

Message: Hello. I am a foreign exchange student. Once my friend brought me to Calvary Chapel in the beginning of May, 2009. And it was great! The best moment while I was in America. Now I'm back in my home country, but every week I get up at 2 o'clock in the morning to listen to Sunday's worship at Calvary Chapel. Thank you! Thank God! The thing you are doing is really good, blessed; it's meant to be. Thank you.

We Aren't In Heaven Yet

2 Cor 12:8-10 (NKJV) Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

While reading through Pastor Chuck Smith’s (Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa) new book “A Memoir of Grace”, the Holy Spirit is using His life to so encourage me in the Lord. It’s so wonderful to be reminded, and shown at the same time, how God has uses everything in our lives to prepare us for what’s up ahead.

In a powerful paragraph, he captures from his own life’s experience, the reality of Christians facing pain. He writes:

“Yes, there is a divine blessing hidden in every day, free for the taking and totally unrelated to moral cause and effect. But grace does not shield the cruel realities of a world damaged by the fall. We are not in heaven yet and God does not spare us from the crushing blows that come to everyone. We lose people we love. We suffer, we grieve, and we journey on. But even in the darkest nights when awakened by the widows shuddering with the blast of a storm, we are not abandoned. Through the wind and over the turbulent sea, grace comes to us with the comfort of heaven, the support of God’s Spirit, and the strength to draw our next breath and take the next step. Grace brings hope. Hope pushes forward.”

Are you hurting right now? Grace brings hope. Hope pushes forward.

I’m praying for those who receive this note that are hurting. May the comfort of His Spirit flood your soul. Perhaps you can forward this on to a friend that’s hurting too so that ministry of God’s comfort multiplies.

In Much Love,

Pastor Ed

RESPONSES:

What an awesome testimonony! I also wanted to tell you how awesome the message yesterday was also! The Holy Spirit is working in these last days & what a blessing to be a part of it all! Thanks for keeping JESUS FIRST in your life & for your dedication to serving our family of God!

Why Do You Have Idols?

Costa Rica Team Update July 2009

A Church That's W.E.L.L. Part 4

A Church That's W.E.L.L. Pt 4 Acts 2:40-47 from Calvary Aurora on Vimeo.

The Power of the Gospel!

1 Thess 1:5 (NKJV) “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.”

Sometimes our eNote encouragements come directly from my email inbox. Here’s one today that I pray encourages you greatly!

BEGIN TESTIMONY: “This email is for both Pastor Ed and Pastor Allen. My name is Russ, and Allen I appreciate you being so gracious in meeting me both times I have attended church on Wednesday nights.

I just feel led to share a word about my life with you. I will keep it as concise as possible and sincerely appreciate your reading it.

I am originally from Georgia where, in the Bible Belt as they call it, I was raised going to church every Sunday as a child. Up through my early teen years I went, but never truly identified or related to the things I was being taught. After graduating from high school, I went to UGA and upon leaving there moved to Colorado (three years ago).

During both my college and Colorado years, I have spent my time desperately trying to find what would fulfill me and what my life journey would look like. Up until now, it has looked like going out to bars (downtown where I live) and partying, being in various unhealthy relationships, and declaring solemnly after a great deal of consideration that I firmly did not believe God exists, amongst other things.

Well needless to say, none of those things brought me any closer to fulfillment than banging my head against a wall. Without going into the story’s details at length, in the last month I found myself at the end of my rope. I could not have been any further from any real truth in my entire life. It was at this point I decided to confide in my friend Jason from work all of the things I was dealing with (not in ANY spiritual sense, strictly for advice). We ended up going to the gym so he could show me some pointers on weight lifting, and afterwards (and I could not tell you for the life of me how the topic came up) we started talking about God. This is the beginning of many evidences I have seen of God pursuing me in my place of darkness.

He explained to me some different questions I had about the Bible and some basic things about Jesus and God (not basic to you I am certain, but mind-boggling to me!). After we talked about those things, I left his house, and found my heart and my mind desiring to know more about this Jesus character and what He is all about. I started by reading this book that someone had once recommended. I have never identified with someone as much as the guy who wrote that book. Without going on about that, the author talks about a couple of his friends who were far from God reading the book of Matthew to see who this Jesus was.

So, upon the advice via book from the author, I started reading Matthew. I read about half of it in one sitting I was so caught up in it. The whole time I was thinking, this Jesus was revolutionary! I think I had let every cultural and “religious” aspect of Jesus I had learned crowd out any actual truth about Him. The next day outside at work I discussed how amazing and interesting Jesus’ life was with Jason. He talked to me about what I had read and it was very insightful. So that next afternoon after going to the gym, I went up to the roof of my building and read the rest of Matthew. Its hard not to type out all of the amazing thoughts I had about it but I am keeping this readable. For the singular first time in my life, I understood who Jesus was and realized that I had found where true fulfillment lies.

Up on the roof I prayed. I didn’t have a clue what to say but I prayed. I told God that I had come to the poignant realization that having me in charge of my life was not working out like I thought, and that I didn’t want to do it anymore. Unlike times in my childhood where I bargained with God for things in exchange for obedience, my only request was to receive His love and wisdom.

After that experience, I asked Jason about going to church (he had mentioned it before) and we went to Calvary Chapel last Wednesday. Pastor Allen, you spoke about the Holy Spirit and it was very good. I am still learning things and didn’t follow some aspects of the message (out of ignorance) but there were several verses you pointed out that were exactly what I needed to hear that night. Not to mention the encouragement of seeing so many people wanting to know God too, and friendly ones at that.

After that uplifting experience but still living a little in confusion, I went about my week and despite prayer and reading still found myself falling back into the same “games” over the holiday weekend that I had been in before. So I came again to Calvary Chapel tonight, praying almost like a confused but very sincere child that God would give me a message that would speak to me and give me guidance with some of the things I am still dealing with. Pastor Ed, I can’t fully express typing what your message meant to me. I never really knew the full non-kids story of Samson. That passage we read from tonight went like a laser to my heart. The way you related that story in your talk (and as you said eloquently yourself) I felt that Jesus himself was speaking to me.

I won’t recount every detail, but in the car ride home I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth fast enough to Jason how much I got out of it. You see, now that I knew my life needed to have someone else at the reins, I didn’t know at all what that looked like. The story of Samson is powerful to me because I identify with being blind and in shackles to what has been going on with me. It was funny to hear what you said Pastor Ed about looking in from the outside on Samson’s life. The whole time I was thinking, “Is this guy nuts? What is he doing? Stop doing that, what an idiot.” Then, as you said the Holy Spirit can enable insight when we are shrouded in those games, and I saw the irony of my thoughts. I am Samson. I am in that Valley. I am blind and chained because of fooling myself. I was set-up. And even in all that, I was as clueless as Samson about it.

Well to wrap up my now lengthy story, I will say this. I don’t want to end up pushing down columns on myself. I could see that what is at first appealing and sexy only inevitably will be the same thing that destroys me. So when you said that prayer tonight after your talk, I said it with you. I am sorry I didn’t stand up or anything, but I didn’t even think about that when I was sitting there listening to you speak. I was just hearing someone speaking directly to me. I had prayed to God (as you see in the story) before, but I wanted to say to Him the right words with the right heart and ask for forgiveness. Thank you so much for leading me in that prayer.

Pastor Ed, in your sermon you said at one point that you didn’t know if the person who was meant to hear your message was even there tonight. I think that was a part of my motivation to write you and Pastor Allen. I want you to know. I want you to know that your message was the spoken Word of Jesus Himself to me. I thank you as I thank God so much for that. Over dinner tonight before church, Jason was telling me truly amazing stories of his faith where remarkable unbelievable things happened. I was in awe, but didn’t relate as well because I had not seen that until just recently in my own life. After tonight, I see that if I have faith and ask God for a message or wisdom or guidance He will send it.

Pastor Allen, I really really hope to be at your Friday night thing this week to experience it. I want to thank you again for your kindness in meeting me. I don’t really have any believer friends beyond Jason so I hope to get plugged in somewhere that I can be around people who are believers too. Maybe that will be one of those places for me.

I tried to keep this as succinct as possible, but there is so much to say. It is late and I need to go to bed. But God bless you both and I hope to talk to you soon in person (hopefully not tearing up as much this time Allen). Thanks again.” END OF TESTIMONY

And so I encourage you to keep pryaing for your loved ones and inviting them to hear the life saving message of the gospel!

In His Love, Pastor Ed

You're Invited to REFRESH 09!

Dear Co-Laborer in Jesus:

Mark your calendars for October 12^th-14^th, 2009 for our first annual Calvary Aurora Regional REFRESH ’09 Conference.

REFRESH ’09 will not be your typical 3-day Pastors and Leaders conference. More than just a time of teaching and equipping, our heart’s desire is to give to the faithful pastors, leaders, and servants in your church an extended time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19). We’re extending the invitation beyond just pastors and leaders to all Sunday school teachers, ushers, greeters, worship leaders, and really to everyone in your fellowship that serves and wants to be edified in Him. We’ve purposely chosen to keep the cost low ($20 per person) so that as many as want to come will come!

Please join us in prayer over the preparations for this exiting time of encouraging one another in the Lord, being built up in him for the work of His ministry and keep your calendar clear October 12^th through the 14^th.

More information will follow in the coming weeks and months leading up to the conference. It’s such an honor to serve the Lord here in these last days! God is doing something great and wonderful among us! We hope that RERESH ’09 will be all that God desires it to be in our lives. We’re looking forward to serving you and seeing God do something wonderful in and through us!

In His Great Grace,

Ed Taylor