Calvary Church

Check-ups are important for our health. January is “Mission Check-up” time at Calvary Church.  Check-ups are done for a very positive reason: to make sure that good health continues. Calvary is a healthy congregation. For this I am so thankful. These past weeks of participation in Advent Conspiracy have shown great health. Over 160 on a very wintery day showed up at Feed My Starving Children to package 47,000 meals, over 100 huge bags of groceries were delivered to our local food pantry, 74 care packages went to servicemen and women, 20 Christmas dinners were delivered to families in need, and this doesn’t mention the many random acts of kindness carried our behind the scenes.

Healthy churches are churches that are “On Mission”.  This will be our theme for 2010. We will start out in January with a check-up in which we revisit our mission statement and our core values. Beginning in February we will learn from the story of the church in ancient Corinth. The church in Corinth was not a healthy church. It had drifted “off mission” and was struggling with many issues that are common in our own day. The Apostle Paul wrote two letters to this church brimming with depth and relevance for us. In his letters he deals one by one with the “spiritual viruses” that had infected the congregation. These are deadly viruses that are still a threat to churches today.  Learning the story of the people and struggles of that unhealthy church will help us stay healthy, and become even healthier. 

I am encouraging the Calvary family to begin reading and rereading these two letters. You can read each one in 30 minutes or less. Immerse yourselves in them. You will find you are drawn into the story of that congregation. You will see how Paul identifies the viruses and prescribes healthy solutions. You will be moved by the emotion the great Apostle Paul puts into these letters.

And so, as we get started in January, I am encouraging the Calvary family to come each week ready for a Mission Check-up.  With a clean bill of spiritual health we will continue to do the Lord’s work in 2010.