Jaunary 2021
Calvary Communicator - January
A Note from Pastor Grannis
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” ~ Matthew 3:16-17
The grace of the Lord T Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Remember your baptism. This was the theme of my sermon for the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord on January 10th. Remember your baptism. It is not meant to be an admonishment, but an encouragement. It is a call to remember the promises of God, given to you through baptism – Your new and eternal identity in Christ.
Through Baptism you have been given the forgiveness of sins so that in Christ heaven is opened to you. Through baptism, the Holy Spirit came to you as a gift from our heavenly Father, so that together with all the faithful you can firmly believe and boldly proclaim the mighty works of God’s salvation in Christ Jesus our Savior. Through baptism, you were given a new identity, so that through your baptismal unity with Christ, our heavenly Father has adopted you and made you a co-heir with Christ of His heavenly kingdom. Yes, in Christ you are beloved of our heavenly Father and His good pleasure is found in you.
Remember your baptism. It is more than just a reminder that you are a Christian. It is a reminder of God’s love for You in Christ Jesus our Savior. It is a reminder that as a Christian your primary identity is found, not in your ethnicity or nation; it is not found in your gender or occupation; it is not found in your political affiliations or social groups. Your primary and eternal identity is and should always be found in Christ.
The world seems to get stranger and more polarized with each passing day. However, as those who center our identity in Christ and His authority over all things we need not be troubled or worried. Rather, God is calling us to become more firm in our baptismal identity and to look for the opportunities He gives us each day to unapologetically and faithfully live out our faith in Christ.
Yes, in these strange times (perhaps now more than ever) our neighbors, our families, and we ourselves benefit greatly when we remember our baptism.
When you were baptized, the Triune name of God (Father T Son and Holy Spirit) was placed upon you.
Anytime you hear or say the Triune name of God you are blessed with the opportunity to remember your baptism. As we enter 2021, I encourage you to invoke the Triune name of God at the beginning of your daily prayers (when you wake up, at meal time, when you go to sleep, etc.) Begin your prayers, in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you may also want to make the sign of the cross upon yourself as an added physical reminder of your baptism.
Remembering your baptism is one small thing you can do to find strength and courage to graciously face whatever the world may throw at you. Remember the promises of God. Remember your identity in Christ - you are a forgiven, Holy Spirit filled, heir of God’s Kingdom. Remember your baptism.
Living forever, now,
Pastor Michael James Grannis
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ~ Matthew 28:18-20
Official Acts
Berta Watkins – in memory of Ethel Schiebold.
Vicky Staley & the Sunday School Kids – in memory of Helen Nyeste and Ethel Schiebold.
Thank You
Dear Brothers and Sisters and Children in Jesus our Lord,
I would like to thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. I truly appreciate them so much. I miss going to Calvary and all of you. I am keeping you in my heart and in my prayers too!
Thank you,
Sharon Greenlee
EXCEEDING JOY!
Jude 24
Pearls of Thought:
“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.”
Author Unknown
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
Charles Dickens
Happy New Year from the Visual Faith Team!
I have long since swapped unobtainable, albeit well-meaning, New Year resolutions for small, sustainable baby steps and mini-experiments in my Christ-following walk. When attempting to make a lasting habit, I find it helps to link the new habit to an already existing habit. For example, if I want to visually pray for 5 minutes a day, it would be helpful to link it to my daily cup of coffee or the 5 minutes immediately following the evening dinner dishes. (Perhaps the running dishwasher serves as the soundtrack for my daily prayers.) Whenever I can hook or link a new habit to an existing pillar habit, I find the new habit to be more successful. I have also discovered that these new mini habits have a better survival rate if I keep the needed supplies readily available. For example, if my desk, counter, or table already sports a stack of index cards, a glass jar full of colored pencils, and a reliable sharpie pen, I spend no extra time hunting for supplies and I eliminate silly excuses to not follow through on the habit. The table is set, I simply need to sit down. This January as you experiment with new visual faith practices, revisit some well beloved practices, or invite a friend along for a visual faith experiment, allow yourself grace, mercy, and peace. Give it a try, no pressure, just joy and peace in trying.
Blessings to you in this new year,
Valerie
Visual Faith™ Coach / Educational Consultant
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7.
*Visual Faith is the ministry that supplies our children’s service bulletins.
Pro-Life Corner
From Invisible to Indispensible
by Pastor Michael Salemink
“On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”
1 Corinthians 12:22
Human nature evaluates a person’s worth by age, appearance, or disability. It’s a sinful and selfish assessment: “For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Our culture sometimes finds unborn children to be invisible. They are little, located out of sight, less developed than others, and rely on someone else for survival. We may also treat elderly neighbors as invisible when they do not appear to contribute what we value to society or even care for themselves. And, we often overlook those who struggle with surprise pregnancies, post-abortion grief, chronic disability, or terminal diagnosis. We would rather they remain invisible than have their suffering highlight our own unsightly mortality. Indeed, maybe it’s not anything about them but something about us that makes them invisible; our pride, our apathy, our idolatries.
Yet our heavenly Father sees each of them, just as He beholds all of us. He creates them special. He redeems them precious. He calls them priceless. He enjoys and employs everyone in His plan and reign. Indeed, they are indispensable to His creation and His kingdom, as are all of us. He himself has taken “the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-8) just such an invisible one—to intercede and forgive and save. Jesus Christ has made every human life indispensable.
And He has given them to us as gifts and privileges with whom we may share all of the blessings He abundantly bestows. The human race, and particularly the body of Christ and family of God, is magnificent precisely because we share joys and sorrows. One is strong where another is weak, and we need each other, and we have each other—even (and perhaps especially) when we are the least of these. What we perceive as defects God may in fact intend as features!
Quote from Stand to Reason Blog
“Who wouldn’t want to get behind a view that’s inclusive, tolerant, and non-discriminatory?
Guess what? The pro-life view is just that. It’s inclusive. It includes all members of the human community, whether they are born, unborn, disabled, or near death.
It’s tolerant. It places value and respect on every person, even those who champion opposing views. It’s non-discriminatory. It doesn’t disqualify some human beings from being valuable because of their race, gender, size, location, degree of dependency, level of development, or any other characteristic.”