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Resolutions for 2021 from Jonathan Edwards

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Originally posted on February 9, 2021 Last edited March 21, 2023 With the beginning of 2021, many people will start off the year with new resolutions. But it can also be a reminder that we can make prayerful, faith-filled resolutions at any time. That's what Jonathan Edwards, the 18th-century pastor-theologian did. He made a list of resolutions that he would review an...

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On Praying for Government | Clint Humfrey

1 Timothy 2:1-4 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come ...

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Announcement about CGC Public Services & COVID-19

Even though our church would be permitted to meet, the elders have agreed that it is best for us to suspend our public gathering this Sunday and suspend services on a week-to-week basis. ...

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January 2020 at CalGrace

As we begin a new year and a new decade, the Twenties, here are some things to think about, tools, articles and other items that might be useful this month...

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Walking in the Fear of the Lord...It Multiplied. Calvary Grace 2019 in Review

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A review of 2019 at CGC...

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The Radiance of Christmas Hope

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This Christmas we don't have to let the presence of darkness, smother our expectancy of Christ's radiance. Instead let us luxuriate in his light, knowing our joy is to look upon him by faith now, and ultimately by sight....

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Luther's Rose and Other Symbols in Stained Glass

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On September 21 and 22 Calvary Grace Church is participating in the 36th Annual Calgary Artwalk. Calvary Grace's exhibit is called, Symbols in Stained Glass. One of the features is the Luther Rose. ...

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Sexuality, Gender and Christian Witness August 24 with Denny Burk

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In this special event with Denny Burk, he will give 3 talks on the Nashville Statement, current debates on sexuality, transgenderism, transhumanism and how Christians can be faithful in the midst of the moral revolution. ...

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Happy and Holy Christians

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Christians ought to be happy people. Although it might not look that way, they should be happy because they are forgiven, enjoying the Father’s smile, united with Christ and filled with the Spirit. Christians ought to be holy people. Rendering service to their Lord who “sought them and bought them” puts Christians in an attentive position....

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7 Pastoral Emphases For 2019

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As a pastor entering the new year, I’m thinking about certain things that I’d like to highlight in my ministry to the church. For my church, the needed focus areas might be different than yours. There are also other items my church is focusing on that aren’t included here (like church planting). At this stage in our church’s growth, and in view of the current clima...

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Calvary Grace: 12 Years On

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On November 26, it will be our 12th anniversary as a church. This is no small thing, and we ought to give thanks to God for his great kindness to us....

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Renewing Our Gospel Partnership

Blog: Gospel Partnership

Our aim is to see the prospering of the gospel message among the needy souls of Calgary and beyond. We trust that God will work through this partnership in order to bring lasting fruit, the spiritual prosperity of the life of the Age to come. ...

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6 Ideas for Post-Service Conversations

Blog: Post Service Convos

Don't assume that the visitor will be 'caught at the door' by the pastor. If God has blessed you in the service, you need to jump at the chance to share that blessing with someone else. That will make the post-service hello more than empty chit-chat. It will be small talk crammed with joy, praise and thanksgiving for the grace of the gospel of Christ. It’s exactly the ki...

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Dog Food: Learning from How Spurgeon Was Treated

Blog: Dog Food

During the Downgrade Controversy, opponents of Spurgeon thought that he was ‘on the wrong side of history.’ They thought he was an egotistical dinosaur. His clarity about right and wrong was viewed as arrogance in the face of a changing world. Spurgeon was attacked. And in the end, he got eaten alive. ...

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Ripe Fields

Blog: Ripe Fields

It is also a season for calling people to believe in the gospel. This is not just your own personal belief in Christ, but the importance of bearing witness to this news of salvation. The season for this is brief too. And that is all the more reason why we need to have a sense of urgency, even as we are basking in the sunlight of the Son....

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The Christian’s Devotional Struggle at Easter

Blog: Faith Alone

Our religious observances do not save us. Christ saves us. He alone is our salvation. It is not a combination of our faith and our religious observances, as the Roman Catholic Church teaches. Rather, Christ alone saves and all our guilty sin has been born by Christ on the cross, while his resurrection seals the forgiveness of our guilt forever....

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Decisions, Decisions: Praying, Discerning and Deciding

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As life goes on we are repeatedly faced with choices. And as we are confronted with choices we can be tempted in various ways. We can seek to escape them. Or we can make our choice based on our own worldly wisdom. Or we can rashly make a choice without even thinking. By contrast, we ought to learn to pray, discern and decide....

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The Christian's Passport

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Their passport is a two-part gift. First, the Scripture says that believing in him is something granted. Second, is the other part of the gift that must be included. It has been granted to you, not only to be believe, but to suffer for his sake. ...

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To Believe and To Suffer in Seedtime and Harvest

The Christian life might not be romantic or nostalgic but its real. Our organic connection to Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection is better than all of the hoped for clean eating and living that hopeless shoppers pursue. ...

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Why we should remember the Reformation.

Blog: reformation

When it comes to the Protestant Reformation, let’s not be like the forgetful people after the ‘celebration of life’. Instead let’s pray like the Psalmist did, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old” (Psalm 77:11)....

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3 Ways You Can Pray For Revival

Blog: Revival

Revival is a special season when God does intensely the things he does regularly. He saves sinners all the time. When many pay attention to God in a new way at the same time, that is a revival....

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The Necessity of a Living Priest

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Death is a big problem for religion. How can a guru, saviour, or priest hope to provide any kind of lasting salvation if they die?...

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The Helpful Work of the Holy Spirit

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Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. This familiar verse can come to life if we contrast what the Scripture says with its opposite. So ask yourself, “What do you look to for help in your weakness?”...

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3 Ways Paul Prayed for the Church

Blog: 3 ways Paul Prayed

Paul always presented his desires to God, so that if God answered his prayer, his desires would be met in God’s way. So Paul’s Gospel is the channel of his prayers. Paul’s Gospel is the motivation for his prayers Paul’s Gospel is the goal of his prayers. ...

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The Benefits of the Holy Spirit's Ministry

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Are you communing with Christ, enjoying the filling of your Pipeline Heart and displaying the irrigated beauty of the Spirit’s change in your life? ...

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A Culture of Holiness

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If our church is to have a culture of holiness, we will need to wake up. It is too easy for Christians to get drowsy and relaxed in the fight against lust in the mind and sexual immorality in the heart and hand. ...

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Crossing The Border

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So there is no crossing of God’s border by any fake papers we might print up for ourselves. No personal achievements, no “I gave at work”, no charity dinner, recycling program, yoga class graduation or “I’ve been a member since ‘92.” Only in Jesus Christ, who said, “not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42) can the border be crossed. ...

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Out of My Hands

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So that is how it’s possible to give up the ownership of our lives to Jesus Christ. He is Lord. He knows what’s he’s doing. And more importantly, he has already paid the bills of our sledgehammer spree. As 2 Timothy 1.10 says, Jesus is the one, “who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”(NIV). He has come to make“...

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Witness, not Despair

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The Scriptures can give us great confidence like they did for the apostles, and others like Maskepetoon. Such confidence helps us to bear regular consistent witness with the testimony of the Scriptures....

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Already, Not Yet

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There are many things that we can view through this lense of promise and prospect or an already, not yet. When a blushing girl gets a ring from a nervous guy, that engagement symbol is a promise that they will marry. The couple has the promise already, but they must wait for their wedding day which is not yet. ...

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Gravity, not 15 Minutes of Fame

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One of the classic examples of an awakened recognition of the gravity of God came to the ancient prophet Isaiah when he had a supernatural vision of the khavod of God. Isaiah saw that God was morally pure-- triple deluxe pure so that angelic beings could not view God directly because their creaturely eyeballs would fry if they looked at God’s holy purity. And these angel...

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Remembering Ruth: A Refugee Story

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In the West, we are hearing more and more about the global refugee crisis. Each day we hear reports about the dangers and trials of refugees. From Greece to France to Britain and North America, refugees are looking for a new places to call home....

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The Difficult Sacrifice of Like-Mindedness

There are few things that all people across the political and social spectrum can agree on. But these days, we all agree that we can't agree. We all suffer from 'outrage fatigue' and the divisions in our world seem more immovable than ever before. Civil discourse is neither civil nor discourse....

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Praying, Discerning and Deciding

Calvary Grace Church is faced with a decision to make by the end of June. We have to decide whether we will express 'our intent to purchase' the building which we currently rent. In this newsletter, I want to share a little bit about what the remaining timeline looks like as we seek to pray, discern and decide....

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Church Buildings: Their Strategic Importance for Advancing the Gospel

Thoughts on conflicting views about church buildings, the strategic importance of buildings, and strategic Christians in Spiritual warfare....

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Why You Should Attend the Calvary Grace Conference

One of the things that happens when you do something for a while is that you start to de-prioritize it. When life is busy, the things that used to be special become commonplace. As the old saying goes, 'familiarity breeds contempt'. ...

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A Wide Open Door

Calgarians are anxious. As the oil boom comes to an end, there is a sense of stress and fear. People who have tried to buy their way to happiness are realizing the vanity of wealth and chasing after the wind. Others who have trusted in the security of a prosperous society are now disoriented and confused about what life is all about....

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Sword & Trowel: From Nehemiah to Spurgeon to Calvary Grace

When the exiles returned from Babylon they rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah tells us that, “each laboured on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.” (4.17). They didn’t have the luxury of focusing entirely upon the building work, since they were in a hostile environment. But they couldn’t simply focus on fighting all of the time; they had...

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In the Year of Our Lord: A Calvary Grace Anniversary (2006-2015)

If you have small children or elderly relatives you know that birthdays are a big deal. Birthdays mark out the early stages of life as well as milestones of a long life nearing the end. It seems that somewhere between years 30 and 60 we prefer that additional birthdays are forgotten! Nevertheless, we mark off our birthdays by keeping track of the years, like this one, 201...

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As the World Goes Mad, Go to Church

In the aftermath of the coordinated attacks in Paris murdering 150 image bearers of the living God, who were all somebody’s daughter or son, many wonder if the world is going mad....

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The Partnered Word: CalGrace Partners Are Supporting Gospel Ministry

Bolstered by your support, Calvary Grace has had new opportunities to encourage gospel ministry in Canada and overseas....

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"It Was Fitting": Why the Gospel Isn't Arbitrary

When some people compare religions with each other, they can come away thinking that they are all arbitrary. Not so with biblical Christianity. The Christian gospel is not merely another clever scheme to provide what Karl Marx called, “the opiate of the people”. The Christian message of salvation has an internal consistency. It fits....

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Four Ways to Know Your Bible Better

Since we believe Paul when he said, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3.16), then we all want to know our bibles better. Obviously, the starting point for this is to read the bible. But there are some things that can help us to do that. Here are four ways to know you...

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3 Things the Blood of Jesus Does

John Owen was a 17th century English theologian and pastor who wrote one of the most extensive commentaries on the book of Hebrews. Looking at the passage from Heb. 12.24, “[blood] that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel”, Owen wrote: "The blood of Christ never cried, as Abel’s did, for vengeance on them by whom it was shed, but pleaded their pardon as sinne...

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Shadow and Substance

It is a funny thing to watch a kid who has just discovered their shadow. They step on the pavement trying to hold the shadow down. Or they’ll run trying to get away from a shadow that runs just as fast. Shadows and the forms that they mimic are simple things that we see every day. The metaphor of shadows and substances is one of the simple ideas showing how the Bible is ...

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Ashamed of Ridicule

A little ‘pagan ridicule’ should not send us running away from faith in the resurrection of our savior. Of course we look at the Bible’s testimony about the resurrection and we see evidences that show the trustworthiness of the testimony (e.g. the sealed, soldier guarded tomb was empty, no cover-up concerning women as early witnesses, the eyewitness encounters of div...

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Get Organized But Don't Lose The Love

It's funny how the conference theme of love was so impactful for everyone, yet Ryan Fullerton’s comments in Sunday School about organization in a growing church really resonated too. ...

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Some Thoughts On A Family Banquet

One of the great things about the Christmas season as it is celebrated by Canadians is the family get-togethers. There is always lots of food, feasting and fun. But when family is far away, or estranged, those family gatherings that everyone else enjoys can rip the skin off of old scars. ...

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Who Has The Say-So?

Have you ever wondered who "has the say-so"? In any family, business or organization there are many decisions that must be made. And if the decisions are to be made it has to be clear who has decision-making authority. That’s what some old-timers that I’ve known used to call, "having the say-so."...

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The Neglected Child and the Disappearance of Theology

n the early winter of 1997, I spent a few minutes in the office of theologian David Wells, picking his brain about the history of 20th-century evangelicalism. He graciously and patiently answered my questions then handed me a little booklet called The Bleeding of the Evangelical Church....

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I Grow Under the Load

As we recall Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem on his way to the ironic reversals of betrayal, arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, burial and three days later, resurrection, we are reminded of our own call to the cross....

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The Same Old Sight-lines in a New Building

Sometimes a change of facility can mean a change in the logistics of ministry. This is what we anticipate with our move from the Alexandra Centre to St John Lutheran Church. Now visitors can find seats. Classes meeting in hallways can sit comfortably in classrooms. Leaving the building after church will feel less like being a part of a herd of cattle in a crowding alley....

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Interchangeable Parts or Unique Diversity?

“Anything you can do, I can do, better”. That’s how the saying goes. Or is it a song? Whether or not you can do things better, is it true that anything anyone else can do, you can do? Are we all simply interchangeable parts in this world? The voices of our culture tell us that if we remove all the barriers to opportunity, then anyone can do anything. That is the a...

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Calvary Grace in Calgary: Oil-bucks and Big Trucks or the Buckle on the Bible Belt?

In a city of oil-bucks and big trucks, the idea of church may seem irrelevant. But the claims of Jesus Christ remain, and his church continues to be built, even here in Cowtown. Other people might think Calgary is the buckle on the Bible Belt, but they would be wrong. Calgary is in desperate need of the gospel as fewer churches hold forth the good news of Jesus’ death an...

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How to Use a Conference

In the afterglow of a weekend conference you can almost bank on the intense feelings to start wearing off by about Wednesday if not earlier. If a conference is a good one, it can seem a bit disappointing to let its benefits slip through your fingers like so much water. And most of the time, we content ourselves to feel disappointed with the quick loss, rather than actually...

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