Creative Community

LIFE Support Groups begin meeting this week. If you aren’t sure which of the following meetings you are scheduled to attend, contact Steve Rodenburg at the church! Group 1 Sunday Afternoon 12:30pm April 27 Group 2 Sunday Evening 6pm April 27 Group 3 Wednesday Morning 9am April 23 Group 4 Wednesday Evening 6pm April 23 Group 5 Thursday Evening 6pm May 1

A sample from today's reflection Jesus’ work on the cross also enabled a new creative work in you. God spoke this plan for your life into effect before you were even born. In fact, He declared it would happen even before He created the world. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus did the work to recreate you. When you align yourself with Jesus, He takes your old life away and credits you with His righteous life. Because of Christ’s creative work in giving you a new life, God already sees you as a righteous person. Because you’re a new creation, you already look like Jesus in God’s eyes. Now, you are working to reconcile the person you are being right now with the person God already knows you are. While on earth, Jesus was given the Holy Spirit in a way no one had ever experienced before . Jesus was able to accomplish all the Father had decreed, because the Spirit was always with him, empowering to fulfill his role. Read the entire reflection at formationsa

These questions correspond to week two of our Formations series. You can read the daily reflections or download the book at our Formations Web Site . Read Hebrews 12:1-3. How does the illustration of a race help you think of your spiritual growth? What types of things sometimes hinder us and entangle us as we seek to grow spiritually? How can we discipline ourselves to throw those things off? For runners, the key to building perseverance is to run long distances every day (or almost every day). How do Christians build perseverance? Why is perseverance important in the Christian life? What do you think it means to “fix your eyes on Jesus”? What types of activities might you do in order to fix your eyes on Jesus? For our sake, Jesus endured the shame of the cross (verse 3). How might we have to endure shame for Jesus’ sake? What types of issues cause some Christians to grow weary and lose

The following is a brief excerpt from today's Formations Reading. You can go to the Formations Site to download the entire book, or to read the daily reflections. At your favorite restaurant, there may be a teenage boy who refers to himself as the “Hygenic Engineer for Organizational Hardware”. Practically, he’s a dishwasher. In the same way, someone who claims to be a Christ follower, but lives as if there is no God is practically… an atheist. Giving in to Jesus is the message of the kingdom. It is the seed the farmer threw. Jesus said that those who accepted the farmer’s seed would produce a multiplying crop. In other words, those who accept the message of the kingdom will be noticeably different from those who do not. Here is where we ask the hard question. What do we call those who claim to hear the message, but have no demonstrable return for their investment? Practically, they are no different from the atheist. Read the whole reflection at Formations

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Calvary 's philosophy for launching LIFEgroups can be best described through the metaphor of the greenhouse. However, to understand the greenhouse, you must first take a moment to consider the garage and the meadow. Imagine a typical garage. Likely it is a highly organized place. Most garages have shelves, cabinets, and other storage areas. A garage is a place where a lot of different things can happen because it is well organized. In addition to housing cars, most garages also serve as work spaces. Often they are a place for auto repairs or woodworking. A properly functioning garage provides plenty of space to efficiently accomplish several tasks. Most garages look the same. They typically have a square or rectangular shape, concrete floors, unfinished walls, and a large door. Because they are designed to be functional, not artistic, little variety exists from garage to garage. Garages are a place to accomplish tasks, not to grow things. If something is gro