Calvary Link: Coming Home

Calvary Link: Coming Home

As you read this, I'm on a flight back to Chicago. I love traveling and visiting new places (and revisiting familiar ones), but I love coming home even more. Coming back to people who care about and welcome you is a good feeling. I'm looking forward to having all my boys and my daughter-in-law "back home in Indiana" for the holidays too.

It is my hope that you're planning to "come home" to Calvary for Christmas Eve. The church house was packed last year with only two services so this year we're getting the family together for three celebratory services at 1p, 3p, and 5p! We'll worship together, experience communion together, and look forward to the advent of the Savior together. There is also an opportunity for you to serve the Calvary family and our guests: contact our Director of Children's Ministries, Victoria Evans-Peasley, to help care for little ones in the nursery and preschool rooms during the 3p or 5p service. I can't wait to spend Christmas Eve with our church!

As the holidays draw closer and your schedule gets busier, be sure to set aside Sunday mornings for worship. This Sunday will be so good. The baptismal waters will be stirring in all three services, and we're going to celebrate with some amazing worship!

What's New at Calvary...

Fear Not: A Christmas Message For Our Time
"Fear not," an angel told the shepherds on a hill outside Bethlehem 2000 years ago, and the words still echo for us today. Join us at Calvary on the Sunday before Christmas (12.20) when Pastor Lionel will present a special message: "Fear Not: A Christmas Message For Our Time." Our times are full of uncertainty, but the "good tidings of great joy" are still for all people. Invite friends and family--believers and nonbelievers--for this special Sunday focusing on the hope of Jesus in a world of fear.

Family Sundays
Attention parents of K-5th graders! Put these two Sundays, 12.20 and 12.27, on your calendar as Family Sundays. Your elementary-aged children are invited to join us in the Worship Center to celebrate the Advent season with our church family. Stop by Guest Services to pick up an activity bag for your child to enjoy during the service. The nursery and preschool will be open for infants through 5-year-olds (not yet in Kindergarten) during all services.

Christmas Eve Services
Experience the anticipation of Christmas Eve with Calvary Church on Thursday, 12.24. We are offering three services this year at 1p, 3p, and 5p, each with contemporary worship, a message of hope from Pastor Lionel, and a shared time of communion.

Children's Ministries will be available for infants through preschoolers. Elementary-aged children joining their parents in the Worship Center can pick up an activity bag at Guest Services.

Give the gift of time this Christmas, and serve the Calvary community and guests on Christmas Eve. Contact Victoria Evans-Peasley, Director of Children's Ministries, to volunteer to work in a nursery or preschool classroom during one of the Christmas Eve services so parents can be part of the service.

Calvary Students Advent Concert of Prayer
The Christmas season can be so busy, and if we aren't careful, that busyness can crowd out the space we need to PAUSE and hear from God. On 12.13, students are gathering for their second Concert of Prayer to do just that. The middle school concert of prayer is 4-5:30p and the high school one is 6:30-8p. This is a time for prayer, worship, and reflection as student seek to sync up with God's heartbeat for their lives.

Lectio Divina: The Bible One Day at a Time
Did you know that Pastor Lionel has written a devotional series to take you through the Bible in a year? Lectio Divina (which means "divine reading") is an online or email Bible reading plan with commentary. Spend about 20 minutes each day reading a portion of Scripture from both the Old and New Testament plus Pastor Lionel's notes on the passage. By the end of the year, you'll have read through the whole Bible. Visit Lectio Divina to read the daily devotions online, or sign up to receive them in you email inbox beginning January 1.