Revelation 5:1-14
 
Gazing into heaven, the apostle John sees a scroll, sealed with seven seals, in the hand of the One who sits on the throne. While Scripture does not explicitly state what is written in the scroll, Pastor Dave follows many scholars in understanding the scroll to contain “what must take place after this,” (4:1) meaning God’s plan for the consummation of human history. John weeps loudly when it appears that no one is worthy to open the scroll. That communicates to me that John cared deeply about what will happen at the end of the age. Do I? After all, those events (whatever they are) feel like the far distant future, when I will be safely ensconced in heaven, right? Why should it matter to me? Before the Lord, let’s remind ourselves that God can wrap up the human story at any time, that the King will come like a thief in the night. That alone is a good reason to care. Ask the Lord to show you other reasons why “what must take place after this” matters for us today.
 
Dave posed the question, why does John weep loudly? We’re not told, but Dave made several guesses. Perhaps he weeps with disappointment, frustrated that he won’t find out what’s in the scroll, what will happen to everything at the very end. Dave noted that we sometimes get upset with God because He doesn’t reveal to us how He plans to work in the concerns of our lives now. I confess that I have been guilty of asking God to lay out His plan in full so I can decide whether to give it my stamp of approval! What difficult circumstance or worry is confronting you right now? Ask God to help you trust Him even if the mini scroll containing His plan for the matter remains sealed to you.
 
Dave described Chapters 4 and 5 as a glorious worship service. Did you notice the cascade of praise? It starts with the four living creatures and the 24 elders in Chapter 4 and expands to countless angels and all creatures in Chapter 5. Add your voice, as puny as it may seem. You can find a video version of the song “Is He Worthy?” we sang on Sunday, with lyrics, here. Then pray that everything you do today will also be expressions of true worship of the Lion, who is the Lamb that was slain. Is he worthy of our complete submission and obedience? He is.
 
Calvary Family
 
About 80 children have already been registered for VBS, June 26-30. Diana Aksel, our Children’s Director, reports that most of them are not current Calvary attenders. That is wonderful, since a major goal of VBS is outreach to our community. With that goal in mind, local foster families have been personally invited to VBS by our Fostering Hope team. Please be praying, even now, for VBS. Ask the Lord to prepare the hearts of children to hear and respond to the gospel. Include our teenage helpers in that prayer; they are part of the audience for the Bible lessons and the presentation of the gospel. Pray for people with a heart for kids to quickly fill remaining volunteer positions. Pray that during the week of VBS, every servant’s words and demeanor will communicate the love of Jesus to the kids.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert

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