1 Corinthians 14:1-25
 
Thank God for the church, for placing you in a body of believers instead of asking you to pursue the Christian life alone. Ask Him to help all of us think more corporately and less individually.
 
Pastor Dave noted yesterday that there is no value in a “dog and pony show” in the church, whether it is speaking in tongues or anything else. Pray that at Calvary, we will never be impressed and entertained by “the show” while completely missing the message.
 
Pray that when an unbeliever attends our services, the words of 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 will be fulfilled:  … he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
 
The main point of the passage and of yesterday’s sermon is that the primary purpose of the spiritual gifts is the building up of the church. Spend time before the Lord examining your own spiritual gift and how you exercise it. Consider: How is my spiritual gift building up the church?  Ask the Lord to lift your eyes from a narrow view of the tasks you do to see the bigger picture.
 
 
Calvary Family
 
Several Calvary families, including mine, faced mandatory evacuation last week because of the Canyon Fire Two. Thank God for “supply and support” (Isaiah 3:1), especially for firefighters who worked tirelessly to protect homes. Pray for people who have experienced significant loss because of this fire and the much worse fires in northern California – for the ability to absorb what has happened and to respond in a constructive way. Pray they will turn to God, not away from Him. Also pray for safety and success for the firefighters.
 
Fifteen-year-old Rosie Martin has been seizure-free and is feeling better but is discouraged because she has not been cleared to play soccer. She has not yet been seen by the neurology department at CHOC. Please pray that an appointment will be available this week. Deni, Rosie’s mother, asks us to continue to pray for a diagnosis and for healing and that Rosie and her family will grow closer to the Lord through this experience.
 
Like Calvary, Tomasz Chylka’s church in Poland will soon celebrate a baptism service. The Pszczyna church uses baptism as an outreach event; they are holding a BBQ afterwards and inviting people from outside the church to attend. Tomasz asks us to pray for the people being baptized and for the unbelievers who attend. Read Tomasz’s latest letter in full here.
 
Did you know that foster families in our area have been invited to attend Fall FunFest as our guests? Begin praying that the foster children and the families who have sacrificially taken them in will feel supported and cared for among our church community.
 
Lift up our new associate pastor, Shannon Estell, and his wife, Julie, as they prepare to transplant their family (children Emma (16), Trevor (15), and Brenden (12)) from Santa Maria to Brea and begin a new ministry among us.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert
Calvary Community Church of Brea