Revelation 16:17-21

Pastor Dave’s sermon had two parts – a discussion of the seventh bowl of God’s wrath and also a meditation on why God has not yet poured out that final wrath.

Dave introduced his second theme by observing that we sometimes impatiently ask, “Why hasn’t God come?” We see the evil in the world around us – the violence, injustice, and suffering; the flouting of God’s moral law – and ask, “Why does He delay?” When we think about the perpetrators of evil in our world, which the news forces us daily to do, don’t we sometimes think, “Sic ‘em, Lord!”? Dave reminded us that it is God’s kindness holding back His final wrath. He wants to see people repent and be saved. Ask the Lord to help us think more like He does so we can begin to grasp His purposes in this time of waiting. We need help to avoid the error of trying to tell God what to do, when.

The verse from 2 Peter quoted in the sidebar says that the Lord wishes all to come to repentance. Dave explained that the “all” in this verse does not refer to every human being; rather, it refers to God’s list of His children, the names written in the Book of Life. Dave asked, “How far does God’s ‘all’ extend?” To rattle our minds, as he expressed it, he presented two examples of men who would seem to us to be beyond the pale of God’s salvation. Afshin Javid is a former Hezbollah fighter who experienced a vision of Jesus while praying to Allah in a jail cell; he became a believer. Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of the founder of Hamas, heard a TV evangelist while in an Israeli jail and also became a follower of Christ Jesus. (To view again the videos Dave showed profiling these two men, click here and fast-forward to the 1:03:00 mark.) Think of people you hate (even if you don’t use that word) and confess before the Lord that they may be in God’s “all.” It might be Muslim terrorists; it might be LGBTQ+ activists; it might be the extended family member you can’t stand. Ask God to fill you with His compassion, and pray for them.

Thank God for His kindness in redeeming you. I easily slip into thinking I’ve always been a nice, basically good person who just needed a little polishing up, but the truth is that my sin is as offensive to God as a Hamas terrorist’s. I am no more worthy of salvation than he.

Calvary Family: Fall FunFest

This is crunch week – a busy, stressful week for the FunFest leadership team. Please lift them up by name: Todd Dixon, Valerie Dyer, Tammy and Tom Leatherby, Kristy Lopez, and Paula Porter.

Pray for the many people who will serve in some capacity on Saturday evening. Pray they will exhibit the fruit of the Spirit as they serve without even being aware of it. May each volunteer be so kind and caring and full of joy that our guests think, “Wow, these people are different!” Pray also that the Lord will bless every person who has volunteered to serve or has helped in some way.

Ask the Lord to use FunFest to draw people to Himself and to our local body of Christ. Perhaps someone will feel the presence of the Lord through His people; perhaps someone carrying a heavy burden will visit the “Need Prayer?” booth; perhaps another will realize his or her need for community in the midst of ours. Pray they will visit us on a Sunday morning.

One thing I really like about FunFest is that our English and Chinese congregations engage in it together. Pray that connections between our two congregations would be created and strengthened on Saturday evening.

Foster families across north Orange County have been invited to attend FunFest as our guests, and 55 families have RSVP’d. They may not all attend, but we expect to host dozens of families. Pray that foster parents will feel appreciated and valued and that foster kids will feel accepted and loved.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert

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