YOU'RE INVITED!
We want you and your family to worship with us this Easter at Calvary! No matter where you are on your journey with Christ, you're invited to celebrate the love of Jesus and victory that comes from His resurrection.
Good Friday Service
Friday, April 3 | 7pm | Hazel Dell Campus
Good Friday is a day of deep appreciation to God the Father and His Son, but it’s tempered with the knowledge of what Jesus endured on our behalf.
The author of Hebrews writes, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
As fully God, yet fully human, Jesus experienced the whole spectrum of being human save one aspect: He did not sin. Everything humans experience, He has experienced to a greater degree, even death.
In this solemn service, we’ll look at seven aspects of humanity that our Savior endured to purchase our salvation.
Easter Services
Saturday, April 4 | 6pm | Hazel Dell Campus
Sunday, April 5 | 9am & 10:45am | Hazel Dell Campus & Online
The resurrection of Christ turned the most hopeless of days into a day of celebration and life. You’re invited to join us this Easter in a friendly, casual environment as we celebrate the hope that was born the day Christ rose from the grave.
This Easter, kids in 1st-5th grades will become detectives on an exciting mission! Through clues, stories, and fun activities, they’ll investigate the greatest truth ever discovered, that Jesus is alive! By the end of the case, our young detectives will uncover the evidence of the resurrection and celebrate the amazing news of Easter!
An outdoor egg hunt for children ages 3 through 5th grade is at 5:30pm on Saturday and at 10:25am on Sunday.
Each year during Holy Week, we take time to walk through the days leading up to Easter and reflect on what Christ has done for us. It is a time to slow down, remember, and prepare our hearts for the cross and the resurrection. This year, our focus has been on the glory of God and how He reveals His glory to us in our world and in our salvation. Our prayer is that through these devotionals, you will see His glory more clearly this Holy Week.
Holy Week Devotional - Monday
One of the most amazing sights I have seen was when I was in high school at summer church camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Some friends and I were out late by the river one clear night, and when we looked up, we saw an arm of the Milky Way. It left us in awe because of its beauty and grandeur.
The last couple of years in Central Illinois, we’ve been blessed to see the Northern Lights illuminate the night sky with greens, purples, and pinks. While we live in flat farmland, there’s nothing quite as beautiful as a Midwest sunset. To be witness to such wonders draws us to be in awe of not just creation, but the Creator as well.
Johannes Kepler, the 17th-century astronomer and mathematician who is famous for discovering the laws of planetary motion, was a devout believer. Hear what this groundbreaking scientist had to say about the heavens:
“Great is God our Lord, great is His power and there is no end to His wisdom. Praise Him you heavens, glorify Him, sun and moon and you planets. For out of Him and through Him, and in Him are all things ... We know, oh, so little. To Him be the praise, the honor and the glory from eternity to eternity.”
“I had the intention of becoming a theologian … but now I see how God is, by my endeavors, also glorified in astronomy, for ‘the heavens declare the glory of God.’”
Because the heavens are so full of wonder and glory, it is no wonder that the Holy Spirit inspired the Psalmists to write songs of praise to God. Read what David wrote in Psalm 8. Imagine, He just looked up at a clear night in Jerusalem, perhaps seeing an arm of the Milky Way himself, and he bursts out in song:
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” Psalm 8:1
While the heavens are glorious and reflect God’s glory, the heavens are not the greatest work that God has ever done. The heavens were pretty easy work for Him and didn’t take much effort or strength. They are simply the work of His fingers. Read what David continued to write in Psalm 8:
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place.” Psalm 8:3
Wow. Some of the most beautiful things that we have seen are just the “work of His fingers.” Planets, stars, moons, black holes, comets, supernovas, and all of the mysteries of space that scientists have been studying for hundreds of years are just the “work of His fingers.” This truly puts us in awe of God’s awesome power and glory.
If the heavens are the work of His fingers, what is the work of His strength? When does God most show His power and glory?
It is when God saves and delivers His people from bondage. That is the work of His strong right arm.
“Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, the right hand of the Lord exalts; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” Psalm 118:15-16
“Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever…and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever; with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136:3,11-12
These Psalms recall God’s deliverance of His people from their bondage in Egypt. They also call forward to Jesus’ work on the cross that brought about our ultimate deliverance from the bondage of sin. Paul writes in Colossians:
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14
It is good to give glory to God for the greatness of the heavens. They truly declare His glory. While these “works of His fingers” put us in awe of God, remember the greatest glory is demonstrated in God’s strong right arm, shown in Jesus’ saving work on the cross.
