Calvary Wolfeboro

We’ve all seen the scene in the cartoons and movies where a character is faced with a decision. In order to help the decision-maker out, two new characters appear. One of them an evil angel or devil and the other a good angel. While possibly sitting on the shoulder of their counselee, they seek to persuade the person to see things their way and make the decision based on their counsel. To a certai...

"You're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody." The chorus of Bob Dylan's song "Gotta Serve Somebody" describes a profound truth in a subtle way. The truth is that as human beings our only true freedom is to choose who or what we will serve. Pure autonomy(being completel...

When a monarch butterfly emerges from its crysalis there is no evidence that it once was a caterpillar. Practically speaking, the caterpillar doesn’t exist anymore, it’s gone. Dead is the word that Paul uses to describe the old self that is replaced by the new self in Christ. Dead, in particular, is the “body of sin,” as he calls it. And because the old self is dead, it no longer is under the reig...

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. At least it should be. It’s the perfect combination of celebrating Messiah's birth, gathering with brothers and sisters, friends and family, enjoying unusual goodies, and giving and receiving extraordinary gifts. But so often all of what should be so amazing becomes a real bummer. The blessings of Christmas become the burdens of Christmas. This sam...

Peace. It's a powerful motivation. People will do almost anything to settle down the worry or anxiety that troubles their hearts. In Romans 5, Paul begins his description of the benefits we have in our justification by pointing to the peace we have with God. A peace, he goes on to write, that is rooted in the love and grace of God. These verses are a much needed guide in our anxiety-consumed churc...

Romans 3 verses 24 and 25 tell us something central to the gospel. In these verse Paul makes it abundantly clear that humanity is made right with God by the cross of Jesus Christ as a gift to be received by faith. Our part is pretty minimal. We simply receive the gift of God by faith. But how? What does it mean to receive something by faith. What does this faith look like? It's an important questi...

There's something about human nature that doesn't like the fact that salvation cannot be earned. One of the most obvious evidences for this fact is that men and women will often try to "get their lives together" before they "come to Christ." But if there is nothing anyone can do to merit salvation, then there is no need to "get your life together." That idea is tied to the heresy that we must some...

In 2006 the film, "An Inconvenient Truth," set out to warn the world of an impending catastrophe due to climate change. The premise of the title was that in order for humanity to reverse the trend of global warming we would have to take immediate and inconvenient measures. As devastating as climate change could be for life on earth, there is actually a much more inconvenient truth for humanity. Si...

Hypocrisy is one of the few sins that no-one is ever proud of. Even the most wicked people will claim to live consistently by some standard. Many will flaunt their sexual sins. Even more will applaud the thief who steals from the rich to give to the poor. The hypocrite is never the hero. But hypocrisy is a big problem with human nature. It's an even bigger problem in the church. Consider how we ca...

Conscience. It's the faculty of our humanity that tells us we were made in the image of God. The more we understand about God's nature, the more we recognize that in our own hearts there is an onboard navigation system. But how sufficient is the conscience? What is it able to tell us and where does it fall short? These are the questions that Paul focuses on as he continues to develop his introduct...

"If I could see the hole in Jesus' hand and touch the scar on His side, I would believe too." So goes one version of the common argument against belief. This argument can be persuasive. Even for those of us who do believe, the legitimacy of our faith in God can often be challenged by the question, "how much evidence is enough?" Thankfully, we don't have to wonder. God has given us the answer in Ro...

At every turn the Gospel that Christianity is built upon is being attacked. These attacks, whether from pseudo science, postmodernism, or some form of identity politics seek to shame Christians into silence. Silencing the message of the Gospel is one of the Enemies most effective strategies. The apostle Paul knew the social pressure we feel to be ashamed of the Good News. He understood that the me...

When Christians talk about faith they will often describe it in terms of depth and width. For example a Believer may say, “Early in my walk with the Lord my faith was a mile wide but only an inch deep.” That same Christian then goes on to describe how their faith grew deeper over the years. This is the purpose of the gospel. God intends the “good news” to produce faith that first saves us and then...

The church is plagued with complacency. Anywhere you find complacency, you will find sin. Where there’s sin, light of world grows dim. What is the cure? How can the local body of Christ regain the purity that Christ died to establish? The answer is authentic Christian community; it’s the kind that the writer of Hebrews points to in chapter 10:24-25. It’s not easy to create, but it’s the only way t...

The world that the Church was birthed into was a world of normalized sexual immorality. It’s for that reason, in part, that so many of the lists of sins given in the New Testament begin with sexual immorality. Knowing that fornication and the like would be all around the Church, God made sure that His Body knew that sexual immorality wouldn’t be allowed in it. Fast forward to 2018, sexual immorali...

There seems to be two kinds of leaders. Those who are too comfortable with leadership and those who are two uncomfortable. As the church, we have the responsibility of leading the way in finding the happy medium between these two extremes. There should always be a healthy fear in the heart of every leader that he or she would become domineering or autocratic. But there should also be a healthy fea...

"Expectations kill relationships." You’ve probably heard someone make this claim. Yet, while expectations are often at the center of the breakdown in relationships, it isn’t always the expectations themselves that are to blame. When it comes to our relationships in the church, we need to first make sure that we have the right expectations of each other. This is nowhere more important than the expe...

A recent study by Barna showed that a breakdown in trust was responsible for two devastating realities. The first is that the number one reason people give for not attending church anymore is that they don't trust church leadership. The second is even more devastating. For those who claim to have rejected belief in God completely, a lack of trust in the local church is among the top three reasons...

There is no greater indicator of the potential impact of a church than it’s view of God. The greater a church’s awe and wonder of God, the greater it’s impact for God. The fear of God removes the fear of man. Boldness in proclaiming and living out the Gospel is produced by an accurate understanding of God and obedience to His Lordship. This reminder is vital for any church that wants to begin or c...

There is no greater indicator of the potential impact of a church than it’s view of God. The greater a church’s awe and wonder of God, the greater it’s impact for God. The fear of God removes the fear of man. Boldness in proclaiming and living out the Gospel is produced by an accurate understanding of God and obedience to His Lordship. This reminder is vital for any church that wants to begin or c...

"Joy is the flag that flies over the castle of our hearts announcing that the king is in residence today.” These words were penned by Walter Knight to all Christians everywhere at every time. When Jesus is involved, there is joy. As we finish our study of the book of Philippians we look back over this letter that has oozed with joy and consider one more time, where is the joy? The answer shouldn’t...

The apostle Paul quoted Jesus as saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This profound truth is the foundation of our calling as Christians to be generous. The church in Philippi was a generous church. Throughout the New Testament we read of this church actively seeking to bless Paul with material gifts and provision. They seem, however, to be the exception to the rule. Based on seve...

The apostle Paul claimed that he had learned to be content in "whatever situation" he was in. That may not immediately seem hard to believe until you understand what contentment is. Jeremiah Burroughs, in his classic work on contentment, "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" defines Christian contentment as, "that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and deli...

When you think about joy, you probably don't think about suffering. When you consider the grace of God, you probably don't think about persecution. Yet, in Philippians 1:29, the apostle Paul ties belief in Jesus and suffering for Jesus together as a package deal. It's not that God inflicts us supernaturally once we give our lives to Christ. Suffering is simply the normal result of a life lived "wo...