Calvary Church Bergenfield

Mathew 26:36-46 To the sound of crying tears we see Jesus suffering in the garden. He is crying tears. Alone. He asks God to take this cup of wrath from him. And yet he submits to the Father’s will. For our sake. Because of his love for us. How does this encourage us? What does this mean for us?

With the breaking of bread a promise is kept. What does this breaking of bread, this meal, mean for the believer? What hope do we have in the breaking of bread?

With the clinking of coins the decision is made to betray Jesus. In what ways have we betrayed our Savior? How much like Judas are we? Is there hope for the betrayers?

Like Hosea’s wife, God’s people have committed adultery. They have run from him to the sins of the flesh. And yet, God instructs Hosea to not give up on Gomer, just as he will not give up on his people. In Hosea 2 we see the people rebel. And then God ‘lures them into the wilderness’. And in that Wilderness is the hope that we cling to. Intimacy with God is restored. In that Wilderness, all will b...

Job is a godly man whose life is torn apart. In one day he loses much of his wealth, and then he loses his kids. His kids are taken from him by a ‘great wind that sweeps in from the desert, from the wilderness’. This leaves Job in a Wilderness of his own. How does Job respond? What can we learn from this man of God as we face our own times of suffering, as things that we love are taken from us?

Paul goes to the Wilderness of Arabia as he transitions from Pharisee to Apostle. There God teaches him, reveals to him, enlightens him and prepares him for the ministry that he has been called to. At times the Wilderness is a place of preparation. What is God preparing us for in the Wildernesses that he has brought us in to?

Hagar is the unwanted mistress. Her son’s life is in danger. She has been cast out by the people who were supposed to take care of her, but have betrayed her. She’s not from the people of God. And yet God has mercy on her. God takes care of the outcast, the needy, the helpless and the hopeless in the Wilderness. There he provides for them. What hope does this story bring to us? Do we sometimes fee...

Paul has a good Word for the Galatians. It's a good Word for us today as well,

Why do we have bad days when things are going well? We look into that question and others in the sermon this week.

Sometimes decisions we have made send us to the Wilderness. We don't feel qualified for life and ministry. We need to run. We need to get away. We go to the Wilderness. And God meets us there.

Does God punish us? What does that mean? How do we understand Grace from a God who punishes? Hard questions, but good ones. Pastor Dan tackles them in this sermon.

The Wilderness is a fascinating place in Scripture. God brings us to the Wilderness for a variety of different reasons. Even Jesus went to the Wilderness...where he rested for a while, and then Satan came to tempt him. What can we learn from the tempting of Jesus? What instruction do we receive from the way Jesus responds? What hope does he give us?

The world is waiting for Christ to come again. And we wait with it. Today we look at how James compares our hearts to fields waiting for the second coming of our Lord.

As Christians, we wait in hopeful expectation for when Christ comes again. But the enemy of God waits in restless frustration, lashing out at God in the ways that he can...by striking at God's people. This week we explore, briefly, the reality that Satan is also waiting for the time when Christ comes again.

Isaiah had a hard word to give Ahaz. And from that hard word a promise was given. In what ways do we need a hard word? And how do we respond to the promise? The prophets brought hard words, and then sat in the waiting. And we sit in the waiting with them.

All of Creation waits for the second coming of Christ, when he will make all things new.

Does the way the enemy is at work in our world cause us fear? May God open our eyes, as he did Elisha's servant, that we might see all that God is doing.

What expectations of have we put on others? What expectations have we put on God? Are they healthy? Are they sinful? We look at these questions in the sermon this week.

Do we ever wonder if God will work through us in the way that he has worked through those that came before us? Elisha faced that question in our text, and how God used him stands as an encouragement for us all.

Elijah gets taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. How does Elisha feel about it? How do others feel about it? How does that relate to us?

What does the call of the Lord look like? Does God still call us today?

What does it mean to be convicted? Do we like being the ones that give the hard word? How do we receive it? What is the purpose of conviction? We look at these questions in today's sermon.

Is the Christian race a relay? Can we make ourselves acceptable to God? Can we push hard enough? Can we get across the finish line? We take a look at those questions in this sermon.

What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Is there hope for me if I have? There is a lot of mystery and bad information relating to this question, so we need to take a look at it.

How do we feel about the Holy Spirit as teacher? Do we feel like the assignemnts are unfair? That the homework is too hard? This week we take a look at what it looks like to be in class with the Holy Spirit.