Westminster Calvary Chapel

Joseph’s is about 39-yrs old in this chapter. He’s had no contact with any of his family since they sold him into slavery. Now he’s married & has two boys. Plus he’s the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt during a famine & people are hungry! So Jacob, Joseph’s dad, sends 10 of his sons to Egypt to buy grain. The journey is about 265-miles from Canaan to Egypt thru a wilderness of desert land. Now Jose...

The mission goes on with Paul & Barnabas making their way to Antioch of Pisidia. Which you and I would recognize in our Bibles as the region of Galatia. The people in this area were known to be impetuous, fickle, and loved new things. Basically, they had a reputation for being uncommitted. The Gospel is spreading rapidly, and people are getting saved!

As we continue to move forward in our study of the Bible we see the bigger purpose of Joseph’s life take shape. Finally, victory comes after more than a decade of difficulty. About 10-years earlier… in (Gen. 37:5)… “Joseph had a dream…” and he told it to his family but they hated him for it! Tonight in chapters 40 and 41 we see three other dreams occur. The butler, baker and Pharaoh each had a sig...

As we move forward in the unfolding story of the Bible, today we come to a serious moment in the life of Joseph. We get to peak into a life that’s being perfected for a bigger purpose and it’s a beautiful reminder of how gracious & caring God is! God was with Joseph in the middle of this season when strange things & hard times were happening to him. Joseph was still being prepared for his life’s c...

We arrive at chapter 13 where the ministry of the church takes on a new shape. Men are selected, empowered by the Spirit, and sent out. We can recognize that he church is made of many parts with differing gifts; Jew, Gentile, men, women, free, and slaves. These men were ministering to NKJV (OR) worshiping the Lord NLT and all of a sudden… God gave a word of prophecy which directed the ministry bey...

As we continue our study thru Acts, we arrive at chapter #12, which is often labeled as a parenthetic chapter. Meaning, we get a look behind the scenes into details of other events happening simultaneously. In this case… there’s persecution of the church leadership in Jerusalem. The Church was ministering to hurting & hungry people by lifting the weight of oppression in the name of Jesus. People w...

In chapter 38 we come to a pause in the main storyline of Genesis and our attention is turned to Judah (the 4th son). In the previous chapter we see Judah involved in human trafficking which the bible tells us is worthy of death! As the story goes on Judah leaves the family and marries a woman outside the faith (covenant). He begins to make more bad decisions that even begin to affect his children...

This Gospel story is set to the backdrop of a 1st Century Sunday morning in Jerusalem when Jesus’ physical body rose from the grave! Many people are familiar with the facts of God’s word but it’s only in the place of intimate fellowship that a person can know Jesus! Our belief and understanding of the resurrection affects the way we live right now!

The scene is chapter 10 takes places about 10-years after the birth of the church. God was at work, but it took some time to prepare human hearts. Salvation is always a work of God’s grace and He uses believers to diffuse His work among people. What we see here is God working out the details of faith behind the scenes. This chapter opens with a Roman Centurion – Cornelius who was given a vision fr...

Acts records about 30-years of the early church (through snap-shot narratives) as the Holy Spirit births the church, nurtures the church, and multiplies Gods work on earth. Now the two primary characters: are Peter & Paul as they’re led by the Holy Spirit in advancing the Gospel. Today the Church reads and studies the book of Acts to be stirred into a greater faith as we learn how to advance the G...

History tells the story about Alexander the Great and how there was a man in his army who was not acting brave in battle. When he should have been pressing in he was lingering back! Alexander approached & asked “What’s your name soldier?” The man answered: “Sir my name is Alexander.” The great general looked this soldier in the eye & said “Get in there and fight or change your name!” John teaches...

John concludes this book by speaking of the reality of being changed forever! I’ve pastored this church for the last 12-years and I see the church as the family of God on earth with many needing to be connected to God’s truth. Yet, one of the challenges of our time is that people have a fascination with identifying problems and treating symptoms to feel better but never getting better!

Jacob is being called to new steps of faith and we witness that these steps of faith bring new problems & trails into his life. After his sons, Simeon & Levi take revenge upon a whole city, Jacob is driven right back into a place of fear & panic. Right in the middle of this chaos, God speaks to Jacob directing him back to Bethel, a place of worship and hearing the voice of God. Part of maturing as...

Over the years of pastoring, I’ve learned that fellowships change as God rotates His flock. Some people follow God & others don’t! Either way, God is the one who makes the adjustments as He sees fit. Here’s what it looks like practically, every year we provide & encourage a Bible reading program at the start of 2024 we provided a 2-year plan which is incorporated into the church app. So far, we’ve...

John continues on with the third test on how a child of God should understand the balance between the assurance God gives us and the warnings He lays out! We’ve been told repeatedly that God is love and we’ve also been instructed that because God is love we too should love! So what does that love look like?

What makes our faith in Jesus Christ genuine? In this section of 1 John we can understand that it’s not just that we say we’re believers, but that we act out our faith. John repeatedly says You’ve already heard this. Yet, as the aged Apostle he tells them to live out the message Jesus gave by loving each other! Challenges to our love comes from those close to us. Just like when Cain murdered his b...

Today we’re going to look at John 15 and the verse Jesus spoke to us during our week of prayer & fasting. In spite of all the hardships we encountered in 2023, God wants us to know that we’re a chosen people with His blessing for bearing lasting fruit! This truth is so simple we can overlook the fragrance of grace He is showering us with.

As we walk with the Lord, we learn that there are seasons He has ordered for our lives. Each one perfect in its time. We learn to celebrate the work of God in the timing of God! As a church, from time-to-time we remember the past by re-calling the miracles along the way. Here’s a sample of 1-year. 

On Christmas people are open to hear about Jesus & the Christmas Story. In fact, some learn that Jesus is NOT a fairy tale in a make-believe world. For the first time some people learn of the kindness of God apart from man-made religion. The gospel of Matthew ells us that Jesus came to everyday people, people who were hurting & had problems. The point is, God gives hope where HOPE is missing!

When Jesus ministered, He always brought people to a decision point. In Matthew 7 we’re coming to the end of the Sermon on the mount and as He closes, Speaking to the multitude, Jesus brings the crowd of people to a decision point. We have a choice on how we will individually respond to what Jesus taught & how HE speaks to us today. And by way of application, today’s message will focus on things t...

In this chapter we see God’s plan continue to unfold. There’s a few difficult conversations approaching. One with Jacobs brother, Esau, from 20-years earlier. When a family meltdown left emotions high and anger boiling over! The second conversation is with God as desperation leaves Jacob grasping for help. He’s in a conflict between faith & fear as the past catches up with him. God was using it as...

The bigger picture of 1 John is focused on counterfeit Christians who were trying to convince genuine Christians that a person could be saved and still practice sin. In chapters 1&2 John focused on the test of “fellowship.” Because the talk of believers was not matching the lives of believers. We’ve learned when a person says they’re a Christian it’s biblically sound to expect fruit. It’s the evid...

God has a plan that He’s working out. And in part of His plan we may sense something is happening. Tonight, in God’s unfolding plan, a course change happens as Jacob is being re-routed back to his home town after 20-years of being away. As we begin this study, may we recognize the people in Biblical history is ordinary people with natures just like yours. We can understand in this chapter, God was...

As we study the bible, we quickly learn there are two-types of storms God uses in the life of His people (Instructive & Corrective). Instructive Storms are storms to develop our faith and come as God allows difficulty into our lives. They occur as we’re in the middle of God’s will for our lives. These storms can fall on us out of nowhere! Corrective Storms are storms God brings to get our attentio...

Many of you know that we've dealt with some hardship over the past few weeks, yet we've seen God's steady hand of faithfulness through it all. As we look to the scriptures, we know the Psalmist, David, was a man after God's own heart but still had struggles of his own. From family problems with his kids, to committing adultery, and even problems with pride. David prayed for God to give him an "und...