11
Apr '23
A Time of Revival
11
Apr '23
By Pastor Ed Grant
My very dear friends in Christ, as our newsletters are sent out quarterly, this may be my final one to you as pastor (interim).
Many of you have echoed my observation – and an exciting one – that the Holy Spirit is up to something special among us! And not only among us, but in our community and throughout our country. While the media reminds us continually about the increasing lawlessness, violence, and the foolish trashing of biblical values, revival is breaking out on numerous college campuses.
As the Apostle John declared in the opening chapter of his Gospel: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:4-5. The darkness will never overcome or extinguish the Light of the world, but “many who sit in darkness are being drawn to the Light” through our witness.
In 1973 Billy Graham led a crusade to South Korea in which 75,000 people were saved. Out of this revival, the largest congregation in the world, the Yoido Pentecostal Church, with 800,000 members, was formed. In thanksgiving for the revival they experienced and out of concern for the darkness they see in the U.S., they will send 40 prayer teams to the U.S. the first week of May. As you have already heard, they will be at Calvary Friday, May 5. I hope you plan to join us for this important event!
I am also very excited about the number of new people God is bringing to the Calvary family. There is no need for me to encourage you to introduce yourselves to them or to make them feel welcome. The report I hear again and again is that we are a very welcoming and friendly congregation. My encouragement is only that we see ourselves as magnets through whom the Holy Spirit is reaching out to friends, family, and co-workers by inviting them to worship and our other activities, through which they can experience genuine worship and fellowship.
Finally, our time of searching for a new pastor, which is approaching two years and a huge time investment by the call committee and a prayer commitment by the congregation, may be over on April 16. A morning meeting, followed by a call service at 6:00 pm, will culminate with a vote for one of two candidates. And, perhaps by sometime in June, I will find myself retired again and serving among you as a pastor emeritus. Ministry will change but, as you well know, will not end! Neither will the relationships Sue and I have enjoyed with you for almost 14 years.