Calvary On Mission | Brad McKerley | Calvary Church

So excited for all of us just to kind of

take some time to kick off the new year.

But before we kind of kick off, I want

to do something real quick. I want us to

go back. I want us to kind of look back

as a church over the last year and look

at some of the things that God has done

in and through our church. So if you are

not here, that's okay. I'm going to

bring you up to speed really fast on

several things. I'll try to talk quick

and then we'll kind of go from there.

So, uh, this past spring, uh, Calvary

celebrated 75 years. So, that was us

celebrating. Yes.

So, 75 years of God working in and

through our church. It's what's

interesting is on Friday, uh, our

family, uh, was celebrating a birthday

of, one of our kids, and they wanted to

go to a couple of the thrift stores here

in Seron. So, we went to Liberty Thrift

and I walked all the way to the back of

the store. If you've been in there,

there's this giant mural of pictures

from back in the day of Solderton. And

so, anyways, I was just back there

looking at all the pictures. People on

these I can't think of the names. And

Boy Scouts, they had the little cars,

soapbox cars or whatever, but they were

racing down like the main street of

Sadderton or something. So, I'm looking

at that and I'm thinking back and don't

know what year it was, but I was like,

"Wow, our our church was a part of this

community way back then and now we are

still part of this community." So, uh 75

years of just continuing what Jesus has

started and that's that's been a part of

us as a church. Well, not only did we

celebrate 75 years, we had Easter, we

had Kidfest, student camps, trips. Uh

then as we went into the fall, we went

into the sermon series called the story.

And what we did literally is Charles

kind of kicked it off. We started from

the beginning of the Bible and we went

all the way to Revelation and we kind of

finished up that November, but really

looking at God's story of what God was

doing in and through the world

ultimately through his son Jesus.

And in December, which was just a couple

weeks ago, we kicked off a series

looking at specific people in the New

Testament and looking at the story of

Christmas through their eyes. And so

really what the the big idea of that we

kept saying over and over again is the

king has come. But the baby that grew

up, he became a man, a perfect man that

lived a perfect life, died on the cross,

not only for sins of the people at that

time, but for our sins. And so that's

how we wrapped up December. But what's

interesting is the same Jesus that

finished the work on the cross,

he now sends his church on a mission.

And so as we go into 2026 as a church, I

believe as we look forward,

God has a mission for us. And what we

just heard is as Leo came up here,

Calvary has been a church that's been

about missions. We've loved supporting

missions, highlighting missions.

But what I would just ask you to kind of

start off this morning,

what would it look like for us to be a

church on mission? Now, what I don't

mean is, hey, we're going to host this

event and then we're going to do this

event, but what would it look like for

us, for you and for me to be on mission?

So, what I want us to do today is just

look at a passage of scripture, uh,

probably one of my favorite passages of

scripture, and just see what God has to

say for us as a church. Uh, but he not

only speaks to us as a church, but he

speaks to people that maybe do not know

him yet. And so I want to also just

recognize maybe maybe you came over

December 23rd and 24th

and you've decided to come back. We're

so thankful you're here, but maybe

you've come today just to hear what God

has to say about what God has done

through his son for you. And so if you

have a Bible, go and open it to 2

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 5. Uh we have Bibles

in some of the seats behind you. you can

turn to page 790 and we'll be looking at

it from there. Uh, initially the

passages will be up on the the screen as

I read, but I want to just bring you up

to speed. So, second Corinthians chapter

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

5,

there's a guy named Paul that's writing

to this church in this city called

Corinth. So, this is about 20 years

after Jesus had been crucified on a

cross. Uh, he had died three days later.

He resurrected from the dead, later

ascended into heaven. So the gospel had

gone out from Jew Jerusalem, Judea,

Samaria into the uttermost parts of the

world. And so the gospel had reached the

seapport city called Corinth. Now let me

explain a little little bit about

Corinth. Because it was a seapport city,

you had a very diverse group of people

there. But with diversity became

different backgrounds, different

beliefs, different religions.

And so you've got the gospel coming in

to this diverse group of people and

people are are trusting placing their

faith in the Jesus that had come and

died on the cross for their sins. And so

by the time Paul steps in, he's coming

alongside this this broken group, broken

people that were diverse, that had some

division, that had some some struggles.

And so Paul comes alongside them and

lovingly writes two letters.

And if you know anything about the

church, we and I'm I'm pointing to

myself, we are a messy group of people.

We are messed up. But the beauty of that

is it's not about us being perfect

people,

but it's about God's goodness and God's

grace and God's love and what he has

done through his son. And so as we read

today the passage, I want you to think

about this group of people, but also

place yourself in the story. Place

yourself in what Paul is pinning to this

group of people. But but he's also God

is using Paul to share this good news

with us. So 2 Corinthians 5, follow

along as I read. Paul says this says for

the love of Christ or Christ's love

compels us

because we are convinced that one died

for all and therefore all died and he

died for all that those who live should

no longer live for themselves but for

him who died for them and was raised

again. So from now on we regard no one

from a worldly point of view. Though we

once regarded Christ in this way, we do

so no longer.

Therefore, so in light of all of this,

if anyone is in Christ,

the new creation has come. The old has

gone, the new is here. Praise God.

Praise God. All this is from God who

reconciled us to himself through Christ

and gave us the ministry of

reconciliation.

And what is that ministry of

reconciliation? It's this that God was

reconciling the world to himself in

Christ, not counting people's sins

against them

and he has committed to us the message

of reconciliation.

We are therefore Christ ambassadors. As

though God were making his appeal

through us, we implore you on Christ's

behalf,

be reconciled to God.

Verse 21, God made him who had no sin to

be sin for us so that in him we might

become the righteousness of God. Let's

pray.

God, I'm

I'm humbled

uh but yet so thankful.

Thankful for this last verse

that that you sent your son and that

Jesus, you bore the weight of our sins.

You did what we could never do so that

we could have your righteousness, so

that we could have eternal life. God, I

pray that the few minutes we have this

morning just looking at your word,

may you show us who you are, may people

maybe for the first time hear and see

the love of God. May they see it through

the cross. May they see it through what

Christ has done.

But God, for us that have placed our

trust in you. May we see what you are

doing in and through us.

May that also shape uh how we live our

lives, but also how we live for you. We

thank you and we love you. In your name

we pray. Amen.

So, a couple things real quick. You may

have gotten a sheet of paper when you

come in. Uh it says sermon notes. Uh

want to just give you that as a resource

for a couple reasons. One, I'm a visual

person, so I like being able to write

stuff down, but also we want it to be a

resource for you when you leave here. On

the back, there's some discussion

questions. So if you want to kind of

walk through the passage more by

yourself as a family or if you're doing

community with a group of people, it

just becomes a resource. On top of that,

there also is a few announcements on

there uh that we want to make you aware

of. And so want to make sure you guys

have that, you're aware of that. Um it's

something we're trying out here in Seron

and our hope is eventually in Quakertown

we're going to have that resource for

for you. But as we kind of walk through

this passage this morning,

I want us to see first and foremost uh

Paul is pointing out here who Jesus is.

This is what Jesus has done for you and

for me. And so as we kind of walk, I

want us to see what Christ has done

throughout this passage. Not only then,

but what he's done for us now. So first

and foremost, we see here that that

Christ has reconciled us. And so Paul

kind of starts off the the first part of

verse 14, he talks about the love of

Christ compelling us. But then he says

this. He says, "One died for all.

That one being Jesus." And then in

verses 18 through 20, so we've got three

verses there. He says five times in

three verses, he says reconciled, reconc

uh reconciliation, and reconciling. So

five times he uses this word reconciled.

Now some of you may be going, "Hey Brad,

that's a great word."

What does it mean? So if I can if I can

use my hands real quick. So to be

reconciled means that someone is in

opposition to someone else.

And so there's they're enemies. They're

they're not together.

And so when the Bible says that that God

was reconciling the world to himself

through Christ is that God has

reconciled us. God has brought us into

relationship. Another way to think of it

is to be brought back into right

relationship.

So when we read in the Bible that that

Christ has reconciled us through his

death on the cross, we who are enemies

of God,

Christ has made a way so we can become

in right relationship with the father

again. So God has reconciled us. What I

want to be careful with is as we hear

that word,

we can think, okay, well I do this and

then this solves the issue.

Reconciliation is God's initiative.

It's not our achievement. We we don't

do. In fact, Jesus did it all. I the the

phrase someone shared with me recently

was this is God's great plan. It's

almost a great switch here that as you

read in 20 and 21, Christ bore the

weight of our sin.

So Christ took our sin. He bore the

weight of our sin

so that we in exchange the great

exchange is this that we could have his

righteousness.

When you place your trust in Christ when

he he bore the weight of our sin we now

can receive his righteousness.

That's reconciliation.

That's what God has done for us.

I what I want to do I want to I want to

stop here and uh what I want to make

sure you hear

is that when God did this it's all about

what Christ has done. It's it's nothing

we bring to the table. In fact, Romans

Romans 5:10

5:10 says, "For if while we were God's

enemies, we were reconciled to him

through the death of his son, how much

more

having been reconciled

shall we be saved through his life?

Maybe for some of you, whether you're in

person or you're online, maybe for some

of you, this is the first time you're

hearing about

what God did through his son.

I I want to just make sure we hear today

that

it's not about trying harder,

being better. It's not about adding some

religion into your life. It's not about

well if I just do this new plan or a new

set of rel resolutions.

It's simply this that Jesus did it all.

Jesus was the one that paid the price

through his death on the cross. He

stepped into our brokenness and our sin.

He's the one that did it all.

You see, the righteousness we could

never earn is freely offered to us.

It's his gift to us.

So maybe for some of you today,

maybe for some of you today, God is

calling you. God has brought you here.

You're watching online.

Maybe you need to come to the God who

made a way.

not through your effort

but through Christ's sacrifice.

So let me just let me just ask this

question.

Have you placed your trust in Christ?

Have you been reconciled to God through

Christ?

Friend,

what what better way to start 2026

than placing your trust in the one that

died on the cross and saved you? He He

bridged that chasm that was so wide that

we could never do because of our sin and

shame. And Christ is the one that paid

the price so we could have a

relationship with God. So maybe today

you need to place your trust in him.

Maybe you need to say, "God, I believe

in in your son. I believe in who he is

and what he's done." Let me encourage

you today. If if you have questions, if

if you want to know more after the

service here in Quakertown, if you're

online, jump online, send an email, but

we would love the opportunity to talk

with you and just kind of walk you

through God's word and what God's word

says about salvation, about a

relationship with God.

To me, it is the most important decision

you can ever make. And for us that have

been reconciled, that have placed our

trust in Christ, isn't it sweet to think

back to what God has done in and through

our lives. And so with that, as we talk

about being reconciled,

you see, reconciliation produces kind of

a new reality that those that are in

Christ, in fact, Christ

not only reconciles us, he has made us

new. And so in verse 16, 17, he talks

about this a little bit. He says,

"Therefore, if anyone is Christ in

Christ, the new creation has come. The

old is gone. The new is here." And

because of this relationship with

Christ, we have new life created new in

Christ. And in these these two profound

words,

in Christ,

it shows our strength and our source of

where that comes from. It's not in you.

It's not in bread,

but it's in in Christ.

We have new life

because we are created new in Christ.

But not only that, we have we have a new

heart.

Now, as again, I'm getting older. If

anyone in here has a bad ticker, we

don't mean that sort of heart,

but a new heart in that we are now

compelled by Christ's love. He starts

off this passage where he says, "For

Christ's love compels us." This this

word compel is interesting because um

this summer I got to go with some of the

the student ministry went tubing down to

Delaware and so first time ever doing

it. So I get my tube, get in and I guess

you just float. That's I didn't know.

I'm like do we have to kick? But the

Delaware has a slow kind of flow to it.

So it kind of directed us slowly all the

way down to when we got out. Great time.

Uh water was a little what's Delaware

River. So it was a little sketchy. But

but when you think of this word compels,

it's the word means it's this it's this

drive. It's this power. It's this force.

But it not only is something that is is

a force that pushes, but it also another

word that's used is constrain. and it it

directs. And so when you hear that the

love of Christ or Christ's love compels

us,

it's that the grace and love of God

because we have been changed by what God

has done through Christ. We have been

impacted so much by that that no longer

there's no more shame or guilt.

We're new. So there's now therefore no

condemnation. As Romans 8:1 says, we now

Romans 8:1

have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

We have his love that now drives our

lives. In fact, he says that we are

convinced of that so much that we no

longer live for ourselves but for him.

Let me let me ask you this question

and and again this is something the Lord

has really had to work on me about.

What what motivates your walk with

Christ?

Is it love and grace

or is it obligation and guilt?

You see, the more the more deeply we

experience his grace,

the more naturally we want others to

experience that. the more naturally we

are compelled by Christ's love as we go

out.

I'm reminded of 1 John 3:1

1 John 3:1

and I love I love the NIV the word the

NIV uses here.

He says, "See what great love the father

has lavished on us

that we should be called the children of

God."

Christ's love

compels us. But not only do we have a

new heart which is compelled by Christ's

love, but we also have a new

perspective.

As Christ makes us new, we have a new

perspective. We are changed in how we

view others. He says, "So from now on,

we regard no one from a worldly point of

view." You see, we stop seeing people as

strangers, as problems, as threats.

As Leo mentioned, we see them as

imagebears,

as people and souls that Christ has died

for.

Let me ask, who around you

is God calling

for you to see differently?

who in your sphere. So, maybe it's a a

family member that you just saw a week

and a half ago that you can't stand.

Maybe

maybe it's a neighbor that you just

you they just drive you crazy because

their dog barks all the time or

whatever. Maybe it's a co-orker, maybe

for our students, maybe it's a

classmate.

But as we've been reconciled to God, as

we've been changed by the gospel,

who is God calling you to see with a new

perspective?

You see, the gospel doesn't just shape

us, give us a new life, a new heart, and

a new perspective.

But as we have been reconciled,

uh, it also sends us. And so, lastly,

we're going to look at just three three

verses where we're going to look at what

Christ says here when he sends us.

says in verse verse 18 and I love this

reminder Paul says all of this is from

God who reconciled us through Christ and

gave us the ministry or the service of

reconciliation and he goes on to explain

that God was reconciling the world to

himself in Christ not counting people's

sins against them and he that's God and

he has committed to us the message of

reconciliation

we are Therefore, and he uses this word,

we are therefore Christ's. So, that

tells us who we are. We're Christ's

ambassadors.

As though God were making his appeal

through us, we implore you on Christ's

behalf, be reconciled to God. So, a

couple words I want to just point out

real quick. So, this word ministry, it's

not that Calvary is going to start a new

ministry called ministry of

reconciliation. This word ministry

literally means service. This is the way

we serve God. But then he also gives a

title to it which is a title we know

today this word ambassador. So

ambassador is simply someone that's been

sent as a representative.

We are appointed and sent by God as his

divine initiative. It's part of his

divine initiative.

But I think it's important that the

phrase I would use when I think of an

ambassador and this is this is in Brad's

mind. Uh anybody still get mail from the

post office? I was going to use Amazon,

but too many hands would probably go up.

So, literally when I think of like my my

dad worked for the post office after he

got out of the military. Um, he was not

a postman. But when I think of a

postman, all they do is just deliver.

They deliver. They don't they don't add.

They just if they're a good hopefully a

good postman, they put it in your

mailbox or your door. But that's their

job is they just deliver. The message or

the letter is given to them and they

deliver. is fun. Our kids uh got some uh

cards from people in our church over the

last couple weeks. And so mail is

something that's not normal anymore in

our world where people don't send mail.

But it reminded me that somebody had a

message for one of my kids for their

birthday. And so they wrote a really

kind birthday card they put in the mail

and then that postman just delivered it.

They didn't they didn't open the card

and go, "You know what? I think I could

say this better to Shay, so I'm going to

write." They just delivered the message

and we're ambassadors

of God.

Here's his message. We're simply called

to go and share that message with

others. Our goal is not to add or to

change. It's simply to share what God

has done.

And I I think it's important that um out

of this and I want to be careful because

it can sound like a go and do sort of

thing, but I think it's important to

remember that we don't share Christ to

earn his love.

Remember, it's it's not about what we

do. We don't earn. God has already

lavished his love upon us,

but we share Christ because we are

loved. It's out of that

Uh, let me let me share a real quick

real quick story. A couple weeks ago,

uh, I had the privilege of changing our

cell phone. Um, and I may get booze or

whatever. So, we had AT&T when we moved

up here. We're like, we probably need

something different. So, I thought it's

2025. Let me call and do this all over

the phone. So, I first tried online

because I'm a cool young dad and that

didn't work. So, I called

after an hour on the phone, they're

like, "You got to go into the store."

And so it's like 5 5:30. Um I'm like,

"Okay, I'm I'm not going to eat dinner.

I'm going to quickly go to the store.

This this is not going to take long."

So, wow, you got I wish I would have

checked with all of you before this.

So, I told my wife, "Hey, I'm gonna run

over to T-Mobile. It's going to be real

fast. You know, it won't take long." I

Now, to be honest with you, I'm a drive

over. I'm I'm annoyed if if I can use

that word. I'm annoyed. And as I pull

into the parking lot there, I'm like,

"Okay, I let me let me not go in being

annoyed with them because they haven't

done anything. It's not their fault."

Um, and let me back up. A couple weeks

prior to that, I had been praying

because if you don't know, I work with

pretty much all believers every week

because I work in a church. And I had

been praying, Lord sh like, help me to

be sensitive when the Holy Spirit is

working in my life. One, if I'm ever

like because of my sin trying to push

off, the Holy Spirit's trying to convict

me. But also, Lord, help me to be

sensitive if the Holy Spirit is leading

me uh to people or to have

conversations. Well, you pray that and

it's amazing how the Lord will will

work. So, I walk into T-Mobile, talk to

the first guy, and it's really busy in

there. There's three people working.

It's really busy. Within 20 minutes,

everyone is gone except the three people

working there. You've got the regional

manager and then two other guys. Well,

I'm just sitting there and I'm talking

to them, kind of asking, hearing their

story. And

two and a half hours later, so I I think

I think around se now I don't have my

phone at this point because they've now

taken hostage of my phone. It's the

great switcheroo.

So my wife is like, "He must be just at

T-Mobile."

Well, two and a half hours later,

they just start asking me questions.

And it reminds me of First Peter 3:15

1 Peter 3:15

where Peter says, "Be ready to give an

answer for the hope." Again, as

believers, we have hope because we've

been reconciled.

Be ready to give an answer for the hope

that lies within you. And I'm just like,

what is happening here? like I just

start sharing the gospel and starting

with there's a God because one didn't

even believe there's a God and just kind

of walk through this is who Jesus is and

this is what he's done in my life and I

walked away going God I had no idea that

you were sending me to T-Mobile tonight.

So, but I'm thankful I walked away so

encouraged after two and a half hours in

the store. And it's been neat to see

over the last several weeks because the

way it worked out of course that night

was I could only get one phone. Problem

is we have four people. So they're like,

"Hey, you're gonna have to come back in

a week." And I'm like, "Okay, Lord, this

is what you're doing." And so our family

got to go back and have a good

conversation with them. But I just

wonder

as we are as we are changed by the

gospel,

what if we had eyes to see where God is

sending us? And so I want to I want to

wrap up with this.

You know, we've talked about God, what

God has done through Christ, how he's

reconciled us, Christ has made us new,

but he also sends us. So, let me ask you

this question.

What is what is 2026 look like for you

as we look through this? Maybe for you,

you're still wrestling with

like what does it mean to have a

relationship with God through Christ?

But if you've been reconciled, what does

2026 look like? Maybe you need to move

from obligation and guilt. And as you

experience Christ more and more, may you

be just lavished in understanding what

that means to be grace and love of God,

that you will step into that more and

more this year as you spend time with

him.

But but I think it's important that this

year as a church, but also and I I don't

mean as a church just as a building, but

as a church as individuals,

that we we need to be shaped by the

gospel and living in reality that that

we have been reconciled to God through

Christ.

So with that said, I want to I want to

share some things with you as a church

that we are excited about this year.

Some of the things we're going to be

stepping into is some of our focuses.

So, I'm going to list off several of

these things. We're going to be talking

about this more and more as we kind of

go throughout the year. Uh, but as a

church,

I'm so excited.

Uh, we're going to be we're going to

really focus on being a connected and a

caring community. You're like, Brad,

what does that mean? Well, let me use

this for an example. So, whether you're

in Quakertown or here in Saddleton,

every week we want to make opportunities

for you to connect with one another.

So if if I can if I can make this pitch.

So whether Quaker Town, you're in one

service, Sarin, sorry, next week we're

going to be in two services at 9 and

10:30.

Let me encourage you because I I'm I'm

married to a young lady that walks

around the auditorium and gets to know

people. A lot of you sit in certain

seats. I think you all like know the

numbers of where you sit, which is

awesome. And so because a lot of you sit

in certain areas and I've seen this also

in Quakertown, you're getting to know

people in your area or maybe you're not.

What better way to create a connected

and caring community than

just maybe just maybe maybe arrive a

little bit early on Sundays

and get to know the people around you.

Ask their name, hear their story. Maybe

maybe stick around after the service and

chat with them. Maybe go grab coffee.

I'll let you know it's free out there.

So, you can go over there and get some

coffee and just get to know the people

here. But it's not only about in this

room where we go. This is where we

create a connected and caring community.

But we also want and that's one of the

reasons here at Sourin we're going to

two services is we want to give every

person the opportunity to worship, to

connect, but also to serve. There's ways

of you connecting and being part of

community as you serve. I said this a

couple weeks ago. Our kids ministry is

an incredible harvest field of people

that need to see and hear the love of

Jesus. That would be a great space for

you to jump into and serve. So, uh you

have an option now. Starting next week

here in Sourine, you can serve in

Quakertown. Uh you'll still be at 9:30.

Let me encourage you to get plugged in

there to serve and be a part of

community. But beyond that,

we think it's so important that you

connect. We want to give multiple

options for you to connect in

communities with others. So on Sunday

morning here at Solderton, we've got

starting next week at 9:00, we have an

adult ABF. All of our ABFs are up in the

300 level. Journey uh meets then I think

Oh, great. It's up here. So you also get

to see what it looks like starting next

week. So we've got

which it's not listed on there. Okay.

So, Journey ABF next week, unless

something has changed in the last 48

hours, I don't think it has. Journey ABF

is at 9:00 and then we have several

other ABFs at 10:30 that will be

meeting. The Gathering, Harmony,

Friendly Gleaners, and Baraka. So,

Sunday morning, we have opportunities,

but beyond Sunday morning, we're going

to be launching more and more small

groups here. If you're like, "Hey, Brad,

I'm new. I would love to get connected

into a community of believers." We want

to give you that opportunity. Uh so make

sure you're going to be hearing more and

more about that over the next several

weeks. We want to get you connected in

community. I've said that to me as we

look towards the future of Calvary. What

I would love for people in the

community, but also in our church to say

is, man, Calvary is a church that really

cares about their people and they care

about this community.

Uh let me let me share just a couple

other things real quick. Uh, and then

we'll wrap up. Uh, as we talk about

being reconciled to God and and Christ

sending us, I I want to highlight this

because I think this is so important. As

a church, not only do we want you to

hear about this on Sundays, but we also

want to equip you so you can go out and

share the gospel with others. So,

starting in a couple weeks, we're going

to be offering evangelism training on

Wednesday nights here at Solderton. Uh,

let me say I did, our family did this

last summer. uh with one of the local

missionaries that we support, Nate Sims.

And I will say that the T-Mobile

conversation was greatly shaped by the

training that we sat in with Nate. So,

let me encourage you to do that on

Wednesday nights if you're available and

free. Uh this would be a great

opportunity for you to get equipped and

trained. But beyond that,

uh, what we want to do as a church is

there are dozens and dozens and dozens

of T-Mobile type conversations happening

by you weekly.

Like you guys are out there talking to

people about what God has done. We as a

church would love to hear that. So email

the church, talk to us. We would love to

hear how God is using you to to share

the gospel with others.

Lastly,

I just want to I want to ask this

question. Who around the corner and who

around the world is God sending you to?

Maybe it's a neighbor. Maybe it's a

classmate. Maybe a co-orker. Maybe it's

somebody in your own home.

Maybe it's someone you haven't met yet,

but God is already preparing their

heart.

What if let me let me ask this question.

What if what if each of us just started

praying for one person that God lays on

our heart and in 2026 we just pray God

whether it's through me or through

someone else. May they not only see the

love of Jesus but may they hear about

the good news of Jesus. What if as a

church

we all prayed for that and what if God

answered that this year and that they

came to faith in Christ?

Please hear this is uh this is this is

really our heart. Our heart isn't to

fill this room. It's not to get Calvary

bigger.

Our heart is to fulfill what God has

called us to. Is Paul's plea was not a

command. It was a plea to say be

reconciled to God. And what if this year

part of God saying, "Calvary, you're on

mission this year to go out and share

the good news of Jesus." Church, I'm

excited for 2026. I'm excited to see

what God does, not only in and through

us, but also what he does in our church.

Let's pray.

Father, we

we thank you

thank you for even the reminder today

through through song but also through

your word of

of what you have done uh through your

son God. It's all about you. It is it is

simply

um the gospel of what Jesus Christ has

done for us. God, thank you for uh your

work. Thank you for now as we come up on

76 years as a church. May we be a group

of people that continue what Jesus

started. May we walk out of here today

overwhelmed with your love, overwhelmed

with the fact that we have been

reconciled to you through Christ.

And may we just take the good news of

Jesus out of here so that others can see

and know it. We thank you and we love

you. In your name we pray. Amen.