Living Waters of Grace February 24, 2026

This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark

Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,

County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he

continues teaching through God's Word.

This church was a very strong serving church.

They served one another. They were steadfast.

That meant that they endured under trial.

We know that John said in the ninth verse of the 1st chapter

that he was their companion in the tribulation.

Not the great tribulation yet, but there was persecution and

trials happening in the church at that time.

But they weren't giving up this this church in Ephesus.

They were very sacrificial and how they used their ministry and

their offerings. The theologian Henry Beecher

said in this world it is not what we take up, but what we

give up that makes us rich. This reflection on service and

sacrifice for the Lord stands in stark contrast to the attitude

of the world around us. Where the world says get, the

Bible says give. Where people say mine, Scripture

says that all things belong to God.

In today's message, Pastor Clark presents us with a reminder that

we, the church, are called to love and serve one another.

As an example of what Christ has done for us now, here's Pastor

Clark in the Book of Revelation chapter 2 with today's edition

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

of Living Waters of Grace. As the Lord looks at the church,

he's looking for a church that has certain ingredients in that

reflect his nature and who he is.

And so he begins to write to this church in Ephesus and he

says some positive things about in the beginning, he says these

things, says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand,

who walks in the midst of 7 golden lamp lamp stands.

I know your works, your labor, your patience that you cannot

bear those who are evil. You've tested those who say

there are apostles and not and have found them liars.

And you've persevered and have patience and have labored in my

name's sake and have not become weary.

So he's making some real positive statements here.

The Lord knows the works of this church.

What they're doing is right. It's good, it's solid.

It's it's it's important, it's biblical.

And he's complimenting for them for that, that they have

patience, that they're waiting on his leading and they're not

going out doing things in their own strength.

They're also very, very sound biblically and doctrinally.

They don't put up with those who are evil and they test those who

claim to have certain spiritual gifts or callings and prove that

these people aren't telling the truth, but that they're liars

and they're persevering. This is a time of tribulation

and persecution in the modern church world.

When this was written in Ephesus, Ephesus, Ephesus today

is nothing but rubble. Basically, from the standpoint

of historical Christianity, there isn't a strong presence in

Ephesus for the the gospel of Christ like there was in the

beginning here. And as we look at the church

today, these churches that are represented in Revelation are

symbols of modern day churches as well.

These were actual churches back then that existed that he's

speaking to. But today, as you, as you study

this book together with me, take some notes and think about, OK,

Lord, what's Calvary Chapel in Greensburg like?

When we look at the list of the churches, what things are we

known for? What things are happening here

that are reflecting an approval from the Lord and how He sees

His church and how He wants it to be?

This church was a very strong serving church.

They served one another. They were steadfast.

That meant that they endured under trial.

We know that John said in the ninth verse of the 1st chapter

that he was their companion in the tribulation.

Not the great tribulation yet, but there was persecution and

trials happening in the church at that time.

But they weren't giving up this, this church in Ephesus.

They were very sacrificial and how they use their ministry and

their offerings and their focus was helping those who have never

heard the gospel. We know in Acts chapter 20 that

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Paul talked about this church when he referenced the fact that

after I leave, ravenous wolves will come in from the outside

and also among you and try to divide the flock and destroy the

the work of God. And many times when the term is

used, ravenous wolves, this isn't people who are false

believers or people who are outside of Christ.

Many times people in churches have egos and they argue about

the stupidest things. They fight about things that

aren't important, like carpeting and, you know, altars or organs

or stained glass. I mean, it's a big deal.

You know, say we had to get a new carpet here.

Some churches fight like what color the carpets going to be

and if 30% of the women went blue and 40% went red and the

rest don't care and you get the red in there, sometimes 30% of

the people leave because of the color of carpet.

I mean, we've had people in this church leave for like reasons

that don't make sense. I like what RC Sproul said years

ago and it stuck with me. He said there's three reasons

you leave a church. 1 Heresy, two, sexual immorality and

financial impropriety, and three, false doctrine.

Those are the only three reasons you leave a church.

You don't leave a church because someone was rude to you, or they

didn't smile or say hi or shake your hand, or the sermon was

boring. You leave for biblical reasons,

OK. And the problem in the modern

day church is that Protestants, the word Protestant means

protest. So if we don't like what's going

on in such and such a church, we protest and we leave and we

start another church, right? That's why there's like 20,000

different Protestant denominations today.

There is only one church. And one day that church will be

clearly defined. When Christ comes back and sets

his Kingdom up, we'll be at his feet and he'll say this is

church one church no more 3. Down this way 4.

Down this way five over here 1 church with him being the head

and all of us at his feet, but I guarantee that that church that

Christ comes back and shepherds will be characteristic of some

of the things that is being pointed out here by the Lord

himself to the apostle John. These people toiled without

feigning. I think of what it means to plan

a church, and we're still in the church planning stages right

now. We look at everybody on the list

that comes here pretty consistently.

We have about 143 people. That's kids and adults.

I mean, that's amazing compared to where this church was three

years ago. And it's just incredible what

kind of people God sending in here to this church.

The people that are coming are mature.

They know the Word, they are interested in getting deeper in

the Word, but they're also interested in participating in

the ministry. As Rick alluded to.

Where can I serve, Where can I be used?

What can I do? How can I share my gifts, my

skills, my abilities, my talents?

And that's the mark of a healthy church.

It says in Ephesians 4. When every part does its part,

it makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself

together in love. And so the church is a body of

believers. Christ is a senior pastor, I'm

an assistant. Howard's an assistant, Rick's an

assistant. But Christ is the head and we're

all at his feet and there's nobody here but him.

We're all the same, at the same level, but different calls and

callings and different abilities and different skills and gifts.

But whenever you do what it is that God's called you to do in

this church, all the sudden the church becomes healthy.

It's not dependent upon Clark anymore or Rick or a couple

people that seem maybe in the outward to do a lot of stuff.

It's everybody that comes here, from the youngest kid to the

oldest person. I mean, the young kids have a

ministry here whenever parents come in and they see a nursery

that's well equipped and, and clean and, and people that know

what they're doing in Sunday school classes that are loving

teachers and sound Bible teaching and clean and

organizing women's studies and men's studies.

You know, they, people come in and, and they see all the parts

of the body working together, someone outside shoveling and,

and someone, you know, helping with the Lord's Supper running

sound. They're running, you know,

singing and worship. And, and, and this sometimes a

part in the body is a, someone that comes in that's new, that

you go up to him and say, Hey, I'm glad you're here.

It's, it's nice to see you. What's your name?

You might be the only person that Sunday that has a chance to

connect with someone else. And that's the body of Christ.

That's the love that's being manifest in the, in the midst of

the church. And so how does a church grow?

And I'm not talking numerically, of course, God does grow

churches numerically. But what's the purpose of the

church growing numerically? It isn't to be a big church.

The purpose is that people were being called to do ministry,

right? They're coming to the church to

not sit in a Pew, but to say, what is it that I can do?

How can I serve? How can I help?

What's what's my gift? Like this fellow that's moving

in from Idaho, He told me, Clark, I can help.

I like to do evangelism. And he says I'm an I'm an usher.

And you know, he just has a heart to serve his his son's 16.

He says, boy, I hope he can maybe, you know, be involved

helping in a worship. I said, sure, he can.

He can talk to Rick. And you know, there's no rules

here that you have to jump through 30 hoops before you can

serve the Lord. You have to be born again.

You have to love the Lord and love people and be walking with

him and God will use you right. It's real simple, but that's the

focus of of of a healthy church. And so these people also told

without feigning and that means working in spite of seeing

results. This keep showing up, keep doing

what it is that God tells you to do.

And God's the one that brings the harvest in his time.

They also had this sacrificial heart and I think of as a small

church, how you guys give of your time and how you give

financially. It's a blessing.

We never have to beg for money. We never have to push about

money. The Holy Spirit is the one that

puts it on your heart what it is that you're to give.

And that's between you and the Lord.

And it's a wonderful thing to be able to give freely without

condemnation or without guilt. And as we know we can't ever out

give God. I mean, I challenge my own heart

as the Lord prospers me. I always want to advance what it

is I personally sacrifice before the Lord.

And sometimes we all can think, well, if I didn't give as much

as I gave to the church, I could be driving a new car.

You ever think that the payment I could be using for.

I mean, that's ridiculous. Don't think that way, but our

flesh sometimes sinks that way. It's just normal for all of us

because we're still human. But it's cool to be content with

what we have live within our means, actually live under our

means. My dad taught me that many years

ago. He was a president of a company.

And one of the big shots from this chairman of the board said,

well, Clark, how many acres do you have?

And my dad says I got a probably about 1/4 of an acre.

And they expected my dad, because of the position he was

in, to have a big mansion and all that.

My dad lived in a very modest home.

He turned down the company limousine.

He drove a Ford Pinto station wagon.

He didn't park in the director for the president and he parked

somewhere else. It's just my dad set that

temperament for my brother and I as an example.

He was a very, very sacrificial, humble man.

And what he did with his resources and finances was

always for the sake of helping other people and never consumed

with himself. That's an amazing individual.

But anyway, Ephesus, this is the kind of church they have.

They are, but it says in verse 4, then the accusation comes in

spite of all the good things they're doing.

He says, I have this one thing against you.

You've left your first love as a pastor.

I have to continually keep myself in the love of God.

I'm like you guys, I got a wife, I got children, I got

grandchildren, I got son in laws, I got a job, I got all

kind of things that my mind can get focused on.

And those are all good things to be focused on, but sometimes I

can allow things in everyday life to take my focus off of my

relationship with the Lord. You know what I mean?

If I don't start my day with the Lord and walk with the Lord

through that day and end my day with the Lord, my heart will not

be full of this first love. My relationship with Cindy, 38

years of marriage. There was years, I have to admit

to you people, that I was not loving her the way Christ told

me. I'm to love His church the way

He loves His church. And so I was inadequate in the

sense of my emotional connection with my wife.

I was there. I showed up, I paid the bills, I

did whatever her husband's supposed to do, but I was not

connecting with her needs as a woman in the sense of her

emotional needs. And so the reason I wasn't, I

was focused on my job and my career and my success and my

golf clubs and my time and this and that and my Ford Thunderbird

or whatever. And, and I sacrificed some years

that I look back on. I say, Lord, it's only your

mercy that you kept us together all these years.

But God was merciful. He broke me and he humbled me

and he gave me an amazing woman that stood beside me and never

gave up on me. And so 38 years I can say to you

guys today, honestly, I love Cindy today more than I love her

when I first met her. She is an amazing woman.

I I never tire of looking at her face when I wake up in the

morning. I never look at her and say why

did I end up with her. Now she might say that about me,

especially now with my scar now, but but you know, that's a work

of God's Spirit. It's a work of his grace and and

and it's nothing I've done, but it's as I've yielded myself to

the Lord and won his will, not mine.

He restores to me the joy of my salvation and to you too.

And so the the but I have to work on my relationship with

Cindy. When she asked me things and

says things, I got to listen and I got to say, OK God, how am I

to respond here? Sometimes I have to admit she

still drives me crazy. I said I know I drive her crazy

at times too, but that's just two people that are different

living together in the same house, being married.

We're still different even after 30, but there's so many things

that we're a lot alike. When she fell and broke her

shoulder, the Bible says the two shall become one flesh.

I noticed the next day my shoulder was hurting.

It's really bizarre. And then one day I'm like on a

business trip and I running out of Panera Bread because I forgot

my wallet and I'm wearing these clogged shoes and I was running

faster and the shoes stayed with me.

All of a sudden I knew I was falling and I started going like

this man. I banged my hand and thank God I

didn't break anything. And I called her later and told

her what happened. She was man, my arm, my hand was

hurting today. I mean, this, it's just weird

how you know that there is this element of this, this one that

we have in this relationship. But I look at that love with my

wife life and it's parallel to how my relationship needs to be

with the Lord. If my love with Christ is where

it needs to be, I guarantee my love with Cindy will be where it

needs to be. But if my love with Christ isn't

where it needs to be, I'm not going to be able to be what it

is she needs me to be as her husband because Christ is not

the center of my life. And so every day as a husband,

as a father, the grandfather is an employee, as a pastor, all

the roles that I have. And you have many different

roles too, as men and women and children.

I have to persevere and keep myself in the love of God.

The Scriptures actually say to keep yourself in the love of

God. So my devotion to Jesus has to

be above everything else. And when I look at the church

and I pray for you guys every day, I go by the names and the

list. I think, OK, where are they with

the Lord or where aren't they with the Lord?

That's not an outward judgement. It's just like God.

I pray that they're digging deep into you and they're finding in

you everything they need. That's the heart of a pastor.

That's the heart of the Lord for all of us.

He wants you, me to be in love with Jesus.

And if we are, he knows our lives are going to be whole and

satisfying and protected from sin and destruction and stupid

moves and decisions. So my devotion to Jesus and the

Church of Ephesus, he's got this concern that in spite of all

this outward biblical stuff they're doing, they've moved

away from loving Jesus. And when you love Jesus, you're

fervent about him. You're uninhibited, you know,

you got a friend, the neighbor or relative.

You're not like, oh, should I tell him about the Lord or

should I bring it up? Man, you could care less what

anybody thinks. You just want to shop from the

rooftop. Jesus is Lord, I love him.

Jesus did this for me and he did that and I prayed.

And you don't care if people think you're nuts because you're

so in love with the Lord. But it when you find yourself a

little bit inhibited, embarrassed maybe about your

faith, wondering if it's going to affect your relationship with

people. You're moving away from your

first love. Whenever you don't have a desire

to read the word and to be in the word, not because we're

going through the Bible day by day through the Bible at the end

of the year, you can say, hey, I did it, but you're going through

it because you can't wait to hear God's voice to your heart

for today, fresh mana for today. Something God's giving you this

for your relationship with him. As I got those verses into that

surgery, boy, that was so important.

I said, Lord, I need a word from you.

I need you to give something to me.

And he did, and I held it in my pocket by my heart so I could

look at it and be reminded of his faithfulness.

The relationship has to be personal.

The husband can be father on in the Lord or the wife and and

that's not good because you can't go in the fumes of another

person's relationship. You guys can't live on the fumes

of a sermon for a week. Hopefully it spurs you and

encourages you and gives you a little bit of encouragement,

right? But you're going home because of

your relationship with Jesus that you had prior to even

coming to church on Sunday and you're walking close with him.

It's like the couples in the honeymoon when you first met

your, your spouse or the person you were going to eventually end

up marrying. You couldn't wait to see them.

You were on the phone with them texting.

I remember Justin damn met each other in eHarmony.

How many hours did you guys spend on the phone?

6A hour day plus they're emailing.

I mean, I mean, it was crazy, you know?

And that is the picture of the relationship with our Lord, that

we are talking to him all day long and we're never hearing

something that we've heard before.

We're bored. It's a it's a, this is a

wonderful relationship, But whenever you start to take each

other for granted in the relationship, or do you ever

take the Lord for granted? Oh, yeah.

I'm going to go to heaven someday.

That's nice. You know, Lord loves me.

Yeah. Eternal life.

That's great, but everything else is crowded out the

excitement of what that all means.

You're beginning to take Him for granted.

You're moving from your first love when life begins to be

routine and boring and uneventful and this a drag.

You've left your first love and then your relationship with the

Lord is in danger when you're neglecting worshiping God and

worship. This isn't here with Rick and

the guys on Sunday morning. Worship is in your car with your

CD. Worship is in your home with

your Bible open where you're just praising God, God and

thanking him for how much he loves you and all that he's done

and, and how great he is and how he's created the universe and

how he has his hand on everything that's going on in

the world at the same time with every life and every individual.

It's just mind blowing. And so you worship God and

you're, you're loving God. You find yourself serving God,

giving of your your livelihood for God's work, helping brothers

and sisters, helping neighbors. And helping people that don't

know the Lord doesn't matter because you love the Lord.

Dan and I were digging this woman out yesterday and she was

like I said, well, where you got to go?

She's like, how old is that Lady, 80s or something?

Yeah, she's out there with a shovel.

And you know, we say, hey man, no, we'll, we'll do it until

we're over there helping. I said, where you going?

She said I got to go to Mass. I said, when she said 4:00, I

said in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are

absolved. You can stay home.

She thought I was kidding. I said, no, I'm a pastor.

You just take it easy. The Lord knows you can't get out

here today. And she was so determined to go,

but we were digging her out and, and she says, oh, I can't, I

feel so bad. I'm making, I say, hey, we're

doing this because we love Jesus.

We're doing this because of him, you know, and I said, plus you

have some of those pizzelles in the house and those cookies.

And she said, all I do is she was all excited.

She went in and got him and brought him out to us, you know,

but but seriously, you know, we, we just did it because it's part

of this. What you do is as a follower of

Christ and you love him. And the Bible told the church in

Ephesus, in the book of Ephesian Ephesians, that they were seated

with Christ Jesus in heavenly places.

That's our position right now. Spiritually, you're in the

heavenly places with Christ where everything that is His is

yours, where we can't be lifted up any higher than He has us

right now. It's incredible what our

inheritance is in Christ. But where are you with that

right now, today? Where is your relationship with

the Lord? How are you doing with Jesus

Christ? He warns them that if they don't

repent, and I talked about repentance pretty extensively

last week. Repentance is the realization I

can't live like this anymore. I can't go through this

spiritual fog like this anymore. I'm done with this waste of time

and energy and things that aren't going to last.

And boy, I'll tell you when, when you, when you're dealing

with some kind of cancer or some kind of life potential problem,

you start realizing how short your life is, right?

All of us and one day all of us, I don't care how young you are

in here, you're going to be in a grave if Christ hasn't come yet

and your body is going to rot and you're just going to have

bones in there. I mean, there's nothing left.

Your spirit will be with the Lord.

The Bible says to be absent the bodies, to be present with the

Lord, everything you live for. And if it isn't for Christ is

all going to be a waste. It's all going to burn.

And I think as God gives me days on this earth, my whole desire

is for you guys and for his work.

That's the focus of my heart. I want to be around God willing

for my kids and to see my grandkids grow up and to see

them follow the Lord. That's that's the passion and

also that the days that I'm living, even though I got a lot

of things like you guys work and all these other things that can

destroy. I want my life to count for

eternity so that whenever I'm done and I stand before the

Lord, we can hear well done, good and faithful servant.

But he's warning them if you don't repent from where you've

fallen and whenever your first love isn't there, you got to

admit you're backslidden. He says repent and go back and

do the first works or I will come to you and remove the

lampstand from its place unless you repent.

Doesn't mean you're losing your salvation, but it means your

ability to influence the community as a church is gone.

In the Book of Revelation, Pastor Clark is taking us

through all kinds of events and happenings that are predicted

for the future. But for those who believe and

follow Jesus, there's much to look forward to in heaven with

Jesus. However, for those who are here

on earth during the Tribulation, there's all kinds of chaos that

will unfold. The Bible talks about an

Antichrist, a false prophet, and of course, that evil enemy,

Satan. Do you see how there are such

clever attempts for the enemy to disguise himself as God and even

the Trinity? The true Savior of the world is

God and how He comes to rescue through his triune nature God

the Father, Jesus the Son, and God the Holy Spirit?

Just like Satan tried to take over for God in heaven and was

cast out, Satan will try to convince people on earth that he

is the Triune God to be worshipped instead of the

legitimate God in heaven. It's an attempt, and although he

will capture plenty in his schemes, he will not win.

The true God wins, and Revelation unpacks how that will

all happen in detail. Be encouraged because there's a

way out for all of this madness that will ensue on this earth.

But you don't want to wait indefinitely to make that

decision about Jesus. We don't know when the church

will be raptured, and you want to be ready to be with Jesus.

To learn more about this, head over to calvarychapelonline.com.

We're so glad you've been with us today.

And if you'd like to connect further with this ministry, find

us on Facebook or YouTube. You can also download our mobile

app at calvarychapelonline.com. Be sure to join us for weekly

services at 400 E Pittsburgh St. Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601.

This has been Living Waters of Grace.