Calvary Hot Springs

Exalting Christ Through the Ministry of the Word

Covid-19

To Mask or Not to Mask… That is NOT the Question

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Thinking Out Loud

A recent conversation brought to light that some believers find it necessary to “mask shame” those who wear face masks in public places, even to the point of name calling. That bit of information has been at the forefront of my mind and heart ever since. A brief chat this morning added further that “mask shaming” sometimes comes through unintentional but thoughtless remarks. And then, sometimes opinionated comments posted on social media the night before makes for awkward conversations the next day.

Of course, this is contrasted by “non-mask shaming” in return (I just made up that term). Questioning ones character, challenging the genuineness of their love as well as their intelligence because they are non-mask wearers. And then, it wouldn’t be complete until some meme or some article is posted with the intent of ridiculing all the crazy people out there.

This grieves my heart… and as a Christian, it ought to grieve yours as well. To be perfectly honest, it actually just frustrates the living daylights out of me. Obviously the scriptures make no mention of wearing masks or not wearing masks, but it does address the matter in principle.

Three portions of scripture come to mind when I think on these things, 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, and Romans 14. Each deal with, among other things, dietary practices that were neither right or wrong. That is, the particular matter causing division was not an issue of sin. It was more a matter of conscience than anything else. You can and should read each passage yourself. But let’s briefly touch on a few things Paul brings out, using Romans 14 as our source.

First, we are to welcome one another, but not to quarrel over opinions (1). The emphasis: Our union in Christ trumps our personal opinions… (period) (vs.1)

Second, we are not to despise the other because, who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another (the Lord being His master)? (vss. 4, 10-12)

Third, whichever side of the issue we fall, we are to be fully convinced in [our] own mind doing it in honor of the Lord (vs. 5-9)

Fourth, we are to pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Simply put, you are to pursue the good of the other before yourself (19-23).

Finally, we are to remember that the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men (17).

We barely scratched the surface of the passage, so I STRONGLY encourage you to take some time to read through Romans 14 thoughtfully and prayerfully, and with the desire for the Lord to do a work in you.

Essentially, the Bible teaches us to keep the main thing the main thing. It warns against becoming distracted by non-issues. We are in spiritual warfare together, and unless we walk circumspectly, we will be entangled with the affairs of this world (matters with no eternal significance)… we will be entangled with face masks. In turn we lose sight of our brothers in Christ. We lose sight of the mission set before us.

If you wear a face mask, wear it unapologetically, with the conviction that by God’s grace you are behaving in the most prudent and gracious way before men and before the Lord. Guard your mind and your heart with regards to those who don’t wear a face mask. Be gracious in your heart toward them (Ephesians 4:2).

If you do not wear a face mask, do so with meekness and grace as to the Lord. And do it without ignorant presumption of His protective care. Guard your lips. In love, carry a face mask with you and put it on when necessary for the sake of others. Do this, not because you have to, but in order to serve others before yourself (Philippians 2:4).

If your brother or sister has offended you, graciously speak to them about it. Don’t assume that they should know better if you have not pointed it out to them. If you are approached because you have offended someone, humbly keep your heart in check, pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding and be reconciled (that’s almost biblical) (Romans 14:19; Matthew 5:23-24). 

Remember, the union with Christ you share with one another and the loving unity realized in the Spirit is infinitely more the main thing than any opinion you may hold regarding the Corona Virus and wearing a face mask.

Soli Deo Gloria! (To God Alone Be Glory!)

Worship Together

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with the desire to worship together… even when we’re apart

Good morning Calvary Church Family! Here are a few links that might be a help you in your time of worship this morning and throughout the week.

Music

Isaac put together a playlist of music that you can watch and sing along. Of course, there are many selections from which you can choose on YouTube, but be encouraged to be selective in your choices. Listen to the lyrics to be certain the music is teaching biblical truth and not merely christianized humanism. Music is a powerful medium God has provided for our enjoyment and His glory. Use it wisely.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb7h2q-xTYuXE88oyv6robrGVaNtbhUU_

Study

Our weekly study in the book of Romans has been a refreshment for the soul. This week will be in chapter 11, a chapter  designed to humble us as we see why God has chosen to save us. Make the effort to join us at 8:30 via Zoom. If you would like to join us, please can contact us for the details needed to do so.

Just a note…

You can access the entire Zoom study of Romans on our YouTube channel. Go to YouTube.com and type in the search Calvary Hot Springs.

Sermon

Our weekly sermons are pre-recorded and uploaded in time for you to view it on Sunday mornings. They are usually available at 6:00 Sunday mornings. Again, you can use the method just previously noted or use this link… https://www.youtube.com/feed/my_videos
This week our study is in 2 Corinthians 2:12-17, where Paul discusses the Triumphal Procession the Lord allows the believer to enjoy.

Giving

Thank you for your faithfulness in giving. Here are three ways you can give…

We continue to meet in person each week, and although it’s been sweet to be with one another, there is still a sense of an incomplete gathering. We miss being with the church as a whole, but look forward to maybe one day. But even if you are unable to join us corporately, you can still be in contact with individual members for the sake of encouragement and edification. I trust that you will.

Because of Calvary,

Pastor Matt

Worship Together, May 24

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Calvary Church Family, whether online or in person, come and join us this Sunday morning as we worship the Lord together. Below are the links for our Zoom Studies and Sunday Message.

Worship in Music

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Here is a Playlist you can use to worship in music.

Worship in Bible Study

Morning Study at 8:30

If, by chance, we have trouble again, check your email right away for updates.

If you live far away, or would otherwise like to attend Sunday School in-person, you are welcome to join us! Just be sure to pay special attention to hygiene and distancing since we will be together for a longer period of time.

Take some time beforehand to read and meditate on Romans 2:6-29.

Out of caution, we do not publicly provide information regarding our Zoom meetings. However, we would love to have you join us. If you’d like the information how to join, please contact Isaac Stanley or the church office.

Ladies Study at 2:00

The ladies are studying the book of James, using notes provided by Jen Wilkin.

Again, we would enjoy your participation in this study. If you’d like information how you might join in, please contact Sheri Coleman or the church office.

Worship in Preaching

THIS LINK will take you to our YouTube Channel from where you can select this morning’s message, “The Wisdom of Godly Fear.” The video will be available at 6:00 this morning. 
Have your Bible open to Joshua 9.

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel. This will keep you updated when we post new videos.

You can also access the audio and/or video files from the recorded teachings on our website.

Worship in Giving

Giving the firstfruits of our resources is a genuine form of worship, expressing thanksgiving for God’s blessing and dependance on His provision.
Missionaries are still  being supported and bills are still being to be paid. Here are a few options for giving your tithes and offerings.

  • Mail a check made to: Calvary Baptist Church, PO Box 957, Hot Springs, SD 57747
  • Call Pastor Matt at (605) 890-1428 or Isaac at (805) 602-2990 to arrange to drop a check by the office.
  • FOLLOW THIS LINK to give online. It will take you to a secure site where you will be able to pay by CC or eCheck. 

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.Brothers and sisters… love one another.

Pastor Matt

Worship Together, May 10

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Calvary Church Family, whether online or in person, come and join us this Sunday morning as we worship the Lord together. Below are the links for our Zoom Studies and Sunday Message.

Hope you have a wonderful Mothers Day!

Worship in Music

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:1, 31–32

Playlist
Call to Worship… Our Song from Age to Age

Adoration… Our Great God 

Confession/Gospel… How Deep the Father’s Love for US

Assurance… He Will Hold Me Fast 

Response/Trust…Now Why This Fear 

Worship in Bible Study

Morning Study at 8:45

Our new study in the book of Romans begins this week. You might read Romans 1:1-17 to prepare your heart.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8920933036pwd=UmgvbGJ5UWVySnVsbDJHMmFVVDBZZz09

Meeting ID: 892 093 3036
Password: 512919

Ladies Study at 2:00

The Ladies will not be meeting today.

Worship in Preaching

Take THIS LINK to our YouTube Channel from where you can select this morning’s message, “God’s Grace Extended.” The video will be available at 6:00 this morning. 
Have your Bible open to Joshua 8.

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel. This will keep you updated when we post new videos.

You can also access the audio and/or video files from our website: https://calvaryhs.org/resources/teachings/

Worship in Giving

Giving the firstfruits of our resources is a genuine form of worship, expressing thanksgiving for God’s blessing and dependance on His provision.
Missionaries are still  being supported and bills are still being to be paid. Here are a few options for giving of your tithes and offerings.

  • Mail a check made to: Calvary Baptist Church, PO Box 957, Hot Springs, SD 57747
  • Call Pastor Matt at (605) 890-1428 or Isaac at (805) 602-2990 to arrange to drop a check by the office.
  • FOLLOW THIS LINK to give online. It will take you to a secure site where you will be able to pay by CC or eCheck. 

I trust you continue to seek the Lord in the Scriptures each and every day and that you being creative as to how you might minister to one another… albeit from a distance. Continue to pray, which allows us to minister to one another… no matter where we are.
Brothers and sisters… love one another.
Pastor Matt

In-Person Gathering to Resume

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Dear Calvary Church Family,

Following the guidelines of the Hot Springs City Council and the state of South Dakota’s “Back to Normal” plan, we intend to resume our on-site meeting at 10:00 this Sunday morning, May 10.

For your sake and for the sake of others, if you are in a higher risk group, are feeling sick, or have been in contact with someone who is sick, please consider staying at home until a later date.

If you are not yet comfortable gathering in a group, don’t worry. We intend to continue our Sunday studies online and will be posting the sermon to be available on YouTube, just as we have been doing in isolation.

Here are a few details about Sunday…

Regarding Services

  • Adult Sunday Studies will NOT resume in person. We will continue to meet via Zoom. However, to accommodate those attending “in person” the service at 10:00, we will begin at 8:30 rather than 8:45. Feel free to join Isaac at the church if you would prefer to study in person for for Adult Sunday Studies. The Ladies Study will continue to meet via Zoom at 2:00. If you have not yet availed yourself to these studies, now is as good a time as ever. While the ladies continue their study in the book of James, the auditorium class will begin this Sunday in the book of Romans. These are opportunities YOU SHOULD NOT MISS.
  • Corporate Worship – To allow you to keep up with our study in the book of Joshua, the weekly sermon video will continue to be posted on YouTube to view at home.Because there will be NO Little Lambs and NO nursery, the in-person gathering beginning at 10:00 will be abbreviated to conclude at 11:00.

Regarding Logistics

  • We will post greeters at front door so you don’t need to touch the doorknob. If you would like to volunteer for this, please text me at 605-890-1428.
  • We will be sure to have sanitizer available at various locations.
  • We will place the offering plates at the back table rather than passing them.
  • We will have the Communion elements at four different stations.
  • We are asking you to seat yourselves in a way that allows about 6 feet between your family (or you) and others.
  • We are corporately agreeing NOT TO SHAKE HANDS. Instead, we will greet one another using the Hawaiian “shaka” sign (knuckles always toward the other person). 

Regarding Grace

Without question, one of the key issues to be addressed in both personal and corporate life is how we view and relate to others who do not view the Covid-19 pandemic in the same way. This is especially true for brothers and sisters in Christ. Those who take strict measures regarding hygiene, social distancing, and such, may at times consider those who don’t as ignorant and “unloving.” Those who believe things to be “not as big a deal” as others may at times consider those who are more strict as paranoid and perhaps “lacking in faith.” The truth is, when it comes to relationships, what you believe about Covid-19 is not the primary issue. The primary issue is God’s glory through your grace in love toward one another.

We will resume our in-person gatherings this Sunday. If you disagree with this decision, I am asking you to be gracious in your heart, in your words, and in your actions. Continue to join us in worship online and pray for us to have godly wisdom as we try to prudently navigate these matters. If you choose to attend, but believe we are going over the top with the precautions being taken, I am asking you to be gracious in your heart, your words, and in your actions. Follow the guidelines with kindness, considering those around you. Wherever you find yourself in this matter, remember this – as a Christian, life is not about you. As a Christian, your life is all about God’s glory in you and through you; and there is no better place for this to be manifested than in your relationships in the body of Christ. Guard your heart! Refuse to allow our differences to divide us. Instead, give thanks for one another and rejoice that the body of Christ is made up of all sorts of people, including the weird ones.

Whether online or at the church, I hope to see you this weekend interacting with God’s people around His Word.

Because of Calvary,

Pastor Matt

Worship Together… kind of

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Calvary Church Family, join us tomorrow, March 29 as we worship the Lord together, although in separate locations. Below are the links you might need.

Worship in Music

These are YouTube videos that you can sing as part of your family worship. All the videos either have the lyrics in the video itself or in the description under the video. You are encouraged to gather your family and sing along.

Call to Worship
Psalm 147:1 – Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.

Adoration and Glory of God
A Mighty Fortress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnOLz1u-7T4
Behold Our God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqrli3Lkf58

Confession
Cling to Christ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0naB3Nb7boE

Gospel Assurance
Turn Your Eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJDELcuYX3g

Response
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiEqKpN90W4
Christ Our Hope in Life and Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OibIi1rz7mw

Worship in Bible Study

Starting promptly at 8:45 in the morning. We are using the Zoom app to allow for student interaction. If you are using your computer, the link below will open in your web browser. If you are using your phone, you will need to download the app to use it. Come with your Bible turned to Deuteronomy… and be sure to dressed, as you will be on video. 🙂

If you’ve not received the link via email, please contact Isaac or Matt.

By the way, the ladies plan to begin a new study next Sunday afternoon in the book of James.

Worship in Preaching

Here is the link that will be available at 10:00 tomorrow morning. Have your Bible open to Isaiah 52:13-15.

WORSHIP IN GIVING

If you are wondering how you might give of your offerings, here are some options.

Mail a check made out to Calvary Baptist Church to PO Box 957, Hot Springs, SD 57747

Drop a check off at the church office on Monday through Thursday. Be sure to call first at 605-890-1428.

Follow this link to give online. Note that there is a 2.9% transaction charge when using a credit card and a 1% transaction charge when using an e-check (you enter you routing and account #). This IS a secure site.

Thank the Lord for the technology that allows us to continue to minister to one another… albeit from a distance. Even greater for prayer. It allows us to continue to minister to one another… no matter where we are.

Brothers and sisters… pray for one another.

Meeting Online

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Hello Calvary Church Family,

As of 12pm yesterday, we are no longer physically meeting as a corporate body until the medical authorities give the go ahead to gather once again. Although we’ve not yet missed a Sunday gathering, I’m already looking forward to it.

Along with our Sunday morning gatherings, Awana Clubs, Trek and Exploring the Cults are no longer meeting.

I wanted to take a couple of minutes to share with you some of the things our elders and ministry leaders have in the works that we hope will allow us to fellowship and to interact with one another as the body of Christ. We are in uncertain times, therefore we must, as God’s people endeavor all the more to encourage and to edify our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Each Sunday morning we encourage you to join us online for the reading of the Scriptures, for prayer and for the preaching God’s Word. We will not be attempting to recreate online what can be experienced only in a physical gathering. Therefore, we will not be live-streaming worship in music. You’ll receive an invitation to join us via email and/or text.

Both the adult Sunday Studies will be conducted on the Zoom platform, which allows for class participation. The teachers will contact you with the details about how to get connected.

Don’t neglect this opportunity to be together. It is important, it is valuable and it is God ordained that the local church continue steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship and in breaking bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42).

The elders and ministry team leaders will be calling to check on you and to pray with you throughout this time and we trust the Lord will use it for your edification.

I invite you to be intentional in reaching out to your brothers and sisters in Christ to be a blessing. Grab your church directory and begin to pray for one another. Send and email or a text, give a phone call, offer to pray with them or to read the scripture with them. 

King David wrote in Psalm 133, Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

Christian unity describes a oneness of spirit, a oneness of purpose, a oneness in hope because of the common bond we have in Christ.

Re: COVID-19, March 21

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This is a brief update regarding COVID-19 and Calvary’s Sunday gatherings. While there are several factors that come into play in our decision making, the primary (although not exclusive) source comes from the South Dakota Department of Health, the Office of Governor Kristi Noem and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Links to the most frequented sources are listed below.

We will, once again, be meeting this Sunday, March 22, for Sunday Studies and morning worship. If you are comfortable doing so, please come and join us. This may be the last time we gather as a congregation for awhile.

If however, you are not feeling well, have traveled, have come into contact with sick people, or are susceptible to Coronavirus please stay at home. Even if you just prefer to stay away from larger gatherings because of the pandemic, stay at home (it’s not a sin to do so).

If you are unable to attend however, I STRONGLY encourage you to take some time, especially on Sunday, to gather with your family for worship. Perhaps you can use technology to do this with another family who is staying home. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Take some time to read the Scriptures together, to pray, to sing, and to listen to the Word of God preached. You can access the most recent sermons from Calvary HERE.

Whether you gather with us this Sunday or choose to stay away, be encouraged to take the Spirit prompted opportunities to practice one another-ness (Love one another, serve one another, bear one another’s burdens, serve one another, admonish one another, encourage one another, etc.). Make a phone call, send a text, send a card, pray with one another, and whatever creative ways you may come up with to minister to one another. Others need your care, and you need the encouragement that comes from caring.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 3:1–2

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem

South Dakota Department of Health

Resources for Large Community Events & Mass Gatherings by the CDC

Mitigation Strategies for Communities by the CDC