Early in my ministry, I learned an important principle. It goes like this: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” If an organization is going to be effective, it must remain focused on what is essential and not become distracted by less important concerns. That’s also true for the church. It is all too easy for the church to expend its energy on things which are good but, in doing so, become distracted from that which is of first importance.

For almost two years, the leadership of Calvary Church has been engaged with Vision New England to intentionally focus our life and ministry on the core of what it means to be the church. One result has been a new vision statement which reflects what God desires to be the core of our ministry: Calvary Church: A Christ-centered community living God’s Kingdom through Loving God, Loving Others, and Making Disciples.

We are called to be a community of believers, centered in Jesus Christ, who are seeking to live and extend God’s purposes in our own lives, in our life together, and out into the world. The primary way in which we do this is through growing in our love for God, our love for people, and in drawing others more deeply into this life of discipleship.

But how does this happen? It happens as we focus on the “main thing,” which is the gospel. The gospel is the good news of God’s grace and mercy revealed us in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. The gospel is the good news that we are accepted and brought into God’s Kingdom by grace alone. The gospel is the power of God to save us, transform us, and use us for his Kingdom purposes.

As we come to understand the amazing love of God revealed in the gospel, our hearts are moved to respond by loving him in return. As we truly grasp the length to which that love was willing to go for us in Jesus, we are set free to love others in a deeper way. As we experience the transforming power of the gospel in our own lives, we are compelled to draw others into the life we have found in Jesus by making disciples. The gospel is, indeed, the power of God for salvation—not just to get us into the Kingdom, but to live and experience all that God has for us.

This fall, we are exploring the power of the gospel to bring radical change to our individual lives and to our life together. It has been and will be the focus of our Sunday morning messages. In addition, close to 100 adults and young people are currently involved in groups focused on the study of the Gospel Revolution. Part of that study is a four-part gospel prayer to help train our minds in the pattern of gospel thinking:

1. “In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more,
and nothing I have done that makes You love me less.”

4. “As I pray, I’ll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection.”

Join the gospel revolution by making this a part of your prayer life this fall that God would increasingly make his “main thing” our “main thing.”

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Steve