Pastor Allen's Blog

Ives at Calvary this weekend

2008-02-15T16:13:00.003-06:00

Ives, a modern rock band from No Cal, is leading worship all weekend at Calvary. Check out Ives' website. Click here for service times or here for directions. We're also starting the three-week series RE_think_fear. What are you afraid of?

Links

2008-02-06T22:46:00.000-06:00

If you enjoyed Ronny Simon's presentation at Calvary Austin tonight, check out these links to a seminar he did for us in 2003.

To follow Calvary Austin's own Doug Van Pelt as he blogs from Uganda starting February 10, click here.

Ives will perform at Calvary Austin February 16-17. Check out their website here.

Phil Wickham this weekend!

2008-01-16T17:52:00.000-06:00

Guest artist Phil Wickham is leading worship this weekend. Click here for times. Check out Phil's website and his myspace. Read Phil's blog.

Link to resource

2008-01-07T17:20:00.000-06:00

We talked about lots of stuff in our services this last weekend. One of the things we talked about is why God would want us to wait until we're married to live together. I mentioned a resource published by Rutgers University. You can download the pdf here.

It's Christmas!

2007-12-22T10:23:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting in a corner at Starbucks putting the finishing touches on the weekend message. Christmas music is blaring from the speaker positioned strategically over my head. But it's all good because (1) I love it loud and (2) Christmas music makes me that nostalgic kind of happy.

This weekend we're doing all three regularly scheduled service times. We'll be talking about the original Christmas villain: King Herod. Herod made Grinch and Scrooge look like Cub Scouts. Calvary Chapel Magazine is sending a photographer to take photos for an article they're doing in 2008 about our church. So you have to come! We have to represent!

Then don't forget about Christmas Eve. We're offering two, identical, hour-long Christmas Eve services starting at 5:00PM and 6:30PM. Christmas music. Video. Brief message. Candle lighting Calvary-Austin-style. There will be no childcare. Everyone is invited into the auditorium for this special service!

1st Wednesday/Dedication Service

2007-11-06T21:55:00.000-06:00

On the first Wednesday of each month, Calvary Austin gathers to remember Jesus by taking communion (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). We call it 1st Wednesday. This month there is an added element. As Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem to God some 3,000 years ago (1 Kings 8), we will dedicate our new worship space, too. Join us Wednesday, November 7, for . . .

Worship with Toby Walters
Video greeting from Chuck Smith
Dedication message and prayer
Communion
Buffalo-style chicken wings donated by Wingstop

There will be a celebration for the kids, too, with pizza, games, and a movie! I hope to see everyone who calls Calvary Austin their church home participate in this one-time event. It all starts at 7PM. Come early and stay late! Click here for location.

No-Excuse Weekend at Calvary!

2007-10-31T17:49:00.000-05:00

Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend. Don't forget to set your clock back one hour before you go to bed on Saturday. With all that extra sleep, you might even make it to first service on Sunday! Nice.

Grand Opening weekend

2007-10-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

So this weekend is our grand opening. We've met in our new worship space for the last two weeks but it was under the radar. Lots of tweaking still to be done. It could take several more weeks to address lighting and sound issues. But temperature shouldn't be a problem with installation this week of a new thermostat.

This weekend has been three-and-a-half years in the making! It was Spring '04 when we began talking about the need to build momentum toward a move north. To all who stuck with us through the ups and downs, I say thank you! To all who gave sacrificially toward and worked tirelessly on the new space, I say thank you! To our staff, our architect, and our general contractor, I say thank you!

On Wednesday, November 7, we'd like to have a 'dedication service' of sorts to recognize, by name, many who did so much to make this happen. Most of all we give God props! He put His desire for us into our hearts and then enabled us to accomplish it together. We'll never forget these experiences moving forward, trusting God for what we could not see.

This afternoon, between 4:30 and 5:00, I will be on The Word 99.3FM talking about how we got our new space and what a God-thing it was. Check it out!

1st Wednesday

2007-10-02T15:23:00.000-05:00

No 1st Wednesday this week. Will resume November 7. More to follow.

This IS it! It's a GO!

2007-09-27T16:32:00.000-05:00

This is it! We're meeting at our new worship space in Pflugerville this weekend! Join us for our first ever service in our new space Saturday at 6 p.m. or Sunday morning. Click here for all service times. Click here for directions. It's a go!

Is this it?

2007-09-24T16:54:00.000-05:00

We are scheduled to begin meeting in our new worship space in Pflugerville this weekend! (Click here for location.)

Is this it?
Will we get a temporary permit this week?

Check back later this week to be sure.

Don't forget that, if we move, the first service in our new space will be Saturday evening! (Click here for service times.)

Last weekend I mentioned that a church called Diakonos will be moving into the space we're vacating in North Austin. To learn more about Diakonos, visit their website here.

One more weekend!

2007-09-17T07:36:00.000-05:00

Only one more weekend in North Austin! We are scheduled to begin meeting at our new worship space in Pflugerville September 29-30 with our grand opening taking place two weeks later. If you missed our second Sonic-style video last weekend, watch them both here. This weekend we'll debut the third and last one. Click here for gatherings.

Two more weekends!

2007-09-12T22:32:00.000-05:00

Only two more weekends in North Austin! We are scheduled to begin meeting at our new worship space in Pflugerville September 29-30 with our grand opening taking place two weeks later. If you missed our Sonic-guys-style video last weekend, watch it here. This weekend we'll debut a new one. Click here for gatherings.

Three weekends to go!

2007-09-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

Only three more weekends in North Austin! We are scheduled to begin meeting at our new worship space in Pflugerville September 29-30 with our grand opening taking place two weeks later. Don't miss the next message in our Relocation series. At this weekend's gatherings, we'll be talking about David, king of Israel c. 1000 BC.

ONLY FOUR MORE WEEKENDS IN NORTH AUSTIN!

2007-08-28T07:42:00.000-05:00

We are often asked whether minors can volunteer to help us finish our new worship space in Pflugerville. That is so cool that families want to work together! Unfortunately, due to liability risks for our general contractor, volunteers at the new site must be 18 or above. But that's not the end of the story! There's much to be done to get the North Austin site ready for departure. Minors are welcome to volunteer to help pack the old site, etc.

Relocation as metaphor

2007-08-23T09:41:00.000-05:00

Our current message-series, Relocation, is all about people dealing with wanted and unwanted change before, during, or after a move. So the idea is relocation as metaphor for change. We've received a number of questions about the metaphor or even how we chose the examples we did, etc.

So far we've talked about Abraham, Lot, and Joseph.

They departed from and arrived at different places.

Abraham relocated from Ur to Canaan.
Lot from Sodom to Zoar.
And Joseph from Canaan to Egypt.

They relocated under different circumstances.

Abraham had a choice.
Lot had little choice.
Joseph had no choice.

Abraham is mentioned over 300 times in the Bible. Of the last 14 chapters of Genesis, Joseph's story takes up all but one. So, in a single message, we provide backstory but focus on some pivotal part of the story. For example, in Joseph's case, we presented his relocation to Egypt as backstory and focused on his pivotal interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams resulting in his relocation from prison to palace.

This weekend we get Moses who relocated several times.

Egypt to Midian
Midian to Egypt
Egypt to Canaan

The Egypt-Midian-Egypt part will be presented as backstory. We'll focus on the pivotal event that delayed the arrival at Canaan by decades. If you want to read ahead, you'll find the story in Numbers 13-14. See you at one of our weekend gatherings!

Miami

2007-08-13T12:18:00.000-05:00

Spent the weekend in Florida. Was invited by Calvary Chapel Miami to speak at a singles retreat in Bonita Springs Friday and Saturday and to speak at the church in Miami Sunday morning. Had a great time. Saturday evening we were treated to authentic Cuban food at Versailles Restaurant and Bakery. Amazing! Loved it! After dinner, we sampled Cuban coffee at the bakery. It's like espresso and liquefied sugar cane. Instant caffeine and sugar buzz. Nice.

After a driving-tour of Miami and a great night's sleep, I shared the Abraham message from the Relocation series. There was one particularly poignant moment as I spoke Sunday morning. Several people in the audience wept as I described how hard it must have been for Abraham to consider leaving his extended family in Ur. These were people whose families fled Cuba. People who, all too often, had no choice but to leave loved ones behind. Loved ones they may or may not ever see again.

If you think of it, pray for these modern-day Abrahams and Sarahs. Pray that God would comfort them and that, God willing, they would one day soon be reunited with their loved ones. And pray for my new friends, Razz and Estelle Vazquez, who are doing such a great work in Miami.

Fastest growing large cities

2007-08-02T14:11:00.000-05:00

Austin was recently identified as the third fastest growing large city in the United States. If you are one of the 19,000-plus who moved here last here, you probably know a thing or two about relocation stress. You can't relocate from one place to another without experiencing both wanted and unwanted change.

As our church prepares to move less than ten miles to our new worship space in Pflugerville, we've been thinking a lot about this. In a brainstorming session, members of our staff began throwing out names of men and women in the Bible who relocated. We stopped when we hit two dozen. Turns out the Bible is filled with the stories of people who discovered that there's transformation in relocation.

Join us as we begin our final message series before relocating from North Austin to Pflugerville. Each week we'll take a different person's story beginning with Abram in Genesis 12. Not only will this series prepare us to move north together but it will speak into each of our lives as we face wanted and unwanted change all the time.

Where the Streets Have No Name

2007-07-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

A recent Gallup poll shows that four in five Americans believe in heaven. And heaven is a huge part of popular culture. Think of songs like "Heaven" by Los Lonely Boys. Or "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton. Or "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2. What does the Bible say about our eternal home? That's what we're talking about this weekend as we conclude our message series revelation.

More momentum!

2007-07-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

We are building momentum and, as a way of valuing our volunteers and updating everyone on the progress being made on our new worship space in Pflugerville, we showed a short video this weekend that you can watch here. If you'd like to give us even more momentum, you can volunteer here or give here. Stay tuned for announcements regarding our upcoming grand opening!

Got curb appeal?

2007-07-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year Calvary Austin purchased new worship space in Pflugerville next to Pflugerville High School (see location). Build-out is well underway and moving rapidly (read blog - see pics)! By late summer/early autumn, we will be gathering in our new space. What will it look like from the street? When you park and make your way toward the entrance, what will you see? Find out this weekend as we unveil the entrance design that will give this space a distinctive Calvary Austin vibe (see gathering times)!

Calvary Austin in the news!

2007-06-17T07:11:00.000-05:00

In case you missed the baptism yesterday, we got some love from the Austin American Statesman and Fox 7 News. See Statesman photos of the event here. Watch Fox 7 video here.

Baptism today!

2007-06-16T10:01:00.000-05:00

This afternoon we will baptize as many as 100 people at Emma Long Metropolitan Park. Hundreds of worshipers will gather on the shore of Lake Austin and, at 3 p.m., those being baptized will begin making their way into the water. This is the way followers of Christ "go public" with their faith, by going deep in the baptismal waters.

ABOUT THE WEATHER: It rained early this morning and it looks like another round of showers is on the way. Hopefully it will clear out before the baptisms begin. But here's the thing: It's a baptism - you're supposed to get wet! And here's a little secret about Lake Austin: the water, usually very cold, is much warmer after a good rain.

CHURCH TOMORROW: You don't want to miss church tomorrow. Guest artist Toby Walters will lead worship. And we will continue our summer series - revelation - by looking at what Revelation 8-9 tell us about the future on planet earth.

Baptism

2007-06-04T09:24:00.000-05:00

With our summer baptism less than two weeks away, we did something we've never done before. We took an entire weekend to talk about baptism. At our weekend worship gatherings, we answered the questions you may be asking. Where does baptism come from? What does it mean? Who should be baptized? How does Calvary Austin do it? When should I get baptized? In case you missed it, you can watch it here. You can also find a link to highlights of last summer's baptism here. If you are a follower of Christ and you've never been baptized, then join us at Emma Long Park Saturday, June 16. This is church-wide event. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. Picnic starts at 11 a.m. with live music and baptisms at 3 p.m.

Q & A

2007-05-22T07:55:00.000-05:00

Our summer message series - revelation - is now in progress! Last weeekend we overviewed chapters two and three which contain seven letters dictated by Jesus to John and written to real first century churches. We said that these letters can be explored on three different levels.

On one level, we can explore what the letters meant to the real first century churches to which they were written.
On another level, we can explore how these letters might apply to our church.
On still another level, it has been suggested that these letters are something like time-lapse photography of Church history from New Testament times right up to the Second Coming of Christ.

A couple people who heard the message have asked me whether I think the letters were written to and relevant to the seven real first century churches. The answer is yes! Definitely! First and foremost! With each letter, I tried to develop that context before moving on to application, etc., but should have been more clear. Excellent question and I appreciate the opportunity to clear up any confusion.