Core Values
When Calvary Chapel becomes a footnote on the pages of church history, I hope it is for this that we are most remembered… that we lived out God’s grace!
Max Lucado writes, “I have never been surprised by God’s judgement, but I am still stunned by His grace.”…
Just as grace was Christianity’s unique contribution to the world. Grace can also a be the special contribution that you and your Calvary Chapel can make to your community…Make your church a grace place!
When God created mankind, He did so male and female. The man and woman were equal in value and status. God made us with distinction. He gave diverse roles to men and women.
From the first page of the Bible to the last, God reveals Himself in the masculine gender. By each gender’s faithfulness we spell out heavy, eternal spiritual truths. But these roles can only be understood and appreciated by God’s vantage point. You have to get above human logic.
Pastor Chuck has said, “All we have to stand upon is the Word of God…Either it’s God’s Word or it’s not God’s Word…it’s either our guide or it’s not our guide… I don’t have to agree with it, I just need to follow it.”
Whether or not a pastor tackles his teaching verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book upon book is up to him. There are Calvary Chapel pastors who do it different ways at different times.
Here is what I think is the crucial issue: In the pastor’s heart, does he respect the Bible for what it truly is, and what it is able to do? If a pastor holds a high view of Scripture, he will handle the Bible properly.
All pastors of all churches should believe that the Bible is inspired, inerrant and infallible in the original writings…And if you believe this about your Bible, you will realize that ALL the Bible – the whole enchilada- is important.
The Christian church was never meant to be a highly-efficient organization, but a living, breathing organism. We are the lungs for the breath of Jesus. We are the hands for the heart of Jesus. We are the body for the mind of Jesus. The Lord is active today, through His Church, but His presence and power are conveyed by His Holy Spirit.
Whether our movement (Calvary Chapel) settles and fossilizes, or whether it keeps moving forward, hinges on our reliance on God’s Holy Spirit.
All Calvary Chapels should pray for the fresh fire of the Holy Spirit. We as pastors, tend to look for a template to model, or a manual to follow. We even travel to conferences to discover the “secret formula”. There is only one problem: there is no secret formula! God refuses to be reduced to a formula, and He certainly doesn’t fit into a box! If you’re looking for a template or formula, instead of leaning on the Holy Spirit you’re trusting in man-made solutions.
The “Pre-trib rapture” of the Church has been a lynchpin in Calvary Chapel’s history, and it will also be a key to our destiny.
Sure, there is a lot we do not know about Jesus’s coming, but there are some things we do know:
- We know He is coming! He will snatch away His church.
- His return is eminent – that is, it can happen at any moment.
- Nothing else needs to occur prophetically before we see Jesus.
- His coming will take place when people least expect it; when life on earth is business as usual.
- We know it is God’s heart to deliver His people from His wrath.
Paul tells us, “to wait for (God’s) Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Christians are subject to this world’s tribulation, but spared God’s tribulation on the world.
When you find a pastor who lives humbly, and has a servant’s lifestyle, it is because he has chosen that path. Every pastor has a thousand justifications, and a thousand voices telling him that he deserves more. A true servant is a leader who makes the deliberate choice to die to himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus.
God employs tough times to weld strength into his character. Then, at the appointed time, he fills that man with the dynamic of the Holy Spirit, and uses him mightily.
All pastoral leadership rises or falls on the humility and maturity of the leader… “As the Master, shall the servant be.” To be like Jesus, we need to find ways to knock the worldly dust off others, and become a blessing in tangible ways.
CORE VALUES
These are the core values shared among Calvary Chapels.
Sandy Adams is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Stone Mountain in Atlanta, Georgia. The church started in 1980 with Sandy, his wife Kathy, and five single adults. Over the years the Lord has blessed Calvary Chapel with solid and steady growth. God has used the church and Pastor Sandy to disciple believers in Jesus, and spread His love and truth around the world.