Pastor's Point:  a word from Senior Pastor Joe Marquez

Beloved Saints,

You may have noticed our name change from Northwest Calvary Chapel to Grace Calvary Chapel. The primary reasons for doing this were not only because of our location and our recent move, but also because we desire to emulate the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in our lives and in our fellowship.

Our relationship with Christ is based solely upon His grace and not upon our achievement. I mention this because today’s study on the Sabbath reminds us of the various ways in which legalism attempts to impose itself on the church.

For those of us who grew up in a religious environment, we were often given a list of dos and don’ts, which we failed miserably to keep. This is what we call legalism, which is how religion attempts to regulate a person’s behavior. Simply stated, the truth is that we cannot keep the law. We are lawbreakers and we desperately need a Savior.

This is why pure Christianity is founded on a personal relationship with a loving God, who sent His Son to die for the sins of the world. Jesus died to free us from the bondage and the penalty of sin. Thus our relationship with Christ frees us to love and serve Him out of gratitude, and not because we must keep the law. It is a love relationship, founded on the fact that we love Him because He first loved us!

Because of His Grace,
Pastor Joe