Kakadu said:
So I was looking up some information about a Bible study I am working on, and I found a link to Bible studies done by the Calvary Chapel crew. I like a lot what they talked about and how they presented the material. My reason for this post, is I was wondering if there are any people that are with a Calvary Chapel Church, and would let me know what they are about.
I have read what their Theology is about, but are they charismatic? Do they speak in tongues? And any other information that people would like to tell me about this group of believers.
Thanks
Kakadu, I attend Calvary Chapel and find them to be very Biblically based. I very much enjoy the sermons at Calvary Chapel and to this point, have not heard any unbiblical teaching. I am an exmormon so I am very careful now to take what I hear in church and then read it in the word of God for myself to make sure that the teaching lines up with the Bible. I was in a cult once, don't want to go back to another one. The pastor at our calvary Chapel is Brian Micheals and He is very much a Bible believing, trinity preaching pastor. The sermons he does go from one end of the Bible, verse by verse and very imformative and he reads the scripture to the congergation as we read along. They have Bibles at the church so that anyone who did not bring there Bible can grab one on the way in and read along with the sermon and yes, he does read each verse in His sermons. As far as the worship style of the church, it is modern worship. The praise music would be songs you would hear from jars of clay, Mercy Me, Rebecca ST. james, newsboys, ect. but they are all about God. You will see some people raise their hands during worship (singing), some will just stand, some will remain seated, some will hold there arms out and some will just rest their arms by their side or on the chair in front of them. Once in awhile you will hear someone say, "Thank you Lord" or "I love you Jesus" and you will hear a lot of amen and praise God, but it isn't yelling and screaming hesteria, just a shout out to the Lord of praise. I have never seen anyone roll in isles, jump up and down while "slain in the spirit", scream, or run around. As far as dress attire, you will see women in jeans, skirts, dresses and capri pants and dress slacks. You will see men in dress shirts, t-shirts, jackets, jeans, dress pants, baggy kaki's and I have even seen guys who have just come from the gym on Saterday nights in their sweat pants and muscle shirts. There is a little bit of everything at calvary chapel as far as dress attire goes and also as far as worship style. People that are there just go to worship God and learn His word and they really don't seem to care what anyone is wearing or how they worship. CC does believe in gifts of the spirit but you will not see it practiced at a CC like it is practiced in a "Full Gospel Church". After service is totally over, people can go to the front of the sanctuary and others will pray with them, talk with them, ect. One thing you will probably not see at a CC is the pastor smacking someone on the head and saying, "Devil be gone, you are healed". That just isn't how it works at CC. Here is a link where you can listen to sermons and worship service at a CC.
http://www.calvaryradio.com/
One thing I do encourage you to do, and I would encourage this no matter what church we were talking about but is to either email or call the pastor of the CC you would be attending and ask him personally what His beliefs are on the Bible and the nature of God. Ask Him if He believes in and worships the trinity of God and His views on heaven and Hell. Ask Him what his beliefs are on communion and baptism. The reason I say to ask these things is because as we all know, churches can vary from congergation to congergation and it is so important to know what your pastor believes so you will not be led astray by false teachings. At our CC, we have communion Mon.-Fri. morning and every 1st week of the month. Our church is very big so it can make communion a very long process but our pastor feels it is vital to be able to partake of the Lord's supper, so they offer it weekday mornings for everyone who wants to come partake. Our church also encourages water baptism when someone comes to Christ and hold large baptisms every month.
Like I said, give the pastor of the local cc a call, pray for God to speak to your heart while you talk to this pastor and compare what He tells you with what the Word of God says. If the 2 match up, it is a good thing, if the don't....that is your answer right there.
God Bless YOu,
GRace
