Pastor Randy’s Blog

This past Sunday was both exciting and sad as we held our final service in our facility in Greencastle, PA, which had been our Church home for the past 9 years.  But, in preparing for this service, the Lord impressed upon my heart not to spend much time looking back, but that we were to look forward as He leads us into this new direction in Hagerstown, MD!   I invite you to tune into the message to hear what the Lord placed upon my heart for His congregation at CCCV on 2-21-10.  Enjoy!

^21 Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ^22 They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the Lord. (Exodus 35:21-22; The New King James Version. 1982 Nashville: Thomas Nelson).

This passage is a beautiful description of the response of the people of Israel when God commanded Moses to establish the Tabernacle, the place where God would dwell in their midst and where they could come and worship Him.  In recent days this passage has become very real to me as I have watched the tremendous response of the people of God’s congregation here at CCCV as they too have responded to God’s command to establish our new place of worship here in Hagerstown.  It has been an awesome thing to watch our folks step forward, without any prodding on the part of our leadership, but willingly coming and making their offerings of service and resources to the Lord’s work.  Each and every day seems to be filled with more and more people showing up to do what needs to be done to make the property God has given to us into a home worthy of the worship service that will take place here in the coming months and years!

I have watched mother holding her precious child with one arm while holding a cleaning rag with the other hand, washing down fixtures in the building!  I have watched men give up free time in the evenings and on the weekends, to come and do whatever construction and maintenance tasks need to be done.  I know of women who have gathered in the building simply to pray over the facilities, asking God to bless the work that will be done there for Him when we finally occupy the facility.  And I have witnessed what seems to be an endless Army of God’s people showing up on various days to help move furniture and other items from our present facility to the new facility.   All of these people willingly bringing their various offerings to the Lord as He establishes us in this new facility - all of it an act of worship of the God that they love and serve.  How blessed I am as a Pastor to see the heart of this fellowship, and how blessed I know God must be as He sees His people respond to His leading as they have!   What an awesome work God is doing in the hearts of His people at CCCV!

Over the past several years, in our Wednesday evening study through the Old Testament, we have been following the journey of the Children of Israel as God delivered them from their bondage in Egypt, and set them in motion toward the land which He had prepared and appointed for them.  This has been an exciting study filled with all sorts of lessons that have ministered to all of our hearts.  But now, this story seems to take on new meaning in light of the journey God has us on as His people here at Calvary Chapel of the Cumberland Valley.

Like the Children of Israel, He has taken us (a group of unknown and undeserving people) and He has called us to be His own.  Over 9 years ago He began calling us together as His local Body, and over the years since then He has continued to grow us both numerically and spiritually.  We too have been on a journey with Him (hopefully not wandering around in circles like the Children of Israel did!) but a journey none-the-less.  And now, like the Children of Israel, He has led us to the banks of a river which He has appointed for us to cross.

After ministering for 9+ years in the wonderful town of Greencastle, Pennsylvania, God has redirected our course to Hagerstown, Maryland.  He has opened a door for us to purchase a facility of our own, on the edge of Hagerstown, approximately 10 miles southwest of our current location.  It’s a place with lots of potential for expansion and growth, and it marks the beginning of a new phase of our journey with Him as His people.  In future articles I will share some of the awesome things God did that led us to this property, but for now, suffice it to say that it was clearly His hand leading us there!

But, as we face this change in direction, I cannot help but think of (and relate to) the many emotions that the Children of Israel must have felt as they stood on the bank of that river.  This change is both exciting, yet somewhat unsettling for all of us. For the last 9+ years Greencastle has been our home, and God has richly blessed us there as we’ve ministered in that community.  In many ways we’ve grown comfortable with our Church home there.  Yet, like the Children of Israel, our home isn’t some location or some building where we meet, but it’s where the Lord is, and we must always keep our eyes firmly fixed on Him, pitching our tents only where He leads us.  I like how the writer of Hebrews put it in speaking of Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-10):

^8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ^9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ^10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.   (The New King James Version. 1982 , Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

You see, like Abraham, we realize that our ultimate home isn’t here on this earth.  Even though God opens doors for us to serve him in various locations and in various facilities, we realize that ultimately these are only temporary stops along the way to the true Land of Promise which He has appointed for those of us who love Him through Jesus Christ.  In many respects we’ve already entered that land spiritually when we placed our faith in Jesus, but one day we will enter it in a physical sense when God calls us to be with Him in His Heavenly Kingdom, the place where Jesus told us that there are many mansions, and the place where even now He tells us that He is preparing a place for us (see John 14:1-4)!  This is the ultimate land where God is leading those of us who have given our lives to Him.   But, in the meantime, He does lead us to places here on the earth that He has appointed for us to be, where we can worship and serve Him.  In this regard, we are excited about where God is leading us as His local Congregation!

We invite you to come join us as we follow Him!  One way you can join us is by checking in and following along as I add additional articles to my blog, and by tuning in to the Verse-by-Verse teachings found on the “Teachings” page.  But another way, is to come join us for services on Sunday and/or Wednesday evenings.  We will continue to meet at our current location at 145 East Baltimore Street, Greencastle, PA, through Sunday, February 21st.  Then we will begin services in our new facility at 12915 Pine Hill Drive, Hagerstown, MD, on Sunday, February 28th, at 10:30AM!  We hope you’ll consider visiting with us!

Blessings in Jesus!

Pastor Randy