Created To Worship

"not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 3:5,6)



Our website says, WORSHIP LIFE CALVARY CHAPEL is a community of faith, hope and love under the Lordship of Jesus Christ who desire to know God through His WORD, love God through our WORSHIP and reflect God through our WITNESS. We want to be a church that understands worship. That loves to worship. That lives a life of worship. I believe we were created to be worshippers. Everything that we do as believers is really an act of worship. Evangelism is declaring the greatness of God to those who don't yet have a relationship with Him. Encouragement is reminding each other of God's greatness in our lives. Even the study of the Word of God is for us to get to know God intimately which results in expressions of worship. Worship is the central purpose of the Church.



Graham Kendrick, the founder of March For Jesus, says that everybody worships. Whether it is a hero, possessions, success, pleasure, a political cause, a carved idol or oneself, the way we live and behave makes evident the things we love and give ourselves to. It is in our very nature to worship, and that inner drive is God-given; the disaster is that as part of a fallen race, we have replaced the object of our worship. To be converted to faith in Jesus Christ is to return to the worship of the true God, and to dethrone all rivals to His authority. The very heart of worship is the giving, not only of our talents and goods, but of our very selves. The very words used for worship in the Bible are not adjectives or nouns, but verbs. Verbs mean action. Worship is not something we watch, it's something we do. It's a full contact sport.
My prayer for you is that you will discover how much God loves You. That you will experience the heighth, the depth, the width, the breadth of His love and in doing so that you will become a passionate worshipper of God. God loves to make worshippers out of rebels. He loves to make believers out of doubters. He's in the business of busting down all the myths that we believe about Him and setting us free to follow Him with everything that is within us. The primary way He does that is through His Word. I want to encourage you to go through the Bible this year with us. Let His Word get into your life and watch how it will transform you into a passionate worshipper of God.
We have started webcasting our services. You can view them at USTREAM. You can also catch up on studies that you've missed or perhaps your following us from a distance at VIMEO. We appreciate all the emails, tweets and facebook posts. They are a great encouragement to us.




Roxie and I are praying for you...
Blessings
P.HD

highlights from our anniversary

"I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. 13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? 14 You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. " (Psalms 77:12-14)

There is a song that's been etched in my heart since Sunday. It's a song that Chris Lizotte played at the end of the service. The chorus of the song simply says... How great is the love of God. How great is the love of God. That simple chorus perfectly expresses what's in my heart when I think about the last year of ministry at Worship Life Calvary Chapel. Roxie and I have seen a great outpouring of God's love in our lives unlike any other time we've every experienced together as a couple. We are overwhelmed at how good God is and how much He love each and every one of us. Here are some of the things that really stood out for us...

The service began with a video montage that included words of encouragement and blessing from Kim Hill, Kathy Koch, Levi Lusko, Carl Tuttle and Pedro Garcia. I first met Kim Hill at Estes Park and I've had the joy of serving with her in ministry. She is the real deal and an blessing to Roxie and myself. Kathy Koch has become a friend as well and what I appreciate about Kathy is her sincere love for Jesus. She has blessed Roxie and I in such huge ways. I had the privilege of serving in ministry with Levi Lusko at Ocean Hills when Skip Heitzig was the pastor. He is doing an incredible work in Montana at Fresh Life Church. Levi is one of the bright stars on the horizon of the next generation of preachers. Carl Tuttle has been a worship leader hero to me for years. As a young worship leader, he was one of the ones I hoped I could be like when I grew up. Over the years he has become a friend and I truly love his heart for God. Pedro Garcia is such a passionate preacher of the gospel. I was introduced to Pedro through a mutual friend - Dennis Agajanian. Dennis wanted me to become his worship leader, but instead one of the worship leaders I mentored - Nate Meyst - became his worship leader. Nate's wife Chrissy was my assistant at Ocean Hills. I feel such a connection with Pedro's church and I'm proud to say that Pedro has one of the best worship leader's in America.



Chris Lizotte led worship. I don't know how to put into words my appreciation for Chris. As a worship leader, I am really sensitive to the strengths and weaknesses of fellow worship leaders. Chris is one of those worship leaders that not only has amazing skill, but also has an infectious love for Jesus that inspires me to worship. It was such a gift to Roxie and myself to have him at our one year anniversary. I hope to lead worship like Chris when I grow up. Click on the WORSHIP link below to see Chris in action.



We had another video montage that included Carl Westerlund, Tony Logan and JP Jones. Carl Westerlund has known me since I was sixteen years old. I would go up and minister at his Baptist church in Julian. He was also the director of the School of Ministry where I graduated from many years later. I so appreciate Carl's encouragement in my life. I'm so honored to have Carl serving on the board of our church. Tony Logan is probably one of my closest friends. I don't know many weeks that have gone by where I wasn't talking to Tony. He also serves on the the board of Worship Life Calvary Chapel. JP Jones is the pastor of Crossline Community Church, but he is also one of the central figures in our history as a church. JP Jones blessed us with a trailer, racks and a stage for our brand new church plant. Through his generosity God showed his love and grace to Roxie and myself.



The third video montage came from David Rosales and Dave Rolph. Roxie and I had the joy of having breakfast with David and Marie. We have grown to love their heart for God and they have been such encouragements to us. Dave Rolph is one of my heros in the faith. When Roxie and I came under intense attack from the enemy, Dave put his reputation on the line for us and I will never forget that. He is a true friend. From his perspective he just stood for the truth, but to us he demonstrated God's grace. He also oversaw my affiliation process with Calvary Chapel and was such an encouragement to our church.



Then came the message from John Milhouse. Now I need to say that I really didn't know John prior to 2010. But I need to say that they have become one of the greatest sources of encouragement to Roxie and I over our journey in planting this church. To most people John's name would be non-descript. But he has built a solid church of several thousands in Moreno Valley... a town that many would consider as "hard to minister in." But through years of faithfulness to God and with no one except the Lord to guide his steps he has built one of the largest churches in the community he serves by the grace of God. His words to us were timely and transforming. The morning ended with one of my favorite things to do... praying for people. Tear filled eyes of folks laying down their burdens at the cross. I'll never get tired of that.

There were some from our church family who weren't able to make it for various reasons, so the service is available online in two places. To see just the message CLICK HERE. To see the webcast of the entire service CLICK HERE. We are looking forward to what the Lord is going to do in the coming years.

Roxie and I are praying for you...

Blessings

P.HD

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WORSHIP LIFE....

"one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. " (Philippians 3:13-14)

Worship Life Calvary Chapel was started in response to the leading of the Holy Spirit that was confirmed in extraordinary ways. Our passion has been to develop a community that desires to know God through His Word, love God through our Worship and reveal God through our Witness. As I look back over the year I can honestly say that we are well on our way to making this a reality by the grace of God and by the power of His Spirit. We are a church that is built on the uncompromising teaching of God's Word. We are passionate worshippers and growing in our expression of worship. We are becoming unashamed witnesses of God's grace and love in our lives. All I can say is Praise The Lord for all that He has done.

As much as I love what God has done, I'm even more excited about what God is doing and will do in the months and years ahead. We're off to a good start, now let's get ready for the next leg of the race. There is so much to pray for, lives to lead to Christ, so much to accomplish and each and every one of you are vital to the mission of seeing San Clemente transformed by the gospel. As we look to the future I want to encourage you to get into God's Word on a daily basis. I want to encourage you to purchase worship music and fill your cars, homes and work environments with songs of praise. I want to encourage you to incorporate prayer into your life on a moment by moment basis. I love the quote by Smith Wigglesworth who said, "I can't pray for more than 5 minutes at a time but I can't go for more than 5 minutes without praying." I want to encourage you to fall in love with Jesus and discover His grace in your life. His unmerited, undeserved favor. Finally, I want to encourage you to come to Bible Study on a regular basis. Now there are many in Orange County that go to five or six Bible Studies and so they think they're in the Word all the time. But there is something different that happens when you commit to a local church and you're not only hearing the Word, but you're also placing yourself in relationship with other believers who will get to know you and be a source of encouragement to you.

For those of you who have been part of our teaching ministry on Sunday's and Wednesday's you'll understand that I'm not asking you to step into some legalistic trap of religious works, but I'm asking you to position yourself in a place where you can receive a greater revelation of His love and grace for you. How do we do that? By listening to Him speak to us through His Word, through Worship and through others as they reveal Jesus to us through their lives. My continued prayer for you is that as you become more aware of God's love in your life, that you will become more passionate in sharing your faith with others.

Roxie and I are praying for you...

Blessings

P.HD

P.S. THIS SUNDAY MARKS ONE YEAR OF MINISTRY... Our 1 year celebration is February 13, 2011. We have special music with recording artist Chris Lizotte (MY FAVORITE WORSHIP LEADER) and a special word of encouragement from Pastor John Milhouse from Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley. We also have some surprises that we will be sharing throughout the morning. Look forward to celebrating with you.

Two Weeks Away

TWO WEEKS AWAY....

"I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:4)Online Giving



In December of 2009, I met with Pastor Chuck Smith. I shared with him about a study we had started in San Clemente and how we believed God was calling us to start a Calvary Chapel in San Clemente. When we looked at the map, there were no Calvary Chapels in this area. Pastor Chuck encouraged us to "go for it" and prayed for us. Shortly after that we began prayer meetings at the home of Chris and Linda Arce. Those were rich times of prayer and worship where the values of Worship LIfe were born. We started looking for a place to meet on Sunday mornings and God led us to Vista Del Mar School. We were approved in 2 weeks over Christmas vacation. We didn't know this was unusual. We just followed the proceedures were were asked to follow and God gave us favor. The rest is history.

I was recently asked by a friend of mine who planted a church in Twikenham, England by the name of Rob Dingman, what have you learned through this process. What came to my mind is that I've learned about God's love and grace. When I was in the school of ministry, Pastor Chuck shared about how God provided for his family. They were amazing stories, but I never believed that God would ever care for me like that. Howver, through this church plant we've seen God provide in ways that have blown our minds. I knew God loved me intellectually, but now I've experienced His love on a whole new level.

How often do we go into something thinking I'm going to do something great for God and through the process we discover that God is doing something great in us? God is more interested in what He does to us than what He does through us. He didn't save us to use us, but He saved us so that we could have relationship with Him. Sometimes God uses the things we are most passionate about to get to our hearts where He can give us a greater revelation of His love for us. Let Him.

Roxie and I are praying for you...

Blessings

P.HD

P.S. MARK YOUR CALENDARS... Our 1 year celebration is February 13, 2011. We have special music with recording artist Chris Lizotte and a special word of encouragement from Pastor John Milhouse from Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley. We also have some surprises that we will be sharing throughout the morning. Look forward to celebrating with you.