Covington's Calvary

05/29/2026

Our Plans and God’s Plans

“Neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

READ Isaiah 55:8-12

Many years ago, my husband decided to take a trip to Africa with a group of people from his church. At the last minute, the group was prevented from going on its journey. Everyone was disappointed, but the money they’d collected for airfare, lodging, and food was donated to the people they’d tried to visit. The people used it to construct a building that would shelter victims of abuse.
Recently, at a prayer breakfast, my husband met someone who lived in the village he’d almost traveled to so many years ago. This person was a teacher who said he walked by the building every day. He confirmed that God had used it to provide for the most vulnerable people in the area.
Our plans and desires don’t always match what God has in mind. For His “thoughts are not [our] thoughts, neither are [our] ways [His] ways” (Isaiah 55:8). God’s ways aren’t just different from ours; His ways are “higher” and better because what He does is consistent with who He is (v. 9). This truth gives us hope when our efforts to serve Him don’t turn out the way we’d planned.
It might be years before we’re able to look back and trace God’s influence through certain situations. For now, though, as we continue to reach out to the world in His name, we can remember that God is always powerfully at work (v. 11).
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

REFLECT & PRAY
When have you felt disappointed with an experience? How might God use this to teach you something about Himself?

Dear God, You’re the all-knowing one. When I don’t understand what’s happening, please help me to trust You.

05/28/2026

God Runs After Us

The Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. Ezekiel 34:11

READ Ezekiel 34:11-16

For years, Evan struggled with an addiction that kept him from drawing close to God. How can I be worthy of His love? he wondered. So, while he kept going to church, he felt that there was an unbridgeable chasm that kept him separated from God.
Yet, whenever Evan prayed earnestly for something, God seemed to answer him. God also sent people to encourage and comfort him in difficult times. After some years, Evan realized God was constantly pursuing him and showing that He’d always loved and cared for him, and that’s when he began to trust in God’s forgiveness and love. “Now, I know that I’m forgiven and can let God draw me close to Him, even though I’m still struggling with my addiction,” he said.
Ezekiel 34:11-16 tells us of a God who pursued His people. “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them,” He said, vowing to rescue them and provide for them abundantly (v. 11). This was after their human leaders had abandoned them, and they themselves disobeyed their true Shepherd (vv. 1-6). Whether we’re helpless victims of circumstances or struggling with the consequences of our own sin, God pursues us in love. In His mercy and grace, He draws us back to Him. If you’ve forgotten God, turn back to Him. Then, as He leads, continue to walk with Him each day.
By Leslie Koh

REFLECT & PRAY
How has God shown you that He cares for you and loves you? How can you let Him draw you closer to Him?

Dear God, thank You for always loving me despite my struggles and doubts. Please teach me to trust in Your love anew.

05/27/2026

Calvary Baptist Church will not be live streaming Thursday 28th and in person bible study is canceled. We apologize. Hope to be back with you Sunday.

05/27/2026

Fishing for Friends

[Jesus said], “I will send you out to fish for people.” Matthew 4:19

READ Matthew 4:18-22

Patty spent the afternoon on the banks of a local river, using her fishing pole to cast bait into the water. Having only recently moved to the area, she wasn’t hoping to catch fish; she was angling for some new friends. Her line wasn’t baited with worms or any other traditional lure. Instead, she used her heavy-duty sturgeon rod to extend packets of cookies to people who were floating down the river in rafts on a hot summer day. She used this creative way to meet her new neighbors, who all seemed to enjoy the sweet treat!
Patty went “fishing for friends” in a much more literal way than Jesus intended when He invited Peter and Andrew to walk with Him through life. The two brothers were hardworking fishermen, casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee. Jesus interrupted their labors with a call to follow Him, saying He would send them out to “fish for people” instead of fish (Matthew 4:19). He made the same invitation to two other fishermen, James and John, shortly thereafter. They all left their nets and boats immediately to journey with Jesus.
Like the fishermen who became His first disciples, Christ invites us to follow Him and focus our attention on eternal matters: the spiritual lives of those with whom we interact. We can offer those around us what really satisfies—the enduring hope of life with Jesus (John 4:13-14).
By Kirsten Holmberg

REFLECT & PRAY
Who first shared with you about Jesus? How might you offer others the hope He provides?

Dear Jesus, please help me to become a fisher of people so that others will know You better.

05/26/2026

Jesus Our Peace

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. Ephesians 2:17

READ Ephesians 2:11-18

Joan groaned when she saw Susan’s social media post. The photo showed ten church friends smiling around a restaurant table. For the second time this month, they were having a grand time—without her. Joan blinked away tears. She didn’t always get along with the others, but still. How strange to attend church with people who didn’t include her!
How strangely first century! But Jesus desires unity and came to heal our division. From the church’s beginning, people who didn’t get along were to find common ground in Him. Jews looked down on gentiles for not keeping the law, and gentiles loathed Jews for thinking they were better. Then Jesus “made the two groups one”; He “destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands” (Ephesians 2:14-15). Keeping the law no longer mattered. What counted was Jesus. Would Jew and gentile unite in Him?
That depended on their response. Jesus “preached peace to” gentiles “who were far away and peace to [Jews] who were near” (v. 17). Same message, different application. Self-righteous Jews needed to admit they weren’t better, while snubbed gentiles needed to believe they weren’t worse. Both needed to stop fretting about the other and focus on Christ, who was creating “in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace” (v. 15).
Feeling snubbed? That hurts. It’s not right. But you can be a peacemaker as you rest in Jesus. He’s still our peace.
By Mike Wittmer

REFLECT & PRAY
When have you felt snubbed? How can you be a peacemaker?

Dear Father, when I’m snubbed, I’ll rest in Your Son.

05/25/2026

05/25/2026

Lest we forget

And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations… Exodus 12:14

We often make the trip to our lake cottage in Indiana over the Memorial Day weekend to “open up the place.” It’s a family tradition that dates back to around 1910. And if things follow their normal course, I’ll take Mother, who still lives in my birthplace, Montpelier, Ohio, out to Riverside Cemetery where we’ll place flowers on the graves of our loved ones. Homegrown flowers–peonies and irises–were the bouquets of choice when I was growing up, because they usually came into bloom about this time of year.

At my father’s grave, Mama will point to the vacant space next to his, and remind me again that that is where she will be laid to rest. She won’t say it forebodingly–her Christian faith is too strong for that–but matter-of-factly. I think she wants to prepare me. I’m prepared. Only a few yards to the east are some plots reserved for my family.

Not long ago I stopped in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, and visited a cemetery said to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. There, three young women—Emma Hunter, Sophie Keller and Elizabeth Myers—began the custom of decorating soldiers’ graves in 1864, while the Civil War was still being fought. They wanted to recognize the contributions of villagers who had paid the ultimate price, and they did it with what was at hand, some homegrown flowers.

The idea of decorating graves caught on, and today, because of the thoughtfulness of Emma, Sophie and Elizabeth, millions of people across the nation this Memorial Day will remember with deep affection those whose lives once touched theirs.

Teach us, Lord, the best way to pay an unpayable debt is to show with our lives that we didn’t forget.

05/24/2026

The Church's Priority

05/24/2026

Caring in Christ

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5

READ Philippians 2:1-11

Ms. Charlene, my friend Dwayne’s mother, is ninety-four years old, under five feet tall, and weighs less than a hundred pounds. Yet this doesn’t stop her from doing what she can to care for her son, whose physical health prevents him from caring for himself. Visits to their two-story home often find her on the second floor, where she resides. Slowly, she descends sixteen stairs to the first floor to greet her guests, just as she does to assist in caring for the son whom she loves.
Ms. Charlene’s selfless determination convicts, challenges, and inspires me as she prioritizes her son’s well-being over her own. She models what Paul encourages in Philippians 2: “In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (vv. 3-4).
Caring for those with health challenges or other needs can be costly. The demands of life can be all-consuming, and even those closest to us can be shortchanged if we’re not intentional about taking our eyes off ourselves. But humbly caring is what believers in Jesus are called to do (see vv. 1-4). When we give of ourselves, we follow the example of Jesus and help others in the process. The apostle reminds us: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (v. 5).
By Arthur Jackson

REFLECT & PRAY
Who inspires you to be more caring and selfless? What obstacles might you have to navigate to meet others’ needs?

Dear Jesus, please help me to be more intentional in giving myself for the good of others.

05/23/2026

Not Irrelevant in God’s Eyes

People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

READ 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-13

During the annual National Football League Draft, professional football teams choose new players. Coaches spend thousands of hours evaluating prospective players’ skills and physical fitness. In 2022, Brock Purdy was the last—262nd—pick and labeled “Mr. Irrelevant,” the nickname given to the last football player selected. No one expected he would play in a game during the upcoming season. Just a few months later, however, Purdy led his team to two playoff wins. The reality is that team executives don’t always do an effective job identifying potential. And neither do we.
In a familiar Old Testament story, God sent the prophet Samuel to select the next king of Israel from among the sons of Jesse. When Samuel looked at the men, he was swayed by their physical appearance. But God said to him, “Do not consider his appearance or his height” (1 Samuel 16:7). Instead, God led him to choose not the oldest or tallest but the youngest and seemingly least relevant choice—David, who would be Israel’s greatest earthly king.
Why do we often do such a poor job evaluating people? Our passage reminds us that “people look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (v. 7). When we’re asked to select someone to be on a work team or serve on a volunteer committee, we can ask God to give us wisdom to make choices based on qualities valuable to Him.
By Lisa M. Samra

REFLECT & PRAY
When have you felt “irrelevant”? How might you see people from God’s perspective?

Heavenly Father, please give me insight to see others as You see them.