Calvary Baltimore Weekly Sermons

June 28, 2026

Do We Love God - John 21

<p>The scene opens at the Sea of Tiberias; the disciples fished all night and caught absolutely nothing.</p><p><br></p><p>Jesus asks, "Children, do you have any fish?" to demonstrate that our best efforts are totally fruitless without him.</p><p><br></p><p>We are called to be "fishers of men," pulling people from the violent, dark kingdom of the world (symbolized by the sea) into the kingdom of light.</p><p><br></p><p>We are the branches and He is the vine; the end of our own strength and plans is the exact beginning of God's strength and plans.</p><p><br></p><p>At Jesus' command, they catch 153 fish... the number represents an overflowing, complete haul, yet the net does not break.</p><p><br></p><p>Peter is actively being "pruned" during this interaction... God must wound our pride to produce more spiritual fruit. We're like grapes, but the ultimate purpose of grapes is to be crushed into wine; every Christian must eventually feel the "blade" of the Word and affliction, to grow.</p><p><br></p><p>The actual power resides in the hand that wields the weapon (God), not the weapon itself (us).</p><p><br></p><p>Jesus cooks breakfast on the shore; the character of God is a festive welcome! Creation was the original house of hospitality, concluding with an invitation to a grand feast in Genesis.</p><p><br></p><p>The Church is called to act as God's hospital in an inhospitable, messy world. We gather to get "heavenized" through Christ so we can go back out into our daily lives and be bread and wine to the world.</p><p><br></p><p>Peter puts on his heavy outer garment before diving into the water, demonstrating his reinstatement as an apostolic priest and shepherd. When they're face-to-face, Jesus doesn't scold Peter for his past lies or failures; He simply and repeatedly asks, "Do you love me?"</p><p><br></p><p>This restoration happens around a charcoal fire, directly mirroring (and redeeming!) the previous charcoal fire where Peter denied Jesus three times.</p><p><br></p><p>Jesus equates loving him with feeding his sheep (teaching and sharing the Word with others)!</p><p><br></p><p>God created the universe out of divine passion and a deep yearning to pour His love onto us, not because He was lonely or lacked anything. Earth is currently estranged from Heaven, but the incarnation at Jesus's birth brought the angelic choir to earth to begin restoring that harmony.</p><p><br></p><p>God cascades his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit to empower us to love him; we lack the natural capacity to love him on our own!</p><p><br></p><p>We must assess our own hearts, and love Jesus for exactly who He is, not for who we want Him to be, or how we prefer him to act.</p>

June 21, 2026

The Love of the Trinity - John 3:16

<p>A sermon not about how much we love the Trinity... but how the triune God loves us!</p><p><br></p><p>1. The Father...</p><p><br></p><p>"For God so loved the world that he gave" - this is God the Father.</p><p><br></p><p>Our Father is a loving father! Love is an action, according to God; God's love GAVE us his only son. </p><p><br></p><p>Love isn't feeling, but doing! God is a giver. </p><p><br></p><p>The Lord's prayer... We ask God for a lot! Because we have a good father who loves to give to our children.</p><p><br></p><p>Luke 11:9... ask and it will be given.</p><p><br></p><p>Our Father is quick to love, to give, to forgive us. His love is action! Abundant, sustaining. He provides, he gives! </p><p><br></p><p>For he so loved "the world"... He loves all of sinful mankind! He gave his son to the unlovable world!</p><p><br></p><p>2. The Son...</p><p><br></p><p>He gave "his only Son"... </p><p><br></p><p>John 3:16 shows us HOW God loves us. </p><p><br></p><p>His son would be crucified and lifted up. He loves me so much that he sent me his son (so that we may kill him instead of dying ourselves!)</p><p><br></p><p>Christianity is all about the cultivation of our private relationship with God. We must make sure we're spending time with God, or we will spiritually shrivel and die!</p><p><br></p><p>We should be like a tree planted by the water! (Psalm 1)</p><p><br></p><p>Go to God, who freely gives! He even sent his Son. </p><p><br></p><p>3. The Holy Spirit...</p><p><br></p><p>"Whoever believes in him"... You're going to heaven ONLY because you believe in him. </p><p><br></p><p>"Believes" is present tense. It must be ongoing, not just a decision you made in the past! An ongoing belief. If you're a Christian, go to church, read his Word, repent of your sins continually. </p><p><br></p><p>Once saved, always saved, yes! But... if you walk away from the Lord, it may be that you're an example of bad soil rather than good. You may not have really been converted. If your belief isn't ongoing, in the present tense, it's not genuine. How do you continue to live your life? You'll know a tree by its fruit. </p><p><br></p><p>Yet it's not about your works; it's about the state of your heart.</p><p><br></p><p>True belief results in faithful endurance to the end. Be all in!</p><p><br></p><p>The Father so loved the world, that the Son came, and the Spirit awakened us.</p><p><br></p><p>4. Why must we believe?</p><p><br></p><p>God is good, and we are not. He is perfect, and we are imperfect. The wages of our sin is death! We deserve to die when we meet the Judge. God cannot ignore evil, because he is good! Unless we receive the gift of the Son, then the holy, just wrath of God is on us! </p><p><br></p><p>We need help, and in Jesus, we have it! He absorbed God's wrath, so every sin we'll ever commit is paid for!</p><p><br></p><p>This is the Gospel message!</p><p><br></p><p>Revival...</p><p><br></p><p>God pours out his spirit on the people, and they're induced to follow Jesus, to live righteously in holiness, following him! </p><p><br></p><p>But we must not yet to treat the symptoms of the world before we diagnose the disease. Symptoms would be greed, lust, poverty... The real disease of our culture is that the West has forgotten her King!</p><p><br></p><p>We need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit! A revival of people submitting to and following Jesus Christ! </p><p><br></p><p>Receiving the gift of Christ gives us eternal life.. </p><p><br></p><p>5. Humanity's hope... Eternal life! </p><p><br></p><p>John 17:3... To believe is to enter eternal life! Eternal life starts now, not only in the afterlife. You have access to God Almighty now! </p><p><br></p><p>And it lasts forever. To receive him is to have everlasting life! Through Jesus Christ, we don't have to be afraid of death. </p><p><br></p><p>Ps118:17... I shall not die, but live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. </p><p><br></p><p>We enter Heaven, and our first words will be "Thank you!!!" We start singing about the cross! </p><p><br></p><p>To receive the Lord is also to be under the love of the Son. A decision for Christ is to live eternally in his love!</p>

June 21, 2026

Sunday B-Side