Calvary Chapel Palm City Florida Near Stuart And Pt. St. Lucie

About Calvary Chapel Palm City

Our Purpose:

The purpose of Calvary Chapel Palm City is to fulfill the Great Commission Task, given to us by Jesus, of making disciples.

Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

What is a disciple?

A disciple is not just a person who has made a "decision" for Jesus. A disciple is not simply someone who "believes" in Jesus. The term "disciple", as used in the Bible, refers to a person who is believes in, is devoted to, and therefore wholeheartedly follows another.

A disciple of Jesus is someone who believes in Jesus, is devoted to Jesus, and wholeheartedly follows Jesus with total commitment.

Our purpose is to make genuine disciples.

It is clear in the Bible that this task of making and becoming disciples is a life-long process involving: Regular instruction and learning from the Bible, Close fellowship with other disciples, Community worship and prayer, and a Personal commitment and involvement in sharing the Gospel with all people.

Our Principles:

The church's principles, sometimes called "values", refers to the list of non-negotiable truths that guide us in the process of achieving our God-given purpose.

1. We believe that understanding and applying the Bible is essential to being a disciple.

This principle means that teaching the Bible will always be a high priority at Calvary Chapel Palm City.

2. We believe that God has mandated and equipped the church to fulfill its mission only through a team-effort.

This principle means that we work hard to encourage and equip every Christian to be involved in ministry in some manner. We will not be satisfied with numerical growth in which people attend church but are not involved in Christian service.

3. We believe that every person and every people group matters to God.

This principle means that we will not conduct ministry so that it focuses exclusively on one particular demographic group. In other words, we will strive to reach everyone, of every age group, of every race, in every economic group, of every nation.

4. We believe that Christians grow spiritually as they really connect with other Christians.

This principle means that we encourage and often provide opportunities for Christians to meet and fellowship on a regular basis.

5. We believe that it is only through God's power that we can accomplish our God-given purpose.

This principle means that we will not rely on man-made gimmicks and programs to accomplish God’s work or grow the church. Instead, we rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to work through prayer, the teaching of the Bible, worship, and Christian fellowship.

6. We believe that Christians must bring the Gospel message to the lost by sharing the Gospel with words and showing the Gospel in deeds.

This principle means that we emphasize and equip Christians to share their faith by verbally witnessing to others. We also emphasize that a person’s faith must be shown to be real by our actions, i.e. we must show the Gospel as well as share the Gospel.

7. We believe that it is wrong to adopt any program or approach to ministry that weakens the difficult passages or message of the Bible in order to appeal to larger audience.

This principle means that we will not allow the desire for a larger church or more acceptance in the community to keep us silent on uncomfortable issues such as sin, repentance, judgment, the wrath of God, homosexuality, abortion, divorce, etc.

8. We believe that it is necessary to biblically adapt or change our ministries and approach so that they are effective in a changing world.

This principle means that we are not chained to our traditions. We will gladly embrace any changes, or a new way of doing something that seems more effective, provided that it does not require us to compromise on biblical standards.

9. We believe that just as God has extended grace to us, we should extend it to all others.

This principle means that we endeavor to treat all people with love and kindness, including those who disagree with us, those who are of a different religion, and those who choose to live immoral lives. We will not endorse such things or pretend that they don’t matter, but we will treat all people with grace.

10. We believe that all of life is about God.

This principle means that we, without apology, continually do everything we can to exhort and encourage people to live out their life with God, His will and His glory as their highest purpose and priority.

Our Beliefs:

We believe in all the basic doctrines of historic Christianity.

We believe in the total inerrancy of Scripture; that the Bible, Old and New Testaments are the inspired, infallible Word of God.

We believe that God is eternally existent in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe that God is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign Creator of all things.

We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His substitutionary death on the cross, was bodily raised from the dead, ascended back to the right hand of the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us.

We believe in the personal, visible, and pre-millennial second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. He will return with His saints and set up a kingdom of which there will be no end.

We believe that all people are, by nature, separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him alone to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God, destined to spend eternity with the Lord.

We believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid for today if they are exercised within the scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to covet the best gifts, seeking to exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might be edified.

We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.

Our Music/Worship:

The purpose of worship is to express love, praise, and thankfulness to God. This is often done through music and singing. We recognize that each person will worship in a unique way, therefore we try to have an open, yet reverent, atmosphere of worship.

People are free to stand, sit, or kneel. Some may choose to worship more expressively by raising their hands or clapping, while others may choose to worship in a more formal manner.

We encourage people to be free in their worship, while at the same time loving and considerate of their fellow Christians. "Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way."

The music and songs that we choose to worship God with are for the most part contemporary choruses, but we also include traditional hymns and songs written by members of the congregation.

Our History:

Calvary Chapel Palm City began in 1975 as a small gathering of like-minded Christians who first met in the Howard Johnson Hotel in Stuart. This small group of believers faithfully prayed for God to send them a pastor. God answered those prayers a short time later when He led Pastor Bill Fielding to lead this group. At that time the church was named “New Life in Christ.”

The church grew and was later able to purchase the then abandoned Lyric Theater in downtown Stuart as a meeting place. The church continued to grow spiritually and numerically.

In 1982 Pastor Fielding retired from pastoring, but he continued to be involved in the ministry of the church. Sid Blake, a member of the congregation, was chosen as the new Senior Pastor. He faithfully led the church during the next 10 years. It was during this time period that the church purchased and moved to its current facilities in Palm City.

In 1998, Pastor Sid Blake retired and moved to North Carolina. The Associate Pastor (Larry Sarver) was chosen as the new Senior Pastor. In 2001, Pastor Larry led the congregation through the process of affiliating with Calvary Chapel. (For more information on Calvary Chapel go to www.calvarychapel.com.

Pastor Larry continues to lead the church, which was renamed “Calvary Chapel Palm City” in 2003.
Recently the church has paid off all its outstanding debt (including the mortgage), placed Pastor Josh Luecht on staff as an Associate Pastor, and Mrs. KarenLuecht on staff as director of the Children's Ministry, remodeled the Children's Ministry Wing, remodeled the Youth Room, and updated both the Youth and Children’s Church programs.

In addition to these new and recent ventures, Calvary Chapel Palm City also continues to grow in ministry areas such as: community outreach, missionary support, Spirit-led prayer, biblical studies, and many others.