calvary updates 10/9/2026
Come and celebrate the Harvest with us.
Harvest Festival tonight from 5:30-7:30 PM.
921 Caroline Street Pekin IL
Moses instructed Israel to celebrate the harvest through three main annual agricultural festivals recorded in the Torah (Exodus 23:16; 34:22): the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Harvest (Shavuot or Feast of Weeks), and the Feast of Ingathering (Sukkot or Feast of Tabernacles).
Exodus 23:16- “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field."
Thankfulness is is an attitude that protects our heart from dissappointment with God. Thankfulness keeps our focus on what God has given, rather than on what we feel is missing.
The fields around us here in Illinois are buzzing with activity. It's time to bring in the soybeans and corn. Those long hours of planting in the spring are now providing their reward. And I am sure the farmers are thankful. The weather at multiple times throughout the growing season can greatly affect the bushels per acre harvested. The Illinois Corn and Soybean Harvest Report shows that the 2026 Illinois corn harvest is mixed to slightly below average rather than a bumper year, shaped by heavy June rain, late-summer heat, and big yield swings.
God in his mercy and love is still at work cultivating and calling people to respond to the seed of the word of God that has gone out into all the world. Jesus came as a messenger of hope. God asks those who hear to respond in faith to the gospel. Paul saw fruit coming from his ministry in Asia Minor.
Colossians 1:3-6: We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.
As we think about a crop harvest, let's not forget the spiritual harvest that God would delight to work in us. 2 Thessalonians 1:3: We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing. As Jesus matures us and grows our faith, our friends should see less of us and more of Jesus. Galatians 5:22 & 23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
So the gospel once received is to do a work within our hearts and minds. The Spirit works within us reproducing the principles of God's kingdom i.e. being salt and light in our world. When we yield to the work of God in our lives, we bring glory to Christ and point others to the truth that there is a God that is powerful enough to change fallen people for the better. Holiness reflects the reality of God at work in our world. We should be motivated to layaside the evil tendencies of our heart. Ultimately we are looking forward to Jesus returning and taking us to an eternal home. We make choices to exalt Jesus not ourselves, because when he comes the Bible says he comes giving out rewards to the faithful ones.
Matthew 16:27: For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Matthew 24:31: And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Imagine the joy that comes as we get to heaven and see friends and family who became part of this eternal harvest. Our job now is to be like that of the servant that his master implored to invite even more to enjoy the banquet he had prepared. Matthew 22:8-10: “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
I would encourge you to keep before you five individuals that you will pray for to come to faith in Christ. We have called this "Favor on Five." These are the ones that God may just use you to call into the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Sunday October 11th Sunday School at 9:15 and Worship at 10:30 AM.
The message, "Breathe on Me God" from I John 3.
We have two options in our Sunday School to encourage you. In our first Sunday School class, we will examine the wayward prophet Jonah. The second class will focus on Wisdom from God. Come a little early and enjoy a donut and a cup of hot coffee.
Song you will hear this Sunday
Breathe on Me, Breath of God: Keith and Kristyn Getty
Harvest Festival, Friday, October 9th, 5:30 PM
Prayer, Wednesday, October 14th, 5:30-6:30 PM
Flourish Tuesday, October 20th, 10-12 noon.
Alpha Group, Thursday, October 22nd, 6:00-7:30 PM. Jerry Beasley's home 2440 Willow St.
Today's readings were: I Kings 12•Philippians 3 | Ezekiel 42•Psalm 94. If you are looking for a different reading plan, you might enjoy:
How many wives and concubines did Solomon have according to I Kings 11? What was the negative result of his union with these foreign women?
Hope you have a great week!
In Jesus joy,
Pastor Frank Winfrey
cell: 309-645-9621
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