For those of you that missed our groundbreaking celebration on August 9th,  the full 35 minute video of the ceremony has been posted below.  In addition to the video, we posted a summary of the day here – A Report From Our Groundbreaking Ceremony

These pictures were taken at our groundbreaking ceremony on greenpond road.

Glorious, Everlasting, All-Powerful and Loving Father,

We gather together here this day to celebrate the commencement of construction on this facility.  We who stand here before You today represent our brothers and sisters who could not be with us today, those who have gone on before us in the over 100 year history of Calvary, and those who will come in after us in the years ahead that You allow.

None of us were here when Calvary Baptist Church began, which is good for Calvary is Your idea, not ours.  Calvary, like the many other faithful churches who serve You here in the Lehigh Valley and around the world, is Your handiwork, Your creation.  Although You graciously included us in Your plan, no one here is indispensable and no one has put You into their debt.  We, however, graciously thank You that You have bought us back from the slave market of sin and equipped us to serve at Your feet.  We who were rebels are now Your sons and daughters through faith in Your Son.

We come before You in awe of what You are doing in our midst.  No, this building is not Your  primary goal, for no building could house Your Glory.  You do not need buildings to dwell with men, for You have made us the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  We are Your church, Your handiwork, and we are equipped to help one another.  The lives You are changing often go unnoticed by the world round us, but You are in the business of redeeming sinners for Your everlasting Glory and our eternal Joy!  This building is a tool, a gathering place, which will allow us to minister in Jesus name to one another and to anyone who comes in our door, and to send us as ambassadors out into the community to represent Our Lord.  Let many come to know You and be known by You in a deeper way through the ministry in this building.

Let this building stand as a place in this neighborhood and in the Lehigh Valley where Your Word is always proclaimed.  Let Your Spirit dwell in Your people here and let Your praise always be on their lips.  Let us teach and encourage one another that we might not lose heart as the days march on.  Let this land be so saturated with Your Word through sermons, Bible Studies, and prayers, that the ground oozes Your Truth even as it oozes mud on this rainy day.  Let Your Words stick to the hearts of those who will worship here as this wet dirt clings to our shoes.

How appropriate are Your words from the book of Isaiah as we stand here in the middle of a farming plot becoming a harvesting plot this rainy day!

Isaiah 55:10-11
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,  so is My word that goes out from My mouth:  It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

And one day, Father, if it is Your will for us to live out our days in this community, when it comes time to have our funeral, may our children and grandchildren, our friends and co-workers know that we did not merely build a building, but that we spent a lifetime in service to the only true Treasure that Satisfies – You.  And if we may serve You better in this community with the construction of this building, please continue to bless this work and provide for it.  We can do nothing without You!

To the Glory of God the Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Glory of Jesus Christ the Son, Who has redeemed us from the pit by His death, and to the Holy Spirit, Who equips us and binds us together in unity!  AMEN and AMEN!