DREAMING GOD SIZED DREAMS: REBUILDING FAMILIES IN 53206
Summer Address from Pastor Walton
Dear Calvary and Friends,
The Summer season is upon us. Soon we will see children out of school, the backyard cookouts, fireworks, and Jazz in the Park. Fun times are wonderful and help to bring us together. As we move to Pentecost and celebrate the gifting of the Holy Spirit to each of us as believers, I encourage you to continue to live out the resurrection message in your daily life, finding new ways to serve and love, and to embrace the hope and joy of Christ's Resurrection. Our faith should not center around just attending worship on Sundays or meetings, but it should be about actively living as disciples of Christ in our private thoughts, our lives with our families, on our jobs, when we are on the bus, hanging out with friends, at a game, in everyday conversation, etc. Each day, I implore you to seek God’s guidance and make yourselves open to the Holy Spirit’s leading. Remember no matter what you may be experiencing in your everyday life, be intentional about finding hope, strength, and joy in Christ’s resurrection and in the aid, comfort, and leading of the Holy Spirit. He will direct You to the right path God has designed specifically for you if you let Him. Open your heart to Him and anticipate the wonderful and amazing things He will reveal to you.
Seek every opportunity to bless others and pray for them. Embrace and seek after an authentic life in Christ where you will work each day to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. And whenever you think that this is asking too much of you, remember what Christ did on the cross for you. After all, you never know who will be in heaven because you truly lived out the Great Commission.
“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 6:15).
Pastor John R. Walton, Jr.
Reverend Dr. John Richard Walton, Jr.
The Reverend Doctor John Richard Walton, Jr. is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and has served as the senior pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church of Milwaukee for the last 22 years. Pastor Walton is well-respected and sought after as preacher, pastor to pastors, lecturer, and spiritual, biblical, and academic authority in the training and discipleship of deacons and church leadership.
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PRAYER DEVOTIONS:
June 2025 Focus:
The Mind of Christ Works for Christ:
Being Anxious for Nothing by Taking Everything in Prayer to God In Faith
Click here for June Scriptures.
Dear Calvary Members and Friends,
May these prayers feed your soul and spirit! Each prayer this month was inspired by a passage of scripture.
Let us pray with confidence and boldness knowing that He hears and is faithful.
Blessed Father of Heaven and Earth, when our hearts are flooded with the worries and cares of our personal thoughts, our families, our jobs and financial situations, and on what is going on in this world, flood our hearts, minds, and souls with reminders of who we are in You and more importantly of who You are. Remind us in our innermost being of the valley life experiences that You have turned into mountain top victories. Lead us to Your Word so we may not look to the left or to the right for solace and understanding. Focus us on Your Love, Your Peace, Your Patience, and Your Goodness. Guide us through Your Holy Spirit to be bold in facing our anxieties with faith and truth in the God of our salvation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Abba Father,
Thank You for being a father that we can turn to when we are scared, when we are troubled, and when we are in doubt. Thank You that we don’t have to explain how we feeling because You know every part of who we are collectively as a church family and individually as Your children and creations. You know our triggers and what puts us at ease and what puts us on edge as well as what sends us over the edge. Thank You for always being there no matter what to help us climb back up and settle us. Continue to strengthen and fortify us as strong disciples so that we can see clearly, stand in faith and victory as face our goliath size cares and concerns with the faith of young David. Give us clarity to see that You are molding and shaping us through all our circumstances to be the best possible servant and child of God that we can be. In Jesus’ name Amen.
Father God in the name of Jesus,
Guide us on a path of peace this day. No matter what we face lead us to remember that in You we have green pastures and still waters where stress and worry take a backseat to peace, tranquility, and the assurance through faith that in You we have whatever we need to fight and be victorious in any and all situations. Thank You! Lead us through Your Word, prayer, and Your Holy Spirit to make the intentional choice today to have peace and look at everyone and everything not from just a human perspective but through a divinely inspired and directed Holy Spirit perspective operating in us. Activate a spirit of boldness, faithfulness, and praise in us so that we will not shrink back in fear but walk forward in confidence in You and Your Word. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.
Dear Lord,
Today, we thank You for You alone are the lover and the keeper of our souls. You alone knew us before our conception and know how our minds and hearts work as individuals and as a church family. Help us to submit everything to You, every care and concern, every want and desire, every question and every answer so we will not be confined by anything or anyone in this life. We praise and thank You that in You we can choose to have freedom, joy, peace, and calmness through faith in You, Your Word, and Your promises. Let each day be a day of celebrating in our spirits, our hearts, our homes, our workplaces, everywhere we place our feet, Grace and Mercy to keep us warm when everything and everyone else is cold or indifferent. We have You to keep us centered and focused on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy when everything and everyone else around us exudes negativity and lack. Let us be consumed with You and Your Word because in You is where our strength is found. In Your precious son’s name, Amen.
Lord, we welcome Your Spirit into our hearts for this day. Lead us to see our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and any situation we find ourselves in through the lens of Your Holy Spirit our comforter and guide. Then, we will see truth and not lies. We will see things as You want us to see them. Then, we will have better thoughts, speak better words, make better decisions, and execute better actions. Help us not look to the left or right or what our itching ears want to hear. Lead us to hear what we need to hear from Your Word. Help to meditate on only what will lift up and edify us when we tend to worry or fret, so we may be a shining light to others who may be experiencing anxiety. Let everything we do show the world that even though we may experience hard and challenging times, we have a God who sustains us and gives us hope and light in those times and leads us to the other side of our circumstances. Thank You that we can stand on Your promise that You will never leave us nor forsake us. In Your name we pray, Amen.
Lord God, Our Father,
Today and everyday in the midst of our stress and panic, please open our eyes to see Your Hand at work in our lives, in our church, in our surrounding communities, in our city, our state, country and world. Show us what You are doing. We understand that when we worry we bring You pain and anguish, but when we put our trust and faith in You we bring You joy and gift ourselves with peace. Each day, help us to trust more and build up our faith through private and corporate bible study, through prayer, through reading Your word and learning Your word. Thank You that we can find strength, solace, and build ourselves up in You and Your world when our minds, hearts, and spirits are going through challenging times. Remind us that You are greater than all those who are against us. Remind us that you are bigger than any problem, more caring than the best of friends, more loyal than a brother or sister, more loving than any family member. Continue to give us courage to step out in faith, getting past what we can and cannot see and what we can and cannot control knowing that the earth is Yours and all that is in it, the world and all those who live in it including each one of us and each one of our circumstances. In Jesus name, we pray Amen.
Fill our cups Lord, We lift them up to You, Lord. Come and quench this thirsting in our soul. Bread of Heaven feed us with Your Spirit and feed us with Your Word. Help us to not feed on what is in the news or social media. We invite chaos, worry, and anxiety into our homes, into our relationships, and into our spirits when we look to the world for our edification and not You. When we choose to look to You for affirmation, answers to our questions, and food for our souls, we gain so much more than what we wanted. We receive everything and more because You are the creator and lover of our souls. Thank You for loving us each day through the many blessings You pour out on us from the moment we wake up in the morning, all throughout the day, and when we are preparing to go to sleep. Thank You for the many challenges You have brought us through, the many tears that You have dried, the many angels You have put in our paths to save us from ourselves, and the many battles that You have won on our behalf. Thank You that as we face daily challenges and worries that we can cast our anxieties and fears on You and accept Your invitation to come to You when we are weary and burdened and find rest. Hallelujah and Amen!
