Hi guys,

Bruce Zachary here.

I am the founding and one of the teaching pastors at Calvary Nexus, a Calvary chapel located in Southern California, halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles in the lovely city of Camarillo.

I've been teaching Christmas messages for over 30 years, and I actually find them to be one of the most challenging times of season.

And part of that, I think, is the inherent tension that we're looking for something that's fresh original profound or provocative and oftentimes the people coming to our local churches are looking for something that is very familiar and very traditional and so One of the tips I pass along, I've kept a teaching log of all the Christmas messages that I've taught, the text, as well as keeping the teaching notes.

And for about the last 10 to 15 years, I've just developed a rotation of about six different messages.

serious text to use.

The Calvary Chapel church planting manual that you wrote— and your history in Calvary Church planting, but let's get started by maybe if you just share briefly your history and testimony with Calvary Chapel and Chuck Smith and kind of where you're from.

Yeah, so I was raised in an observant Jewish home.

My upbringing was in the Orthodox tradition, and so I was working as an attorney in downtown San Diego, and as I had been recruited by a firm to come to Orange County, a real estate agent was showing me some property.

And as we drove by this house that said, Praise the Lord and Coca-Cola script on the garage, I'd make a mocking comment every time.

And he invited me to come to church.

And...

It was Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa.

And can you just give us a brief little overview about what this manual is, Bruce?