Events

 

Thanksgiving Dinner 2018

Resurrection Day 2019

Calvary Roots – The Whosoevers

Farmer’s Market Ministry

 

Couple’s Dinner 2018

December 2017 Tamales

Israel Tour 2017

 

Calendar of Activities

Welcome

 

Welcome to Calvary Chapel Cascade County. We are a local body of born-again Believers of all different backgrounds who place a high value on the teaching of the Word of God. We hope you’ll witness the empowering of the Holy Spirit among our fellowship of Believers that love and worship Jesus.

We pray that as you visit our church, you feel loved and connected to God through your time with us. In short, we welcome you, and pray that you leave differently than how you came!

 

Know us more

HISTORY VISION & MISSION WHAT WE BELIEVE FAQs

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Visit us at 3400 Flood Road, Great Falls, MT, 59404

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    Our Ministries

     

    Radio Ministry

    Community Outreach

    Ministry of Hope

    Youth Ministry

    Marriage Ministry

    Women’s Ministry

    Men’s Ministry

    Servant Leaders

     

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    David Saenz

    Pastor

    Born into the Catholic Church and raised by a single mom, I was the youngest of 5 children (1 sister and 3 brothers) while in Southern California. Since we didn’t have a father in our house and my oldest brother was nearly 15 years older than I, he was the father image I had growing up. As a young kid, my oldest brother was my hero and I wanted to be just like him. As he got older, he became a Jehovah’s Witness and so as I naturally followed in his footsteps. I was fully committed to the organization and was baptized at a relatively young age (age 11) for most Jehovah’s Witnesses. Being comfortable going door-to-door, conversing with people, selling Watchtower and Awake magazines, attending annual assembly gatherings, and being dedicated to the weekly meetings was really all I knew growing up. As far as I was taught, everything outside of the organization was worldly and satanic; and I was warned not to step outside of the organization, or question anything for that matter.

    As a teenager, I became more naturally and respectfully curious, and seriously believed in Jehovah and wanted to honor Him. Meantime I met a young girl who got my attention in high school and I began my focus toward her. As we got more and more involved, I began to skip Kingdom Hall meetings. Over time, I was visited by elders from the organization after several indicators from my lack of attendance (or lack of dedication) was raised. After several questions from them, I admitted to my sin that we had committed. But I indicated that I recognized “it was sin and I already asked Jehovah to forgive me.” I was then instructed to go to the Kingdom Hall and repent before the remaining elders. I didn’t sense that was correct since I had already confessed and repented to God to forgive me. I was then told that I had a certain timeframe to perform this otherwise I was going to be “dis-fellowshipped from the organization.” I respectfully would not agree to meet their demand, so I was formally kicked out from the organization.

    Meanwhile I had already begun going to a Christian church with my girlfriend whose family was raised in a Pentecostal church. After attending church service, and enjoying the Youth Ministry it had on Friday evenings, I began to attend that church. My girlfriend’s father was a minister and I had joined their family one evening (Aug 1980) as he was a guest speaker to an all-black, on fire for Jesus, Pentecostal church service! All I remember was the pastor of the church giving an alter call, and I felt the Holy Spirit almost literally tugging my heart to come to the alter - so there I was, weeping for my sins that Jesus had died for, and for the Holy Spirit to come into my life as I said a sinner’s prayer.

    That night I remember going home and praying when I went to bed that evening. Wanting to please God I remember saying something like, “Jehovah I’m not sure I understand what I did this evening, but it felt right. I just want to please You. So please show me somehow that what I did was something that You agree with.” As I recall, I had a peaceful sleep that night. When I awoke the following morning, before I could realize that I was awake I said, “1 Corinthians 2:12.” I had no idea where that came from because as far as I could recall, this was not a verse that I had heard the night previously. I was so excited about what had happened that I called up my girlfriend and told her what took place. She said, “What did the verse say?” Well I hadn’t even looked it up yet, so while she was on the phone I searched it in the Bible. It stated, “Now you have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” This was God’s confirmation to me that what I had done the night before of asking Jesus to come into my life, was a real event; and more importantly, that it pleased God. It has become my life verse.

    That day I remember running across the street to an elderly neighbor who was a dear friend of the family to tell her about it, and much to my surprise she told me that she had been praying for me. While still in high school, I recall being on fire for Jesus and excited about what I had done. In addition, I had a teacher who taught a “Bible as Literature” class that I had informed, and she told me she had been praying for me as well. Finally I had an English teacher who I had informed, and it turns out he was also a born-again believer. Both teachers allowed me to give my testimony as a part of my classwork, which was very exciting!

    As a senior in high school at age 17, my girlfriend and I were married (I would not recommend this for anyone), and at age 18 our son was born. Julie and I have had our struggles, mostly due to our immaturity thinking we were ready to be married at such a young age.

    I was always fairly serious about church, but didn’t fully understand the relationship that Jesus wanted from me. Getting older and raising a family, we began to get more involved with church (thanks to Julie). Around the age of 25, I began to have a strange thought and feeling about one day preaching/teaching and pastoring. Getting more involved with church ministry, I had attended Bible College, and eventually was ordained by Calvary Chapel of Simi Valley (Pastor David Guzik).

    In the early 90’s by circumstances orchestrated by God, we ended up in Great Falls Montana from Southern California. Encouraged to begin a Calvary Chapel, eventually Calvary Chapel of Great Falls was formed. After about 7 years, other personal family circumstances had risen, and we had relocated back to California. Returning to California for several years, but longing to return to Montana, and after our children were all raised and married, both Julie and I returned to Great Falls Montana in 2015.

    Having pastored a church previously, and once again being encouraged to plant another church, and after much prayer and direction from God – Calvary Chapel of Cascade County was formed.

    Julie and I have just celebrated our 37th year of marriage (2018). We’ve been blessed with 4 wonderful children that have given us 12 grandchildren (with one on the way). God is good.
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    Michael Paparella

    Elder

    I was born and raised in Connecticut, the oldest of 4 children.  My mother was Jewish who came to faith, and my father pastored 2 churches for several years (one of which he planted).

    I grew up in the church, but like many of us so often do, I drifted away after graduating from High School.  I enlisted in the Air Force the next year and after that went to college, got married and basically wandered through life without direction or purpose.  Years later, I met a friend who was a believer and we started talking about Jesus and the Bible.  I then began, slowly at first, to delve into the Scriptures and listen to Bible studies on the radio.

    It took me a while to get saved because I already knew God was real and that Jesus was His Son. This led me to unknowingly create a wall between myself and the truth, as I thought I already had the truth.  Listening to a Bible study one day, something the teacher said struck me, and even though I was learning God’s word, I remember actually saying out loud: “Oh my God, it’s true!” I finally had my first real glimpse and understanding of who Jesus really was and what He did, and my heart was changed.  I gave my life to Jesus, and I’ve never looked back.

    My favorite Bible verse is Psalm 119:71 “It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes.”  The first 2 plus years of my walk were mostly spent working and caring for my increasingly ailing wife, Sue.  Having the radio on when I was in the car listening to Bible studies was something that kept me grounded and focused.  After Sue died, I began to open the scriptures daily and really study them.  While reading Psalm 119, I got to verse 71, and realized, in a certain sense, it was a truth I was living out.

    For Sue’s memorial service I selected Romans 12:9-21 to be read.  Shortly after I asked God, “Now that I don’t have to take care of Sue anymore, what do You want me to do for You.”  That was when ministry began for me as God put on my heart to study the scriptures, and to write.  I then started sending what I wrote to everyone on my e-mail list.  This also led to what I call my Homeless Ministry, loosely based on Romans 12:20-21.  It started with giving a bottle of water with a dollar bill secured to it to people standing at the entrance to Walmart.  As God began to bless my little ministry, I wrote a gospel tract and put it in a baggie along with what God had blessed me with financially, and secured that to the bottle of water.

    Early on, when I began to realize it was God directing my path, it told me something about how personal our relationship is, something I hadn’t fully understood. This fueled in me a desire to want to know Him better and to finally learn what it really means to walk with Him.  I decided to set aside some time every day for what I refer to as my prayer closet time, and my personal prayer and communion with Him has really blossomed.  This led to conducting my life from a God-centered perspective in everything.  I’m still a work in progress, as all born-again believer are, but making it my top priority keeps me focused on what really is important.

    I love to walk, taking in God’s creation, sometimes praying as I go, sometimes just marveling at what I see or what Jesus has done in and though my life.  I really enjoy reading and preparing for our Men’s Bible study.  I have 1 son, 2 daughters, 11 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren.  I’m humbled when I consider just how blessed I really am.  Thank you, Jesus…
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    Jaysen Basu

    Elder

    Raised in a Catholic home, my family and I didn't really attend church on a regular basis, so I never really had a relationship with Jesus. After hearing the Gospel preached clearly for the first time by a military chaplain, I got saved in 2010 as I was stationed in South Korea. My favorite Bible verse is Ephesians 6:10-18 as the passage speaks to me that there is always a spiritual battle being waged reminding me of my constant dependence on the Lord's protection. Know how empty life can be without Jesus, my heart for ministry is to reach out to those who are lost. I want to help save people and help them develop a personal relationship with Jesus. Recently, the Lord has caused my relationship to grow in Him by putting a desire in my heart to commit to reading my Bible daily. Although I was already a Christian, I struggled with reading my Bible on a daily basis. Today, I see this as a more personal and intimate moment I get to spend with Jesus. I also enjoy spending time with my lovely wife Elizabeth and my two beautiful daughters, Jaylin and Adaline.
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    Jim Leeming

    Elder

    Raised in a Christian family in a suburb of Chicago Illinois with an older sister by both parents. Sundays were dedicated to Sunday school and church. At the time we were pre-liberal Congregationalists and Presbyterians. Initially during high school wanted to become a chemical engineer but decided to enlist in the Navy. During the Pacific War we carried anti-submarine nets and floats on a Liberty Ship to place in front of friendly island moorings. We had no chaplain aboard but when moored at the islands we serviced, attended church ashore. After serving in the Navy, discharged in early 1946, I graduated from to the University of Illinois as a Metallurgical Engineer. While married and raising a family, we lived in San Clemente, CA. During this time I was asked to visit a nursing home for the elderly and give a talk one Sunday. From this event, it changed my life as I started in my spare time visiting hospitals and nursing homes and from time to time in the churches I attended and gave sermons on my relationship with the LORD. This resulted in becoming an official visitation representative for my church. During the 30 years of this ministry, I was compelled to help old folks in our churches with minor home repair jobs and had cards printed up and distributed containing, Proverbs 27:10, “Better a friend nearby than a brother far away.”

    Served as an Elder for a large Presbyterian church for over 20 years. Three of those years as a discussion leader with Bible Study Fellowship but had to resign when my wife decided on a divorce!

    Spent over twenty years providing the morning sermons at the Beartooth Nursing Home, the last ten years gave or arranged the Sunday morning service at East Rose Bud Lake. MT.

    Got saved over 60 years ago while visiting a nuclear power plant in Oak Ridge TN when one lonely night I had a strong desire to get down on my knees and ask the Lord to become the focus of my life!

    My favorite Bible verse is 1Thess. 5:16-18 as it’s the only verse that specifically tells us what is God’s Will for our life!

    God continues to convince me that He is precisely Who He claims to be and has done exactly what He has claimed to have done!

    I have four wonderful daughters, eight grandchildren, and twenty of the cutest great grandchildren you’ve every seen! I enjoy spending as much time in God's great outdoors as possible and being positively amazed at the beauty!

    I am forever grateful to have been able to travel across this great country with my family, walking through the woods, visiting our National Parks, boating on Lake Michigan and down the Mississippi River and able to appreciate the mighty work of His Hands!

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    Brian Jackson

    Worship Leader

    I grew up the second of 4 brothers in a preacher's house. Born in Washington, I have also lived in Oregon, Idaho, Tennessee, Virginia & West Virginia, and Montana. I am happily married to Nita, and we celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2017.Vocationally, I worked for newspapers for 7 years, Christian radio for 19 years and computer/internet tech support for 10 years.

    I publicly confessed Jesus as my savior at age 8, and was baptized. In my early twenties, I found myself addicted to marijuana, and living a very worldly life. I still believed, but I was not walking with God. I went though out-patient treatment for addiction in 1983. A year later, with my head clearer, I knew I wanted to be closer to God. While watching a Petra Video, "Beat the System", in a motel in Malta Montana, I felt God call me to Himself. 2 days later, I got on my knees and wept and repented and asked God to allow me to walk with Him. He immediately surrounded me with young believers who discipled and encouraged me.

    My favorite verse is 2nd Peter 1:3, which says, "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence". This verse tells me that the better I know Jesus, by walking with him in relationship, the more I will realize access to everything I need for "life and godliness". It's all from Him as I walk with Him. That takes pressure off me to perform, and it tells me what I need to do...walk with Him.

    As a music minister, I want us to be able to focus on God, Jesus, His Holy Spirit, and His powerful word, by creating a musical context in which we can proclaim God's truths over our lives. People have real needs and hurts. Music is a powerful way to communicate truth. Praising and worshiping God will affect how we think, feel and act. It will also affect others around us and even the spiritual battles we face.

    God has caused my relationship with Him to grow, mostly through stuff I didn't want, or ask for. When I'm faced with something larger than I can handle, it makes me depend on him. When my wife's dad lost his home to a fire, he came to live with us the next day. God is using that opportunity to help me see that people are more important to Him than anything else. I have to depend on God for wisdom and strength, and it’s a joy to serve others.

    I feel most alive when I am musically active. Making music by myself, with a small group, a large crowd, singing or playing old hymns, current songs or making brand new songs. That's really what makes me happiest.
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    Julie Saenz

    Children's Ministry Coordinator

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    Joe Zavala

    Youth Leader

    I was raised in Southern California and brought up in the church. We had a good life and I was very blessed to have grown up in a Calvary Chapel church. However, around the age of 16 I began to experiment with drugs and alcohol. Whenever I would get into trouble I would cry out to the Lord for help and He would deliver me. But I would cheapen the grace of God because I never lived a life of holiness unto the Lord.

    What I now realize is there is a difference between “knowing of Jesus Christ,” and “knowing Jesus Christ.” One is without intimacy and was born out of emotion. The other is an abiding love relationship with our Savior. I lived in the world that whole time and found myself lost and I didn’t know where time went. One day I’m 16 and the next day I’m 30 years old and living a life of self-destruction. I had this calling upon my heart but I couldn’t shake the conviction. I was finally at the end of my rope and I needed a Savior. I remember the night that I fell on the ground crying out to the Lord. My whole life I had done it my way and it got me nowhere. I asked for forgiveness and told the Lord that my life was His to be used as a vessel for holiness and righteousness. I had this hunger to know Him, to know who I was in Christ, and to know the blessedness of our Savior. I had fallen in love and couldn’t get enough of His word. Since that day I have continually been blown away with the love of Jesus. I feel so unworthy to be in ministry.

    My heart for ministry is that ministry is not contained just on the grounds of the church - my whole life is ministry from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. What I realize now is that I couldn’t ride my parent’s coattails into heaven. I had to come to a place of humility of knowing I couldn’t do it, but Jesus could. I had to make the decision to live for Him, or to live without Him, and I tried living without Him.

    So, my only conclusion was Romans 12:1-2. To live a life holy and acceptable to the Lord and to be transformed daily by the Holy Spirit. Spending time in His word is where I want to live the rest of my life. I truly do believe in the power of the Gospel because it has resurrection power as it turned my world upside down, but my heart right side up. In Christ I have found my purpose and that is to live a life of self-denial. Now I am in Montana answering the call Jesus has upon my life. I don’t know what the future has for me and I am not worried. All I do know is, “ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”.
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    Paul & Janelle

    Marriage Ministry Leaders

    Paul & Janelle have been married for 23 years. They've lived in 4 states and have enjoyed the journey together. They have 4 children, 2 grown boys and 2 girls still at home.  They are committed to raising their family in a Christian environment. Some activities that Paul and Janelle enjoy doing together are fly-fishing, camping, hiking and skiing. A verse that has encouraged them through the years is Ecclesiastes 4:12b which says, "a three-fold cord is not quickly broken."  It is a good reminder to them that we are not on this journey alone and Christ is always there to help.

    Paul & Janelle acknowledge that no marriage is perfect, and in fact their marriage has not always been sunshine and roses, but they have learned a lot along the way. They desire to share and encourage other couples with what they have learned through marriage conferences such as A Weekend to Remember, or simply by life experiences. They are excited to see how God will lead as He draws the hearts of married couples together and toward Him.

    Latest Sermons

     

    Joshua

    John

    Philemon

    Colossians

    Philippians

    Nehemiah

    Ephesians Series

    Christmas Service

    Acts Series

    Uncategorized

    See All Series

    GIVE

     

    God has really blessed us here at Calvary Chapel Cascade County in 2017, and is beginning to use our fellowship in some wonderful and exciting ways. If you would like to support what God is accomplishing through us, so that in 2018 and beyond we can reach more souls with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and really make a difference in people’s lives, please prayerfully consider donating, but only if God lays it on your heart to do so. For your convenience you can either send a check to Calvary Chapel Cascade County, PO Box 1508, Great Falls, MT, 59404, or you can click the Paypal button below.

    Downloads

    Answers For Today

    Calvary Chapel Distinctives

    Calvinism, Arminianism And The Word of God

    Charisma vs. Charismania

    Christian Family Relationships

    Comfort for those Who Mourn

    Effective Prayer Life

    Foxes Book of Martyrs

    Harvest

    Living Water

    On Being a Servant of God

    The Five Points of Calvinism Weighed and Found Wanting

    The Tribulation and the Church

    The Claims of Christ

     

    RESOURCE LINKS

     
      The Way of the Master
      Living Waters
      The Temple Institue
      Persecution.Com
      E-Sword
      International Fellowship
      of Christians and Jews
      Meir Panim

      Enduring Word
      Calvary Chapel Magazine
      The Blue Letter Bible
      Calvary Chapel Association
      Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
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