Calvary Church Annual Report AnnualReport-201617-web | Page 3

staff leadership team
Over the past year we have walked a significant path
as a church body. Together we worshipped off-site at
Calvin College for nearly nine months. This experi-
ence required us to give of our time and sacrifice our
preferences to gather as guests in a rented facility.
As we have continually stated, Grace Beyond is more
than a building project - it’s an opportunity for God to
transform us as a church. Our experience at Calvin
was one element of Him refining us to be a people
who readily sacrifice, give, serve and obey. We re-
turned to Calvary on December 18 a different people
and what joy we felt that day. Together we witnessed
the Spirit’s powerful presence in our services as we
offered God thanks for His faithfulness in this season
of Grace Beyond.
For the majority of the past year we continued in our
study of the book of Romans. Romans contains es-
sential teachings about God and this world, teach-
ings He wanted us to walk through that He might
bring about in us true and full obedience. Through-
out the pages to come you’ll read stories of Calvary
people who took steps of obedience this past year.
What a blessing to see us living out such faith corpo-
rately and individually.
This summer we began a new series on Stories of
Redemption, examining the characters found in the
books of Ruth and Esther. As we took a closer look
at people like Ruth, Naomi, Esther and Moredcai, we
saw a pattern of rescue, restoration and readiness in
their encounters with God. These experiences con-
tinually pointed us to Jesus - the fulfillment of the
redemption they sought. We are excited to see Jesus
more clearly as we walk through the book of Mark
together in the year ahead.
God is rebuilding us as His people in this place, help-
ing us to grow in our faith and understanding. As you
look around Calvary, my hope is that you’ll see more
than a new building. My hope is that you’ll see new
life. Life marked by devotion to the, “Son of Man,
who did not come to be served but to serve” (Mark
10:45).
Jim Samra, Senior Pastor
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