Calvary Church Annual Report CalvaryChurchAnnualReport20152016-REV | Page 3

Looking back in gratitude
Pastoral and Executive Staff (8/31/2016):
Jim Samra, Tom Olsson, John Zimmerman, Joy Gillette, Kristen White
This past fiscal year at Calvary has
bridged two sermon series – Cour-
age to Obey, our series on the book
of Joshua, and Living By Faith, our
current series in the book of Ro-
mans. The idea of obedience is
prominent throughout Joshua, as
we see the children of Israel final-
ly entering the land that God had
promised them. As they enter the
land, it is their faith that produces
obedience to follow God’s direc-
tions. As we finished out the book
of Joshua last winter, we saw that,
like Israel, when we face difficult
situations, God promises to be
present in a special way when we
are willing to step out and obey.
Taking steps of obedience in our
own lives requires us to exercise
faith, and to lean into God’s promis-
es to be with us, to guide us and to
sustain us. As we take these steps
and obey, our faith grows and we
are better able to see where God is
leading us.
In many ways, Living by Faith is
a combination of our past two
sermon series. Over the past few
years of study and worship, we’ve
seen that when we leave with God
on a journey of faith, he reveals
himself to us in new ways, asking
us to obey. As we are journeying, he
explains to us who He is, how life
works, and what is expected of us
— reorienting our thinking around
His truth as opposed to what we
have come to think on our own.
We’ve seen so far this calendar
year that Romans contains essen-
tial teachings about God and this
world, teachings He wants us to
have in order that He might bring
about in us true and full obedience.
That through this obedience we
might become living sacrifices in-
dividually and corporately.
This year our church has continued
on a journey with our Grace Beyond
building project. More than ever,
this year has required us to step
out in faith and believe that the God
who calls us will meet us in our
obedience. We have experienced
the joys and challenges of moving
our Sunday worship services to
Calvin College for a season. While it
has been challenging to adapt our
worship services to a new environ-
ment, it has also been a great joy to
see new people join in serving and
worshiping with us each week. As
you will see throughout these pag-
es, Grace Beyond has truly been an
opportunity for each Calvary min-
istry to obey courageously and live
by faith. God has used this season
of ministry, in both its moments of
stretching and its moments of cel-
ebration, to deepen our walk with
Him and for that we will be forever
grateful.
Thank you for taking this journey
with us. I pray that as God reorients
your thinking and reveals Himself
to you in new ways, that you will
find deep peace and joy in the fresh
winds of His Spirit.
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