2019 in Review at Calvary Grace Church

It is hard to believe the amount of change that has occurred in the life of Calvary Grace Church since last December. 

Yet through all of the changes, there has been an underlying principle. That principle was described by the apostle Luke in his history of the early church when he recorded:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. (Ac 9:31)

“Walking in the fear of the Lord”

Calvary Grace has had a season of ‘walking in the fear of the Lord’ in 2019. Many of us have had to count the cost of following Jesus in the midst of a culture that has grown rapidly hostile to our Lord’s truth. In living according to the truth and confessing the truth, we’ve had to have some difficult conversations with friends and fellow church members, in order to hold fast to the truth. We have been tested in 2019 with whether we would walk in the fear of the Lord or the fear of man. Happily, Calvary Grace has continued to walk in the fear of God, even when times have been hard. 

“The comfort of the Holy Spirit”

But we’ve also been walking in ‘the comfort of the Holy Spirit’ too. Palm Sunday of 2019 saw us bid a tearful goodbye to members joining together to plant Grace Cochrane Church. As we sent them off, we trusted that the Holy Spirit would be their comfort in their new work, as we seek his comfort in ours. 

Nobody could ignore the way that God galvanized the congregation of CGC in God-fearing prayer as we interceded for a church member during her hospitalization. Seeing God’s hand of mercy moving dramatically was a profound answer to our prayers. Such comfort from the Holy Spirit reminded us of the supernatural power of God to change things in our created world in ways that defy explanation. 

“It Multiplied”

After the planting of Grace Cochrane Church at Easter, Calvary Grace felt reduced, although we all were surprised that we didn’t feel empty.  The number of people who have come to Calvary Grace has begun to fill the sanctuary once again. 

What is even more encouraging than increased attendance, are the ways in which newer members have become integrated into the life of the church. Among these newer members has been a notable spirit of gratitude to God for Calvary Grace, and a thankfulness toward the members who had a hand along the way in helping CGC get established. 

Looking Ahead to 2020

We praise God for the generosity of church members to partner together in the ministry through the giving of their time, talents and treasure. As we look ahead to 2020, we prayerfully anticipate the path before us, as God wills. 

Stewardship

• To continue to improve our financial position and pay down our mortgage. This will open up many more opportunities for local and global impact. 
• To continue to ‘fix’ the remaining building needs now that the roof projects have been completed successfully (!).
• To continue the retooling of our ministry structure, giving more delegation to deacons and ministry leads, and improving the processes that assist people to become healthy gospel partners, not merely attenders. 
• To continue to support the Grace Cochrane Church, but also anticipating our next steps as Grace Cochrane becomes gradually self-sustaining. 

Spirituality

• To get grounded in the gospel and the heart of the gospel, namely union with Christ. This is the theme of our January 24-25 conference featuring Stephen Yuille, Gavin Peacock and Clint Humfrey. 
• To be equipped to live as exiles in our own land, yet with a heavenly destiny. 
  1. Pastor Josh  will begin January with a short series in 2 Peter
  2. Pastor Clint will resume his Daniel series on the prophetic visions. 
• We will seek to grow in our Sunday School electives in the new year, with applied teaching, thoughtful questions and a culture of godly learning. 
• We will aim to support the teachers who are working with our children in Sunday School, and offering to volunteer as needed.
• We will keep praying together monthly, and having that prayer time as a high priority for our schedules, to seek the Lord– together.
• To attend and support men’s and women’s bible studies, youth ministry, Oasis/Seniors outreach, mercy ministries, and much, much more.  

Remember that as the early church walked in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. 

We continue to look with expectancy for God to bring revival to Calgary. As we look to God for a special and intense work, we also trust him that he is working in ordinary and regular ways in our midst. All his ways are good and wise!

As 2019 enters its last days, we will celebrate the incarnation of the Son of God together. Let us remember how great a salvation we enjoy. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good works as we enter 2020. (Heb 10:24).