Category: Weekly Focus

Something new is coming to Calvary! Sunday evening, October 6, the Missions and Outreach Department is hosting a night that combines lots of what we love about being the church: Calvary people sharing brief, vibrant stories of how God has used them cross-culturally, challenging questions to discuss around our tables, and delicious appetizers from around the world. Join us in the Gathering Place on October 6, 6-8pm, for Included in Christ. Bring your friends or small group and sit together – or meet some new friends around your table. After a brief introduction to the evening, we will hear six short presentations, including: God is Still Rolling Stones: Stories from the Front Lines of Human Trafficking New Horizons After Loss: Continuing in Service in God’s Strength From Missionary to Immigrant: Challenges of Crossing Cultures in Different Roles The Crisis at our Southern Border: Through the Eyes of Mexican Churches Using…

One of the most effective ways to share the Gospel is by offering mercy and hospitality to those who are in need. In Matthew 25, we are reminded that acts of mercy, deeds that we do for those who Christ calls  the least of these, we do for Jesus Christ himself. In the Mercy and Hospitality ministries of Calvary, we focus on four areas: caring for widows, assisting refugees, coming alongside families who are adopting or fostering, and bringing hope to those in prison.  Prison Ministry: Bring hope and encouragement to those in prison by volunteering to teach, lead worship, mentor or correspond with inmates through Calvary’s Pen Pal Ministry. Contact Ardo at ext. 5182 or Lou at ext. 3618 for more information. Forever Hope Orphan Care Ministry: This ministry focuses on equipping Calvary families who open their homes to vulnerable children through foster care and/or adoption. Become part of wrap around care by…

One of my favorite memories from the Language Café is the night we tried to teach idioms to our Non-Native English Speakers.  We laughed and laughed… try explaining, clean as a whistle, it’s raining cats and dogs, costs an arm and a leg, sweating like a pig, break a leg, and under the weather to someone who is just learning English!? And then they told us some idioms from the Farsi and Japanese languages, which really sent us into laughter. We all agreed that these silly idioms could really cause a lot of miscommunication. If you are looking for a ministry to join, if you enjoy people from all nations and if you have a welcoming heart please come to the Connection Point today, and find out more about the Language Café – Calvary’s conversational ministry to non-native English speakers. Gary and Linda Rodenburg, the Language Café leaders, are avaialble…

You should consider being a Friendship Family under Neighbors International, if you have: A love for those from a different culture. We need many more families and individuals over 30 years old to answer the call to become a Friendship Family for the incoming international college students flooding our city right now! (Single people over the age of 30 are welcome to participate and will be paired with a student of the same gender.) The time to call your student at least once a week and get together with him/her at least once a month. A heart for sharing your home and being hospitable. Imagine you are an international student who has arrived here in Grand Rapids, Michigan without knowing anyone at all – you, as a Friendship Family can make a difference in his/her life and in turn, you will learn from your student about their life, culture, and…

Missions & Outreach is excited to give you a glimpse into a couple of the new ministries and opportunities coming your way this Fall. First, we are launching a new Chinese Ministry. Do you know someone who speaks Mandarin, is a Chinese national living in West Michigan or is a recent immigrant from China? This ministry will focus on building community, caring for, and equipping this community, starting in September with meetings in the Gathering Place after the first service to discuss the sermon. Please be in prayer for this new ministry and direct anyone whom you feel would be a good fit to email Pastor Nam Kim to get connected. Second, Language Café is moving to Wednesday nights beginning September 11. From 6:30 – 8:00pm, we’ll meet in the Gathering Place Café. This change will allow all of our international friends to come and enjoy food and fellowship through Wednesday…

This week we conclude a three-week focus on prayer, looking at the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. The first week, we saw God as high and lifted up and as our loving father. We saw prayer as a way of nurturing the relationship with our Abba, of giving Him reverence and praise, and of learning to delight in Him as He delights in us. Last Sunday, we were reminded this is all God’s kingdom and we get to partner with Him by asking, “Your will be done on earth.” This not only tells us how to pray but also assures us that God’s answer will be in our best interest because it’s His good, pleasing and perfect will. This week we are focusing on how we serve a God who speaks to us. What better way to spend our time but by praying through a portion of God’s Word. Read…

Over the next three weeks, our weekly focus will be on  prayer in preparation for the upcoming ministry year. The Lord’s Prayer is a great place to reflect whether you consider yourself a prayer warrior or you are new to praying.   When asked by His disciples how to pray, Jesus starts with “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). There is without a doubt an encouragement to see God as He is, holy, set apart, powerful, sacred; to profoundly reverence Him and to actively bring Him praise. He is in heaven reigning over everything He created, being worshiped by all of heaven and creation.  Jesus said, “hallowed be your name.”  The beauty of getting to know God’s names is learning about His nature and personality as we meditate on His various names. Just like finding your Psalm for certain seasons of life, you can hold onto…

For four years, Calvary has been ministering to the spiritual needs of the incarcerated and their loved ones through the work of Pastor Ardo Draper and his team of volunteers. We believe that God has called Calvary Church to intentionally seek out and come alongside the marginalized in our society. Ardo has an incredible passion for and experience in this often overlooked community and through him we have seen God work to open our eyes and hearts both to brokenness in our world and in our own hearts. We would love for you to join us in the Prison Ministry! There are several ways that you can get involved, the first one is being in prayer. Sign up at mycalvarygr.org to receive specific monthly prayer requests for Ardo and the Prison Ministry. Every prayer warrior is a blessing to our team. Other ways to volunteer are to participate in a…