Calvary Church
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633 episodes
This message looks at the resurrection of Jesus as written about in Matthew 28:1-10. As we examine this passage, we learn how we can live without fear of death or fear in life.
In this message, we hear Jesus in Matthew 22:34-40 reiterate the two greatest commandments to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. We also learn that Jesus is more interested in having disciples than he is in having a crowd.
Calvary Church, Grand Rapids, MI Senior Pastor Dr. Jim Samra (616)956-9377
This message looks at Jesus’s response to the Pharisees attempt to trap him, in Matthew 22. As we examine this interaction, Pastor Jim helps us learn about the benefits of tax season when we consider it another opportunity to choose God’s way.
Calvary Church, Grand Rapids, MI Senior Pastor Dr. Jim Samra (616)956-9377
In this sermon, we read Matthew 21:33-46 – the Parable of the Tenants. We learn that God has something to say about current world events through the Bible. And, we are reminded of our need to view current events through a biblical worldview.
This message from Matthew 22:1-14 looks at the parable of the wedding banquet. We see Jesus telling this parable in the context of answering a question about his authority. The parable itself gives us a picture of how God is to rule and reign in this world and in our lives.
This message looks at the parable of the two sons in Matthew 21, teaching us about confession and repentance. Pastor Jim makes five observations to see a simple parable more clearly and answer the question, “which of the two sons are we?”
In this sermon, we witness Jesus teaching on His own authority and our repentance. Pastor Jim explains how these two truths are intertwined as we live out our walk as Christians.
In this message, we read from Matthew 20:17-34. The mother of the sons of Zebedee ask Jesus if her sons can sit at Jesus’ left and right hand. Jesus’ response tells us that there are positions in the Kingdom of God. We then learn what greatness in His kingdom looks like.
In this sermon we are reminded of God’s great generosity. Whether you’ve been a Christian for a long time or short while, Jesus gives us a parable in Matthew 20 that fully demonstrates this aspect of God’s character.
In this sermon we walk through Matthew 19:16-30 and hear about Jesus’ exchange with the rich young ruler. Rather than simply answering the rich young ruler’s question: “what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”, we see Jesus emphasize ensuring God is the top priority in our lives.
This passage opens with Jesus healing people. Out of that Jesus answers a question from the Pharisees meant to test him that speaks on marriage, divorce, and singleness.
This sermon looks at forgiveness as seen in Matthew 18:21-35. This passage is a follow up to previous messages in Matthew 18, in wherein we looked at forgiveness when someone is unrepentant. This message discusses what Jesus has to say about forgiveness when repentance is present. He tells the parable of the unforgiving servant and we are given three principals to apply to our lives today.
In this message, we read Matthew 18:15-20. We walk through what Jesus taught about the local church. We are provided with an answer to the question many find themselves asking as they navigate the role of the gathered assembly in their lives, “why church”?
This week we are in Matthew 18:10-14, a passage wherein Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep. We learn through this how God loves the most vulnerable. In our message, we see how the ongoing verses of Matthew 18 widen the scope of focus, applying these particular verses to a spectrum from the unborn child, to the young adult.
This message examines Jesus’s stern warning against causing our fellow believers to stumble. It helps us under what a stumbling block might look like in our own lives and how we can ensure we don’t create one for others.
In this message, we see God teach us what the kingdom of heaven is like and how we live in it.
In Matthew 17:24-27, God provides an example of how Jesus is present and can relate to us, not only in the highs and lows but in the mundane things of life as well.
In this passage of Matthew, Jesus has to cast out a demon his disciples were unable to. The disciples ask Jesus why they could not and Jesus tells them it is because of their little faith. Out of this comes the question: Where does faith come from? We then make some observations in the passage, define faith, and find a missing key to unlock the answer to this question.
The passage addressed in this sermon is a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. Here Jesus informs his disciples of his imminent death. Our message looks at the three requirements Jesus lays out for following Him as he shares this news. It concludes with word of the glory that awaits those who make the choice do to follow Jesus.
We hear a message from Jesus about His church in Matthew 16:13-20. We are reminded of some of God’s purpose, mission, and vision in creating the Church, as well as Calvary’s more specific role in that work as well. We are also reminded that Jesus is building his church and that he invites us to join him in his work.
In this message, we see how doubt can work against our ability to experience God’s love and power. But Jesus, in these passages in Matthew, teaches us to trust in God in the midst of our troubling circumstances.
Calvary Church, Grand Rapids, MI Senior Pastor Dr. Jim Samra (616)956-9377
This message addresses how Jesus calls out the concept of virtue signaling in Matthew 15:1-20. Though a more modern term, we see what the pharisees were doing as virtue signaling and how Jesus denounces, and points out the flaws of it. We then learn what the opposite of virtue signaling is and how to apply it to our lives today.
In this message, we read Matthew 14:22-36 which tells the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter’s act of faith, submission and obedience. We are encouraged to think about the difference between the results of desire, ambition, and effort and the results that faith, submission, and obedience produce in the same scenario. The results of acting in faith, submission and obedience include: the ability to exercise faith, the possibility of doubt and rebuke, and moving Jesus to responsibility for the outcome.
This message looks at Jesus feeding the 5000. We look at the other three accounts of the story told in the books of Mark, Luke and John to compare them. Out of the comparison comes five differences. These five differences show us how God provides for our physical, spiritual and emotional needs.
In Matthew 14, we see how people-pleasing affected the decision-making of Herod. We saw in Herod’s life, God teaching us the dangers of working to please people rather than working to please God. We are also reminded of John the Baptist’s commitment to obedience and were encouraged to follow Christ’s example to be seeking the Father’s approval not the approval of man.
In this sermon, we look at Matthew 7:24-29. We learn that rain, water, and wind will come to us – just like in the story, there are troubles that come up in our lives suddenly. We see that we need to both hear and act on the teachings of our teacher, Jesus. When we do so, we’ll have a house that is built on a firm foundation and withstand’s life storms.
In this message, we learn about the narrow road, which represents the path of following Jesus. We are reminded that though sometimes the narrow road may feel lonely, be less traveled and require sacrifice, God provides abundant life and agency for those who are faithful to stay on the narrow road. We are challenged to look at how we can follow the narrow road in our lives.
