GGC Annual Report 2016

GOD HAS PROVIDED
ABRAHAM’S STORY HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE HEARTS OF THE PASTORAL TEAM OF
GOSPEL GRACE CHURCH. GOD CALLED ABRAHAM TO LEAVE ALL THAT HE KNEW IN ORDER
TO OBEY HIM. HE DIDN’T KNOW ALL THE DETAILS AND HE DIDN’T EVEN FEEL CAPABLE
TO DO WHAT HE WAS ASKED. BUT HE OBEYED. THOUGH THERE WERE TIMES HE FAILED, HE
RETURNED TO HIS CALLING BECAUSE HE BELIEVED GOD. WHEN IT CAME TO THE GREATEST
TEST, TO SACRIFICING WHAT WAS MOST PRECIOUS TO HIS HEART, HE OBEYED. AND THERE
GOD REVEALED HIMSELF AS THE GREAT JEHOVAH JIREH! WHAT GOD REQUIRED, HE HIMSELF
PROVIDED! THIS IS THE GOSPEL! WHAT GOD REQUIRES OF US, HE PROVIDES FOR US BY HIS
OWN MEANS AND IN HIS OWN WAY. OUR ONLY RESPONSE IS THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH. OVER
THESE YEARS OF CHURCH PLANTING, GOD HAS ENABLED US TO OBEY AND HE HAS PROVIDED
FOR US IN WAYS THAT TRULY ONLY CAN GLORIFY HIMSELF. WE HAVE NOTHING--BUT JESUS IS
EVERYTHING! LOOKING BACK AT 2016, WE CAN TRULY SAY, JEHOVAH--JIREH. GOD PROVIDES!
A HOME FOR GGC
In January, we began preparations for moving into our church building at Liberty Park. Who would
have thought that a church grown on a University campus in three years could have nearly $725,000
to purchase a building in the heart of the city? Let us never forget the miracle of God’s provision of this
prime piece of property and a tailor-made church in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City!
GOD—BE GLORIFIED IN THIS PLACE, MAY YOUR
NAME CONTINUE TO BE HALLOWED HERE!
$718,172

GROWING INTO
OUR NEW HOME
What a blessing it has been to watch God grow
our church this year! While the full services and
packed parking lots are incredibly encouraging,
the new growth has also been a stretching time
for us as shepherding care and more service
needs have risen up.
In June, the church chose 5 deacons to help
with this growth curve. We praise God for these
men and their families! They have taken on
extra service projects and are lifting the “tableserving”
from the pastors.
GOD HAS
GROWN OUR
AVERAGE
ATTENDANCE
BY OVER 100
THIS YEAR.
So many service projects and work days have happened this year. In February, we held our first
“work week” when several of our people got the building ready for use. We painted, cleaned, threw out
dumpster loads of junk, tore down walls, rewired electrical, landscaped and decorated. And it has been
a joy to see the people of Gospel Grace continue to put down some serious sweat equity in a place
they can call home--from the further renovation of expanded ministry rooms for our kids, to monthly
women’s work projects on Heart & Hands Saturdays, to weekly cleaning by community groups…The
ownership of practical ministry related to the gift of our church building has been a joy to watch.
LIVING OUT THE
GOSPEL OF GRACE
What makes a church? God’s people gathering to
worship, coming under the authority of the Word of God,
submitting to the Head of the Church-our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in Christian love
and performing the ordinances as God has commanded,
committing to evangelism and discipleship. All these
things we have been seeking to do by grace since our
first handful of families and singles started Gospel Grace
Church in August of 2012. We rejoice in seeing 13 people
obey God in believer’s baptism this year. From young
to old, from Salt Lakers to students from the other side
of the world, believers have been baptized at Gospel
Grace Church, following Christ’s teaching on public
identification with Him.

LIVE THE GOSPEL. CHANNEL GRACE. BE THE CHURCH.
THOUGH WE ARE ENJOYING OUR BUILDING, GOSPEL GRACE WAS NOT
LIMITED TO OUR FACILITY ON THE CORNER OF 7TH AND 13TH. AFTER THE
WONDERFUL MINISTRIES THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EXPERIENCE IN
DIFFERENT PLACES, WE THANK GOD FOR LEADING US TO CONTINUE IN
MANY “OUT OF BUILDING” MINISTRIES.
In 2016, 10 Community
Once a month, our
Weekly, the grassroots
a youth soccer
Groups met across
Rescue Mission Team,
ministries like our
tournament to
the city. 78% of Sunday
ministered downtown
Jail Bible Study and
minister the gospel
attenders are involved
in a Sunday night
Assisted Living Home
to athletes and their
in community group
service.
Ministry continued.
families.
and Wednesday
ministry.
We ministered to the
Grassroots sports
Summer Plant Camps
homeless in Pioneer
ministries also
worked hard for
University Bible
Park Outreaches and
continued as athletes
three weeks, as 154
Lecture Series offered
in Bible Studies.
joined local teams,
teens and leaders
two courses this year
coached and hosted
from youth groups
on the campus of the
Several of our people
across the USA
University of Utah--
volunteered for the
partnered with GGC
Survey of the OT and
care of children and
to hit the streets
Church History.
families in Foster Care
with witnessing and
and at the Pregnancy
advertising the new
Resource Center.
location.

6 weeks of Church-
ESL classes through
in-the-Park allowed
the Cross Cultural
us to feed both
Club continued at a
the spiritually and
center in the middle
physically needy
of University student
people of our city with
housing. These
food and a powerful
classes are wonderful
Gospel message. No
for introducing people
walls to hinder the
sound of proclaiming
Christ’s death, burial,
and resurrection!
from all nations and
beliefs to Christians
who love them and
want to teach them.
We launched a new
Sunday afternoon
service at the
University of Utah
Pastor Lukus
ministered at Hill Air
Force Base, preaching
at the chapel, daily
Backyard Bible Clubs
were held in five
different locations
this summer,
ministering to 221
children across the
city.
Gospel Grace
Campus Fellowship
hosted a retreat
in September at
a beautiful Park
City resort with
an attendance of
50. Pastor Justin
Schroeder from
California challenged
the students with
Christ-centered living.
this fall. It is held
at the Post Chapel
where we first
started. What a
blessing to minister
on campus again to
a student population
of 31,000! Our team
of church interns are
heavily involved in
that service and are
doing a great job.
counseling, and
weekly hosting a Bible
study for unsaved
Mormons, Catholics
and agnostics, as well
as the believers on
base.
The final “out-ofbuilding”
experience
includes all that
Gospel Gracers
do every day: all
the Bible studies,
fellowship meals,
mentorship meetings,
counseling sessions,
and evangelistic
talks that happen in
homes or restaurants
or coffee shops all
across the city!

TELLING THE NEXT GENERATION
We praise God for a 24/7 home to minister and disciple our children and students. Our active
Youth Group learns the Bible every Wednesday and participates in monthly events. Teens from the
community continue to join us for activities and meetings. The youth staff prays for the teens and
plans excellent things for their Christian growth. This summer, the teens made their first camp trip to
Ironwood in the California desert. They enjoyed a week of growth in their relationships with God and
others. Kid’s ministries continue to explode from the nurseries up through the sixth grade. Leaders
engaged in teaching are also growing as they prepare lessons and pray for the children in their classes.
Nursery workers grow in grace as they serve the “least” of us (at least in size) and know that in this
service, they are serving Christ! This summer, some of our 4th-6th graders went to Pioneer Bible
Junior Camp, here in Utah. The Gospel Grace Kids Choir grows in number and volume each year,
culminating in the Annual Christmas Singalong at the Church and State Building.
MAKING ROOM IN OUR BUILDING
We are enjoying ministry in our new building, but we are already filling it up! We have some work
planned to maximize space. In fact, we plan to renovate the auditorium for more seating at the
beginning of 2017. It will take some sacrificial giving and some sweat equity, but we are confident that
we can get quite a bit more space by reducing the stage & baptistry area.
Speaking of space, you may notice we have two international congregations that meet in our building.
One is an independent Spanish congregation and one is a concurrent Korean service. When we
moved into the building, a group of Korean believers came to the church after leaving a denomination
that was in compromising theologically. The pastors felt burdened to minister to them and teach them
the philosophy of a healthy church. Right now, the group of about 25 believers uses our café for a
translated version of Sunday’s service. Our pastors and interns have been preaching to them through a
translator. Once a month we meet togeteher in combined services.

PLANTING FOR THE GOSPEL
Hoping to grow a new service on the University campus, we
launched a Sunday night outreach in early September. The
service is led by our interns. We are thankful for the experience
they are gaining in practical ministry under the oversight of our
pastoral team. How we love Gospel Grace at the U and how we
pray for the development of new elders and teams through the
ministry at the University of Utah!
God is also leading a pastor who has been serving in Greenville
for the last 25 years to SLC. Pastor Danny Brooks and his family
are raising support and planning to move to the city this spring.
They will join us in our church planting residency for a few
months before leading a team to plant/revitalize in Riverton.
At the same time a pastor from Guam is moving his family to
the area. Kevin and Misty Inafuku will join the team in Riverton
with an end goal of returning to his home state of Hawaii to
plant churches. God is building a team around them to send the
gospel out of Gospel Grace into a new area of our city. We are so
thankful for what God is doing in leading these families to team
church plant with us here in this needy valley! God will indeed be
shaking up our Liberty Park congregation and challenging us all
with what is part of the DNA of Gospel Grace Church.
In order for new plants to begin, we continue to depend
on the gracious financial support of partners in ministry.
We must remain prayerful that God will provide what is
needed for Gospel Grace Church to become a hub for
planting daughter and sister churches. We continue to
need money and time to train people. This training process
means our current team of 4 interns and future residents
will need time with our leadership. Please be in prayer for
the developing infrastructure of all that is required to plant
more churches! Partners in prayer and financial sacrifice
are indeed a huge necessity in supporting those who are
willing to be trained at GGC and go plant more churches.
PURPOSEFUL MULTIPLICATION: BY MEANS OF THE CHURCH, GOD DISPLAYS HIS
CHARACTER AND DECLARES HIS MESSAGE TO A LOST AND BROKEN WORLD. WE
BELIEVE THAT THE GOSPEL’S WORK NATURALLY EVENTUATES IN THE FORMATION
OF NEW CHURCHES. THEREFORE WE WILL INVEST IN REPRODUCING CHURCH-
PLANTING CHURCHES IN STRATEGIC COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE SALT
LAKE VALLEY AND BEYOND. SUCH AN ENDEAVOR REQUIRES LEADERS WHO WILL
TRAIN LEADERS AND TEAMS WHO WILL PIONEER NEW WORKS (2TIM 2:2).

“Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man, who can find?” For all the
unmentioned servants of Gospel Grace Church, for all the moms and dads who actively parent their
children, for all the teachers who sacrifice sleep to study, for cleaners and planners and drivers and
musicians and sound/media persons and snack preparers and hosts/hostesses and and money
counters and security persons and family providers and most of all, the “pray-ers”…
FOR ALL OF YOU, MAY THE GOODNESS OF GOD HOLD YOU UP AND LEAD
YOU TO CONTINUE FAITHFULLY IN YOUR SERVICE, KNOWING THAT IN DUE
SEASON, YOU WILL REAP IF YOU FAINT NOT!
2016 MINISTY UPDATE
30%
Giving
Growth
61%
Attendance
Growth
10
Community
Groups
78%
Sunday Attendance
Active in Wednesday
Ministry (CG + Kids)
173
Guests at
Church in
the Park
$718K
Provided for a Home4GGC
6
Babies Born
$25K
Given to Missions
221
Kids in Backyard Bible Clubs
13
Baptisms
88
Thanksgiving Baskets
and Christmas Gift
Boxes Assembled
154
PlantCamp
Participants
34K
Invites &
Doorhangers
46
Average
Attendance
at U Service