Redeemer Next Steps Vision Gathering

Hey y'all.

How's it going?

Almost said good morning.

Again.

I've been trying not to say that all night.

Uh will y'all stand and join me.

We're going to start by singing a song.

Um tonight as we look towards what's ahead.

We want to also remember God's faithful to us, God's faithfulness to us, and uh where we have been to this point.

So we're gonna sing a song of God's faithfulness in the beginning.

Give the seal in time.

What time are you promises?

I yes today.

And have confidence to look ahead and know that you will be faithful as we step forward.

Be with us tonight.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Y'all can be seated.

Hey, well, welcome everyone.

We're very uh glad you're here.

My name is Bo.

I'm an elder, and I think I know just about everybody, which is really exciting.

Um like I said, we're glad you're here.

I think the question is why are we here?

Why did we snake our way through 4,000 youth to get here?

That was so exciting to see out there.

I love walking in when they're doing that.

It's uh it really, it really makes me excited.

Um, so why are we here tonight?

Um our hope for tonight is through really a chorus of voices, not just mine, but we're gonna have some folks up here, we're gonna have people stationed around the church.

We will hear and see a vision for how we intend to use this new space that we purchased just a few months ago.

We want to get a glimpse of the heart, and I think we're gonna have it up there, but you've seen it, it's in the packet.

Um we want to get a glimpse of how the heartbeat of Redeemer, which is to be a people resting and growing in the grace of God, can come to life and really express itself in each and every aspect of how we use this space that God has been so faithful to grant us.

Uh, you're gonna hear a little bit about what we're grateful for, what we're hopeful for, and then hopefully how we're gonna move forward and we can all stay involved in the process as we go.

Like I said, we're gonna hear from a lot of different folks.

I'm gonna actually step down so that folks can come up and start to talk about the vision that we're putting together.

Um, but before we do that, I'd like to pray as well.

So, real quick, our heads.

Dear Heavenly Father, you are, have been, and continue to be so faithful to us.

We thank you for tonight, uh, for this space you've already blessed us with, and for the opportunity to make use of your continual blessings.

We ask that the Holy Spirit speak to us through each person that talks, through the prayers that we offer up, and even as we walk around the new space, we want to hear from you, Father.

Help us to stay fixed on Jesus and to give him all the glory, and it's in his name that we pray.

Amen.

Thank you, Bo.

So, like he said, different people are gonna be popping up, and we're gonna be praying a good bit, like in between, um, because we want tonight to be not just information for y'all, but we want it to be us being grateful and us asking God to be a part of this thing that we're doing.

So um, I'm gonna share a little bit of our timeline of our church.

For most of us, it's familiar, but for some of you it'll be new.

Um, so we started 11 years ago, back in 2012.

This was the this idea started, and then in 2013, 20 people began to gather in a dentist's office.

And we have a picture of the dentist's office of us in the dentist's office, maybe the one before that.

Do we have dentist office?

No dentist's office, it's okay.

So you can imagine what a beautiful lobby of a dentist office looks like.

It really attracts a lot of people to come to a Bible study to church.

And we would gather there and just have a Bible study.

We'd talk about what a church would look like, and that was on Thursday evenings.

And then we went to the Robinson's home.

This is the picture of us in the Robinson's home, and uh these children are now 10 years older.

Um, everybody there is now 10 years older.

And uh we had church there.

We had church as a family, and then we'd throw all the kids in the backyard or the basement, and we'd have some adult worship, and we would sing and worship together, and that was us there for the first you know summer and into the fall.

And then in that fall, we started in a Walker Preschool in the preschool building.

We started worship there, and we grew this is the very first Sunday.

Um, that was us, that was our church.

You know, so there's a lot for us of if you've been around long enough, like we're grateful just over and over and over again when I did the kindergarten blessing uh last Sunday.

I'm like, that was our church, like that, like that blessing, just those, those kindergartens.

That was this that was the whole church, you know.

So we're grateful when we look at this timeline and think about it, and what we want you to, no matter if you've been here one year or 10 years, is that God is faithful along the way.

And it has not never been linear and it's never been exactly what we thought it would be, but God continues to be faithful.

Um, and it's the same stories now.

We're gonna talk about the building, we're talking about what's possible, we're gonna talk about the resources we need, we're gonna talk about all that.

When it comes down to it, we're we we want a gospel movement and the building serves the gospel movement.

We don't want a fancy building and no gospel movement, right?

Like the building serves the mission, and so to that end, we hold it very open-handed with what God wants to do.

We have a good plan, um, but inevitably he ends up throwing some curveballs along the way, and we as a leadership in church adjust and we keep moving forward.

Um, so we came into this building in 2015, we bought it in 2016.

We did a renovation enough for us to get into it.

Um, we renovated a student, the student chapel in 2017, and then this sanctuary was renovated.

We just had walled off this build, this room, for a couple of years, a few years, three years, and then we renovated this sanctuary in 2019, so we've been in here for four years.

And so back in April, we bought that space over there, which is suite 830, which you'll see, and then the suite that butts up against it and faces the back is suite 510.

So suite 830, and a lot of this is um we're just kind of working our way through this packet.

Uh suite 830 is 3,500 square feet.

The suite that backs up to it is 1,800 square feet, releasing eight the 510 out right now.

We have the opportunity to keep doing that, which is great, until we need it, until we can deal with it.

So we did have to borrow money to do that.

We paid, we put down$112,500 on that.

So the two suites together we bought for$750,000.

We put down$112,500.

We borrowed$637.5.

So we do have debt.

It's the only debt our church has.

This whole building, the main building, is debt-free.

So when we bought that, that's the only debt we have, and that debt is leveraged on those units.

That debt is not leveraged on the rest of the building, which is great.

That's fantastic.

Still debt that we want to deal with, and we want to either pay off quickly or we want to start to deal with it in a good way moving forward.

So, our here's our hearts and our goals uh for this season.

You can see this on the opening page of your packet.

Be who we've always been.

We try to be very steadfast on this.

Be who we've always been, resting and growing the grace of God, known to Jesus.

We want to do that Sunday mornings, we do that in groups, we want to do that when we're raising money for part of our building.

It's just we want to be who we are.

And we want to welcome the next person.

That's what part of going to two services was.

When you can't find a seat, it's hard to be a welcoming church.

It's hard to be a welcoming church to you and your family, much less a new person.

So going to two services that we've done two weeks now, that's part of us being a welcoming, loving community.

And us continuing to create environment space for people is doing that.

Give our children Jesus.

Meaning there's a part of our building, the children's ministry area, it needs to be finished at some point.

Like we need some children's restrooms.

The amount of simplicity that would be created for our children's ministry and volunteers and staff for us to have children's restrooms inside of a children's ministry would be groundbreaking and amazing.

Build out some extra classrooms, create a little more safety, security, maybe get a chapel in there.

So all those are our goals for children's ministry.

We want to be open to God's move, meaning we have a plan and we want to hold the plan loosely and open, and we want to leave room for God to move.

So we want to move ahead, desiring to pay off debt.

We want to renovate space for small groups, children's ministry, future sanctuary space, and hopefully at some point deal with the outdoor courtyard.

We don't own the outdoor courtyard.

The HOA owns it, so we own it along with the rest of the building, but we own 25% of the building.

So we abnormally own a larger percentage than the rest of the tenants or the rest of the owners.

And then as well, we kind of surround the garden courtyard.

So we want to get to the garden courtyard at the same time.

We can't just go and do it on our own.

We have to deal with the HOA.

So some of that's a waiting game until they're ready and if they'll put up some money.

And so that's a bit of a waiting game till we can get the courtyard dealt with.

And then each person gives us God calls.

So yeah, wonderful if every parishioner participates.

But even underneath that as a foundation, is if all of us, and this is what our vision and gratitude team has been praying for, if all of us just seek the Lord of how do you want me to participate, whatever money we raise to renovate, we are content.

We can move ahead with that because we have all said, God, how do you want me to participate?

If we all do that honestly, open hands, then we continue as a church without any issue, and we continue to be a gospel movement church.

Brian and Ashley and Roger are gonna come up, and Ashley, I'll can come on up.

Ashley's gonna first share, and Brian, you can come on up as well.

Robinson, not Sims.

Yes, Brian Robinson.

That's you, Brian.

Good job.

Ashley's gonna share first, and then Roger, and then Brian.

Okay.

First off, uh, this weekend I was in Birmingham keeping my nieces and nephews, and we went to church this morning.

And as soon as the benediction was over, all the men started collapsing chairs and stacking them because they are in a space like we were at Walker.

And I was immediately grateful that we are not in that season anymore.

Um, but as I was reflecting on gratitude and specifically to this church, um, I thought about a C.S.

Lewis quote that goes something along the lines of the Sabbath should feel like coming out of the wind, like rest.

And for our family, that is exactly what Redeemer has felt like.

Um, we've been at Redeemer for the last 10 years, and if you're like me, a lot of life has happened in the last decade.

When Redeemer began, I was barely 30, pregnant with my third child.

I had just lost a parent, and I have now gone from toddlers to teens.

I have another parent that battles mental illness, and we can throw a major surgery in along the way.

I'm constantly trying to figure out this mothering role as it is ever changing.

Standing behind my husband, Matt, as he has made a career change, has gone on to grow a business and start another one.

And let's also mention marriage.

I think we can all agree that we're all works in progress as we learn and grow together and come alongside our mates.

This is just a brief snapshot about me.

And while I don't want you to focus on me, there is so much that goes on each year, each week, each day that we can't control or change.

And yet, in it all, the ebbs and flows, this church has served as a refuge, a place of rest.

Each week the gospel is presented.

I am reminded how much I'm loved, no matter how much of a failure I've developed those six days prior.

Um we are presented with the means of grace and communion where Christ finished work is celebrated.

I'm grateful that it does feel like when we walk through the doors, we are walking out of the wind.

And as our family is growing up along the side redeemer, I am so grateful that the same rest I have come to know, love, and crave, my children are experiencing it even now in need.

I'm grateful that our relationships within these four walls have transcended these four walls, that we have it in school, we have it work, sports, social.

I'm grateful that in God's kindness, he saw fit to plant church in Marietta that would offer the gospel and this rest to this weary soul.

Would you pray with me?

Lord, we are grateful for your kindness to this church.

We pray you would keep us in a posture of gratitude and thankfulness, recalling all that you have already done for us.

Lord, let us trust in you and these next steps, knowing you have already gone before us and you know the plans you have for us.

Let us be wise and good stewards of the gifts you grant.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Hello, hello.

My name is Roger Balco, and I have uh I've been asked to share a little bit about what we are hopeful for.

Um as I thought upon that, um, and I was reading through some scripture, this scripture came to my mind.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

And it really jumped out to me as I think about this whole process living hope.

The to me that spoke of a dynamism, um, a movement, not just static, not just we hope in one thing, it stays the same and it never changes.

Um we in a big sense have a living, dynamic, moving hope.

This church has been to my wife and my family and I that same place of rest.

It's been the place that we can come, we can I can know as a father, and um which has been huge to me, I can know as a father that my family, day in, day out, and any ministry that this church puts forth is going to hear the simple gospel.

And it I've shared this with Russ, it is allowed to be the most profound thing in the world.

And it is my hope as we move into this season of continued growth, which I think we would all say the the living hope of God in this church has constantly been changing.

This church has grown in amazing ways, and not just in buildings and things like that, but in a dynamism of activity.

Um, that would be my continued hope for this church, that we would continue to be dynamic in the way that we go with the flow, that we tap into the flow of God and latch on to those experiences that He brings us through.

I think this is yet another example of that.

I'm also very hopeful and grateful for too that we get to be a part of this as parishioners.

We get to take part.

I get to stand up here and talk about what I'm hopeful for.

I think this is an incredible opportunity for us all to really take part in and plug in to something that could be just uh uh administrative.

You know, we have a building.

What do we need to do to fix the building?

How do we need to use it?

But it's also something I think that we, and I'm hopeful that we can all tap in, myself included, into an act of worship of how do we use this opportunity to fan the flame of this living hope that we've all experienced, first in our personal lives, then in this community.

So that's those are two things, I guess, that I'm very hopeful for.

Um and I'm very excited for this season.

I hope that you join in on it.

So let me pray for it.

Dear God, I'm so thankful for a place where I and my family can hear the truth, that the truth is allowed to be the most revolutionizing thing in our hearts and our minds, that Jesus who you are is enough, and that we are constantly showing you and experience you through this place and the people here, and the message that is spoken, uh, and the programs that are put on.

I just ask that you would continue to move greatly, and that we would have the eyes to see and the courage to follow as you develop a plan that you have for this community and for the community beyond these walls in our city.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

All right, well thank you all.

That was awesome.

I would like to do this every weekend here.

That's very encouraging to me as an elder.

My name's Brian Robinson.

So I'm going to be more focused on the opportunities that these new spaces are going to bring to our church.

I did want to say first before I even talk about it God's provision for our church has been pretty amazing like the whole time every single step of the way.

So I feel like as elders when these two spaces first came available by the way right when we needed them and they've not ever been available before I was kind of like let's just not mess it up.

Like let's this is pretty clear that we need to do this.

So I'm just so grateful because I don't feel like there's a lot of pressure on us to make a right decision.

God has gone before us in all of this.

So anyway if you'll go to page two there's a green yeah sweet uh green and then a beige drawing there.

So that beige represents where we are it looks kind of small but that's our entire property up there the beige.

The green represents what we just purchased.

So it's kind of hard to vision this but the bottom green part kind of the more square part is suite 830 and then the long rectangular part is suite 510 and that connects us to that back parking lot.

So let's go to the next drawing which is actually in your packet it's like this big thing.

Yeah.

So that has the three different phases and I'm going to talk a little bit about what each of these phases would mean for our church and how our plan would be to what to do with those parts.

So the first phase you can see is the light yellow so that's kind of the sanctuary where we are right now.

The second phase above that is like a darker yellow which is the children's area and then phase three is the brown kind of area that goes to the right right there.

So as far as phase one, what's possible with phase one?

A we retire the debt that we just spent to buy this property.

B we carpet, paint and finish that area for small groups and then C, we expand this room out that way by about 110 seats.

So effectively that gives us enough room to stay at two services for a while based on like our kind of kind of our current growth trajectory.

So that's that's phase one.

Let me talk a little bit about phase two.

So that's the dark yellow at the top so what that would mean is more focus on children's ministry.

So three new children's classrooms some new bathrooms that Russ talked about a children's chapel and then a much uh a much less awkward hallway and I do think the whole flow of that area would be a little friendlier to like gathering because there's that weird hallway.

So that that would be phase two again it's more child centered and if you volunteered in the children's ministry you know it would not be bad to have a little more room.

And then phase three is the brown that long rectangular strip and um that would basically be an entrance to that larger parking lot.

We could come in through that area which would be wonderful.

And then also we could use that as a fellowship hall to do dinners and events and stuff like that.

So all these things we don't really know when any of this is going to happen because we don't know how much money we're going to end up raising or getting I don't know what the right word for that do you say raise money?

Forgive me I'm not good with that.

But we're open and trusting that the Lord will make all of this very clear.

And I did want to say this I'm gonna I'm gonna really um embarrass Russ a little bit um so we I read we read a book when we first were starting this church and it was by a man named William Hordern and it was called Living by Grace.

I don't know if anybody's read it um and it talked about it was all focused on uh justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone um and not our own efforts and this book said most churches when it comes to the stewardship campaign that goes out the window it's like what are we gonna do to generate some money guys and I want to say I know Russ pretty well and he really does mean we are holding this loosely we are trusting that God is going to do what God wants to do here and um I really respect that about you Russ because my paycheck is not as is not attached to the tithes but Russ's is and I just really think that that shows I just think it shows a lot of faith that God really is in control of all this.

So I think now we're gonna break into like the little satellite groups do you want to explain that?

Okay thank you we want you to be able to walk around the building with that with the drawing because sometimes looking at a drawing but also walking around the space with the drawing can be very different.

The first thing to note when you walk around is that on the drawing the sanctuary space on the drawing is enlarged so it's pushing that wall over so on the drawing in the light yellow that is not current that's as it could be with an expansion.

And so we're gonna break into three groups and you're gonna walk around and you can kind of make it a little bit of a gratitude walk.

You can make a little bit just like friendly walk and like meet somebody you don't know that would be welcome during this time.

And you're gonna visit each location suite 830 suite 510 in the children's ministry area.

Alright Brian Sims know a lot of you some of you I don't know first of all need to apologize for my voice I'm getting over what my wife affectionately refers to as a man cold.

I don't know if you've had a man cold but it is the more severe of the colds that go around T's and peas for those of you who have thoughts and prayers for the next 10 minutes here.

Okay so um my wife and I have been here since 2016.

We actually originally visited prior to that uh when we were still at the Walker School and this church has really been a blessing to us.

My day job is I'm a pilot for Delta and I spend most of my time down at the training center um teaching and evaluating the pilots that fly you guys around the friendly skies and so I'm kind of an objective person.

Get me to the point person let's you know check this box and get done.

But before I sort of get into the objective of tonight with the the numbers and the seats and all that I just want to share a brief story with you.

My background is actually in missions.

My folks were uh Bible translators for uh Wycliffe Bible translators and so I spent 18 years overseas in Indonesia and uh prior to them going to overseas uh one of the things they had to do was raise a lot of money because they were not going on a short-term mission this was going to be a lifetime commitment of decades and so in 1979 they were traveling all over the U.S.

trying to raise money and uh they were making progress but they just weren't hitting the numbers that they needed to hit and it was fairly discouraging because this is something they you know thought God had called them to do with their life and so they were approaching the end of 1979 they were getting close to the departure date to go overseas and uh one afternoon they get a call uh from a pastor in Knoxville Tennessee he said listen my name is Ken Schmidt you don't know me I don't know you but I uh met a Marine Corps chaplain uh up here in Knoxville Tennessee his name is Tim Sims and he's your brother and he says his brother is going overseas to be a missionary and needs support I'm a pastor our church is looking for somebody to support so we don't know you but you don't know us and if you'll come up here and share your vision with us it sounds like we've got the same vision and if you'll do that and we do have the same vision then we'll cover whatever you need to go.

And that was in 1979 and we are going back to Indonesia in September for my dad's retirement this year he's translated two Bibles into two different tribal languages in Indonesia and that church has supported them and filled the gap for the last 44 years.

And so as we talk about numbers tonight as we talk about putting people in the seats and moving walls and all the stuff that's not really what our church is about right it's about do we have a common mission do we have a common vision and is this what God has called us to do and so as Russ said as Brian said as Roger and others have said hopefully that is a a freeing message to us right because I have no idea what God's going to raise and I have no idea if the plans that we put on paper are the plans that God has laid out for us.

If it is we'll do it.

If it's not we'll rest in that so let's kind of get into that what's it gonna take so the uh the big budget if we were to do everything that you've seen tonight everything that we've talked about tonight it's gonna be in the ballpark of 1.5 to 1.7 million uh and that's a pretty big number um our hope is to uh rage raise pledges uh from within the church um for the next few weeks we're gonna have a period of prayer and then we're gonna have a pledge period and then the hope is to try to complete all of that work and all of that pledge within the next 18 months if possible that's big but that's that's what we put on paper and we'll see what happens.

Generally speaking we've got three spaces and you've heard a couple times tonight the sanctuary space pushing that way 810 or 830 and 510 and then the children's wing next to us.

But within those three spaces we've got an order of priority that we would like to address that.

So Sam if you want to put that up on the screen this is the order that we would like to tackle priority number one we've already really started to do that.

We have small groups that are meeting in there we have student ministries that are meeting in there and then as you heard 510 is already leased.

Retire the debt on 830 we were debt free up until the purchase of this property and we believe that's good stewardship.

We want to get back to that point and so that's our hope is to begin retiring the debt aggressively on that space as we can.

Suite 830 renovation so this is the initial phase and what we mean by that is to push the wall to your right and my left towards the entrance of that space.

It would basically butt up against that entrance and what that gives us is roughly 110 additional seats.

If you look in the package you're gonna see a couple different numbers in there there's a number that's just over 400 there's a number that's closer to 370 and that's kind of the difference between the practical realities of people you know being in a church versus what the fire marshal and the fire code actually lets you do.

But realistically we're talking about adding an additional 110 seats which is a 42% increase in capacity for those of you who are crunching the numbers.

Priority number four is the children's ministry area renovation that you guys visited over here.

There is a caveat here we have got a ton of students that have come in I think the youth ministry last Sunday had over a hundred students just on Sunday night.

So depending on the money that comes in and depending on what the elders decide we might address the student area before we address the sanctuary area but they're gonna have to have some flexibility there as they work through the practical realities of renovating a church that is functioning on a on a weekly basis.

Number five would be cease leasing 510 and retire the remaining debt right now there's a lease on that I think it runs for the year in pardon?

It's a year.

It's a year so we may end that after a year if that's a mutual agreement it may continue to be leased after that if that makes sense but that would be lower on the priority list.

And then finally suite 830 the full renovation as well as the full renovation of 510 would be the last priority.

But all six of those is where that 1.5 to 1.7 uh comes in so how do we get there?

Russ is going to come up in a few minutes here and talk about kind of the pledge period and the period of prayer and how that process is going to work out.

But what we would like to do is have the giving period be for an 18 month period.

We didn't want to draw it out we don't want this to be a long-term burden for the church but we also realize you know we've got to have more than just you know two months to raise a million and a half if that's what we're gonna do.

So 18 months is going to be the giving period if we can and our hope and our goal is really to have 100% participation from within the church.

As a friend of mine put it a while back sometimes I feel like there's a hole in the bottom of my bucket and I realize some of you in the room may feel like that.

I go back and forth between feeling like there's a hole in the bottom of my bucket and feeling pretty good some days when I check the account and then the next day I'm like well where'd the hole come from so I I get that we've got a lot of young families we've got folks that are going into fixed income we've got the whole range and we understand that but we do hope for full participation at least in prayer if not in giving I think in a church this size we have the ability to do that.

I also think that in a church this size we have people that have never given before and so maybe this will be their first opportunity to kind of step into that.

So 100% participation for the 18 months is what we're hoping for.

And then lastly how does a church this size get to a number like 1.5 or 1.7 Sam if you could put this up on the board I thought this was interesting.

Russ uh discussed this with the vision team a couple months ago and this is not a formula it's not going to break down exactly like this but um it is a way that a church this size can get to a number uh like a million and a half in a reasonable period of time.

So this is hypothetical but if one individual or one company from within the church gave a half a million dollars it's a big gift but it it's it's not unheard of in a church this size another individual or company were to give 2000 and then you can see down the list there are three gifts of 8000 eight gifts of 4000 all the way down those bottom three 30 gifts even the very bottom one if one family or excuse me if 30 families could give$50 a month that's$27,000.

And that's not just a drop in the bucket I mean that's a significant number it's a significant number individually it's also a significant number for our church.

And to kind of come full circle on the conversation at the beginning or the anecdote at the beginning with our family you know my folks have been raising money for months and months and months and we're talking 20 bucks a month and 50 bucks a month and people that have been doing that.

And then at the end they had this church come in and step in and they filled the gap and there were two or three other churches over the years that have come in and filled those gaps and so it's not going to be an even distribution of giving but we do hope that for everyone it's joyful.

We hope that for everyone it is filled with faith.

I can tell you I hate asking for money growing up in a family with missionary parents I hated asking for money.

It felt needy it felt like you know we were in a place of vulnerability and I hated that but at the same time it was then and it is now one of the things that has been so impactful to my faith to see at points in our life over the last 40 plus years how we had a need that we could not fill on our own we could not solve on our own.

And a check would come or a phone call would come or an event would happen and it was like I got no other explanation but then God has called you to this he's gonna see you through this.

And so as Russ comes up now I hope that that will be our heart I hope that will be our vision.

Whatever God has called us to he will see us through and so I ask that you would be faithful to pray about that.

And the last thing I'll say is I would ask for those of you who have kids share this process with your kids.

Even as a five and six year old I remember those experiences and I remember them today.

So let your kids be a part of it.

This is their classrooms this is their church this is going to be their youth hall when they're a teenager let them be a part of it.

Okay thanks.

Thank you Brian thanks so how can you help?

Well there's this section that we laid out for you and that's first to pray for the heartbeat of our church.

Pray for the heartbeat of our church before we even start praying for the spaces right like pray for who we are what we're doing the mission the heartbeat that's what we want to begin praying for and then pray for okay God we have the space how do we use it how do I participate in it for some of us like Brian said maybe the first step is just begin to give regularly even before we even start thinking about giving over and beyond because when we talk about giving to a vision campaign we're talking about additional giving to your normal tithe or offering because if we all start just kind of subsetting parts of our tither offering over to the vision campaign this would cause chaos within our cash flow of our church.

So we're always talking about over and beyond when we're talking about vision and building and giving the next three weeks we're gonna have three weeks of prayer as a church the first week we're just gonna pray prayers of gratitude.

If you're on our email list you'll get an email with a a devotion leading you in gratitude as well we'll put something up on our Instagram page the next week the second week what are we hopeful for and then the third week asking the Lord okay God what do you how do you want me to participate in this and then that'll get us to September 10th.

So September 10th online we'll do the pledges and we'll email out and we'll announce it but September 10th is when we will open the pledges online.

There's a portal online for us to do that and then we'll aggregate all that together for us quickly September 10th through September 17th that week is when we will take the pledges and so on there in that pledge portal it will help you say like okay a one time gift of whatever to be given on whatever a monthly a semi annual an annual now perhaps you want to give stock perhaps you want to give some sort of legacy gift a plan to state giving people do these things and you can reach out to me if something's a little bit more complicated in that regard and we can help you out.

When would we start um hopefully the goal is is September 10th to September 17th right after that we're gonna see okay how much was raised did we raise a hundred thousand did we raise a million I don't know okay how much money do we have okay now on Badox on that order of priority that we're decided what can we go after what can we do and so we'll see how much money we have just like we all do in our homes how much money we have and based on how much money we have and resources we have is what we'll do.

Hopefully we'll see how the cash flow works out the elder board will meet to see how much money we raise how does the cash flow work out of when can we start we don't want to have to wait to the end of 18 months to begin to do work when all the money would come in and so we'll look at how the cash flow can work out and perhaps maybe we'd open a line of credit that we can borrow from while cash is coming in in order to begin construction and renovation in different areas.

All right so this is three weeks of prayer the pledge period elders can gather the financial information look at the next steps when will we start we're gonna make that plan but hopefully we can float money as money comes in we're spending money as it goes out I think that's it.

Thank you for your patience for being here let me pray for us and then I'll stick around if you have questions.

So I'll stick around but I want to release the rest of you guys.

God thank you that we can be here thank you for our church.

Thank you for a heartbeat that is about you may any of this be about you and your gospel and help us to have open hearts to give open hearts to participate and to pray most of all that we have a gospel movement.

May this building be in service to a church that is astonished by the sufficiency of Jesus in his powerful name we pray.

Amen.