Hi Suncrest,
Can I start with something odd? I don’t like light jackets. I like my winter coat and then…I like to shift straight to going without any coat. I switched this week and have no intention of looking back! Hopefully, Spring is here to stay. And don’t forget about the time change this weekend. We always have a least a few families walk into church at the wrong times on these weekends!
Wasn’t it awesome to see all those people from South Bend on Sunday? If you are at the Hobart campus, you may have missed them because they were there during set-up! Either way, to see all those people from that launch team, and learn that we now have 75 people signed on for the Highland launch team and an impassioned team of 14 just back from Liberia, Africa tells me we will be ready for The Jesus Mission when it comes to servants and leaders. Frankly, that is usually the hardest part.
But this Sunday, we tackle together the other major hurdle to carrying out The Jesus Mission. No one is pretending on this one…we are just acknowledging what it is since we are a family. It is financial. We’ve worked hard to focus all of our previous communication on the 3 projects so we could be informed of the vision. This week, though, is the week to sacrifice financially for The Jesus Mission.
Here are some nuts/bolts about that: We announced Sunday that 17 leadership families had come together to make commitments of $52,000. Then we were pleasantly surprised on Sunday when some families went ahead and turned in their commitments early. Now the total is that 22 families have committed $86,000. On one hand, I’m BLOWN AWAY by such generosity and sacrifice for the Mission.
On the other hand…I know it will take similar levels of sacrifice from the rest of our Suncrest Family to commit this $400,000 total to turn potential into reality. As I mentioned Sunday, my journey to sacrifice, left me with this as my guide: I will give up things that mean the world to me for things that mean the world to God. I’ve also been inspired by some of the other ways I hear people talk about how God has answered their prayers about what their commitment should be:
· I wrote this as an example in the mailing you will receive this week, but one family that has struggled to tithe (give a full 10% of their income to God) in the past is using this period to commit to that step for nine months. They currently give about 3% already so their Jesus Mission Commitment will be 7% of their income for the next nine months.
· One family talked about struggling to give out of their cash flow so they are selling something very valuable and giving that money. The inspiration came from the book of Acts; one chapter after Jesus announces the mission. Acts 2:45 describes a church living with the newness of the Holy Spirit: Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
· My favorite story goes back to the “poker chip” we handed out one year ago when we talked about going “All in”. The sermon was about finding God’s plan for our lives and recognizing the key thing God asks of us is to decide in ADVANCE that we will do whatever God asks us to…and then ask Him. That is so often when clarity comes.
· There are other stories…Some giving up a month or more of our salaries…people doubling their tithe for this 9 month season…people who have very little to start with just wanting to make sure they do SOMETHING so they can be part of this effort.
As you might imagine, every story is inspiring to me. Each of our stories will be powerful as long as we each genuinely seek God and follow our sense of where He is leading.
Let’s do it on Sunday, Suncrest. Can’t wait to share the day with you (on time…don’t forget to set your clocks ahead)!
Greg
P.S. My blog has some of these stories reprinted and a chart that I think is both simple and powerful about how small gifts over time can become something substantial. There is also some stuff about fasting…which will be key for the launch of these campuses, not just the financial commitment. If you are interested, check it out by clicking here.