Vision Presentation Sun Mar 5, 2017 Good Morning! Im so excited to - - PDF document

Vision Presentation – Sun Mar 5, 2017 Good Morning! I’m so excited to share some plans and visions with you today that have been months – years – in the making. The prophet Habakkuk, as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message, said “GOD, I've heard what our ancestors say about you, and I'm stopped in my tracks, down on my knees. Do among us what you did among them. Work among us as you worked among them. And as you bring judgment, as you surely must, remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2) Those of us who have been at Crossroads a short time have heard stories about how God guided and provided in the earliest days of our spiritual family. We’ve heard about the great days at the Best Western, and then at the Monticello Middle School, and then as our property in Monticello was purchased and our first building was built. Exciting times and wonderful stories to tell and retell. Many of us have been praying that God would do incredible things in

• ur midst – again! And, indeed, He has…and He is. In fact, I would say

that much – if not all – of what I’m sharing with you today is a result of

• prayer. God has really been at work since our Prayer Ministry Team

hosted a Prayer Gathering on Wednesday evening, February 8th. Thank you so much for faithfully praying. By the way, there’s another Prayer Gathering coming up on Wednesday evening, March 15th at 6:30 PM. Everyone is welcome. You don’t have to be on the Prayer Ministry Team to come pray. There are many things on the horizon that we are trusting God to accomplish in our midst. Before long we hope to welcome folks from many locales to participate with us through Gather services streaming live on the Internet. And, of course, we are continuing to pursue the person God has for us to fill the role of Youth Pastor on our Staff Team. We can see God at work and prayerfully we will have someone to introduce to you soon.

Today, however, I want to focus on facilities and space – both in Monticello and in Bement. The visions and plans I’ll be sharing are coming to you from our Elder Team as well as our Pastoral Team – so, about 10 people in all. First, let’s talk about our Monticello space needs. Many of you are aware that we began, nearly two years ago, renting space across town from our main building to have some dedicated space for our Collide Student Ministry. Recently, our Elders and Pastors have been evaluating the space used, the times it is used, the cost for rent and utilities, as well as what other options might be available for Collide – and other – ministries to use. After looking at several options including continuing to rent, leasing or purchasing portable classroom/building space, and even using existing space in our current building; we believe the best solution both for the short-term and long-term is to construct a new building on our existing

• property. This building would be a pole-barn type building with steel

siding and a metal roof. The building’s color scheme would match our current facility and would be located where are current garage/shed is

• located. Tentatively, the building is planned for about 2,000 to 2,500

square feet and will include a couple of bathrooms and a small kitchen as well as large gathering space to meet the needs of our Middle School and High School students. Obviously, other groups and events would be able to utilize the building as well. The minimum amount needed for this facility is approximately $55,000. This number would include the concrete work and erection of the building being done by licensed contractors. The interior work and finish would then be completed by volunteers from our church family. I know there are many here today who have dreamed about the day when we could have space for our students on our own property. That day could be here soon. Anticipated completion of this facility would be prior to the start of school in August of this year!

Before we leave this topic, I want to say a special thank you to our Collide students, parents, and ministry volunteers who have helped us through this transition. And, especially Paul Roberts, the leader of our A-Team Construction Ministry, for pursuing and sharing this vision with me and then with our Elders and Pastors and helping us see how feasible this facility can be. Thank you, Paul, for helping us advance this vision forward and bring it to reality. By the way, in the future, should future building expansion include a family life center and/or a gymnasium and/or a large multi-purpose facility, then the building we are proposing now would not necessarily be needed for Collide Student Ministry. At that time, the proposed building would become a garage, or storage space, or whatever would be most needed or prudent at the time. In other words, it would still be a very useful building on our property for many, many years to come. Second, let’s talk about our Bement space needs. As you know, Crossroads Bement was talked about and prayed about for several years prior to our Grand Opening back in October of 2015. God has done – and is doing – some amazing things in Bement. On many recent Sundays, there have been 50+ and even 60+ people gathered for worship. Last Sunday, a new record attendance was achieved when 70 people joined together to sing, hear God’s Word, and share together as a spiritual family! What’s particularly encouraging about those numbers is that many, many weeks the attendance includes 20+ kids. That’s right, 20. 2 – 0. Originally, Crossroads Bement was renting the Second Story Conference Center at 111 E. Bodman in downtown Bement right along Highway

• 105. Unfortunately, the building was badly damaged last fall on

November 2nd. Perhaps you remember the tornado sirens going off that

• evening. Not only did the sirens go off, but the roof of the Second Story

Conference Center was ripped off. Extensive damage was done to the roof requiring it to be entirely replaced.

So, Crossroads Bement has, since that night, been renting the old Bement Opry building currently owned by the Bement Lions Club. Thank God, this building was available. God has used it for His

• purposes. However, it does not have adequate space for us to use long-

term – particularly with the number of children who are attending. Imagine Brenda Wolf and her helpers trying to minister to 20+ children in about a 13 x 15 foot space. Yeah, right! That’s a lot of kids in a little space. A few weeks ago, the property owners of the Second Story Conference Center contacted us and asked if we would be interesting in having, or

• wning, the property. It soon became apparent to Pastor Randy that

they were considering giving the building to Crossroads! Before I go on, I want to stress with you that the owners of the building have asked us to do our very best to keep this just within our spiritual family. They would prefer to remain anonymous, or known only to the Crossroads

• Family. They would not like public recognition. They would not like this

news spread via newspaper, social media, and so forth. I’m sure many

• f you here today know what it’s like to want to give something away

without drawing attention to yourself. I want to ask you to help me honor their request and simply thank God for what He is providing for us! Amazing! You can see this building on the screen. In addition, you’ll notice that the building includes adjacent property with several parking spots and lots of frontage on Highway 105. I want you to know that significant time has been invested to consider the costs of needed interior repairs from the water damage that

• ccurred both during and after the storm last November, as well as

what the costs of insurance and utilities would be if Crossroads were to

• wn the building. The roof has recently been entirely replaced at a cost

in excess of $100,000. So, here’s some more good news:

The insurance and utilities cost would be about the same as the amount we placed in our 2017 General Budget to expend for rent in Bement. Thus, our cost to get the first floor (approximately 6,500 square feet) ready to use has been estimated to be about $20,000. The second story

• f the building (an additional 6,500 square feet) could be finished later
• r whenever funds are available.

Contingent upon our congregation’s affirmation today, and a licensed inspection, and a termite inspection, and a clear title; we would close

• n this property on March 24th and then begin the work on the facility

in hopes of moving in sometime around the end of May or beginning of June! Wow! Praise the Lord. Third, how do we pay for these facility needs and respond to what God is providing and how He is leading. Here’s the plan: Six weeks from today, we’ll gather to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. From now until then, we’re asking everyone to prayerfully consider what they can give – above and beyond our normal tithes and offerings – to these projects. On Sunday, April 16th we’ll all have an opportunity to give a one-time special offering to help us get started with the needed work. Then, in addition to the one-day offering, we will each have the

• pportunity to pledge or commit an amount to give weekly or monthly

throughout the last eight months of the year, so, May through December of 2017. I am particularly excited about this for those of us, like my family, that have come to Crossroads in recent days. We weren’t here when folks sacrificed and gave to make our current property and building a reality. Now, we have an opportunity to do the same – to sacrifice and give to provide facilities that will help us live out our mission to love God and love others through faith in Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, it isn’t about property and buildings and facilities – it’s about making disciples!

And, of course, long-time Crossroadians will join us newer families in this effort. They have shown the way for us over our spiritual family’s first twelve years of existence. All of us – together – can give as God leads and see these projects completed. If you were adding numbers in your head, you already know we need about $75,000. Approximately $55,000 for our new facility in Monticello and approximately $20,000 to cover inspections, closing costs, and repairs and updates to the facility in Bement. Recently, while leaving an Elder Team meeting and walking to our cars in the parking lot, I asked a couple of long-time Crossroads Family members what they thought would happen when we challenge our folks to give $75,000 combined between a special one-day offering as well as commitments for the last eight months of the year. Both of them told me, “I think we’ll get the entire $75,000.” No doubt I was encouraged by their thoughts – and by their faith. Now let me tell you what happened this week. I sent an email to our Finance Team in order to give them a heads-up about the proposals and how it will affect us financially. Within hours, more than one member of that team had responded to say “Pastor, I think we should try to raise $125,000 and see what could be done with that! Maybe a little larger building or some extra amenities.” I have to tell you, I was encouraged by those thoughts. I was challenged by those thoughts. And then I was humbled to realize that sometimes, my faith is too small. Our God is great and awesome. He can do exceedingly beyond what we ask or imagine! He has been. He is now. And, there’s no reason to think that He will stop doing amazing things as we move forward. So, what I can tell you is this, if we receive more than the $75,000 that we need to get these projects going, we’ll use any additional funds for capital items – either extra things that will enhance our ministry in Monticello and Bement, or perhaps we’ll even have some extra to apply to the outstanding principal on the mortgage of our current building. By

the way, we now owe only about $200,000 to fully pay the mortgage on

• ur current building – praise the Lord!

Now, finally, what do we need to do. According to our Constitution, our church family must approve the purchase of land/buildings. Granted, we have a signed contract to purchase the building in Bement – contingent upon your approval – for zero dollars and zero cents. However, technically, it is a purchase. There will be a closing. We will be the owners. And, of course, we all know in so doing we are obligating ourselves to do the needed repairs and updates for the building to be ready for our use. So, we are asking you to affirm this decision today. Here’s the recommendation: The Elders and Pastors recommend that we purchase the building at 111 E Bodman in Bement as well as construct an accessory building on

• ur current property in Monticello. The cost of both projects will be

approximately $75,000. Funds will come from a special one-day

• ffering on April 16th in conjunction with commitments made for gifts

covering the time period from May through December, 2017. Lord willing, we anticipate Bement 1st floor space to be completed by June 1 or before and the Collide Building in Monticello to be completed by August 15th or before. Members of the Crossroads Family, this recommendation comes from a group of about 10 people, so, obviously, there is no need for a second to this motion. I’d like to ask all in favor to indicate by uplifted hand. And, any opposition by like sign. Of course, we’ll be voting in all three gatherings today. Of course, you’ve been able to see the overwhelming response in this gathering. We’ll post news and updates on our Facebook, Twitter, and web site platforms once all of our members have had an opportunity to vote today.

Praise the Lord! Let’s all begin praying about the part God intends for each of us to play in helping to see this vision become reality very soon! Thank you so much.