Follow God’s Plan is a three (3) year emphasis designed to help our church spiritually as well as to raise money for our capital needs. For the next couple of weeks our emphasis will be upon prayer. You will have an opportunity to join in a prayer and information meeting at the church. We will pray with you and encourage you to pray for the duration of our Follow God’s Plan emphasis. Prayer is the foundation of all we will do in the Follow God’s Plan emphasis being conducted in our church. Every church family is being asked to pray for our church, the Follow God’s Plan emphasis and for God’s will to be known in their lives and in the lives of their family.

   After having several weeks to pray about what God would have you give, you will be given the opportunity to commit at a Church-Wide celebration event on May 6th. You and your family will be asked to complete and sign a “Faith Commitment Card”. A Faith Commitment is simply a promise made in faith that God will help you to keep it. It is a Commitment made under the leadership of the Holy Spirit as a result of your searching God’s will through prayer. You will be asked to sign your Faith Commitment Card and seal it in a privacy envelope. The card will only be opened by the financial secretary. No one will know the amount of your Faith Commitment except the financial secretary.

   The Follow God’s Plan Emphasis will close on Revelation Sunday, one week after the Celebration Event, while the giving phase will continue for the next three (3) years. Offerings are to be made annually, weekly or monthly using your tithing envelopes or by using special Follow God’s Plan envelopes. Remember, your Faith Commitment will be a separate offering over and above your regular offering. While all cannot give the same amount, if all will make an equal sacrifice, God will bless and multiply our efforts together.

After much prayer and discussion, our church body came together on June 6, 2016 in the morning worship service and voted to build a Family Life Center for our church.  The vote passed with an amazing 95% approval from the church body.  As a church, we believe this is the direction that the Lord is leading us, and we believe that that this will be a tool that we can use to glorify God by leading people to Christ and discipling them.  This building is not only going to be a tool we can use now, but it will also be a tool that we can use to build up and teach new generations about the wonderful truth of His Word.  I believe with all my heart this is God’s will for our church. 

   The question then arises, “How can we see this vision God has given our church actually come to reality?”  This is where the “Follow God’s Plan” capital giving campaign comes into play.  The “Follow God’s Plan” offers us structure, guidance, and insight on how we can help people to realize what it is that God would have them give financially to see God’s vision come to reality at our church.  The “Follow God’s Plan” has helped us create a gifted and talented team.  Within this team we have strategically placed people in their God-given area of giftedness to help us accomplish specific goals within the campaign.  To all the campaign leaders I am thankful for you more than you will ever know.

   With very trusted advisors and wise counsel we have tried our best to set a monetary goal that we need to raise for the campaign that is both challenging but also realistic.  Our desire for this goal is that it is a challenging goal.  The desire here is to challenge us all to give whatever the Lord tells us to give and to have enough faith in Him to trust Him.   However, we also realize this goal needs to be one that is also realistic.  We do not want to set the goal so high that we are asking people to be unwise with their finances.  Faith and wisdom need to be at the forefront of our minds and hearts for this capital giving campaign. 

   I am asking, as your pastor, for your prayers.  I am calling our church to be a people who are seeking the Lord with everything we have in prayer.  Please pray for our capital giving campaign team, our church, our own hearts, and me.  Pray that we will be a people who are open to doing whatever the Lord is calling us to do and to give.  I encourage you now to start seeking the Lord in prayer for His leading on what sacrificial giving looks like for you and for your family.  Please remember this is not my vision for our church, or the deacons’ vision for our church, or a few peoples personal vision, this is God’s vision for the future of our church.  What an awesome opportunity God has given us to be a major key in seeing His Kingdom grow here at Southside Baptist Church!