Could this be our new church home?
I WANT TO PERSONALLY INVITE YOU THIS SUNDAY RIGHT AFTER THE SECOND SERVICE TO GO WITH ME ON A FIELD TRIP TO ANOTHER FACILITY (In your own car or car-pooling with others)!
God has opened a very big door for a new home in a world-class facility, should we decide this is to be our new home. Some of you love Jesus so much, you could worship Him in a hallway and some of you have been praying for a new venue. We know we are going to have to move, because our lease is up in June, not leaving us much time to relocate. We drew a boundary around our location now, with the goal of not exceeding a reasonable limit and this property is at that limit.
We have engaged multiple brokers, knocking on any and all doors, meeting with other pastors of other churches, working with investors who specialize in helping churches look for creative ways to move, all the while seeking to stay good stewards of God's resources! We are not done looking and praying and networking and praying, and I hope you are all praying for God to show us His will and where our new home might be located, which leads me to what we have found so far. Only one place has come up at this point that actually might work (We are keeping all options on the table). This option has come up and the doors God has opened on this property blew me away.
As with any NEW LOCATION, there are good points and bad points. I have considered as many sides to this property as possible while keeping an open mind. Remember, we are keeping ALL OPTIONS on the table as we discussed last week. We on a month-to-month lease, at our present location, so we can leave as soon as we find a property, all the while certain that June is coming very quickly!
We talked last week at our potluck about God taking Israel to their promised land, when the Lord set them free from Egypt, however God didn't take them via the shortest distance (from point A to B). God took His children on a journey through the desert in a zig zag path as He was protecting them from danger. Of course His children, the Nation Israel were afraid to trust God and take possession of the land God showed them and it cost them another 40 years wandering in the wilderness.
We never want to miss what God leads us to, lagging behind and we never want to get in front of God making choices that rob us of His great blessing, settling for anything less. THIS IS WHY I IMPLORE YOU TO PRAY ALONG WITH YOUR PASTORS FOR GOD'S CLEAR DIRECTION IN REGARD TO OUR MOVE!
This location is not in the Scripps/Mira Mesa, Rancho P. and Poway neighborhoods. I still believe God has called us to reach these neighborhoods and it can be hard or harder to do if your church is not right in the hood! An option may be to purchase a van, especially for our youth, to continue reaching kids and others who may not be able to make the drive (approx. 13-14 minutes from the church on Treena St.).
This location can be a bear with traffic. However, we are only using the church on off peak times and the property sits above the traffic nightmare of La Jolla proper. On the multiple occasions I have visited the property traffic was not an issue.
The campus is a Disciples of Christ Church, which can be very legalist. However each Disciples of Christ Congregation is freethinking in their theology and the folks who attend here come from all denominations. In discussions with the senior pastor and those who attend the church, they mesh with most of our theology at SDBC. The majors we agree on and the minors stay just that - minor!
I want to be careful NOT to oversell the pros, (so as to come off as selling the idea). I want the Holy Spirit to guide each of you. Let me simply share the facility is world class and has anything and everything we might dream of in a facility including two commercial kitchens, with NO set up and take down - certainly reducing any to a minimum!
The campus could be used for anything we can dream of and has a senior pastor who likes to dream along with us! Two churches on one campus with ample parking for both! I permanent CUP or license for a church at this location, which has been our worst nightmare thus far! They have many events and kids programs we could simply plug into and support or do on our own? AND, here is the big one, at little increase to our current rent we are paying!
As part of our goal in meshing with other churches, this opens up endless possibilities and leaves open the option of a "reverse" church plant back north in our target area when and if something comes available as we continue to grow with purpose!
NOTE: For those of you who come from the south or the east there is NO additional drive time. For some of you in west Mira Mesa, there are surface streets and multiple options to drive to this facility from the north.
In short, I would like you to tour the property with me this Sunday at 1PM and then pray about where God is leading us, so we can make a decision TOGETHER!!!!!!!