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Tag Archives: finances

//Money In Suburbia

Money In Suburbia
Jesus of Suburbia
October 16, 2011
Pastor Jon Hand
Luke 12

Podcast Listen to Sermon: Money In Suburbia

//EnVision Engage Year Three_Resources

Welcome to Season of Growth page.  Please use this page to keep up with resources and updates to our Season of Growth Year Three. Engage is a community of faith formed around Jesus Christ. Over the past two years since our first Sunday January 11, 2009 we have been living out (albeit imperfectly) the vision and mission God has given Engage Church.  On January 1, 2011 we entered our third year of existence as a community.  Year three is a make or break year for your church! Why, you ask? 2011 will be our greatest test yet as a church and will be our finest hour to date but we have some real challenges ahead of us.

1. We know your not suppose to talk about money and church. But the reality is our family of churches has generously funded Engage Church since our beginning in 2009.  This year we are losing 15K in subsidy from our BIC family of churches. We knew this day was coming. We can’t rely on mom and dad forever! However, our expenses have gone up since we started Engage. We are a growing church. If everyone who has visited Engage since we started decided to stay at Engage we would be a church of over 450 people.  We are not that size because Engage is not a church for everyone.  It takes money to fund the spiritual impact and community outreach of Engage Church. In fact, this in 2011 we need to grow our weekly giving from $2,067 per week to close to $2,800 per week. That’s an increase of close to $35,000 this year just to maintain current impact and see people loved and lives changed. I know, that’s crazy. We may even need God to meet that goal :) This year alone the core 11 families and individuals of Engage have committed to give over $58,000. What can you do to join, shape , and support the vision of Engage?

2. Currently, at Engage we have a large pool of people who come on Sundays to explore the message of Jesus and enjoy a community of love.  This is exciting for us. We started this church for those who are new or returning to church.  We welcome all.  However, we also have a small pool of people who are deeply committed in serving, using their gifts, impacting the community, and giving generously. If Engage is going to extend our reach and bear greater fruit in year three we then need to shift these two pools. We need a large pool of people deeply committed to the mission of Engage and a smaller shallow pool of those who are not yet committed.

Here are some key resources to help you put down deeper roots in Year Three!

1. Listen an inspiring brief podcast of the needs, vision, and changes we are making in year three.

2. We kicked off our Season of Growth Year Three with a gathering of close to 60 adults from Engage to learn more and speak into the vision of Year Three. Here is what they said! recap-of-envision-engage_jan-2011

Several Engagers at Envision shared powerful stories of transformation and life change. We hope to have video of these powerful stories up soon.

3. Season of Growth Overview - This is our plan of action in year three. Engage needs to put down deeper roots in order to bear greater fruit. Here is how we hope to do this. overview_seasonofgrowthplan

4. Season of Prayer Guide - This is an incredibly helpful resource to facilitate reflection and prayer for Engage and ourselves as we seek to put down deeper roots so we can see greater fruit in our lives and community. praying-together-in-this-season-of-growth

5. Season of Growth Monthly Financial Updates
sog_monthly-financial-updates

feb-28-engage-financial-notables

//A Season of Growth

engage_a_season_of_growth_20112

Greetings Engage Community.  For those of you who don’t read blogs and emails, please, please, please keep reading for like 2 minutes of your time!

We are asking you to please be paying close attention to what is happening at Engage right now.  Part of being in a community of Jesus like Engage, means you take responsibility to keep up with what God is doing in YOUR church.  This is necessarily, especially,  if you have not been to a Sunday morning worship gathering in the last few weeks.  Now, thankfully through technology we’ve made it easy for you to stay connected. All you have to do is click the link to learn more.

This past Sunday November 21, 2010 we gave a two part financial update on the current and future financial realities as a church.  We made a 14 minute podcast describing where we are financially, where we will be if things don’t change, and how we are going to grow through this season and experience God in deep and profound ways in the process. Please listen to this podcast.

As you may or may not know, Engage is heading into our crucible year as a church community.  2011 will be our greatest test yet as a church and may be our finest hour.  Here are some of the tough realities we knew were coming to Engage year three. 1. We are losing 15K in subsidy from our BIC family of churches. 2. We didn’t see this coming, but our giving has been down $200 a week for the past 11 weeks. 3. Our expenses have gone up since we started Engage. We are a growing church. If everyone who has visited Engage since we started decided to stay at Engage we would be a church of over 450 people.  We are not that size because Engage is not a church for everyone.   The result of this “perfect storm” means we have to make up $42,000 in 2011 in order to maintain our current levels of ministry and impact. Wow!  I know that sounds crazy. We may even need God to raise that kind of money. :)

The Leadership Team has to make tough decisions. Please, please pray for us!  Some of us are losing sleep over this.  We are not afraid of what is happening and what needs to happen.  However, some of us are feeling the weight and strain of leading and guiding Engage as we moving forward.  In the coming weeks we will be rolling out our 2011 Spending Plan details on what we are calling “A Season of Growth”.  The best thing you can do for now is pray. Begin asking God to begin teaching you about his generosity in deeper ways.  Pray for Engage to grow together in unity through this season.  Pray for us to not allow our focus to be diverted from Christ.   Second, pay attention to what is happening in the life of Engage Church. Read email updates. Ask questions. Go download the latest podcast if you miss a worship gathering on Sundays.  Our weekly talks will be peppered with teaching and vision as we invite God to deepen us in this season.

What does all of this mean? First, it means we refuse to live in fear. We refuse to guilt people or use shame or pressure to get people to give to Engage.  If we ever do this it means God has left the building and we may as well shut the doors and go home.  God does not use fear, shame, and guilt in how he relates to us, nor does he “need” us to use those means to accomplish his good purposes.  Rather, the more we get to know Jesus the more we grow  in security, love, courage, confidence, and freedom. Listen to the podcast to find out more. Thanks for paying attention to the future of YOUR church community.  Stay tuned.

BTW: After numerous requests from those who don’t carry cash or check books, Engage is now using Pay Pal for you to give generously to what God is doing.

//Financial Update November 2010

Greetings Engage Community,

Here is an online version of our latest financial update. You will be receiving this in the mail early next week.  Be in prayer for Engage as we sail into 2011. This year will be our greatest financial challenge yet with potential to be our finest hour in growing deeper roots in the life of this young church.  Please read!!

//Recession Woes - Jesus Vision of Money at Church

Recession Woes - Jesus Vision of Money at Church
May 10, 2009
Pastor Jon Hand
2 Corinthians 8:2-9

Podcast Listen to Sermon: Recession Woes - Jesus Vision of Money at Church

Podcast Listen to Music: These Things by Stephen Santos

Digging Deeper:
Want real practical help getting your finances straightened out? Check out www.daveramsey.com. Dave is a Jesus follower who offers great advice for living within your means. If finances are tight, your debt is weighing you down, or if you want to learn how to be more generous, check out this site!

Just for fun: Check out You Tube: “God Pie”