We praise God for how He has led us. We keep praying that we do not get ahead of Him and that we don’t miss out on what He is doing. Please pray with us and rejoice. The days ahead are exciting and God will have new challenges for us. Let’s go.

(For multiple reasons I, along with the leadership of Southbridge, ask you not to go out on this property at this time. In the future we will go out there together).

GREAT WORK, SOUTHBRIDGE!  Your consistent contributions to The Bridge Initiative are adding up!  We’ve passed the $975,000 mark and are going strong!  Our consultant said if we didn’t have a project identified within a year of starting this campaign, we would probably have trouble keeping momentum.  It’s been 20 months and we’re a little below the level we hoped, but awfully close and it certainly doesn’t look like there’s a loss of momentum.  To God be the glory!

I served in Bridgekids a few weeks ago (you should try it, it’s great!) and thought, ‘it’ll be awesome when we get a building and won’t have to do all the setup and tear-down and wondering where the extra paper towels are or what class has the glue sticks this week.’

Then I thought, maybe God doesn’t want us in a building yet.  Maybe we’re more apt to embrace the ‘life change’ idea and focus more on others right where we are right now.  Maybe this is what we need to make us stronger.  Maybe when we move into a building there will be a release of pressure to BE the church since we will look around and see a building.  Maybe it’s just really hard to even find a starting point for a church building with $975k in Brier Creek.  We don’t simply want a building. The Bridge Initiative is about seeing more lives changed. God has us at this point for a reason.

Thanks for continuing to meet your pledges.  Thanks to the search committee for continuing to seek.  Thanks to those of you who are serving.  Thanks for connecting people to Jesus for life change!  May the name of our Lord Jesus be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (II Thessalonians 1:12)

Nate Oltmans

TBI Finance/Follow-up Team

For information on the Bridge Initiative visit the TBI website.

Since that time nearly one year ago, our future facility team has been working diligently.  Just a couple weeks ago I was in a van driving around with them looking at six different potential future properties. We are still analyzing a couple of those properties today.  What has also been exciting is seeing your continued generosity since that initial commitment Sunday.  I wanted to post this blog to give you the most updated numbers as of the end of November and to say ‘thank you’.  As a result of your giving, we are now in a position to respond when God makes evident what our next step should be.  Please pray with us that God makes clear what He desires for us to do next… we would love for Him to show us in 2011!  As you consider your year-end giving, please keep The Bridge Initiative in mind.

THE BRIDGE INITIATIVE GIVING UPDATE

The Bridge Initiative (Feb 2010-Feb 2013)

Project Goal            $ 2,010,336
YTD Giving (as of 11-30-10)    $ 581,338
YTD pledged (as of 11-30-10)    $ 631,074
% received vs. % pledged        92% *

* The initial offering was $377,689.71, so our monthly received vs. the monthly pledged percentage is tracking at approximately 80-85%.

We’ve passed a major milestone on our journey!  The Bridge Initiative is now more than a half a million dollars!  Praise God!!!  There is a LOT going on at Southbridge – we’re changing the format of our Sunday Morning worship experience to make room for more people in the theater.  This has taken a lot of time, effort and coordination but we see it as firmly inside the goal of The Bridge Initiative:  to connect more and more people to Jesus. The search for a permanent home prayerfully continues, but these recent changes are a big step in advancing our vision in the place God currently has us.  Philippians 4: 6 – 9 has been on my mind all day.  “6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  Today (for me) that means don’t worry about our future facility, but thank God for where we are and for His work in us while we ask Him for a more permanent facility.

Here’s an awesome example of God working through the members of Southbridge (and shows the generosity of our body which is also firmly inside the goal of The Bridge Initiative) – at a recent meeting of Community Group leaders a financial need for a family in our church was brought up.  The pastoral team hoped for $500 to help the family meet a short-term obligation.  Over $4,000 was given!  That’s life-changing!!!

I’ll close this blog-post with my prayer today: “Lord, thank you that I don’t have to worry about a facility for Southbridge!  Thank you for the generosity of our church-family and thank you for the power we see at work when others are connect to You. I would love to find a building and get started on moving in, we ask for that Lord – we ask for a permanent home.  What we desire more, though, is that we remain dedicated to reaching this community and this city for You. Wherever someone is lost, help us find them and bring them to you, Lord.  Thanks again God for granting us the abundance that you have – help us steward it and further your kingdom with it.”

Southbridge Fellowship has been a blessing to many people over the past three and a half years.  Our core values of worship, community, growth, service, and generosity remain, and are second only to our primary value—connecting people to Jesus for life change.  Yet there are thousands of people in the Raleigh-Durham area who have yet to be connected to Jesus.

In order to realize our vision and reach as many as possible for Christ, The Bridge Initiative was launched earlier this year.  This was a major undertaking for our young church.  God richly blessed us as we exceeded our goal for giving on Commitment Sunday and also exceeded our goal for total pledge commitments. We continue to seek out opportunities and wait upon the Lord, and while we have not yet identified a future facility for our new church home, we are nonetheless committed to innovating to accommodate for growth in the meantime.  In this way, we are ‘making a way’ in our present circumstances.

So this Fall, in order to reach more people in our community immediately, we are planning to launch a couple of new strategies.  The first is to have live music each week in each theater and have the pastor/teacher rotate between theaters every week. In order to get ready for this, we will be discontinuing our current Video Venue later this month. The second is to coordinate several outreach opportunities through both Community Groups and the overall church.  As we’ve said from day one, we were not starting a church just to start a church, but to reach a community.  We desire to be outwardly focused.  These new strategies will not be easy; space will be tight.  We will have to sacrifice.  But these new strategies will help us reach out to our community, open more seats by creating four live venues, and bridge the gap until we eventually identify and relocate into a new facility.  This is an opportunity for us to make sacrifices, to do whatever we can to reach our city.
In summary, what do we need you to do?

• Pray for and reach out to the people in our communities.
• Consider attending the 9:00 AM service to help create more seats during the more attended 10:30 AM service.
• Adopt a theater on September 12th—either Theater 9 or Theater 14—and consistently attend that Theater.
• Volunteer—Growth and change means the need for more volunteers, and every team has opportunities to serve.

God has done and is doing great things, but we continue to believe that the best is yet to come. I look forward to this journey together to see what He accomplishes.

Today was an amazing day at Southbridge. It was our commitment Sunday for our first ever call to a serious financial commitment to the vision of Southbridge beyond normal tithes. What was amazing to me was seeing so many people come forward and lay down their commitment cards, because behind those cards represents for many a journey, a spiritual journey, for some even a wrestling match with God. Ultimately what we placed at the front of the church was a tangible expression of our trust in God to provide when we step out. What an amazing thing. With all that we have seen I believe greater things are still ahead.

As a church, as families and as individuals we stand at a place where we are stepping out into the unknown. Like Abraham (Genesis 12:1; Hebrews 11:8), we know God is calling us to take the next step, but we don’t know the final destination and it is very exciting. I am looking forward to what is ahead.

Official Vision Video from Ascending Productions on Vimeo.

Is it really time to do this if there is not a specific facility?
We have been presented with several opportunities for facilities that would not only allow us to continue what we’re already doing but would also help us reach more people. However, being a young church without money in the bank for these projects, we have not been able to move forward with these opportunities. We want to get ready for the right opportunity.

Do we have a revenue target?
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV

Through The Bridge Initiative, we want to watch God do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. We know that having 1 to 2 million dollars in the bank will allow us to make a reasonable down payment for land in our community and to begin the building process when it is time.

Should my commitment to The Bridge Initiative affect my regular giving?
No, the objective of The Bridge Initiative is to give over and above your normal tithe. If you simply divide what you would already be giving, the campaign will not raise the needed additional capital.

When will we make a commitment? 
In January 2010, the church body will receive more information on The Bridge Initiative. February 28, 2010 will be ‘Commitment Sunday’, where we will each make an individual commitment to carry out God’s plan for us.

What is The Bridge Initiative?
The Bridge Initiative is a three-year project, to raise money for the specific purpose of leasing or buying a property for our future facility. The Bridge Initiative makes a way for the people of Southbridge Fellowship to take this next step of faith together.

Why are we doing this?
First and foremost, there are thousands of people in the Raleigh-Durham area that have yet to be connected to Jesus for life change. There are people in our community who we are currently not reaching, some of whom will die and go to a Christless eternity.

While we rejoice that our congregation has grown over the past couple of years, we have to face certain obstacles. One of those obstacles is that we have reached our capacity at our present facility. In order to continue to reach more people in our community, we need to have more space in a new facility. The Bridge Initiative opens doors for us to accomplish this goal and realize our vision of reaching people for Jesus.

What is the objective?
Presently, we do not have property for a building or a specific building to lease. We ask you to give toward the vision— connecting people to Jesus for life change—which has impacted your own life and the lives of your families and friends, so that we can impact even more people.

In November, I shared with our church that the elders were praying about a specific facility as our possible next home. However, we wanted to make sure we were not simply executing a good plan, but were being led by the Spirit. After much prayer, we have decided not to pursue that location. I am so thankful for these men who are sensitive to God’s leading and not simply following a formula to grow a church.

On December 6th, I announced to Southbridge that while we do not yet know the exact location, we believe God is calling us to step out in faith. In January 2010, we plan to launch a financial campaign called The Bridge Initiative, to raise money for our future facility. When our church began, people stepped out in faith and made sacrifices. God has blessed that by making an eternal difference in many lives. We believe during these still early days of this church, it is time for us to take our next steps of faith, and it is going to mean sacrifice for each of us. God is doing a special work here at Southbridge, and I don’t want anyone to miss out on the opportunity to be a part of it.

I will post some Frequently Asked Questions about The Bridge Initiative over the next couple of days.