“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”     I Thessalonians 1:2-3

It’s time to give you an update on THE NEXT CHAPTER. First, you are to be applauded for faithfulness to your commitments. In spite of economic hard times, in spite of no visible construction as of yet, in spite of worries about the future, you have been faithful to your commitments. That has borne fruit in your character and in your spiritual maturity. Here’s how things now stand.

The Next Chapter … Is a faith-plan to complete the rest of our current building and provide for a true children’s space, a café, classrooms, and an inspiring glass front to our church building. This will give us an additional 3,000 square feet of usable and needed space. We have been approved for a loan of $575,000 with the Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) but the economic meltdown and retrenchment in funding of virtually all loans occurred soon after our approval (July 2008). For now, our loan is “on hold” as the ECCU (and many other lending agencies) have stopped making any loans at all. Our loan is in line to be funded when the ECCU begins loaning again. Believe it not, because the interest rate is less, we will save money over our current loan even though the amount will be more!

Giving … Our giving has been steady and very good. We’ve fallen off somewhat in both tithes and offerings and in the projected Next Chapter, but the drop generally reflects the loss of jobs and income of our families and is understandable. Tithing on less, is less. Our giving to THE NEXT CHAPTER is averaging slightly over $2,000 a week. When you add what our tithes and offering giving is, we should rejoice that God is allowing us to participate at this level at this time.

Involvement of New Persons … Any attender of Diamond Canyon may participate in this stretch of faith. Almost one and a half years ago most of us made a three year commitment of giving over and above our tithes and offerings. We invite all of the persons who consider Diamond Canyon their spiritual home to likewise commit a portion of their income to this project. You can simply mark the amount on your check or write another check or is some other way mark out the extra amount you are giving for The Next Chapter project. In prayer, God will reveal the right amount to give. A giving plan kept week after week mounts up to a significant faith-gift by the end of a year.

Development of Plans … In the last couple of weeks, we have crossed another hurdle. Here is the good news we received from our project architect this past week, Tuesday March 30. “Your project has been approved at the planning level with the County so Part I is complete. I know that Shook Building Systems has already received the metal building drawings for the addition as well.” The next step is the completion of the engineering drawings and actual building plans. We may hold this up slightly, if timing works better for us in so doing.

Accomplished So Far … To recall, we have paid for the Capital Campaign, concept drawings, architectural drawings, submission to the county planning department, improvements to the current auditorium like the new sound system, worship projector, drum covering, blinds, nursery pagers, etc.

Saving … Meanwhile, because of your giving we still have a total of $169,000 in THE NEXT CHAPTER fund of which over $120,000 is cash in the bank. That is remarkable for the economic situation and is evidence of this work being an expression of genuine sacrifice and commitment.

God Will Work Through Our Faith … Waiting is hard work! We are all antsy to get this project in the actual building stage. But God is teaching us patience and positioning our church in a stronger financial posture in these difficult times. We are current on all bills and have money in savings. That is unusual for most churches these days. Joseph Benjacob waited 22 years before he was brought to understanding of what God had been doing in his life. Our “wait” is surely nothing compared to his! One thing God is doing, is building a future-promise-perspective into our lives as a church family. That is very hopeful and healthy. We do not see it yet, but as those who lean on the Lord, we do not live by sight, but by faith.