"705" Day 1

We made it through Day 1 at 705 E. Washington Street. And we didn't just make it through the day, we soared through it. Everyone was prepared and there was very little last minute frenzy. People began arriving early and we had a big first-hour crowd. We had a good amount of time between services (so people could leave and give parking spots to others), and then things began to really pop. We packed the place and even had a small crowd in the balcony for second hour. Overall, counting all the kids in the building, 394 people experienced Day 1. And there were many guests with us for their first time.

Thanks to the tremendous group of people who volunteered over the past month (closing was on March 7) to transform an old building into a usable space for our community. Huge thanks to the Creative Arts team for all their work getting the technical details worked out. Our children and youth departments were tremendous at handling one of our largest groups of kids ever. Coffee and snacks were a great touch to the day. Everyone was friendly and greeted our guests enthusiastically. It was amazing to see the culmination of so many people working together to bring us to the point where we could open our doors and invite people in.

As I said on Sunday, it felt like "HOME" - a comfortable place where we can greet our guests. Were there glitches? Of course there were. But everyone was flexible enough to move beyond those things. I heard no complaints about the parking situation. The traffic bottleneck between the buildings will be an issue for us, but we made it work yesterday. My favorite moment was after I began talking first hour and all the power went out. We had already shown two videos that worked perfectly (and we could actually see them on the new screen) and I was able to continue speaking while the problem was taken care of. It was one of those moments when you know that God is in complete control of everything that happens.

So, we had an exciting, fulfilling first day. Now what? Sit back and be comfortable for a while? Don't even think about it. It is very obvious after yesterday that we will not be able to grow indefinitley here at 705 without making some adjustments. We still have plans to relocate our facility to our land at Route 47 and Minooka Rd. in the future. And this facility may very well continue to serve us as an outreach center or additional worship site. This building is a tool that has been loaned to us by God. He is watching to see how we will use this tool to reach more people. Building bridges to connect people with Jesus. That's our mission, and "705" will allow us to continue that mission.

What's next? We still have some projects to complete. A people lift will be installed soon to move wheelchairs, etc. from the Fellowship area to the Worship area. We also want to install a new ramp outside of the Fellowship area (dependent on finances). Later we need to rplace the roof on the entire building, landscaping is being planned and there are several small projects to be done. We now need to focus on how to make use of "705" to reach and engage our community. Please be in prayer for your leadership team as they pray and seek God's direction in these issues. We also would love your input on ideas for reaching people here at the new facility.

I know that God has made this possible. I appreciate all the work that has been done, but this thing at "705" is truly a God-thing. With God all things are possible. And I am dreaming about the possibilities. I love this church!!!