March 2017 ONE Quarterly Update

QUARTERLY UPDATE - MARCH 2017 HELLO COMMUNITY! God has invited us on a journey of faith—and it’s a journey that comes with a mission that can change the world! We have an incredible opportunity through ONE to demonstrate that we’re truly willing to trust God, to give whatever he asks! Just as we have been learning from Abraham’s story, when we put our faith into action, our faith becomes complete.

As we come to the halfway point in our ONE Initiative, we’re pausing to celebrate and thank God for the amazing things he has done over the past year:

421 baptisms

5 church plants

Millions of dollars invested in the mission

We believe He has even more in store for this next year that includes more space for children and students in Yorkville, a 24/7 presence in downtown Chicago and a brand new location in Downers Grove (which you can read more about on the back cover), just to name a few!

You see, when we come together as ONE family with all of us making God number ONE, then we can change the world. Let’s set out on this journey together as ONE! Your partner on the mission,

Dave Ferguson | Lead Pastor | COMMUNITY

ONE CHURCH | ONE MISSION | COMMUNITYCHRISTIAN.ORG/ONE

REACH

REACHING THOSE WHO ARE FAR FROM GOD

THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN STUDENTS

By Jordan Biere | Student Ministry Champion This year at BLAST, our annual Student Ministry conference in the Wisconsin Dells, over 1,200 students and leaders carved out the weekend to connect with each other and with God. Once again, God moved in incredible ways! He continues to remind us that faith is a response to His power, not to some fancy mental or emotional framework.

One of my favorite moments happened on our last night there. We had been talking about praying this dangerous prayer: “God, know me, cleanse me, and send me!” A student came up to me and shared with me how she felt God was moving her, stirring in her heart the entire weekend. She then blurted out, “Okay, I am ready! I am ready to do this! Can you pray for me?” At this point, I was already in awe of the way God had been pursuing her, so I prayed with her, thanking God for moving in her life.

What came next was one of the most beautiful and simple prayers I have ever heard as she prayed: “God… this is real. I know that you are real now. So please know me, cleanse me, and send me. I am choosing to follow you. You are what I have been searching for!” WOW! I love this! This is why we do what we do. This is why we are passionate about helping people find their way back to God—because God does move, He does hear, and He does change our lives! We are joining Him in the work that He is already doing.

There are so many amazing stories of how we come together to further the Jesus Mission and I’d like to highlight just one. Even though they don’t have students at their location, our Carillon location is passionate about students finding their way back to God. So much so, Carillon chose to represent our Aurora location at our annual StuCo golf outing in order to raise scholarship dollars for students. Their goal was simple: to eliminate the financial hurdle. Because of their generosity and commitment to being ONE Church with ONE Mind and ONE Spirit, the financial obstacle was lifted! They raised over $2,000 to fund Aurora’s student scholarships. I love how committed Carillon is to COMMUNITY, to our students, and ultimately to the Jesus Mission.

From me to you, and from our Student Ministry Directors to you, THANK YOU for believing in students and also in this mission. We are ONE in this mission together and I know that we are better together. Watching students come to know Jesus never gets old, and as we push this mission forward together, we will see the wave of hope and life that students who are passionate about Jesus bring to our community!

RESTORE

RESTORING GOD’S DREAM FOR THE WORLD

YOUR GENEROSITY IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE GLOBALLY Because of your support, global awareness is growing and more lives are being touched than ever before.

With three trips to our Compassion International partner churches in Haiti and another three, including a medical mission trip, to our partner, Philippine Frontline, we scheduled six mission trips in 2017 – that’s an all-time high!

As a result, hundreds of lives will be impacted nationally and internationally with the biggest wins occurring when these trips become truly missional and relational.

To think that we could impact any of our partner countries in the limited days that we are there through the work we do or the aid we disperse would be foolish. We partner with Philippine Frontline and Compassion International because the ministry they are doing in those countries is much better than anything we could accomplish. Because of this, success is measured in terms of a trip’s missional value; what happens while in-country is a catalyst to what happens when the team returns. In the past three years, over 75% of those who have taken a mission trip at COMMUNITY have come back to be on mission globally.

Being missional allows one week of a person’s life to become a lifetime’s worth of ministry for the Kingdom!

He had made it! As he finished his story, he started to tear up when sharing that his sponsor had never written him a letter. A 32-year old man who was living out the Compassion dream was still devastated from not receiving a letter! He humbly said the money sponsors send is important, but not as important as the letters they write and the visits they make. Every time someone from COMMUNITY takes a trip to see their sponsored child(ren), they provide the hope and love that may be just what a child needs to lead their family, community, and country out of poverty.

The number of people living in poverty has been cut in half in the last 30 years, yet still over 20% of the world lives on less than $2 a day. Through your generosity, plus the outstanding work of Philippine Frontline Ministires, Compassion International, and countless volunteers, that number decreases every day. Thank you for playing a part in helping people have a chance all over the world!

The other impact of a mission trip is relational. Steed is a member of the Compassion International Office in El Salvador. During a recent dinner, he shared his story with members of our team. As a Compassion child, Steed grew up in extreme poverty, but because of the chance he had been given through a sponsor, not only was he able to become educated and find employment, he also chose to use that education to help fight poverty in his own country.

THE COMPASSION CHILD SPONORSHIP PROGRAM I was incredibly hesitant to sponsor a child until I went to Haiti and saw what Compassion is doing; what an incredibly huge impact they’re making in the lives of so many children. Upon returning home, I began to sponsor my first child, although still a bit reluctant. Over time, God has broken my heart for children living in poverty. Today, every time I swipe my card for something that costs more than $38, I think about the fact that I could feed a child for an entire month (and provide health care and spiritual mentorship, among many other things) instead of making that purchase. I’m so happy to have sponsored my second child this year and I hope to sponsor two more to cover four continents in the next two years. There’s just truly no better way to spend $38!

Meghan Foley, Lincoln Park | Old Town attender

REPRODUCE

REPRODUCING THE MISSION IN OTHERS

COMMUNITY IS HEADING TO DOWNERS GROVE As a result of your generosity through ONE, we are set to launch our new Downers Grove location on January 28, 2018! After praying and dreaming about this community for years, we’re excited that God is opening doors for us to move forward. With only 1 in 10 people in the Downers Grove area actively involved in a church and very few outreach-focused churches, there is tremendous need and opportunity for this new community.

One of the most important steps in launching a new location is finding the right leader and we’re confident God led us to the right one. Ted Coniaris has joined our team as the Downers Grove Pastor. Ted and his wife, Melissa, have been living and pastoring in the Western Suburbs for the last 15+ years. They have an active family with three young boys and a deep passion for helping people find their way back to God in the Downers Grove area.

We already have hundreds of people at our existing campuses living in the Downers Grove area and, in addition, over 100 others have filled out our online interest form. This could be our largest launch to date and has the potential to be an impact church on day one!

ONE UPDATE

$9,188,099 37.8%

$12,162,305 50%

QUESTIONS?

If you’re interested in getting involved in this exciting new opportunity, consider taking a next step: PRAY: About joining us on this journey.

CONNECT: Community Pastor, Ted Coniaris, 630.362.5914 tedconiaris@communitychristian.org FOLLOW: Facebook: CommunityDownersGrove Web: communitychristian.org/DownersGrove Thank you for being on this mission and please continue to pray for God to do great things in Downers Grove!

MARCH 2017

ACTUAL TO DATE

GOAL TO DATE

We believe there are big things ahead for Downers Grove and we can’t wait to see what God is going to do through your continued generosity and the people who join in launching this new location.

GOAL MAR. ‘16 - MAR. ‘18 $24.4 M

If you have questions regarding your giving or pledge, contact davidgirdwood@communitychristian.org

Let me encourage you to be faithuful in your generosity towards ONE so we can continue to further the Jesus Mission both locally and globally. If you would like to make a pledge to ONE, you can do that online at communitychristian.org/one.

SET UP A RECURRING GIFT

Set up a consistent weekly or monthly giving schedule online at communitychristian.org/give