3 NORTHSTAR MAGAZINE
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE On Sunday, September 13 Northstar launched its Immeasurably More building campaign. The day was Vision Sunday, and it included a message by Jeff that cast a vision for the future ministry facility for Northstar, as well as promising the church that the campaign would be centered on helping people find all their contentment in a love relationship with Jesus. It was (and is) an unorthodox way to begin a building campaign. Yet, the leadership of the church was determined to our future in our purpose as a church. We are excited about building a ministry facility that will be a tool for the faith family for generations to come, but the campaign’s intention was to mobilize resources while also prioritizing our mission to be His church. Vision Sunday was an exciting day and included a Prayer Walk on the 10 acres of land that we had purchased in 2014. Over the next month, Jeff preached six messages focused on how God is an immeasurably more God. We encourage you to listen to the podcasts on the website. As the campaign progressed, we distributed commitment cards and asked for a three-year commitment for the campaign. We have three goals: Starter Goal: $1 million Challenge Goal: $2 million Build Goal: $5 million On October 4, we hosted a StewARTship Show in which our kids and members brought crafts and art to auction. All proceeds went to the campaign. They raised over $2600! Commitment Sunday was October 25, and we encouraged all our members and guests to turn in their commitment cards. In the meantime, we’ve been working hard to contact former Northstar members, parents of students and other friends, inviting them to participate in our faith adventure through letters, social media and phone-a-thons. On November 11, we invited a representative of National Bank of Blacksburg to our Celebration Sunday. From the money given in just six weeks, combined with what had been given to our Next Location Fund, we were able to pay off our land - a $575,000 accomplishment! In addition, we announced that
through the campaign so far, God had provided $1,509,783.20 in pledges and gifts! That meant that we’d already reached our Starter Goal and were on our way towards seeing God do immeasurably more. As of January 10, 2016, the campaign receipts and pledges now total $1,750,000. You can keep track of the campaign progress at: northstarfamily.org/ more/give.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. Please visit our Immeasurably More campaign site at northstarfamily.org/more 2. Pray for us! This project is beyond what we are able as a church family to accomplish. We are depending on God to provide. 3. Give as you as God leads you, with a joyful heart. 4. Share our project with friends, churches and family through and share our website via social media.
THE STORY OF THE RAINBOW
by Carolyn Noble
I was on my way to the new land before church on Sunday. I needed to hang up the posters on the boards we had stationed for the prayer walk. When I made it to University City Boulevard intersection on Prices Fork Road, I saw a rainbow off in the distance. I texted a photo of it to Jeff flippantly telling him that it looked like there was a rainbow on the church land. I kept my eye on the rainbow the whole way there. Once I got to the land, I could not pull my car in fast enough. My heart was racing as to what I saw. I fumbled with my phone to take a photo. I had to capture what I saw for some might not believe it. There was rainbow, a big beautiful rainbow on the church land. Literally, on the church land. The trees on the property line in the distance were in the shadow of the rainbow, doused in the bright colors. It was simply amazing. READ MORE AT: http://northstarfamily.org/vision-sunday-rainbow/