Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
EPHESIANS 3:20 -21
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n February 2016, two churches UNITED under one roof and took a giant step of faith with a God-sized vision to connect people in our local community to Jesus and one another. We have seen God continuously do the impossible through our church family – people are
connecting, the faith of families is growing, there’s hope and healing for the hurting, and all types of needs are being met. This has become the perfect place for imperfect people, and because of it we are seeing rapid growth. Our 20/20 Vision has been a road map that clarifies our mission, vision, and values as a church for 2020 and beyond.
We have a vision to be a local church that reaches 3,000 people for Jesus each week in the next three years, 5,000 people in the next five years, and 25,000 people in the next 25 years. Our staff and pastoral leadership team have prayed, sought God’s wisdom, and worked hard together to clarify our NEXT step of faith to reach our 20/20 Vision as a church family. We are excited to continue to share our 20/20 Vision and even more excited about our NEXT step together for our family, faith, and future as a local church. THE BEST IS BEFORE US!
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L E A D PASTO R
FO U N D I N G PASTO R
PASTO R
ERIC GAMERO
GARY MAURO
JOHNIE BUTLER
PASTO R
PASTO R
WO R S H I P PASTO R
JOE GUYNES
GARLAND ROBERTSON
STEVE VILLAFANE
1. WHO WE ARE:
OUR IDENTITY AS A LOCAL CHURCH:
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do. I did not come to spend my time with those who think they already are good enough, but to call sinners to repentance.” JESUS, LUKE 5:32
TH E PE R FEC T PL ACE FOR IM PE R FEC T PEOPLE As a church, we have a God-sized dream! We want to expand God’s Kingdom throughout our local community because we believe all people matter to God, and all people should matter to us. We share a deep-seated conviction that our church should be inclusive, non-denominational, and “a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” We see ourselves as a spiritual hospital and will always reach out to and welcome broken, imperfect people just like us to be a part of our spiritual family. This is our core identity as a church. It is our unique church culture. It’s who we are as a people.
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2 . W H AT W E ’ R E D O I N G :
OUR MISSION AS A LOCAL CHURCH: “…You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
JESUS, MATTHEW 22:37-39
CONNECTING PEOPLE TO J ESUS AND ONE ANOTHE R Connecting – Every moment we’re around people, we have opportunities to connect with them. This is the personal touch that we exemplify as God’s church. Whether it’s engaging them in conversation, hearing their story, or simply giving them a warm smile and greeting connection is what people ultimately desire. People – People aren’t simply statistics to be recorded or faceless bodies to be counted. Every person has a story. Every person matters to God, so every person will matter to us. We’re all imperfect and looking for a place to belong. Jesus – If a device is not connected to its power source, it cannot operate in the way for which it was created. Jesus is our source of life and hope. And when people are connected to Jesus, their life has new meaning, purpose, and power to change. We were created for relationships - foremost with Jesus, but equally as important, with… One Another – God’s Word gives a blueprint and specific instruction about how we should treat one another. The phrase “one another” appears over 52X in the New Testament. Everyone belongs here – and when we live out these “one anothers” to everyone we encounter, they will actually experience the local church being the perfect place for imperfect people.
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OUR VISION FOR NEXT: NEXT is a two-year generosity effort that will help us come together and boldly fund the NEXT step of God’s 20/20 Vision for our church family. We will be using a one-fund approach that resources all the ministry that we do over the NEXT two years – not just the special projects - because we believe all the ministry God has called us to do matters. We are calling on our entire Church Familia to invest and invite in unprecedented ways and see God continue to work powerfully here in our church and in our local community.
For our FAMILY To be a church that reaches 3,000 people a week over the NEXT three years, we want to take everything that we love about connecting in our church family and grow it.
›› We want to provide more meaningful activities in which people in our local community and our church family can connect.
›› We want to beautify and update our campus to make it more welcoming and comfortable for visiting VIPs, Connect Groups, and Volunteer Teams.
›› We want to create a formal Counseling Center that provides care for all in need.
›› And we want to expand our current facilities to allow for further growth for children in KidStreet and teenagers in Fuse.
For our FAITH To mature into the children of God He’s created us to be, we want to invest in our church family to become owners and leaders through a comprehensive discipleship process.
›› We want to increase and expand our City Serve initiatives to give more care and provide for more needs to hurting families.
›› We want to train, equip, support, and send out more church planters in our local community.
›› And we want to offer more needs-based groups and classes for people to connect and grow together in.
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3. WHY WE DO IT:
O U R C O R E VA L U E S A S A L O C A L C H U R C H : “You are the light of the world... Let your light so shine before men that they might see
your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” JESUS, MATTHEW 5:16
We believe we will fulfill what’s NEXT for God’s 20/20 Vision for our church as we live out our core values. OVE HAPPENS HERE (FOUND PEOPLE FIND PEOPLE) We once were lost, but now we are found. L We will not stop sharing the good news of Jesus! (Matthew 28:18-20). We refuse to get comfortable in our Christian lives because we understand the harvest is plentiful (Matthew 9:35-38) and in that harvest are people we love and care about deeply. HELP HAPPENS HERE (SAVED PEOPLE SERVE PEOPLE) We get the fact that the world is not going to be reached by a “screaming church” but rather a serving church. Because our hearts have been changed by the love of Jesus we can’t help but serve others in response (Matthew 8:15). Jesus came to serve and to save the world, and we will do whatever it takes to serve that others might be saved in Jesus name! (Matthew 20:28). HOPE HAPPENS HERE (GROWING PEOPLE CHANGE) We are all imperfect people in need of a Savior to help us heal and grow and change in our lives. That is what salvation is all about. We reject hypocritical religious attitudes that are externally focused on the lives of others, but refuse to deal with the sin in their own lives. We will not stop asking God to help us “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18) FAMILIA HAPPENS HERE (YOU CAN’T DO LIFE ALONE) We get the fact that Christianity is not a solo sport and we are better together. The phrase “one another” appears over 52x in the NT. We are commanded to encourage one another, pray for one another, carry one another’s burdens, and love one another. There is power in numbers and we are committed to doing life together in both large and small groups as followers of Jesus Christ. FAITH HAPPENS HERE (YOU CAN’T OUT GIVE GOD) We are unashamed of the biblical principle of tithing and joyfully give back to God because He has given so much to us! (Malachi 3:10-12). We refuse to be the church full of people who believe what God’s says about salvation for us but then refuse to believe what He says about giving back to Him (Proverbs 3:9-10; II Corinthians 9:6-15). We are truly thankful for God’s gifts to us and we understand that we have a holy and sacred responsibility to give back so that others might be saved!
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OUR NEED FOR NEXT NOW: “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, because they are ripe already for harvest.”
JESUS, JOHN 4:35
There are over six million people now living in the South Florida tri-county area. Within a 10 mile radius of our church, there are approximately one million people. Demographic studies* reveal that only 3% of the people living in the tri-county area consider themselves evangelical Christians, making South Florida one of the most under-evangelized communities in America.
That means that there are 970,000 people without the hope of Jesus in our local community. ...We are not OK with that! The hope of Jesus is for everyone, and it is our responsibility to share it. As a church family we take the
Average Weekly Attendance:
responsibility God has given us to heart. So, over the past two years as we’ve served our city and connected people to Jesus and one another, we’ve seen God grow our church family by over 66%.
800 PEOPLE
1,050 PEOPLE
1,400 PEOPLE
We’ve had to put more seating out at our 10 & 11:30 AM Sunday services, and at our two other Sunday service times, we are hitting 80% capacity in our auditorium frequently. Just in the past year alone,
2016
2017
2018
we’ve helped over 500 hundred visitors take a NEXT step and have baptized over 100 new Christ followers! God is doing something amazing right here in our church family! ...But there’s far more work to be done in our local community, and we’re reaching our lid on space with our current facilities. God is asking us to reach beyond ourselves, come together and seek Him, and look, serve, and give beyond the limitations we have. It’s time for an unprecedented move of God in our local church for our local community! ...It’s finally time to take our NEXT step in our 20/20 Vision. * Barna Research - Miami / Ft. Lauderdale City Report 2015
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4. WHERE WE’RE GOING:
2 0 2 0 A N D B E YO N D : “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
JEREMIAH 29:11
We take The Great Commission seriously. After we maximize what God has currently entrusted us with, we believe that He has called our church to continue to expand His influence all across South Florida and to the ends of the Earth! We expectantly look to the day in the NEXT 25 years where we will:
›› Connect 25,000 people to Jesus and one another through multiple local campuses and church plants each weekend.
›› Reach 250,000 people through technology and media each week.
›› Give away $25,000,000 to churches, ministries and local organizations that are making a positive difference for Jesus.
›› Build a City Center that our local community can gather at, hurting people can receive help in, and provides us a greater opportunity to connect all people in our city to Jesus!
We want to leave a lasting legacy and continue to connect people in our local community to Jesus and one another for generations to come. …And all of it can begin with us taking this NEXT step of faith as we head toward 2020.
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FOR OUR FUTURE: Currently, our church utilizes only half of the ten acres God has given us to serve our community and love our neighbors. To help connect even more people to Jesus in the local community He has placed us in, our goal is to break ground on a new 1,200 seat Worship Center by December 2020. Depicted below are computer-generated models of our proposed courtyard entry and new 1,200 seat Worship Center. This new building will be joined to the current campus by covered walkways, additional courtyard spaces, and several cafĂŠ areas for comfort and conversation to enhance our mission to connect people to Jesus and one another.
At the same time as we build our new Worship Center, we will remodel our current auditorium into a new multi-purpose center for our growing KidStreet children’s and FUSE student ministries. We also plan to add a second floor of additional classrooms on top of our existing classrooms (the existing classrooms were pre-engineered to take a second floor), as well as add additional office space, parking, and sports and play areas for our children and students. This will maximize the use of our ten acres and expand our capacity to grow up to 5,000 people each week in the next five years and complete our 20/20 Vision.
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5. HOW WE’LL GET THERE:
W H AT I T ’ S G O I N G T O C O S T : Meeting the challenge of this opportunity is going to be a stretch for all of us. As we intentionally plan for expansion, it’s going to require more hands and hearts taking ownership. But the cost is obviously not just with our time and talent, but specifically our treasure. It will take a move of generosity and trust with our resources that is unprecedented, yet we believe it is worth the sacrifice because we know that God will not just change the lives of people in our local community – He will change our lives too!
OUR TWO-YEAR GOAL FOR NEXT IS:
$5,400,000
This one-fund initiative includes investing in all of our existing ministries to make them all more effective. This means that everything you already love about The Local Church will be better, and better funded to accomplish more and reach more.
FAMILY: Community Activities | Beautifying our Campus | Developing a Counseling Center | Expanding NEXT Generation Ministry and Facilities
FAITH: Discipleship Process | Training Leaders | City Serve Expansion | Staff Development | Church Planting
FUTURE: 1,200 Seat Worship Center | Update Auditorium for NEXT Generation | 3,000 People a Week for Jesus
$1,800,000 $1,800,000 $1,800,000
Here’s how the $5.4 million breaks down: $1.8 million a year will be our annual ministry budget and will go towards everything for our family and faith for the NEXT two years for a total of $3.6 million. The final $1.8 million will go toward building our future! We’ve counted the cost, and with our current savings and mortgage debt, with this final $1.8 million dollars we can secure a loan that will enable us to build a $6 million dollar 1,200 seat Worship Center, with additional classrooms for the NEXT generation, and the possibility for family ministry throughout the week. Then we will have maximized this 10 acres, and set this property to be able to reach 5,000 people every week for Jesus!
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W H AT W E ’ R E A S K I N G E V E R YO N E T O D O :
GOD-SIZED GOALS START WITH PRAYER! As a church, we want to challenge each other to prayerfully consider how we can participate in this initiative. Pray that God would reveal to us individually and as families what we should sacrificially give towards this NEXT initiative. More importantly, pray that God would send us open doors of opportunity to invest in and invite our friends and neighbors to connect with Jesus and one another here at The Local Church over the NEXT two years. At the end of the day, all we want for you is to do and give what God asks you to give – nothing more and nothing less.
ALLOW GOD TO STRETCH YOUR FAITH
ONE-FUND SAMPLE CHART
Commit to joining us every weekend during our NEXT series so that you can hear and are transformed by what God wants our church family to know. Prepare to experience incredible hope for our future and great satisfaction and contentment knowing that you have faithfully responded to God’s leading.
TAKE YOUR NEXT STEP As you pray and discern how God would ask you to give during this initiative, allow this gift chart to serve as an illustration that inspires your generosity. Your normal annual giving plus your additional generosity will allow us to fully fund our operational budget and our expansion plans over the NEXT two years.
TWO-YEAR GOAL: $5.4M
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1. A FIRST TIME GIVER (2 Corinthians 9:5-7)
You are taking your first step and making a first time gift trusting in God’s provision.
›› NEXT Step: Set an amount to give and pick a date on the calendar for when you plan to give your gift.
2. A REGULAR GIVER (1 Corinthians 16:2) You are going to step from giving occasionally to giving regularly as part of your worship.
›› NEXT Step: Decide upon a particular amount or percentage for your giving. Perhaps set up automatic online giving through the church website.
3. A 10% GIVER (Malachi 3:10) You are going to trust God at His promises and give your tithe back to Him in obedience.
›› NEXT Step: Determine what 10% of your income is and commit to giving it back to God faithfully.
4. A GENEROUS GIVER (Acts 2:42-47) You are going to give above and beyond your tithe to meet needs of people without hesitation or limitation.
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›› NEXT Step: What could you give if you weren’t limited by a certain giving percentage? Make it a goal to incrementally increase your giving each year.
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FILL OUT THE DIGITAL CARD AT HTTPS://THELOCALCHURCH.COM/NEXT-COMMITMENT
SAMPLE
NOTES:
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M Y P R AY E R F O R
IS:
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Key Links:
Series
Who We Are What We’re Doing Why We Do It Where We’re Going How We’ll Get There Leaving A Legacy of Love GIving For The NEXT Generation Digital Commitment Card Give to NEXT
If you have any questions, please feel free to talk with any of our pastors at any time. Reliable communication permits progress.
Proverbs 13:17
