God called us to “cross the Jordan” to make room for people we haven’t met yet…Now He is calling us—together as a community—to finish what we started.

Part One: Our Vision of Crossing Together

A little over three years ago, 1,000 families embarked on a shared vision: to keep our doors open to those we had not met yet. We called it His Heart, Our Dream. Just as we have done in the past, our congregation has moved and/or expanded its space for newcomers: obedient steps of faith that flowed from God’s heart for the lost. Together and since 2006, we have been crossing our own Jordan River; continuing to respond to God’s calling to live sacrificially for others.

Part Two: New Friends We Have Made

Our journey together has witnessed both physical and spiritual changes.

Physically, our new worship space expanded our worship capacity by over 50%, and room was made for new guests. Our children’s space was upgraded in order to accelerate the effectiveness of our ministry, and it has! Technology, flexible rooms and dedicated servants are proving to be a powerful tool of the Spirit. Our student ministry has returned to our campus, and their new space has attracted new faces and provided for expanded opportunities. Last, but not least, our future vision of a West Campus community center is emerging with a whole range of groups to care for real needs.

But the real benefits of our crossing the Jordan are heart-related, as new and existing participants have made profound steps of faith.

• A middle-aged man with a long track record as a drug addict started coming to Covenant. He did not get free of the drugs right of way, but kept coming and was very faithful. He got connected with some men of the church and started going to Celebrate Recovery. He eventually gave his whole heart to Jesus. He is now drug-free and was baptized last fall.

• A young couple in their 30s with two young sons recently invited Jesus Christ to be Lord of their lives. Their marriage has included some deep valleys and pain, but Christian friends stayed close to them. These disciples helped them find Jesus and get connected at Covenant. The couple can now see that God brought them through the doors of Covenant and poured out His love for them. God answered their prayers that day, and they have a real sense now that the Holy Spirit is leading them in all sorts of new directions. They are truly thankful.

• A young boy was invited this past summer to an Outreach block party at the More Hope House by students participating in the “One Body” week of service. Several faithful servants were prompted by the Holy Spirit to witness Jesus’ love, grace and power to him during that event. The witness of many that day (August 8, 2009) led this boy to embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior. He has been receiving discipleship training in Covenant Children’s Ministry, at Building Hope Community Life Center, through serving in Word Servants and being in the Spring musical. Since his rebirth, this new disciple has willingly and consistently been a witness of Jesus’ saving grace to his family, his friends and others in our congregation.

There are many new and exciting stories at Covenant. In fact, last year:

• 60 new disciples have been baptized
• 105 have joined the church
• Worship attendance has obviously grown, especially our Saturday 5:30 Service
• We have many new Discipleship groups; now totaling 175 including 18 new ones in January.
• The number of ministry servants has grown to include 914 servants.

But we have not finished crossing the Jordan just yet…

Part Three: A Three-Circle Story

Watch the video

We know without a doubt that God called us to cross the Jordan and expand our space for people we haven’t met yet, but we have not finished crossing financially.

In 2005, Covenant’s Council agreed to…

• pursue a building process that would not expand our debt beyond 4.2M at the end of the project
• Launch the His Heart, Our Dream campaign to fund it and
• empower a Steering Team to design expanded facilities within the boundaries of pledged commitments

In 2006, His Heart, Our Dream…

• became a reality and was broadly embraced by hundreds of Covenant families
• Ultimately totaled 5.5M in pledges and non-pledge collections

Lay leaders were empowered to…

• Secure a loan to bridge us while we collected the 5.5M in pledges
• Facilitate an expansion planning process that included hundreds of leader
• Receive affirmation by the Council

…but, the resulting 5.5M plan included almost no paved parking.

The Council then revised its strategy by…

• Affirming a plan to pave the parking lots for an additional 400k
• Proceeding (the Steering Team) with a modified plan

By the end of His Heart, Our Dream…

• Only 4.5M was collected out of 5.5M
• The 4.5M collected included the 400K special offering in Dec ‘0
• We, therefore, fell 1M short of our expected 5.5M in collections

So today, we have a 1.4M challenge...

• that combines our 1M shortfall plus the cost of paved parking ($400k)
• That calls us to pay $1.4M owed to our bank by the spring of 2011 as we agreed in 2007

…so, the crossing of Jordan continues together.

Part Four: God’s Call to Finish

God calls us to finish things we start, and He is doing so now.

With regard to our HHOD campaign, we have people all over the map. Some have completed the journey, others never started on their commitment, and many are somewhere in between. Plus, we have many newcomers who have joined our congregation since the campaign began.

Therefore, it is now time for a fresh start, and we begin this new season by first releasing everyone from any prior commitment: You are now released from the bonds of guilt and shame that might exist from an unfulfilled pledge - for whatever reason. Please join all those who call Covenant home in discerning your role as we complete this journey.

Thanks to all of you who were able to complete your HHOD commitment. Your generosity has made a profound impact. It is vital that you also listen for the leading of His Spirit in this important matter.

And for those of you who just arrived, we are excited you can now join us on this last leg of the journey.

We need everyone’s help to finish strong! Together we will now all cross the Jordan.

Part Five: A Journey of Prayerful Discernment

God has a big dream for Covenant, but we have to listen for His instruction as we complete this journey together. And you can be sure that this crossing will stretch your faith. When has Jesus ever asked you to take an easy and comfortable step of faith? He doesn’t know how!

In fact, in this next year, success will not be achieved simply by attaining a 1.4M goal—that’s not that difficult. Real success will be realized when we totally surrender to His agenda with our hearts, our lives and our resources. He wants nothing less than for us to be “All In”!

After a period of prayerful discernment, on May 15/16 during worship, every family who calls Covenant home will be asked a simple question: What did the Lord say to you? What financial commitment has Jesus asked your family to make during this 12-month journey?

Please join me and the leadership of our congregation as each of us prayerfully discerns our role in Crossing Together.

Commit

Ready to jump in and cross? Below is our online commitment card. Please be sure to tell us what the one word or phrase you've been focusing on as well as what you have discerned to be your financial part in this journey. Your information will be sent confidentially to our Finance Office.

It is simply amazing!

Seriously, how cool and awesome is that? We asked our congregation to embark on a journey together – a journey of seeking God as individuals and as families, to listen to what He would have each of us focus on and what our "number" should be. Hundreds of families took part in this listening process.

And what happened? Hundreds of families listened for four weeks, and hundreds of families committed to being part of this Crossing Together experience for the next year! We said we needed $1.4 million by May of 2011. And when all the commitment cards had been tallied, the people of Covenant Church had collectively committed to give $1.43 million! That is simply amazing.

Hundreds listened. Hundreds said they'd obey what they discerned God had said. And we will cross together.

So, what about you?

Perhaps you read that and you say to yourself, "Well, I guess they don't need me."
You'd be right. We don't need you.

But this is not about whether or not we need you. This is about you and your family putting yourself in a position to listen to God's leading in your life, to discern what He may tell you to do. What would He have you focus during this journey? Trusting Him? Living by faith? Sacrifice? That is for you to discern.

And secondly, what is your number? What will you discern to be your part in this journey? This is not and never has been about us needing you to give. This is all about us as a church listening to God, obeying what He tells us, and then trusting Him to do what we cannot do ourselves.

We hope you'll join us on this journey. You can grab a commitment card in any house or building on our campus or just do it above.

My Story

Please share your story during the Crossing Together journey. What has it been like? How has God drawn you closer to Him through this? When has it been difficult to trust? How has God shown Himself faithful in the word or phrase He gave you? Let us hear it so it can be an inspiration and encouragement to others!