Treasure JEsus Update | OCtober 2023

Hello, North Roanoke!
 
Greetings and blessings in the name of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been very encouraged to see God at work among us over this past year, and I want to pass along some highlights and updates with this letter.
 
So far in 2023, we’ve seen people beat cancer, guests visiting nearly every week, and people trusting Christ and joining our family. We have welcomed 38 new members with thirteen of them coming to us through baptism upon their profession of faith in King Jesus. Along the way, we’ve also experienced significant growth in our preschool with new families attending and many parents who are taking seriously the Lord’s words, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28).
 
With the recent growth in our preschool and kids' ministries in mind, I want to provide an update on the progress we’ve made so far in the Treasure Jesus Initiative. If you are relatively new to North Roanoke, please allow me to explain the initiative. If you’ve been with us for a while, I hope this update and progress report will serve as a helpful reminder.
 
In the fall of 2022, we examined the Scriptures and considered the privilege of giving generously as an act of worship and an essential part of following Jesus. We saw that God does not ask us to give of our finances because He is needy but because we need Him. Infinitely more than our earthly treasures, we need Jesus. In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In other words, our hearts follow what we treasure. North Roanoke is committed to treasuring Jesus. We can cultivate hearts for Jesus by prioritizing Him with our finances and generously supporting His work and His mission through His church.
 
At the conclusion of the Treasure Jesus sermon series (sermon 1, sermon 2, sermon 3, sermon 4), many of us made a 25-month faith commitment to the Lord. With those commitments, we indicated how we planned to give during the time period beginning with the first day of December of 2022 and ending the last day of December 2024. These commitments were made in faith with the understanding that unforeseen circumstances might impact our ability to give either positively or negatively. By God’s grace, many are on pace with their commitment, some are ahead of schedule, and others are doing what they can despite unforeseen challenges.
 
The primary goal of the Treasure Jesus Initiative is for everyone who calls North Roanoke home to take Jesus at His Word, treasure Him with our lives and our giving, and to trust Him to fill our hearts with a passion for Him and His glory in the process. A secondary hope for the initiative is 1) to fully-fund the church’s ministry plan (i.e. the budget) in 2023 and 2024 and 2) to exceed the budget so we can save additional funds to be used to improve our kids and preschool spaces and make the gym more suitable for worship as outlined in our facilities master plan.
 
In 2022, we estimated that we would need to raise $4M from December 2022 – December 2024 to fully-fund the budget and to move forward with the first phase of renovations. Since that time, the architects have been hard at work on the schematic drawings for renovating, relocating, and securing our preschool and kids’ ministry spaces as well as plans for updating the gym. We look forward to showing you their work as soon as we have the final renderings.
 
Until then, I want to share some incredible news. As of Sunday, October 15, God has provided $1,352,578 through the generous giving of His grateful people. God’s people are truly treasuring the King! These funds have come in a variety of ways — people have sold property and given the proceeds to the church; people have donated stocks; new members have begun supporting the church, people have changed their spending habits to be able to increase their giving, and, as I stressed in the sermon series, many have decided to trust God and just get started. Several of you have told me personally how God has been working in your life through this effort, and I’m overjoyed!
 
As December draws near, my hope is that we can finish 2023 strong. We are nearing the half-way mark of the Treasure Jesus Initiative, and I am overwhelmed by how God has provided so far. With every single gift made in faith, Christ is being magnified, and the plans for our facility are closer to being realized.
 
So, with this letter, I want to encourage those who have been giving faithfully to continue; God is doing great things through you! As we continue treasuring Jesus together, God will supply all we need to do all He has for us to do in exactly His timeframe. We are making great progress, and God is at work. For those who are new to the family and those who have not gotten started with the joy of generous giving, I want to encourage you to join us in the journey of treasuring Jesus with our treasures.
 
To get started, you can simply give to North Roanoke using the website, app, or a check. If you need assistance with a more complex gift (e.g., stocks, mutual funds, a car, a boat, a house, etc.), please contact the church office (540.563.5113), and we can point you to someone who can assist you. I appreciate you hanging with me through this lengthy letter, and I look forward to celebrating what God will do in these last couple of months of 2023. May He give us grace to keep on treasuring Jesus and to finish the year strong.
 
Because Jesus is the Treasure,
 
Pastor Daniel
 
P.S. To learn more about the Treasure Jesus Initiative, check out the resource guide including the helpful FAQ’s beginning on page 45. Also, a .pdf version of this letter is available here.