GOD-Sized Miracles!

Five years ago, our church began a major remodel & renovation program of our Worship Center. Phase 1 began with a repair of a leaky roof above the Foyer and the lobby was updated.  Phase 2 involved removing the wooden pews with orange velour cushions from the room and replacing the pews with upholstered "pew-chairs" that could be moved and configured for multi-purpose use. The entire sanctuary was "gutted", stage was expanded, new flooring and lighting installed, etc.  Before Phase 2 could proceed, however, we ran into a bump in the road.  My husband, the Lead Pastor, pledged that we would NOT borrow money to complete this project.  We would pray, and God would work on people's hearts to raise the funds needed.  We had reached a "crisis of belief" because permits were in place for starting the construction, but we were still short $25,000.  Then came Miracle #1---a family in our church came to Mark and said that they had received an inheritance and they wanted to make a gift to the building project, and "how much do you still need?" they asked.

When my husband told them 25K...they replied, "We'll bring a check to the church in the morning."

God used these people, who were sensitive to what God was telling them, to be a part of God's bigger plan!  The Sanctuary was completed ahead of schedule, and we had an amazing Easter Celebration in the spacious and modern Worship Center! Glory to God!

Fast forward to a few months ago.  The last phase of the remodel project involved renovation and expansion of the Foyer Restrooms.  As is often the case with construction projects, the early bids are much lower than actual costs when the date arrives for beginning the work.  So, a project that was initially projected to cost $90,000 was now estimated to cost about $38K more!  Here was another test of our faith.  My husband and I spent many mornings in prayer over this matter....did God want us to scale back to a bare-bones remodel? Were we to ask the congregation to extended their financial pledges for one more year?  Were we to get a loan to cover the shortfall?  After much prayer, the Remodel Committee stepped-out in faith.  They committed to trust God to bring in the needed resources---they didn't want to borrow money, nor did they want to ask the people for more gifts.  It was not even feasible to scale-back on the bathrooms---even a bare-bones remodel was going to be "over-budget." As we have been studying "Experiencing God" we have learned that we arrive at a "crisis of belief" where we have to step forward in faith and action.  "What you do reveals what you believe about God.  Your faith shows that you are believing God to do a God-sized miracle!"

Ok, so we did just that---prayed diligently for God to "show-up", but no one knew of this need except for the Committee and Staff---the greater church body was not aware of this need for funds to complete the project.  Mark & I live a frugal lifestyle (as our kids can attest to!), but Mark had felt that the Lord had challenged him to plant a seed and we took money from our savings to donate ten percent of the needed money toward this project.  I totally agreed with him---God has blessed us so much, it was a way to show our love to Him to give this money.

The very same Sunday morning that we decided to give, a man in the church came to tell Mark that he had received an inheritance recently and that God had spoken to he & his wife and that they needed to give it to the Remodeling Campaign.  They were unaware of the dire need, but they were sensitive to God's Spirit!  This very generous gift now put us at a deficit of $8400.  Now we were just watching to see what God was up to in the next few weeks :)

Last week a couple in our church family came to talk to Mark.  The wife had felt that God was telling her to give $10,000 to the Renovation project.  She shared this with her husband and they prayed together as a couple that God would clearly affirm that this was the right decision.  Now, I am told that this couple didn't just have piles of cash lying around.  This was going to be a sacrifice. But after much prayer, they were in agreement.  They brought in a check and now we even had a little bit of money left for some extra repairs that needed to be done on the roof!

This whole experience showed us that if God is calling you to do something, HE WILL PROVIDE! This could be funds for a mission trip, a need in the church, or any number of things.  This journey through our NEW THING REMODEL Campaign has been a true faith-builder!  We know that God is using this beautiful new Worship Center to draw people to Christ.  We have, in the last few months, seen God working as He has brought new families into the church & people are making commitments to Christ and following Him in baptism.  Also, God has been raising up new leaders in our church in the areas of Children's KidZone Ministry, Women's Ministry, and many other areas of service.  We rejoice in God's miraculous provision and wait expectantly for this next chapter in the history of 1st Baptist.  Praise be to God -- Jehovah Jireh, OUR PROVIDER!