| Generosity Changes US
by Glen Brechner, Executive Director
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I don't know of anyone who has lived a generous life and regretted it. Not one person. In Matthew 6 it says, "where your treasure is, your heart will also be." Instead of focusing on receiving and gaining, we focus on giving ... and that is where true life is found. Chase Oaks is such a generous place, and that is encouraging for a number of reasons. Obviously it enables ministry to happen, for lives to be transformed and for our local and targeted global communities to be impacted. But it is just as encouraging because as the generosity quotient of our church grows, we are growing and being transformed. We are all learning to live our lives more oriented around trust and dependence upon God. We are learning that life is found in giving ours away. And as in Matthew 6, we are living lives that we can look back on and know they made a difference for the Kingdom. Becoming more generous changes each of us, but it is also impacting the lives of people. Here are a few ways your generosity has made a difference over these past few months.
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• Life Transformation: Baptisms. Through this ministry year over 150 people have taken the step to be baptized!
• Africa. Our project in Ethiopia is continuing to have an incredible impact. The 60+ church planters are the real heroes where they are going village to village and leading people to Christ. Over 7,000 people have put their faith in Christ, including 40 coptic priests. Please pray for them as they have become a real threat to the Muslims, who claim some of those villages. The school is under construction, they just built a well for water, and the micro-finance project of selling sesame is growing, so this can be self-sustaining. We are also exploring an opportunity in the Mathare Valley – the second largest slum in the world.
• Fairview Campus. The heart of our Fairview campus is to reach and impact the local community. That is happening with local partnerships in the community, 40% growth at the campus, and a Kidzone and Student Ministry that are busting at the seams!
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• Student Ministry. Our student ministry is growing with the addition of Student Leadership Teams and reaching out to students through the program Life Hurts, God Heals. Our teams at both campuses are having an incredible impact on the Next Generation.
• Our Community. It is amazing to think that each of our lifegroups has something they are a part of in the community. That translates into more than 100 different groups of people making a difference each and every week in our community.
• ESL Classes for Chinese Students. This program at UTD continues to expand. Over the past school year, between the classes, Bible studies and events, we have seen more than 50 people put their faith in Christ!
We have so much to thank God for over this past year including more than 500 new people who call Chase Oaks their church home. |
| We have the opportunity and heart to do more, and your financial generosity gives us the ability to say "yes" to great opportunities that we have as a church to create environments where people can Come As They Are, Be Transformed, and Make a Difference. For those of you who are investors in what God is doing, thank you so much ... it is a great investment. For those of you who have not started to give, let me invite you to start and begin to invest in God's story through Chase Oaks and make it a part of your story. |
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Thank you for your generosity to Chase Oaks. Your giving is Making a Difference in the lives of people. God is at work in and through Chase Oaks, and your giving is making that possible.
Thanks again for your generous spirit and embracing the reality that generosity is not something God wants from you, but a life that He wants for you.
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GO BOLDLY UPDATE:
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Go Boldly Pledges: $11,884,430
Go Boldly Giving: $ 4,952,024 |
Our Go Boldly campaign is into its second year, and you are beginning to see things happen! The pillars for the new auditorium expansion have been poured and during the summer you will see some major changes with the construction – including the addition of a 4th service and a loss of some seats in the auditorium. This is the time when the project gets more expensive, and the earlier each of us can fulfill our pledges, the better. The completion date for the project is the summer of 2013.
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This financial statement is intended to help you be more informed on what is happening from a stewardship perspective at Chase Oaks. It will also give you a little glimpse of how your generosity is Making a Difference. |
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For those of you who give, your quarterly statement will follow in the next week.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
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