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This church was started when a small group of people believed in a big God. God honored their faith and over the past 4 years we have seen God do extraordinary things. We hope you share in our joy of seeing hundreds of people come alive to the gospel and learn what it means to become a fully engaged follower of Christ. It would be easy to play it safe and protect what we have, but we know that “without faith it is impossible to please God”.

As we embark on a new chapter in our history, God is calling Rivers Crossing to move forward with Bold Faith. In the book of Acts we see the reach of the disciples being expanded and the gospel moving forward in power. As Luke gives this account in Acts, we see over and over again his description of the disciples Bold Faith.

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.” - Acts 4:13 We believe that God has presented us with an amazing opportunity to demonstrate this type of faith as we seek to secure our presence in this community, start a campus in South Lebanon, and plant churches in Guatemala. During the Bold Faith Campaign, God is going to challenge all of us to trust Him like we never have before. However, if we meet God’s call with Bold Faith, we are certain to encounter Him in a new way and see Him do even greater things in our lives and in our church.

If this church was started by the Bold Faith of a handful of people, imagine what lies ahead when over 500 people believe God for great things!

Together with you in His service,

The Rivers Crossing Community Church elders

campaign summary

Our mission is “to give people an opportunity to become fully engaged followers of Christ”. Everything we do is �ltered through our mission, including the Bold Faith Campaign. In fact, that’s what Bold Faith is all about. More than bricks and mortar and starting new churches, Bold Faith is about taking the gospel to wherever God sends us. It’s by responding to the gospel that lives are changed and communities are transformed. We believe that God is asking us to expand our gospel presence in the following 3 ways:

1. Establishing a permanent presence in the community.

2. Starting a campus in South Lebanon.

3. Funding a church planting movement in Guatemala.

The �nancial cost to accomplish these 3 goals is $4,000,000. As God leads, you will have the opportunity to make a 2-year faith commitment at the end of the Bold Faith campaign on October 2nd.

During Bold Faith, we will be asking ourselves “God, what would you have me do?”. Although this is an audacious goal, we believe that when a group of ordinary people lay their lives before God and ask this big question, extraordinary results will follow. No two people will have the same giving capacity, however we all have the same potential for sacri�ce, trust in God, and Bold Faith.

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to shore” - Sir Francis Drake, 1577

securing our

Although we continue to have a great relationship with the Kings School District and the high school has been a great place to meet, there comes a time when a church needs to �rmly establish it’s place in the community and have it’s own facility. If you currently attend Rivers Crossing, then you’re a rebel. The reality is that the majority of your neighbors won’t attend a church in a box. That means, there are literally thousands of people that we don’t have a chance of reaching with the gospel.

Beyond this, we have many ministry needs that will be met by securing our own facility. Right now it is di�cult to gather people outside of a Sunday morning, our children’s space is extremely undersized, and we have no space for jr. and sr. high students. Although our team has been incredibly resourceful, now is the time to move forward and allow ourselves to do ministry the way God is calling us.

We have in front of us an incredible opportunity to purchase a local facility. Due to current contract negotiations, we are unable to reveal the name of the facility. Located in the heart of our target area and with more visibility than any other building in our community, we believe God is positioning us with a unique opportunity to impact our community with the gospel.

The facility is a 70,000 square foot facility that sits on 10 acres of land. The acquisition of this building will address all our current facility needs and allow us to experience signifcant growth as God draws new people to the mission of Rivers Crossing.

We have negotiated a purchase price that will allow us to make renovations to the building if we meet the Bold Faith Campaign goal. Below are some potential drawings of what Rivers Crossing might look like in the near future.

local presence

south lebanon

From day one, we have been a church that is serious about planting new churches. We have already invested well over $100,000 to support individuals that God has called to plant churches from Boston all the way to Guatemala. We are now preparing to take our next major step in church planting by helping establish a church in the Village of South Lebanon.

After 4 years of fruitful ministry there through the work of Joshua’s Place and Celebrate Recovery, we feel the burden to establish a gospel-centered church in this community. One of our own pastors, Je� Sharp, who has been instrumental in the work we’ve done to date in South Lebanon, has been called by God and given the blessing of the RC3 elders to serve as the lead pastor for this new church. Although Je� will be missed here at Rivers Crossing, we are both con�dent in his call and God’s provision to raise up a new leader to take his place.

In a community marked by generational poverty, we are committed to supplying the resources necessary for this church to obtain facilities for its use, including those for the Joshua’s Place ministries, and to cover its operating costs until it becomes �nancially self-sustaining.

Although Pastor Je� will be the lead pastor of this church and the local culture in this community will dictate a di�erent environment than the one we have, it will be considered a campus of Rivers Crossing. Our prayer is that this will be the �rst in a line of many campuses that God calls us to plant.

guatemala

While we have supported ministry work in various countries around the world (Haiti, Nigeria), we have chosen to concentrate most of our international missions support in the country of Guatemala. Currently, we are supporting the work of Tita and Pastor Shorty, faithful Christ-followers who are working diligently and e�ectively to minister to the people of La Limonada (an extremely poor community in Guatemala City) by developing schools, churches, and other organizations that help meet their spiritual and physical needs.

God has blessed this work and given us the opportunity to help multiply it by supporting the planting of additional churches, the training and support of additional workers, and the development of new ministries that will extend the gospel far beyond the borders of La Limonada.

Not only will the resources raised through the Bold Faith campaign make a game changing impact in Guatemala, we believe it will be the catalyst to seeing an even greater amount of resources directed towards this e�ort as Rivers Crossing takes the lead in getting other churches involved in planting churches in Guatemala.

Although the opposition in Guatemala can be great at times, we believe that Pastor Shorty is the right man to be leading the church planting e�orts in Guatemala.

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servant to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Acts 4:29-30

Pastor Shorty

Bold Faith is not just information in a pamphlet, it's a call to our entire church community to join in an extended time ofre�ection on the work that God has called us to do together, the plans we have for pursuing that calling, the opportunities we each have to participate, and the promises He has made to equip and bless us as we do so. Here are some ways you can engage in the process over the next 6 weeks.

1. Attend Weekly: Make it a priority to attend church during every week of the Bold Faith series. Each week we’ll be covering di�erent aspects of what it means to live with bold faith. In addition to this, we’ll be providing more details about each of the campaign goals.

2. Visit www.boldfaithcampaign.com: In case you miss a week or lose some materials, we will be posting any information that is distributed about the campaign to this website. Additionally, each week’s sermon will be available for you to watch on this site.

3. Attend a Focus Group: Focus Groups are a chance for you to hear more speci�cs about the Bold Faith Campaign. They will be about an hour in length and will allow as much time as necessary for your questions. Focus group locations and times are listed at www.boldfaithcampaign.com

4. Meet with a Leader: If you prefer a more private setting, the elders are available to meet with you one-on-one. Just email elders@riverscrossing.com to request an appointment.

5. Receive Weekly Updates: If you’re not currently receiving emails from Rivers Crossing and you would like to receive the weekly Bold Faith updates, please email Tracy Goddard at tgoddard@riverscrosssing.com to be added to the list.