April 18, 2012
| From Pastor Roger - Let them build Me a sanctuary ...Chapter 2 "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history." CET 204.1 Owner to renter The time did come when God led us to put the building on the market. In a very short time, we received offers that were well within reason. One offer was perfect: The Vineyard Fellowship of Vancouver wanted to rent, with option to purchase, and the offer was for our asking price. That gave us time to get our building plans approved and begin building. Or so we thought. Bureaucratic red tape extended our timeline beyond anything we could have imagined. After two years, the Vineyard Fellowship completed the purchase of the building, and we went from owner to renter. New building, big plans We wanted to stop paying rent as soon as possible so that money could go into paying for the new building. We started with two million dollars. Those funds came from selling Fir Grove School to the Vancouver School District and from selling the old church to the Vineyard Fellowship of Vancouver, and many of our members at that time had been giving sacrificially for several years. We wanted a church that could become an evangelistic center for Clark County. We also wanted one that could be well located and be attractive to people to visit. What we really wanted would have cost us eight to nine million dollars but we knew that was not practical. In the end, we designed and built a facility that cost about six million dollars. Later, when the land next door became available for additional parking, we borrowed and bought that for $625,000. Clearing the debt That money was borrowed from the North Pacific Union Conference Association Revolving Fund in two different 20-year loans. We have been making payments on those loans for a number of years, but if they go full term, the last payment will not be made until 2026. Our mortgage payments are $19,541 per month. Since May 2011 our church member offerings to the building (mortgage) fund have been averaging $14,598, nearly $5,000 per month less than the payments. Here is what it looks like (blue=member donations, maroon=mortgage payments):
If we continue to give to the building fund at this rate, we will quickly use up the reserves we have set aside to be able to continue making our payments on time each month. Please search your hearts (and personal budgets) and see what God and you together in partnership can do to make this a better picture. As we have learned in recent sermons, you cannot out-give God. He will bless your faithfulness. Donations to help with the mortgage payments should be marked on the tithe envelop on the line labeled "Building Fund". If you would like to make a major gift to help pay off the mortgages, the parking lot loan currently has a balance of $448,000 and the church loan currently has a balance of $1,668,000. Donations of $50,000 or more allow us to pay down the balance of the small loan and reduce our monthly payments. Malachi 3:10-12 | Sorrow in our family What's happening >Friday, Apr. 20, 7:00 pm: Songs of Ascent, The gospel through word and song. songsofascent.org Pick up a LIFE Journal bookmark at the greeter's desk in the foyer. >Future concerts: THIS WEEK Wednesday, Apr. 18
NEXT WEEK Monday, Apr. 23 Tuesday, Apr. 24 Wednesday, Apr. 25 Thursday, Apr. 26 Friday, Apr. 27
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