What Is The Reason To Celebrate?

 

What is the reason to celebrate?  

This is a great question and a pretty loaded one at that, you know?!  There are so many incredible things deserving of celebration and not the least of these the mere fact that it’s Christmas time; the time of year where we recognize and focus on the gift of God through His Son’s birth.  That’s worth celebrating!

While there are many, many reasons to celebrate, the purpose of this blog is to celebrate how God is at work in regards to our new building in Burnsville (12156 Nicollet Ave, Burnsville).  

Five reasons to celebrate our new building:

Reason #1 – This past week, Wednesday, the City Council lead by Burnsville’s Mayor, Elizabeth Kautz, voted in favor of our church taking up residence in Burnsville.  The City Council issued us our CUP (Conditional Use Permit).  This was the last step in allowing Illumination Church to take up residency in the city and begin the buildout.  Burnsville, Savage, Bloomington and Eagan (4-corners) as well as Prior Lake, HERE WE COME!!!

Reason #2 – The property owner has agreed to invest $80,000.00 This money will go toward the demolition and reconstruction of our Worship Center as well as our Fellowship Hall.  What’s more is that the property owner has agreed to invest an additional $30,000.00 of his money into a mandatory covered trash and recycling receptacle, a necessity in order for our church to take up occupancy.  That’s an invest of $110,000.00 from the owner that he is willing to spend in order for our church to be there.  That’s worth celebrating!!

Reason #3 – Having our own facility will allow us the opportunity to facilitate the ministry that we believe God has been calling us to, ministry that is real and relevant in reaching the lost for Christ as well as changing the way people view God.  We will have our own space to worship in, to host community events, a place for our children and youth, a facility to use for various ministries, and a place to pursue the people that God has called us to with a concentrated effort week in and week out.  No more set up and tearing down means more time and energy invested in the community and the body of believers.  That’s reason to celebrate…especially if you’ve been a part of the set-up and tear-down crew ;0 

Reason #4 – Multiplication.  This is always something that we’ve seen in our future as a church.  By securing our own space we will be able to multiply the amount of worship experiences we are able to offer.  Instead of being limited by time and space on a Sunday or mid-week, we will be able to have more Celebration Services as well as various other programs including SONshine Kids, FireLight Youth, Ignite classes, community ed., counseling, weddings, funerals, baptisms, dedications and much, much, much more.  Volunteers who were once limited to either serving or attending service, but never both, will now have options and can do both.  That’s a reason to celebrate!

Reason #5 – Obedience is our success.  That’s a CORE value of our church and has been sense our inception.  We’re not bogged down by the standards of this world as tempting as it can be at times.  Instead, we believe that this is something that God placed upon our hearts and we want nothing more than to be obedient to what he has called us to.  It’s in obedience that we determine our success.  The fact that we are being obedient gives us reason to celebrate!

The work has just begun…

With the incredible opportunities that lie ahead of us, the work has just begun.  Though we’ve raised $38,337.00 to date and having had our first Serve Sunday at the new facility with many projects taking place, there is still a lot of work in front of us, and while some might be overwhelmed by the projects and money that needs to be raised, we are excited because this is an opportunity like never before for us to step up as a church and to go all in for what we believe God calling us to.  With that in mind, here are some ways that we still need to work…

1. Prayer.  We need a lot of prayer.  Prayer for God’s will.  Prayer for favor in the community.  Prayer for the finances to come through.  Prayer that we don’t come up against any snags as we move forward with the building.  Prayer that people all over will be excited about our church and want to be a part of how God is moving in Illumination Church.  Prayer for our staff and incredible volunteers to be effective in sharing the gospel.  We need prayer!
2. We still need to raise approximately $70,000.00 additional dollars to meet our projected budget for the buildout and building launch; money that is necessary in building the stage, buying chairs, furnishings, paint, building supplies, marketing and advertising, landscaping, signs, updated ProAudio (lights and sound), and more.  
3. December 15th is our next Serve Sunday.  You can sign up to partner up with many others from within the church on this day to help build out the administration wing, to help demo (demolish) walls and ceiling tiles, etc., to help patch and paint, to help remodel bathrooms, to help with landscaping and more.  It’s a great way to connect with others and to serve the church and community.
4. Spreading the word.  We NEED people like you to continue to get behind the work of God in and through Illumination Church and help spread the word.  We want to reach as many for Christ and it begins with one; the power of one person and one conversation and one invitation.  Who knows how God might use you as you get excited and tell your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers about what God is doing at Illumination Church.

So as you can see we have a lot of reasons to celebrate!  Will you join with us in celebrating and making an eternal difference in the lives of so many who need Jesus as we partner together through our SOS (secure our own space) initiative?!  

Pastor Andrew