NPC MULTI-SITE VISION…by MIKE FOSTER

I love what what Mike shared about our vision for the new campus during our weekend services last Sunday.

The multisite vision for North Point is to have more campuses in more convenient locations for more conversions. Some of you may cringe at the sound of the word convenient in conjunction with the church. I unashamedly want to make it easier for people to come to know Jesus. Not by watering down what it means to be a Christ-follower, but by providing more places and more opportunities for people to begin a relationship with Jesus. We want more conversions, we want more life change, more people coming into relationship with Jesus and letting Him change their lives.

Some may ask why? Why take away from the group here to go and start something elsewhere. You might say, “I like my church. I like it just the way it is.” You know why? It is because the fields are ripe. According to a 2006 census estimate there are some 713,000 residents of Lake County. Some numbers that the Chicago District Evangelistic Association have come up with state that only 250,000 of those residents are “claimed” by a church. “Claimed” is a loose term meaning they are on the membership roles of a church but they may or may not actually be attending that church. The need is great in Lake County and the best way for us to reach Lake County is by starting new churches or new campuses so to create more places for people to experience Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness.

We are also going so we can meet the needs of others. I have heard many stories of how North Point has met the needs of many through acts of kindness. I got to take part with some of you yesterday helping out Mrs. B. To the best of our abilities we want to “give to anyone as he has need.” We want to give the Gospel its best hearing possible by meeting the needs of others and showing them the love of Christ. We want to do good deeds to create goodwill to share Good News. Tim said it last week but I too love the quote by St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” Too often we go to the words too fast and they don’t see enough love in action.

Some of this launch is like becoming a parent for the first time. You are scared to death, yet terribly excited, all at the same time. I was describing how I felt to a friend of mine and I said, “I feel like I am at the place where peace and terror meet.” I have peace knowing this is exactly where God wants me to be and that I am doing exactly what He wants to do. At the same time, I have this sense of terror as I don’t know exactly how we are going to get from here to there. This is where God wants us to be. A place of peace totally relying on Him, yet holding on for dear life not knowing exactly where He will take us.

We serve a wild God, a furious God. A God of Adventure, and by no means tame. We’re expecting. We’re expecting God to move and to move us to greater levels of faith. So many times we limit God by the things that we can do, let’s let God be God and let Him take us to where He wants us to be.