Cameron: 00:00

Morning, church. How are you this morning? Good. This is your first time here or you're visiting, my name is Cameron, the lead pastor here at Conduit. We welcome you home.

Cameron: 00:12

We're going to share some things that are going on at Conduit today. And so if you're visiting or if this is not a place that you necessarily consider your spiritual home yet, just kind of take that into context for us this morning. I am sure that many of you, well, probably all of you who are here right now, unless you came super, super early this morning, experienced at least some sort of difficulty finding a parking spot. Maybe you're on the grass. Maybe you're out on the street.

Cameron: 00:53

Maybe you're two streets over. We have some people that regularly park over at Purcell and walk down the street. And I know that that's the experience of many of us, has been the experience of many of us over the last year or two or so. Our church has grown here quite a bit in the past few years, the past few years especially, and we celebrate that. And that is something that is, I like, not something that I want to paint as a problem at all.

Cameron: 01:28

We believe that God is doing a work in Jamestown. God is doing a work in the greater Chautauqua, Warren, Cattaraugus County region, and I believe by faith that God is not done doing that. That God will continue to do a work, that God will continue to be drawing all men, women, and children to Jesus. And so what we want to do, what we are endeavoring to do here as a church is to kind of position ourselves to accommodate continued growth and to make what we currently have more effective, more efficient, more safe and functional for you, for when you're bringing your families here, for when you're coming here during the week, and also for those who are not yet here, but who we believe God is bringing here. So I want to let you know what we've been doing.

Cameron: 02:32

The leadership team over the last, probably the last six to eight months has been planning pretty diligently, and planning a large upgrade and expansion, first to our parking lot. It will accommodate roughly 55 ish more spaces, parking spaces on our property, as well as an additional entrance or exit to improve traffic flow. I got a picture up here for you of our current parking lot. You got to kind of squint to see it, but this is our current parking lot set up. It's about 89 spaces, and I think three handicap spaces there.

Cameron: 03:18

And just for context, we regularly have anywhere from 20 to 30 cars that are on the road, and then quite a few that are on the grass, and double parked. And so the new parking layout is going to look a little bit like this, thanks to AI. It will help us do that, right? We'll add, like I said, we'll add about 55 additional spots along the West West Side, and North side of our our building with an additional entrance off this off Summit Street over here on the North Side. Now we we trust that this will get most of our street parking problems solved, as well as, like I said, make more room for new people and families as they make Conduit their home church.

Cameron: 04:23

The leadership team has done their due diligence. We've collected several different bids for the job, and we have signed a contract with a locally owned company here to do this project for the price of $203,000 I want to be very open with you about that, about how much something like this costs. Prices across companies were very competitive. We went with a company that we thought was we were going have the best type of working relationship with, was going to do a good quality job for us, had a good reputation, and was able to start the job early in the spring. As probably have seen, the work has kind of already started.

Cameron: 05:11

We had to remove some trees in the back, and we're planting more trees on the property and doing some more landscaping in order to continue to make our property as best appearing as we can. We expect that the work, the main groundwork will be done or will be starting here very, very soon, as soon as we get our permit from the city. If anyone works for the city of Jamestown government, come see me, please. We'll be starting that right off soon. We were supposed to start three weeks ago.

Cameron: 05:50

So, that should start soon. We don't expect, we're working very hard with the contracting company to not have this disrupt Sunday morning parking too bad. I can't promise you that there's not gonna be a little bit of disruption here and there, but we also don't expect that the project is gonna last all summer. You know, we're talking like anywhere from three to five weeks from like pushing dirt to painting lines. That's our hope and prayer.

Cameron: 06:21

So now listen, we are praying and believing by faith that this is just the first step in what we're trying to put together as a kind of a multi phase, multi year effort to make more room for more people over the next three to five years of life here. That kind of like, that kind of process will look like studying current building, trying to understand what our needs are, doing some assessments, talking with little focus groups of you, representatives of the congregation, to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to have their voice heard, as well as maximizing the current space that we have. I don't know if you've noticed, maybe you have, maybe you haven't, it's not always a really noticeable thing, but we work really, really hard to squeeze every last inch of usable space out of the building that we have. It's one of the reasons that we took the old sound booth down and pushed it back and added 20 chairs over there, and we're going to be turning this back stairwell here that no one can kind of see, but it's kind of like behind those walls. That'll be a storage room for both upstairs and downstairs.

Cameron: 07:51

We really lack a lot of storage here. We're trying to cram classrooms and classes and kids in every little no kids are going into closets or anything like that, but but the, you know, the rooms are full, and we're trying to we're we're doing our best to make sure that everyone's got a safe, fun, God honoring environment here in what God has currently given to us and asked us to steward, and we do our best to keep the building up in the best ways. But kind of what we're envisioning here is kind of a phased out project with some very, very loose timelines here, okay? Please don't hold us to anything. This just kind of gets our mind wrapped around the conception of it.

Cameron: 08:34

Phase one is what we're doing right now. We're going do a parking lot expansion, storage and organization solutions, and then system building. Meaning that when churches grow, they don't just need to grow in seats and classrooms and parking spaces. We also need to grow in our back end organization and our systems. How are we keeping track of everyone?

Cameron: 09:01

How are we managing our finances so as to maintain accountability and good stewardship and using them to continue to support the mission and the building of the kingdom? How are we training people for the work of the ministry? How are we sending them out in the power of the spirit to spread the gospel? Like all of the backend systems and things were like trying to level up, scale up, go from what worked for Conduit in previous seasons when we were a little bit smaller and is really stretching us now and really not working as well anymore. Those of you who maybe have owned businesses understand kind of like what happens when businesses grow, the necessity to scale and change and move, and that's kind of where we're at right now.

Cameron: 09:53

So we're working on the back end to build systems, and then working on the front end to take care of some of the most pressing issues like parking and storage and all of that in our building. Phase two will look a little bit more like, okay, what is the vision for the building here? How can we utilize the building to continue to support the mission and vision of the church, which is to bring the city of Jamestown closer to Jesus? How can we, like what are our needs here? What do we actually need?

Cameron: 10:22

Do we need more seats here? Do we need more classrooms? Do we need more bathrooms? Do we need more, like, what is it that we need to meet the growing need, including focus and study groups, more system building, and then somewhere within the next one to two years, the addition of an additional service that will look very similar to what it looked like on Easter, which was kind of like a soft run, soft opening to see how two services would work, having both of them here and both of them with Conduit kids. So would give us naturally a little bit more did you know how many people we had here on Easter?

Cameron: 11:01

It was a lot. The first service, we got here and it was full. And I was like, wow. Second service is probably going to be a ghost town. And the second service started and then there was a lot.

Cameron: 11:13

Again, it was like three we had about three seventy five people here on Easter Sunday. So phase three look a little bit like building plans, financial plans, or what is after the needs assessment, the focus groups, what are we actually gonna do? What are the actual plans going to be? And start to partner with people who can help bring, like, a visual picture to a vision and the mission. And then phase four would actually be any building additions and or renovations.

Cameron: 11:50

And as you can see, kind of like they're built out over the next three to five years, we're not exactly sure yet, but what we are seeking to do is to ensure that we have the right conversations with the right people in the right amount of time, bathed in prayer, discerning with the leadership team, discerning the Holy Spirit's invitation to us to continue to do this. In the book of Proverbs 15, verse 22, Proverbs says a lot of things like this, but it says that plans fail for lack of wise counsel, but with many advisors they succeed. We to approach this in wisdom. We wanna approach it in discernment. But I I'm gonna be I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you.

Cameron: 12:41

I've never done this before. I've never I've never done this before. It's rookie at this one. Okay? So I'm trying to approach this with wisdom and discernment, but the biggest thing that the Lord is telling Cameron Lienhart to approach it with is faith.

Cameron: 13:02

It's just faith. Just Cameron, trust me. It's not some trust in chariots. Right? Some trust in horses.

Cameron: 13:15

We trust in the name of the Lord, our God. We're gonna trust in the Lord. Okay? Part of what is sometimes challenging or difficult to talk about projects like this is kind of like the punch in the face that is the number of what things cost. I about lost my lunch when I got the first quote for the parking lot, and really wasn't sure how to process that spiritually myself.

Cameron: 13:55

Wasn't sure what to kind of do with that, and wrestled with it for a little while, was trying to pray through it, and to think biblically about it, and to hear the Lord by faith. Because you know, when you don't experience something before, and then it's really big, it is really big, and you don't know what to do with it. You're like, Lord, like what do we How do I do this? I don't know how to get over this mountain, Lord. And for me, the Lord impressed deeply upon my heart that, yes, while it is blacktop, while it is lines for people to place their cars, it's more than just a parking spot.

Cameron: 14:39

And it will be more than just maybe someday another seat or another 100 seats, what it becomes is an invitation. Becomes an invitation for others to come into an environment of grace and experience the maybe the same type of freedom that you've experienced in building your relationship with Jesus here, or the same type of joy and discipleship that your kids have experienced in learning about Jesus and singing loud songs underneath us while I'm trying to preach up here. But it's also listen. It's also an invitation for you and I to increase our faith, to be stretched in our capacity to trust a God that we that to to trust a God that leads us and is with us even in the moments that we don't understand or don't know what to do or the mountain is big. I think it's an invitation to believe that there are people in this region that God still wants to have an encounter with.

Cameron: 15:48

I mean, that's just it. You know? Like, I believe that there are people still in this region that God has not yet reached, but He wants to and that He will. Okay? And I want to be the type of leader that encourages us to say, How can we, in a spirit of faith and in a spirit of belief that that is God's desire, Position ourselves in expectation of Him doing that so as to show Him, Lord, we are ready for what we know that you want to do.

Cameron: 16:28

We are ready, is a measure of our faith. And that while buildings and blacktop are not the hope of the world, they can certainly be vehicles and environments for the gospel to be proclaimed into people's lives. It's an invitation for you and I to sow in faith and make plans for people who are not yet here, people who have not yet said yes to Jesus, people who will join us in heaven, those people that you pray for regularly, that they would meet with Jesus, that they would come to church with you that you've been praying for and praying for and praying for and praying for believing that the Lord will reach them, we're going to put a parking spot with their name on it. It's an invitation to express faith that God wants to do this. This is not a new thing.

Cameron: 17:29

The letter to the Corinthians, second letter to the Corinthians, to be specific, second Corinthians, both chapter eight and nine, the Apostle Paul writes a letter to the Corinthian churches and encourages them to give with intentionality, generosity, and faith to help support his ongoing missionary work in the cities around the Mediterranean. He's like, Hey, Corinthian church, I know you believe in this work. I know you see how the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed your life. We believe that it will change more lives. Will you partner with me by faith to do this?

Cameron: 18:12

And he communicates to them kind of this key principle of scripture, and the term that he uses, and he uses it other places in scripture, is the principle of sowing and reaping. And I think we all kind of somewhat understand this concept, we use it culturally even. We may not even be thinking about it biblically, but we all kind of understand it when someone says, Well, reap what you sow. Right? We usually mean it in kind of like a negative consequential way.

Cameron: 18:50

Paul does use it in that way as well. When he's writing to the Galatians, he uses it in that way. Galatians chapter six, verses seven through nine, he says this, he says, Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows, and the one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction, and the one who sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Cameron: 19:18

So let us not become weary in doing good, for at the good and proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. So Paul here uses this term sowing and reaping in more than just one place and in having to do more with just like the generosity of the Corinthian church. But in the Corinthian letter specifically, he connects sowing and reaping with the generous heart and giving spirit of the people who want to see the gospel pushed into further regions of the world. And he says in two Corinthians chapter nine, verse six, Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. And so he's trying to communicate to those whom he has spiritual oversight with that there is an economy in God's kingdom, and it has to do with sowing and reaping, and that when we sow generously, we reap generously.

Cameron: 20:26

Just like when we sow into a destructive life, we reap a destructive life. Destruction. When we sow into the Spirit's work in our life, we reap eternal life. It's a concept that carries through his message. But then at the end of his letter in two Corinthians chapter nine, he continues with this, and he says this in second Corinthians nine twelve through 13.

Cameron: 20:52

He says, the service that you perform he's talking to the Corinthians about their gift, their their generosity, and their giving towards his missionary work in the Greater Macedonia or Mediterranean area. And he says this about it. He says, That service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people, but it is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. I'm going stop there. He's like, Look, your giving is not just giving so that I can ride a fancy horse.

Cameron: 21:35

It's not just giving so that I can have a better tunic. It's not just giving so I can stay in all the best inns or eat all the best food. You're not giving to supply for my needs. You're giving to supply for the needs of God's people, and it is what he says. It is that gift, that generosity is overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

Cameron: 22:05

And he goes on to say this, Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. Paul outright says that there are people who will overflow in expressions of thanks to God and will praise God because of the obedience, Corinthians, of your giving, because of the obedience of your generosity, because of the step of the faith that you take, other people whom you probably will never know and you will probably never meet will be someday raising their hands in thanks to God that they have received the gospel. Here's the thing though. What Paul said in Galatians is that, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. The reality of the dynamic between sowing and reaping is that you do not you very rarely do you sow and reap in the same season.

Cameron: 23:31

You sow in one season, and you end up reaping in another. We know this as many of you are probably trying to sow seeds into your gardens right now, but there are not going to be tomatoes tomorrow. We reap a harvest long after when we've expressed both faith that the seed will do its work and patience to watch God do the work that God does. In May in May 1955 who wants to say they were around in May 1955? Praise the Lord.

Cameron: 24:17

Okay. A lot of y'all didn't raise your hands, but I know. I know. Listen, in May May 1955, this is important, a really small but growing church right over here on the corner of it's right over there, on the corner of Sprague And Palmer. Okay.

Cameron: 24:51

Sprague is off Baker. Palmer runs kind of parallel with Baker. Okay? So right over there on the corner of Sprague And Palmer, May 1955, a small church that was growing saw an opportunity to look way forward in faith towards what they believed God wanted to continue to do in the greater Jamestown region. So what they decided to do was rather than to wait until they needed it, they stepped forward in faith and bought 16 city residential plots.

Cameron: 25:34

Okay? And they constructed the building that we now sit in, all right? We have some of the newspaper articles from when they were doing that, when they first started that, you'll see, I have some pictures of them, that's 05/28/1955, work on New Methodist Church to begin. The church was called Brooklyn Heights United Methodist Church at that time, later changed to New Heights. And Pastor Gordy, who's not here this morning, pastored that New Heights Church while it was still here.

Cameron: 26:18

We have some of the original news clippings here. They're pretty beat up, but you can get most of them. In this original article, this article that's here on the right, and you can come up and see it when you're done, when we're done. In this original article, they stated that they intentionally This is is the type of faith I want to have. Okay?

Cameron: 26:43

They intentionally bought a property way bigger than they needed. In anticipation of having literally, they said it in the parking lot, or said it in the article, in the anticipation of having to build more parking. And they deliberately oriented so when the building was first built, it was just the sanctuary, what's underneath us, and this little stairwell or like one. No, just the sanctuary. Just the sanctuary.

Cameron: 27:14

Office was in the back, there was a little bathroom in the back, and there was just what you see downstairs. It was very modest. But they intentionally oriented the building long ways this way, rather than long ways in the long way of the property, because they wanted to scoot the building this way so they had all of that room over there to build on. So it says in original article that they stated that they intentionally bought a property way bigger than they needed in anticipation of having to add more parking and deliberately oriented the building in a certain direction so that they could build on another wing for classrooms and offices and bathrooms, which they did in 1976 and now holds all of our conduit kids rooms and all of our offices. So I want you to hear something about that, okay?

Cameron: 28:12

So in 1955, they had a vision for a ministry site here, and were making plans for what God would do twenty two years after they bought it. Like, we're gonna buy this, and we're gonna build this, but we have faith to believe that God is doing more. And so we're gonna sow into this property, and we're gonna sow into this region, and someday we're going to harvest something greater. We're going to sow in faith, knowing that we will reap in righteousness, knowing that we will reap in faith as well. Now, '22 In 1955, they had a vision for ministry and were making plans that God would not see it come to fruition for twenty two years later, they bought it in 1955, they built the rest of it in 1976, possibly after a good portion of them were gone.

Cameron: 29:21

Right? And so they were sowing into something, believing by faith that, listen, I am going to invest in something that's going to outlast me. I'm investing in something that's gonna outlast me. I believe it enough, Lord, that you want to do something here that outlasts me. So they were believing and praying and envisioning and planning for something that was much bigger than them, and that would bless not just those who were there now, but people that they did not yet know, and even into future generations.

Cameron: 29:57

This next picture is at the groundbreaking. It's right out front. Right here, those houses right there, the houses that are across the street on Delaware Ave. The article says that there was about 250 people at the groundbreaking, the groundbreaking of this building. I like to imagine what their pastor was saying at a moment like that.

Cameron: 30:27

At some point in time, maybe he read them, like two Corinthians eight and nine, some of what we just read about Paul's word to the Corinthians, and maybe he said something like this back in 1955, Hey, in seventy years from now, there are going be people that overflow in expressions of thanks to God because of the generosity of your gifts. And those people would be us. Right? Like we have a place and a reason to give thanks to God, to bring expressions of praise and thanksgiving to God because of what a group of people did seventy years ago, but had faith to see that the story of God was bigger than just them. It goes into the generations.

Cameron: 31:18

Maybe he said something like this to that congregation. Hey, there are going to be kids that find wonder, awe, and faith in the story of the gospel. There are going to be kids who learn to sing songs of praise to God loudly underneath the adults as they worship. Hey guys, in seventy years, there's going to be marriages and crisis looking for help, looking for hope, looking for connection. There are going to be addicts who are set free when they encounter God and give their lives to Jesus.

Cameron: 31:53

There are gonna be anxious people, depressed people, angry people, hopeless people who walk into this building someday looking for something that the world can't give them, and Jesus is going to change it all. Someday down the line, maybe it's seventy years from now, there are gonna be sick people who are healed and hungry people who are fed. There's gonna be widows that are cared for, men and women who are challenged to live, love, and serve like Jesus. There are gonna be people who are disillusioned with church, but who get to fall in love with Jesus all over again. There are gonna be people who are dead in their sin and headed to hell, but brought back to life by the blood of Jesus, destined for eternity with him.

Cameron: 32:34

I just wanna believe that seventy years ago, the pastor said something like that when they were moving the first shovels of dirt, and I want that faith. I want that vision, and I want that perspective. I want to invest in something that is so much bigger and larger and lasts longer than just my little puny existence, my just little blip in time here. Thank you, Vinny. See, all of those things, and so much more, because a congregation seventy years ago said, yes, we will invest into someone else's eternity.

Cameron: 33:24

And in case you've never really considered it, every single one of you are here right now because someone, somewhere, at some time said yes to investing in your eternity. Conduit has been and will continue to be a place where we say yes to someone else's eternity. And that's actually how we try to lead here. In all of the ways that we don't measure up, our hearts are firmly anchored and firmly targeted towards doing absolutely everything that we can with every single resource that we can so that more people get to know how much Jesus loves them. I want you to know and give generously with confidence that when you give, you are giving so that we together, not me as a staff person or Luke as a pastor, but us together can build highways to the gospel and environments of grace.

Cameron: 34:32

When you give, you don't just give to keep the lights on or the AC or the heat going, you give to magnify the light of all life that is Jesus Christ. Magnify him in our worship. Magnify him in the way that we serve in the community. Magnify him in the proclamation of his word. Jesus described this as having a different perspective on where we are going to store up treasures in life.

Cameron: 35:07

In Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter six, Jesus said these words, Matthew six nineteen through 21, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus basically boils down eternal investment principles into two major portfolios. Things that last, things that don't. You can choose to invest in things that last, you can choose to invest in things that don't, the choice is yours.

Cameron: 35:55

Things that last, Jesus says, have eternal impact. They are things that people carry with them into eternity. Things that don't last have impact only for the here and now, But roth and must a roth roth and must? Okay. You know what I mean.

Cameron: 36:29

Things that don't exist only to suit our own temp temporal pursuit of comfort. Now listen here, without getting too far into this particular scripture, I don't want us to fall into an extremist position here. The scripture is really clear that it is wise to save. The scripture is really clear that it is a gift to leave an inheritance to your children. Like, is a that is a that is a process or that is a a characteristic of the righteous.

Cameron: 37:00

Jesus isn't against your four zero one k or your savings account. K? Jesus wants to make sure that your heart is aimed at the right target, that your eyes are looking through the lens of eternity, not the lens of our own individual personal comforts. So when we're thinking about our lives, the time that we spend, the money that we spend, how we use our own personal gifting and talents, do we see even introspectively a heart that is guided by a desire to make an eternal impact in the world, to give something and to provide something and to support something that people will be able to carry with them into eternity, or a heart that is concerned with really only me in the here and in the now. Sometimes when we hear even scriptures like that, where Jesus is like, okay, that's a pretty high expectation, Jesus.

Cameron: 38:09

Like, have your heart fully fixed only on the things of eternity? I got a lot of issues going on down here. It's a pretty high expectation. And I agree, it is a high expectation. You could certainly say that, that the words of Jesus about our eyes being fixed fully on what we we can can carry with us into eternity is a man, it feels like being heavenly minded, but no earthly good.

Cameron: 38:39

It's not what it is. It is a high expectation, and Jesus was very clear about that expectation, not once, but many times in his ministry. Not long before his death and resurrection, Jesus said to the disciples this very thing in Matthew chapter six twenty four through 27. If anyone would come after me, if anyone wants to be my disciples, they must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Verse 25, For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

Cameron: 39:23

What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul, or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and He will reward each person according to what they have done. When the Son of Man comes in His Father's glory with all of His angels, right, the nature of our investment in life is gonna become really, really clear. It's gonna become super clear. Now Jesus does set a very high expectation, but the expectation, listen, is actually an invitation to find the life that you were designed to live.

Cameron: 40:13

Bring that scripture back up for me, Rachel. I think it's verse 26. Wasn't it before? No. 25.

Cameron: 40:20

Sorry. Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. Listen, but whoever loses their life for me will what? Find it. You ever felt a little purpose purposeless?

Cameron: 40:37

I mean, I don't even know what my life is all about. I don't really know why I what I should be living for, who I should be living for, what I should be living like. Listen, when we live our lives for ourselves and on our own terms, we get pretty it's we're lost, okay? Whoever wants to save their life, I mean, when it's all just about us, we end up losing our life. But whoever loses their life for him finds life.

Cameron: 41:14

It's an invitation to consider how we might together make investments or store up treasures that last into eternity. Listen here, I want to close with just a few things this morning. Part of our hope and prayer here at Conduit is that every single person who walks through those doors and sits in these seats would understand that God is inviting them, is inviting you to take part in His plan to make an internal impact in people's lives. Often one of the things that we fight against most in the consumer culture that we live in is not bringing that consumerism into the church. That consumeristic mindset says, well, I come to the church, I receive the spiritual product from the spiritual professionals, and then I leave the church and I come back when I want more product.

Cameron: 42:26

And the product makes me feel good. Well, that's flattering, but the product ain't that good, okay? Listen, what needs to shift always in our understanding, in our mindset, is that it is not you're not paying me to do all of the important spiritual eternity impacting work of the ministry in the community. We are together, united by our faith in Jesus Christ, emboldened and impassioned by his spirit that lives in us, because we have been changed by the gospel of Jesus, to link arms and to link resources, and to do it together in one univocal voice of saying, We believe in eternal impact in Jamestown. And so I don't want us to miss how extraordinary the invitation is for each and every one of us to take part in making an internal impact.

Cameron: 43:32

Here in Jamestown, New York, and the greater the place that people love to loathe. Let's be honest. Jamestown is a place that people love to loathe. Man, Jesus loves this place. Jesus died for this place.

Cameron: 43:55

Jesus is redeeming this place. Jesus will come back to this place. And until he does, we will build his kingdom here in anticipation of it. We will be the living, breathing, walking, working, serving hands and feet of Jesus Christ ourselves, emboldened and filled with his spirit here in this region. And we will do it together.

Cameron: 44:28

Here's some things that as your pastor, I would like to ask from you in the immediate. Okay? Four main things that I'm going to ask you to pray for, and then two separate things. One, want you to pray for wisdom, direction, and discernment as the leadership team and the elders consider what comes next in this season of growth. We want wisdom.

Cameron: 45:03

We want wise thinking, but faith filled thinking. Okay? We want our thinking to be motivated by faith. Please pray and ask God how He would have you contribute and participate in these plans that I laid out through your gifts and your resources. What Paul tells the Corinthians earlier in second Corinthians chapter nine is that they should pray to the Lord and ask him how much they should participate.

Cameron: 45:36

Do not give reluctantly, but give intentionally and with a cheerful heart. Number three, please pray that God would give you and we're gonna talk a little bit more about this here in the coming weeks as we see the project unfold, maybe give some visual cues. Pray that God would give you vision and faith to believe that 55 parking spots will not be enough by fall, because more and more people are coming to the grace of God and trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. And I'm going to identify I'm going to ask you to identify a person or a family or whomever that you are praying gets one of those parking spots. Okay?

Cameron: 46:27

And we're going to pray for their names. Not just generally, I pray for that per some person who should be here. No, we're gonna pray for that person that you're thinking of right now. Okay? Pray that we would that we would find creative ways.

Cameron: 46:46

This is, I'm serious here, that we would find creative ways to continue to squeeze out every inch of space that we have. Here in the building and in the property as a whole. The next thing that I'm gonna ask you to do is to please give to the building fund. If you give online or through the app, when you go to give your regular donation in the app, you can see that there's several different funds that you can choose from. There's a general fund, a food truck fund, and a building fund.

Cameron: 47:19

If you give to the building fund, we're allocating all of that money to this project and future projects. I will tell you that the church is in a very healthy financial place right now. We're in a very healthy place. We're in the black every single month. We have money in savings.

Cameron: 47:41

We have plans for the future, we want to continue to be wise in the way that we steward that and plan in the future. But we are asking that after you pray about it, that you would, if you feel so led by the Lord to give to this particular project outside of your regular tithes and offerings, that you would please give to the building fund. If you give like in the bucket back there, which I got reminded of this past week, someone was like, Why don't you guys take offering at your church? I'm like, Well, we do. We just don't pass it around.

Cameron: 48:15

That silver bucket in the back right there is our offering bucket. You can drop anything in there you would like. Not anything in there you would like. Don't Don't put your lunch in there, offering, put it back there, that would be great. If you give in the bucket, you can just write on the check or on the envelope for the building fund or whatever.

Cameron: 48:40

And then finally, ask questions. This is not a closed loop system, right? We're not Please ask questions as much as you want. This is my email address. Please feel free to email me with any and all questions, comments, whatever that you have as we continue on this journey.

Cameron: 49:04

Alright, let's bring the worship team back up as we pray and move into our next phase of our worship here. Heavenly Father, we thank you for Lord, I thank you for the faith of these people back in 1955. The Reverend Arnold W. Lundberg. Lord, we thank you for his leadership, the legacy of his leadership and his faith, for the way in which, Lord, he led the congregation to believe in something bigger than themselves, father.

Cameron: 49:50

And I pray, Father, that you would develop and build the same type of faith in us, the type of faith that says, man, we wanna be a part of things that have everlasting, eternal types of impact, sowing into someone else's eternity, just like others have sown into our eternity. Heavenly Father, we pray that You would build our faith, that You would build our capacity to trust. And Lord, I pray for the 55 individuals or families or cars or whoever it is, those people, Father, I pray now, right now, even now, Lord, that you begin to move upon their hearts in response to the gospel of Jesus Christ, Lord, that they would become keenly aware of their sin and their inability to save themselves, Lord, and that in humility and repentance, they would turn to you by faith, Lord. Lord, may we be here at Conduit, an environment of grace that is ready to catch them in that awesome wave of glory that they get caught in, and to help disciple them, Lord, in faith, to live, love, and serve more like Jesus. We thank you, Lord, for the opportunity that you have given to us to partner with what you are doing in creating everlasting and eternal impact in this region.

Cameron: 51:16

In Jesus' name. Amen.