End of Year Giving Update

Redemption Family,

As a church, our vision is to help people wake up to a deep, meaningful life in Christ. In a culture that values mobility, transience, and individuality, we value the stability, security, and strength of a local church. One way we deepen our root system is by committing with one another to live together as the family of God, to worship together, grow and be transformed, invest ourselves in the church, and to expand God’s mission in our city.

With the help of your service and generosity, we have seen God work this year in and through our church. As I reflect on 2019, here are a few highlights:

• • We celebrated our 5th birthday!
  • We encouraged and equipped people to get into the Bible for themselves.
  • We endured a difficult season of transition together.
  • We welcomed our first “official” members into our church in our membership workshops.
  • We saw God work in our Student ministry in both spiritual growth and excitement as well as numeric growth — we have more students and more leaders engaged now than ever before.
  • We added new staff members who are thriving in their roles.
  • We launched a Care and Prayer team to make sure that no one walks alone.
  • We began our first Elder Development class as we seek to install our first group of elders.
  • We invested in God’s global mission through new churches in Boston, Massachusetts; Stillwater, Oklahoma; and Guatemala City, Guatemala.
  • We invested locally through a mission partnership with Restore OKC.
  • We saw two teams serve on medical mission trips in Ecuador.

Because of your faithfulness and God’s grace, we have been able to make a difference in our community and around the world. I am grateful for your investment in Jesus’ church this year. Thank you!

With God’s help, here are a few things we are looking forward to in 2020:

• • We are making exciting changes to grow, refresh and deepen our Kids ministry.
  • We are developing a team of students who are helping to lead worship at RSM.
  • We will introduce new Elders and Deacons to serve the church.
  • We are planning our first Men’s Retreat.
  • We are introducing new content and formats to engage the needs of women.
  • We will seek to grow our investment in Small Groups and in Equipping classes.
  • We will renew our efforts to raise funds for a more permanent church home.
  • We will invest in deepening our love for our neighbors through meaningful conversations as ambassadors for Christ who hope to reconcile others to God.

You can contribute toward these opportunities at redemptionokc.com/give. If you would like to give over and above your regular giving to contribute to our future building fund, you can choose the Move the Mission option.

Last year, our giving fell behind our expenses, so we have adjusted our budget accordingly. Our budget year runs July 2019 through June 2020.

Here are the numbers for the first four months of our fiscal year:

Budget $152,250 (Projection)

Giving $133,017 (Actual YTD)
Expenses $140,880 (Actual YTD)

Total   – $7,863

Our capacity for mission will not regularly exceed our resources. To continue to meet our needs, thrive as a healthy church, and grow our ministry opportunities, we need your help. Please know that you make a difference in our church each time you give. Like most churches, end-of-year giving is a big part of our annual budget. As important as that is, we are more interested in developing authentic disciples whose hearts are motivated by grace and growing in generosity toward the mission of Jesus through his church.

Would you pray and ask God what he wants you to give as we close out 2019 and enter 2020?

It is hard to believe that we are about to enter the year 2020! We are entering years 5-10 of our existence as a church. These are significant years for us. I hope you are as excited as I am to see what God has in store. I am honored to be your pastor and grateful to link arms with you in this great endeavor.

All for Jesus,

Jeff Lawrence