The Generous Campaign: Our Response to God’s Goodness
Check your mailbox this week for information about the Generous Campaign (if you don’t get the mailer, pick up a copy at your campus this Sunday).
We’re kicking off a church-wide effort to raise funds for a number of local ministry needs and our global effort to see as many churches and disciples of Jesus as possible.
Why? Because God has been generous to us.
As we’ve learned in the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, there’s a biblical pattern of God’s goodness and our response (see Mary’s song in 1:46–55 and Zechariah’s prophecy in 1:67–79):
- Historical – God acts in space and time and people reflect on what he has done.
- Theological – God’s actions reveal his character to us. As we reflect on what God has done and what he has said about himself, we learn more about him.
- Biographical – What we learn about God changes how we live.
- Doxological – God’s actions, who he is, and how he has changed our lives lead us to respond in worship.
We’ve modeled the Generous Campaign after this pattern, and so as we begin I’d like to reflect on the incredible ways God has blessed Mars Hill Church, Acts 29, and the Resurgence in 2009.
Baptisms
As a church we baptized over 575 people in 2009. We saw fathers baptizing their sons and daughters, husbands baptizing their wives, drug dealers leaving lives of crime for Jesus, victims of abuse finding redemption in Christ, and men abandoning prolonged adolescence in order to follow Jesus.
New Campuses
We launched two new campuses and one new service location in September. With the addition of campuses in Federal Way and Albuquerque, and a new gathering at the University of Washington, what started in a living room with a small group of people has grown to nine campuses in two states.
Free Resources
Pastor Mark’s sermons were downloaded 4.4 million times in the last year. Every day we receive encouraging emails from around the globe—Australia, the UK, Africa, Brazil, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles almost daily. Jesus has used the Internet to distribute the Bible preaching we enjoy every Sunday to millions of people worldwide.
New Church Plants
The Acts 29 Church Planting Network is averaging one church plant per week. God has been gracious to bring great men and leaders to the network to further its work. We’ve now planted almost 300 churches around the globe.
Acts 29 Boot Camps
We’ve trained thousands of pastors throughout America and beyond our borders, thanks to the help of Acts 29 and many generous churches within the network. Some of our Mars Hill pastors even got into the mix and helped train pastors in Ecuador.
ReTrain
This year marks the official start to our missional leadership school. An inaugural class of 75 men from around the country have been coming to learn from a top-notch faculty: Bruce Ware, John Piper, Gregg Allison, Bill Clem, Rick Melson, Ed Stetzer, and Mark Driscoll. Each of the 75 men represents future church planters, pastors, and leaders. The global Church is important to us, and we want to train and raise up as many men as possible for the difficult task ahead.
ReLit & ReSound
This past year we’ve published a diverse batch of media, including Vintage Church, Religion Saves, PAC, Pastor Dad, and Rain City Hymnal. God has blessed us with great ministry partners, editors, and musicians that we’re thankful to have at Mars Hill.
All of this is in addition to hundreds marriages, new babies, restored relationships, and thousands little stories that we don’t even hear about.
We serve a hugely generous and wholly gracious God. As I look out over the scope and depth of what God has done and is doing, I can’t help but be completely humbled, thankful, and moved to worship. I hope you are too, Mars Hill.
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