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Petition for Prayer (August 9, 2009)
The Resource Study Group was formed in February of this year at the request of the
Budget and Finance Team, the Transitional Leadership Team, and the church
staff. We have had several opportunities to hear from you, the
church body, in recent months as well as gain a better understanding
of the resources that God has blessed Two Rivers Baptist Church with.
We have recently been asked in this series on the church to look at
the future of our church. As we look at the future of our church
we have been asking what is hindering us from fulfilling the calling
God has placed upon our church. We’ve heard in recent weeks
about the work of the Pastor Search Team and the Bylaws Revision Team.
Here is a quick summary of what we, the Resource Study Group, know:
As of July 10, 2009 the church has $3,498,157 in debt. This is made up of two building notes,
one of which is a fixed rate note and the other variable. The
third piece is our line of credit which has a current principal balance
of $370,000. One other item to note is that both building notes
have a prepayment penalty clause. As recently as April of 2009
our prepayment penalty was $200,000. However, due to today’s
favorable interest rate environment it is currently $0.
We currently have $200,000
in this year’s budget to pay down the line of credit, however, that
means we still have an outstanding balance of $170,000 that will need
to be resolved by October 2010.
We also know that within 5
years we will need to spend $986,000 to update among other things aging
heating and air conditioning units and roofs that are beginning to need
repair. Please note that the roof repair included here is in addition
to the portions we have already repaired in recent years.
Lastly, we currently have no
building reserve funds and believe that an adequate reserve would be
somewhere in the range of $500,000.
So, we are now coming to
you, the church body, to call for a time of prayer and fasting if you
feel so led of the Holy Spirit. In addition to what I have
already shared, we also know that God has abundantly blessed Two Rivers
in the past. We have 51.81 acres of land, a main building which
is 203,000 square feet and Building B which is 18,100 square feet.
God tells us in His Word
in Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 7, that
“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to
the lender”. We know based on God’s Word that we are hindered
from fulfilling all that God has for us because we are enslaved by the
previously mentioned debt.
For NO OTHER PURPOSE, other
than retiring our debt and establishing an adequate building reserve,
we are calling you, the Two Rivers Church Body to pray about whether
we should sell a portion of what God has blessed us with.
I need to emphasize this again that the only reason we would do this
is to eliminate our current debt and to position us to be used by God
here at 2800 McGavock Pike.
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 The Resource Study Group has
determined in the course of our research that the north property is
the most valuable. Please refer to the graphic on the screen.
We also have determined that future growth for Two Rivers would best
be accomplished by building on the south side of the present building.
So, we are seeking God’s wisdom as to if He has placed these resources
in our hands for a time such as this.
We currently have a monthly
expense of $44,000 in our budget allocated to debt. This is made
up of our regular debt payments plus a monthly expense of $16,667 to
pay down the line of credit by the $200,000 I mentioned earlier.
Coming back to the question of what
is hindering us from fulfilling God’s calling for our church we have
to ask the question, “what could God do with Two Rivers Baptist Church
if we had 35 – 40 acres of land instead of 51.81
acres and free cash flow of $44,000 per month which is currently going
to debt”.
So, we are asking you to
pray in earnest about this over the next few weeks. We will
be holding a prayer service the evening of August 23rd to
pray specifically about how God would have us to retire this debt.
We will also be holding a meeting
on Sunday, August 30 at 12:30 in the choir room to hear back from you
what God is telling you as you pray about this. We are asking
you to pray expectantly seeking an answer from God as to what He would
have us do.
We are
also asking you to pray without already having your
mind made up as to what we should do. We don’t want to rely
on our own understanding. We want God’s best for Two Rivers.
God asks Job in the book of Job, chapter 38, verse 36:
“Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind”.
We of course know it is God.
The Bible also tells us in James chapter 1, verse 5, that
“if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously
to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
So, we are asking you to pray, asking God how He would have us to get
out of our debt which is hindering us from all that God would call us
to.
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