He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.

Psalm 78:5-7

How are we, as Sower Church, building a firm foundation for future generations?

Our Vision

For five years, God has done some sweet and simply amazing things at Sower Church. As one observer of what has happened, I am always humbled and grateful to be a part of what God has been doing. This past year, we have seen more baptisms than any other season in our history as a church. Our leaders have seen young and old turn from a life without Christ to turning to him. As a church, we are seeing individuals turn to the word of God for the first time and returning to the Christian Community. It is so powerful to see God move in marriages, families, young couples, young professionals, and college students. It has indeed been a sweet time at Sower. 

Our pastoral team has been prayerfully considering what is next for our church. With much counsel and preparation, we are entering a season of focused effort and sacrifice for the continued growth of what God is doing at Sower Church. 

Us pastors and leaders believe God has called our church to be a disciple-making light in Lincoln for a long time. Therefore, we are launching a campaign to raise funds to strengthen a foundation with future progress in mind. The campaign will be called “Foundations.” Here are three areas we have targeted to improve our church’s foundation:

1. The initial perspective of our property.
2. The perspective of young families.
3. A perspective centered around more excellent worship.

The Initial Perspective – Potholes, City Codes & Landscaping?

One recurring conversation that keeps happening month after month with different visitors is something like this… 

“Wow, I never knew a church was in this building!”
“The inside is more impressive than I thought. You have a beautiful space!”

Our initial plan after purchasing this building was to update the interior and make it suitable for Sunday mornings. Then, after that effort was completed, we would move to the external view of our church. We believe it’s our duty before God to steward this property well, by upgrading the parking lot to meet city standards while adding professional landscaping and lighting. This will showcase our commitment to the community and improve our visibility on 27th Street, day or night. This plan includes paving our parking lot, adding a basketball hoop on one of the light poles, updating our green space around the building, and planting new trees.

 I can think of one sweet family that came to our church after seeing our new sign on 27th Street. They are now leading our largest community group. They saw new spiritual life in their own home with their children and other family members who are now attending Sower. Faithful stewardship matters! It’s a small, but daily reminder to the neighborhood of the gospel of Christ, and the hope that we will one day be made new in him.

The Young Family Perspective – Families are the building block for the next generation!

We’ve made a significant investment in our campus ministry at UNL, Christian Challenge, over the past decade, and it’s been thriving ever since. Now, those who were part of it have grown up, gotten married, and are raising families of their own. This presents a wonderful opportunity for us to continue to make a positive impact on future generations. Already, through our Family Night ministry, the Word of God is inspiring more parents to live out Psalm 78 and the goal of preparing the next generation for gospel witness. We believe another practical way to serve these families is to build an indoor playhouse at the northwest corner of our building. This playhouse will be available year-round and would send a strong message to our existing families that we are here for them beyond college. And, as God adds more families to Sower, it will help them to see that we believe families are important to the work of advancing God’s kingdom.

I can recall a young family that became a part of Sower Church in the previous year. God initiated the process of opening doors for them. They felt guided to come out of their church attendance hiatus and re-engage with what God is doing. They were also willing to walk through any open door that God presented to them. The father was baptized, they became church members, and joined a community group at Family Night. What set Sower apart for this young family is the community of believers they were invited into.

The Worshipper’s Perspective – Worship is foundational to all followers of Christ!

The people of God gathering regularly to come before God in worship is one of the most foundational aspects of Christianity. What does this have to do with the campaign? Many of you have simply grown accustomed to the reality that our sanctuary is quite dark. To clarify, it’s not dark in a spiritual sense, but in the literal sense as in “We need more light!” We want to brighten our main worship space by adding a brighter backdrop to the stage. This is more economical than the cost of reconfiguring the electrical system in the sanctuary. Additionally, we want to expand the stage to better serve Sunday worship, baptisms, and child dedications. We will also purchase new chairs to provide a uniform sanctuary appearance. To summarize: a brighter stage backdrop, a wider stage platform, and uniformed seating. In the grand scheme of things, we could continue ministry of the Word as is without any of these updates to our sanctuary. However, adding these updates will communicate our value and stewardship of our sanctuary before God.

We all can write a testimony of how God has used our time together as a gathered church to pray together, break bread together, sing together and sit under the preached word together. We have seen many be baptized together. We have sent out two church plants and two missionaries together. We have laughed together, and we have cried together. It is good to be together in this great effort of joining Jesus as he builds His Church.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Ezra 3:10-13

OUR GOAL

Our Ask

We can’t accomplish this vision without the generosity of the body of Christ. We are called to steward our resources for God’s kingdom and His Glory, trusting God with what He’s entrusted to us. Prayerfully consider how you can give to this campaign. 

We are asking YOU to commit a financial gift to help fund the Foundations Campaign. We plan on taking pledges up to Sunday, May 5th. You can pledge to give monthly, annually, or through non-traditional means.

Thank you for your continual gifts as you sacrifice your time, talents and treasures towards this effort. We are excited to see how God uses Sower Church to build a firm foundation for future generations!