After nearly 4 years of letter-writing, negotiating, believing God, fasting and praying, going back to the drawing table, and trying again, we finally closed on the purchase of our own facility! It’s a done deal. We now own 10 acres of land, and 100,000 square feet of retail space with two outparcels on a great corner of the city! The church already occupies about 40,000 square feet, with another 16000 right next door that is ready for our expansion. Except for one small bay, the rest of the center is leased out, which is awesome!
As we’ve been plowing through this deal the last few months, we’ve had some great comments about how smart this is for the church, investing in real estate, etc. That’s been great to hear because it is a bit unorthodox. One more great thing - the appraised value is $10.4m and we purchased it for $7.4m. Pretty cool to start out with strong equity.
Thanks again to all the guys for pushing with me - Mundo, Dan, Steve, Mark, Casey, Big John, and of course, we couldn’t have done it without Greg. In case you can’t tell from the pic, he’s one happy country boy.
Also, I’m so thankful to Jesus for opening the doors, honoring our faith and efforts, and giving us this great opportunity. I’m fired up! The best is yet to come!
God is awesome. What a way to push into the second decade…3 services, over 1000 Fresh Starts and plenty of smiles of lives changed. Great Stuff Pastor John !
I’m so happy for you guys. I especially like the prime placement of the Starbuck’s coffee next to you and the lease papers. Perhaps you can sign a deal with Starbuck’s and get paid for all that product placement on your blog. Better yet, now that you have the space, how does The Life Church of Starbucks sound?
Wonderful news; God is so good! Congratulations! We’re millionaires!
Thank you for sharing the magnificent news. Again and again it is refreshing to encounter testimonies that provide encouragement for the body as an assemby and for us as we pursue our individual destiny. As I glean for my personal walk, I am reminded of an essential question Oprah is known for asking–”What do you know for sure?” I can say that I know for sure that this testimony is an example of the effective and fervent model of petitoning God: persistent pursuit of purpose propelled by power prayer(prayer backed by fasting). I am thankful to be a part of this annointing. I look forward to all the future holds for the Life Church.
John,
Congrats on the new property. It’s awesom to see how a great big God can make big things happen. May The Life Church continue to experience growth and God’s blessings.
your friend,
Kevin…..Nashville
He is so awesome! Providing a source of income for the church, more space to expand and the ability to connect with the tenants! Do we serve an awesome God or what?! I can’t wait to see how He will pay that mortgage off!
Thanks you guys for hearing God’s voice and allowing us to be a part of such an awesome church!
Therese
John & Leslie,
Sonnnnn! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
As you know, we’ve been standing with you for THIS DAY for many, many days! As the Kikuyus say over here; ‘at rong rast, the bleakthrough has come!’
We can only imagine how fired up you both must be and and are flat rejoicing with you!
Pastor Don Matheny
Nairobi
I’m so glad we finally get to “own” our church site. The main thing that pulled me to the church 2 years ago was the fact that it looked “different”. Being purposely unchurched, I had developed the ability to ignore anything with a steeple that looked “churchy” When I was ready to reach out to God again, I was drawn to our church because of its location and unique feel. The fact that it sits on “germantown parking lot” makes it an awesome location for years to come. All those people crawling in traffic are forced to look and wonder like I did. I was never too excited about the chrysler building, and I’m sooo stoked that we now have permanence in our current home. Way to go guys!
Come on! Yeah! God is moving, the wheels are turning. Owning the building, reconstruction, 3 services! Incredible things are happening. Watch out Memphis!