My dear family in Jesus,
A bit of excitement on the church home news...
Our preliminary meeting with the City of Boise on the Cole Office Building went well and we were given a “green light” to proceed with our plans to purchase and use that building as a church. We had arranged for our realtor to put in a bid on that property on Monday. The property was going for 1.2 million just 3 years ago. Now it is a bank-owned property and they were asking 650,000. Our realtor suggested a “lowball” bid of 500,000 to start the negotiations. To our surprise, just one day later this initial bid was accepted!
After discussing the counter offer with Home Missions Chairman Keith Free, Administrator Mel Schuler, and Jared Justman at the Church Extension Fund office, we signed the paperwork and have 60 days due diligence to compete the purchase.
There are many more steps in the process before we will actually own the building, but this is a very exciting step along the way. We have engaged Pete Rockwell as our architect and Dennis Harmon as our contractor, both of whom we have had positive dealings with in the past. We have sent out the required letters to all businesses and residents within 300 feet of the property, inviting them to a neighborhood meeting which will take place at 6 p.m. a week from tonight. I received a call from the director of the counseling center which is the current tenant at the Cole office building. He said they have no intention of leaving and they have legal position to remain because they have a 5 year lease. We have been assured by the leasing agent of the bank that the lease would not hinder the sale of the building. In addition, the bank intends to buy the counseling center out of their lease. We are proceeding carefully on this point, making sure we don’t proceed with the conditional use permit process (over $1000 fee) as well as architect fees on that facility until we are assured that the tenant will relocate upon our purchase of the building.
So, guarded excitement for our congregation at this point, glad this process is ultimately firmly grasped in the wise and powerful hands of our Lord. This sentence is not mere sentiment or required qualification. This sentence is the truth and an important attitude as we move forward in our plans for a more permanent church home. This attitude stems from the principle God teaches us at the head of Psalm 127:
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
With God’s blessing, we are able to do the things we set out to do—building project, trip, career path, business plan—everything. When our plans match God’s will, we have success. Too often we have made our plans independent of spiritual implications or heavenly direction. That, my dear faith family, is when we usually get into the biggest trouble. The trouble becomes exponential when we understand the trouble is in fact sin and the paycheck for sin is death in every way possible.
But that is why Jesus came. He came to build a way for you to come to him—in fact, He is the Way. Because Jesus dedicated every moment in loving and perfect obedience to our Heavenly Father’s will, then died to endure the punishment for your and my “trouble,” He is the Way to heaven. You, with your faith firmly placed in Jesus, are on the Way and on your way to serve him in thanks and meaningful days dedicated to the God who loves you more than you can fathom, and always will.
Refreshed in the forgiving love of your Savior, God bless you as you include prayers asking for God’s blessing and direction in life’s decisions, large, small, and all decisions in-between. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
Blessings on your weekend!
—Pastor Dan