Vineyard Church of Knox County
In Search of a Ministry Facility
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." -- Jesus As you know, our church has been praying and searching (as God leads us) for a ministry facility that would allow us to better fulfill the vision and mission to which God has called us. We gathered in the spring on a Friday night to seek the Lord's will and as a result we were led to keep our eyes open and to begin taking some steps to find a facility.
As we began the search we investigated several possibilities over the summer, most intensely looking at leasing the old Tractor Supply Company warehouse on Harcourt Road. After several weeks of meetings for prayer and negotiations, the building was leased to another business, as you have probably seen. So, we continued to look and pray.
During the time that we were knocking on the TSC door, the leadership also investigated the two buildings for sale on South Main Street (211 and 217), both of which were out of our financial range at the time. Also, the building that we at least thought might be a possibility (211—Alexander and Rhoades), went under contract before we even moved forward. So, we moved on to the TSC at the time.
Well, about eight weeks ago, we were informed by our realtor that the contract on the A & R building had fallen through and the asking price had dropped 25% to $200,000. Hmm, maybe this is an open door, we thought. So, we’ve spent the last six weeks praying and negotiating (that is, asking, seeking, knocking) about the possibility of purchasing this building, including the time when the whole church was invited to come and pray on Friday night, October 8th.
There just isn’t space to share about all of the details of the prayer times and discussions the leadership has had, but let me summarize. We are unified in our vision to have a church body that is visible in this community, a church body that makes a practical and noticeable difference in the hearts and minds of the people of this county. Each of us is excited about the possibility of having an accessible facility that could be used in very practical ways to serve the children and adults of the county. Finally, each of us is fully aware that this would be a step of faith--financially and otherwise--a step that we wouldn’t even consider taking if, first of all, it didn’t fit with the vision and mission to which God has called us and, more importantly, if we didn’t feel the encouraging guidance of our Heavenly Father every step of the way.
Where we are now (11/16/04): We have just submitted an offer to the owners of the building, which is one of two offers that they are currently considering. The owners could accept one and reject the other or could reject both and ask for a second (higher) offer from both of us.
So, please pray for:
1) The owners’ hearts and minds and their families
2) God to have His way with the building
3) Wisdom and discernment for the leadership
If you feel like God speaks any words of encouragement or guidance to you, please don’t hesitate to email me: . Be assured that you are very important to us and to God and His work in this corner of His world.
Blessings,
Chris
