Imagine Christmas Offering

In May of 08’ Westside started Imagine “A Journey of Expansion”. It was an adventure that we took together to expand our FAITH, our INFLUENCE & our CAMPUS. Wow, it’s been an amazing experience. Together we have been a part of taking our campus to the next level, using our hands and feet to reach out to our local community, and changing hundreds of people’s lives in the process. Our Imagine Journey is coming to an end this Christmas and we want to end with a slam dunk. Throughout the months of October, November, & December our combined Imagine giving will go toward making a difference in the following areas:

Imagine Christmas Offering Goal: $50,000

$30,000 = Property payments

$10,000 = New initiatives for 2011 @ Westside

$10,000 = Digging a well in Nairobi, Kenya

If this Imagine thing is new to you, please feel free to join on in. If you’ve fallen a little behind and would like a chance to catch up, go for it. If you’re interested in making a difference through this awesome opportunity this Christmas, both locally and globally, then this is your chance. Let’s finish this together with a bang.

To give now, click here

WHIRLWIND!

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement and energy at Westside. Clearly, God is at work in bigger ways than we could have imagined. What’s happening here is unique, and I don’t want anyone to miss out on this life-changing phase of our church’s growth!

As you know, our church began Imagine 2 years ago as a 3-year Journey of Expansion. I can’t even describe to you the electricity & sense of destiny that led us up to that point. Time after time, God confirmed in the hearts & lives of our leaders and members that He was calling us to step out in faith and go for His vision. So we did! We came together as a church and pledged to pray, give, & serve sacrificially so that His dreams for us could become a reality. We dreamed of having our faith stretched. That has happened! We dreamed of having our influence expanded. That has happened! We dreamed of welcoming more & more people onto our campus every week. And that has happened! We’ve done a TON of projects together (parking lot, roofing, remodeling, clearing the corner property, building indoor & outdoor kids’ spaces, and more), but the real deal has been the life change we’ve seen through it all.

The reality is, we’ve experienced more results in just 2 years than most of us thought would be possible in 3 years. Though the economy has presented challenges for many, God has proved faithful and He has worked beyond our expectations. The impact in our ministry has been worth every bit of effort & investment made.

Consider these exciting results since we began Imagine 2 years ago…

• Over 160 individuals have made first-time decisions to follow Jesus as their Savior @ Westside (over 60 just this year so far)
• Over 100 new believers have been baptized
• We are reaching an average of 250 more people every Sunday
• Our Children’s Ministry has doubled in size
• All of our ministries have experienced growth (Small Groups, Students, Celebrate Recovery, and Sunday Ministries)
• Our Food Brigade has served thousands and thousands of meals to hungry families on Saturdays
• We’ve helped start & sustain a growing church in San Francisco (www.journeysf.com).
• Our members have caught the fire & are sharing Jesus with their friends at a whole new level
• Our Easter attendance skyrocketed this year and 33 people made first-time decisions for Jesus on one day
• We’ve gone from 2 Sunday services to 3 Sunday services

And that’s just the stuff I can remember! God is up to something at Westside, and I firmly believe He’s calling us to give our lives to the cause.

God has increased our vision, and I believe God is calling us out to change our strategy so we can see even more effective ministry done on the west side and throughout the world. That’s why I’m writing this letter. You are a vital part of God’s plan here. I want to urge you to join with me in prayer so we can prepare for what’s ahead. The truth is, God has brought you & me together for such a time as this. Of all the ways we could be investing our lives, I’m so thankful you’re joining me in making your life count.

As I shared last weekend, we’ve felt the urgency to help our larger church connect with the opportunity to make a difference. As a result, our 3 year Journey is being shortened to prepare the way for our growing church to embrace God’s expanding vision for us. So between now & December we’ll be running the last leg of our Imagine Journey and preparing for what’s ahead in 2011. Though we don’t have exact details yet, we know that we’ll be launching into a brand-new expansion campaign next year in order to maximize our ministry impact and see God’s business finished before He comes back!

So here’s what I’m asking you to do:

1. Spend the next couple weeks in prayer about how God wants you (& your family) to be involved in our journey. We’ll be making our 7-month financial & prayer commitment toward Imagine on Sunday, June 6. (7 month commitments go from June – December of 2010).

2. If you’re new to Westside, or to the Imagine Journey, jump on board! Ask God to show you His will and then step out in faith and watch God provide. Your 7-month commitment will help us…

• Honor God and model the kind of sacrificial lifestyle He’s calling Christians to live
• Make serious progress toward paying off our new land (185th & Farmington)
• Open up windows of opportunity for using our new land to reach our community
• Help prepare our church financially to launch our next phase of ministry (2011)

3. If you’ve been involved in Imagine, seek God about how He wants you to finish out your Imagine commitment and prepare for our next opportunity. Plan to get as close to your original goal as possible by December of this year. If you’d like to continue your Imagine giving on into 2011, by all means do.

4. Come celebrate & commit with me toward God’s exciting journey on Sunday, June 6th. I’m ready for God to amaze us again by proving Himself faithful and blowing away our expectations!


Thank you for being part of God’s family through Westside. It’s a privilege to be your pastor.

Let’s go for it together!




Gabe Kolstad
Lead Pastor

See the Videos!!!

BUNNY SUIT

This year Easter is on April 4th (I can never figure out how the Easter date is selected!), and I've been thinking a lot about how to prepare. So now I have the perfect Bunny Suit picked out and I'm all ready. Ha!

Seriously, Easter is the most significant holiday of the year. It's the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It's the day that changed history forever, the day the human race received the hope of the world. It's the day our faith is founded upon. It's the July 4th of Christianity. So it makes sense we should get ready. Just like we plan our 4th of July BBQ & fireworks show, let's prepare for the most spiritually moving season of 2010.

As with the past couple of years, I'll be participating in "Lent" this year. That's the 40-day stretch leading up to Easter where Christians of all shapes, sizes, and variations will be seeking God through a heightened prayer life and a focused spiritual life. The season starts on "Ash Wednesday" (February 17, 2010). Whether you begin on Ash Wednesday or start sometime closer to Easter, I want to challenge you to step up & seek God in bolder ways this year.

Here are some ideas:

*Fast for 24 hours (anytime from Ash Wednesday - Easter)

*Fast for a week or more (for the best info on fasting, click here: http://www.ccci.org/training-and-growth/devotional-life/personal-guide-to-fasting/index.htm).

*Fast from something for the entire 40-day Lent period

*Start a prayer journal & carry it all the way through Easter. Spend your Easter worshiping with your church family & reviewing all that God has done in you through this season.

Here are some areas you can focus your prayers on:

*Pray for God to continue to reveal His vision for this community to our church leaders

*Pray for God to give you a personal vision for seeing your unconnected friends & family members find a spiritual home at Westside

*Pray for God to give you 5 specific people to invest in and invite to our Easter Services

*Pray for your church to thrive, to be a center of God's activity, to pursue His vision, and to receive His provision.

*Pray for EVERY WESTSIDER to step up and take part in our Imagine Journey - to become prayer warriors and generous givers so we can see God's vision move forward at God's pace.

*Pray for a movement toward Jesus to be started this Easter season. Pray for Christ to be the King in our community!

Pastor Gabe

MAKIN' ROOM FOR THE BOOM!

Things are heating up in our Children's Ministry - so we're making space for all the new kids that have come our way over the past few months. How exciting! Check out the pics of our building space transformation - we're moving our offices out and moving some kids into the big room in our Community Center.

Stay tuned for expanded opportunities for kids & families on Sunday mornings.

Wanna help serve families on Sundays? Contact bruce@westsidemail.com - there are tons of ways you can make a difference.

A Journey of Expansion from Westside on Vimeo.

FIX UPS FOR FALL

Check out the latest project related to Imagine - some Community Center repairs that were DESPERATELY needed. Can you tell by looking at the pics?

The Community Center is home to our 3rd-5th grade class ("The Edge") and our Student Ministries (6th-12th grades), as well as our Celebrate Recovery Ministry, our Food Brigade, our Staff Offices, and several community-based groups who meet here. Needless to say, this building gets used every day of the week and we want it to be safe, clean, and welcoming for the fall when we expect even more use & activity here.

This project involved rebuilding the upper walkway on the south side of the building, rebuilding the south exterior staircase, and replacing siding on the south side as well as the upper walkway.

Next we'll spruce it up with some fresh trim paint & some decorative plants.