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