We are standing in the middle of a miracle. In 2019, God prompted us to begin the journey towards getting rooted in a permanent facility. The odds were stacked against us. There were no buildings available, no land that made sense, and no funds raised. There was only the prompting of God. He told me, “now is the time.” We had to stand in front of our Goliath and fight for God’s purpose. We had to stand up to the taunting voice that said a building is out of reach for Thrive. In March of 2020, we launched Rooted, a 3-year initiative to position us to act on a miracle that may be waiting. Thrive’s commitment of $2.2m was beyond what we imagined. Then, COVID-19 hit. Even in the midst of uncertainty, not by choice, you kept giving, believing, and standing in faith. We kept our eyes on expanding the mission of Christ and being as innovative as possible in illuminating the light of Jesus. In the darkest of times, the light of Christ must shine the brightest.

In November, I caught wind that a church nearby may be interested in selling their building. I emailed Pastor John Leach of Jubilee Fellowship and he told me that the timing of my email was interesting. He said the building wasn’t even on the market and he’d already received two offers in two weeks. Later that day he told me he was going to move forward with the other offer. I prayed and reached out again telling him the size and cost is exactly what we are looking for. He decided to take a meeting. As we toured the building together we both wondered if God was up to something. Practically, this building is exactly what we were looking for. It looks and feels similar to Thrive and carries excellence throughout. There would be no renovations needed. Pastor John gave us a window to pray and put an offer forward if we were going to pursue this building. As we had been actively praying for a building for over three years, we brought this opportunity before our overseers, our board, and our strategic team. As we all prayed and talked, we felt a collective “yes.” Then, as we all officially voted, it was a unanimous green light that this was from the Lord.

FIRST MIRACLE

For Thrive to acquire this building, three miracles had to happen quickly. Like a domino effect, once the third miracle happened, it would unlock life-change for generations to come. The first miracle would be a financial institution loaning us the money. If we were at the end of our 3-year initiative and had $2.2m cash on hand, any bank would lend to us. But we were not even one year in. It would take a bank to believe in us as a church. This was a significant domino that had to fall and honestly was unlikely. After eight straight days of financial data going back and forth, the Wesleyan Investment Foundation said in bankers language, “we believe in you and we really like this building. So, our answer to Thrive Church is ‘yes’ and our terms will set you up to win.” God dropped a number in my heart before this meeting and when I added up the requirements for our down payment it all added up to that exact number. Not only that, but our long-term monthly payment would be the same as we had been paying for all things portable church. I walked out of my office, with tears in my eyes, and told the entire staff that the first miracle just happened. We got on our knees and thanked the Lord.

SECOND MIRACLE

The very next day we had our meeting with Pastor John to present our offer. The second miracle would be Jubilee deciding to sell to us. They already had an all-cash offer that was ready to close immediately, so this required favor for them to choose us instead. It was a meeting with Pastor John, his wife Chris, our commercial real estate agent, Hannah, and myself. We started with our story. God’s presence fi lled the offi ce as we talked and shared. This meeting was very quickly less about a business transaction and more about what God was doing through His bride, the local church in South Denver. There were tears. This was all before we presented our offer. Once we did, Pastor John said, “this has the God-factor in it.” The second miracle was in motion. A week later they had accepted our offer and the contract was under way. Continuous waves of joy overwhelmed us throughout each day at the thought of the kingdom impact of being rooted as a church.

THIRD MIRACLE

This brought us to the third miracle. We needed to raise $650k by February 28th (within 6 weeks), in order to close on this property. This was the biggest financial surge our church had ever seen. As we said from the outset, we wanted to become rooted as a church in a permanent facility. Why? Because when we deepen the roots, God will produce unstoppable fruit. By the third miracle taking place, we are unlocking a multitude of miracles for what God will do in the lives of thousands of people. Why does this project matter? It matters because, on the other side of our greatest sacrifice, there is a teenager who is far from God and desperately needs an environment where God will change everything. The main auditorium will also be used as the place our students meet and worship God. It matters because of all of the broken marriages that are contemplating ending it. They will hear the hope God has for them. It matters because our kids must have a stable kids ministry that will raise them in the ways of God. It matters because we are called to go after those who are still missing from the family of God. Acquiring this permanent church home is a stake in the ground for generational impact. We didn’t raise $650k, we actually raised $703k.

What we thought was going to take three or more years is available to us right now! God stepped in and accelerated our timeline. It is His desire to use us in a greater way, right now. You didn’t just see this opportunity, you siezed it for God’s glory.

For a city,