Seven San Diego Begins

I am absolutely fired up about your response to the vision I shared last Sunday night. The Seven San Diego train continues to gain steam. Over 155 people filled out the communication card wanting to be a part in one way or another and over 77 families have said they are interested in moving to San Diego and serving at Seven San Diego...wow, wow, wow!!!!

For those of you who missed it I will add the transcript from what I said last Sunday night. I will also add the video we filmed in San Diego telling you of the three different ways you could help.

Sharing the Story, Expanding into San Diego. Seven Announcement 2.25.07

Romans 8:28,"All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose."

Jeremy: It was five years ago this month that I started building a team for this ministry that we ended up calling Seven. Our desire here has always been to reach people who do not know Christ. And help people who do know Christ follow Him completely. The name Seven itself is a reflection of that. It’s the perfect number in the Bible, reflecting wholeness or completeness. We want to see broken people (none of us are perfect) be made complete in Christ. This desire to reach people who do not know Jesus drove us to develop this ministry.

So we launched this Seven ministry in the gymnasium in September of 2002(how many of you were there for that?) and God blessed the ministry as it reached young adults from all over the Victor Valley and beyond. We outgrew the gym in only 4 months and moved into this auditorium. Over the course of 5 years people have continued to come and just one year ago we started the 5:00PM Seven Service which confused a lot of people:) but we have seen the 5:00PM service double in attendance in one year. Overall, we are in the midst of a huge burst of momentum, very exciting times. As a matter of fact over the last couple of months we have averaged over 1,200 people every Sunday night. We are seeing God move in incredible ways. I have received phone calls from churches all over the country asking what God is doing here and how they can learn from what we have been doing here in reaching young adults with the Good News. These are exciting times...

That’s why I’m very excited to share with you the vision that God has placed on my heart. God is slowly but surely unfolding this vision day by day. Several months ago I sensed God doing something in my heart that I wasn’t sure how to process. After much prayer and consideration and advice I believe it is clear that God wants us to expand the Seven ministry into San Diego.

What does that mean? It means over the course of the coming months things are changing. We are in the planning process of starting a new church in the Otay Ranch/Chula Vista area of San Diego in 2008 called Seven San Diego.

Let me take a couple of minutes to answer some questions you might be thinking of...

1. Why CV/Otay Ranch in San Diego?

Once the CALL became clear, that this is something God wants me to do I then started praying for WHERE? After doing demographic studies and visiting some Southern California areas it was clear that God was calling us to the CV/Otay Ranch area. This area is one of the five fastest growing places in the United States. When I went to visit the area I couldn’t believe the number of homes that are there as well as the number of homes that are under construction. They have a vision to build 50,000 homes in 20 years and they are well on their way to accomplishing that goal. In less than 20 years they are expecting it to be a city of 1 Million people.

You all know my passion to reach people for Jesus. Well, in the Chula Vista, Otay Ranch area 82% of the people are unchurched, they don’t know Jesus! I’ve always said here that the most dangerous prayer is, “God Whatever” … “Whatever You want with me God, I’ll do it.” I haven’t just preached that to you, I’ve been praying that right along with many of you. And this is His answer. He wants me to go to San Diego and reach people for Jesus. A second question you might have is…

2. When Will All This Take Place?

We have set the launch date for Seven San Diego to be January 13, 2008. Now, working backwards from there we are planning on having three SNEAK preview services before the launch. The first preview service will be on October 7, 2007. The second one will be on November 4, 2007 and the third on December 23, 2007.

For the next couple of months it will be business as usual at Seven on Sunday nights. In the months following that I will be focusing more attention on starting Seven San Diego. Seven High Desert will begin to look new in its own way.

Obviously in starting a new venture like this there is a ton of groundwork that has to be laid and the majority of my time will be taken up doing exactly that. I will be speaking periodically here over the summer and even during the fall as we begin ramping up Seven SD. My heart and soul has gone into this community and I will continue to be connected at different levels over the coming months and years.

A third question you may be asking is...

3. Who Will Be Going With Me?

I am very excited to have Roberto Comparan coming to partner with me in this venture. When I shared the vision with Roberto he immediately put the dots together in his life of all the things God had been doing in his life to lead him to this point. He also saw clearly that God was calling him to San Diego. It's also exciting because Roberto helped me start Seven High Desert back in 2002.

Pastor Matt and Pastor Paul will continue to lead Seven at HDC.

I have people in San Diego who will be helping us get this thing started but the cool thing is some of you will be coming with us! Once God placed this calling on my heart I began to pray for WHO will be coming with me. I believe there are many of you who have been waiting for an opportunity just like this. God has been doing some stirring in your heart and maybe you haven’t been sure what that stirring was but as soon as I said new church in San Diego your heart started beating a bit faster. I have been praying for you and here’s what I want you to do. We’re going to hand out a communication card that has three options on it.

Option #1: Transfer your job or schooling (or look for a job) to San Diego and be part of the Seven San Diego team as we start this new church.

Option #2: Commit to Commute (for a period of three to six months beginning in January of 2008) to San Diego to help out for the morning service at Seven San Diego. Be part of our Seven San Diego S.W.A.T Team (Servants Willing And Temporary).

Option #3 Commit to Support Seven San Diego through your prayers and financial giving. Write in the memo section “Seven San Diego” or ONLINE at hdcnet.org and click on online giving/seven san diego.

If any of those resonate with you please mark that on your communication card and we will be having a follow up meeting on March 8th @ 6:00PM for those interested in hearing more about this new venture.

I hope that gives you a broad picture of what is going on with the vision. If you have any questions we are here to answer them as best we can. Pastor Tom, myself, Matt, Paul and Roberto will be in the fireside room after tonight’s service to answer any questions you might have regarding this new venture.

It’s been a very difficult decision to think of not being here all the time. I believe we have the best church team anywhere with the staff here at HDC. I’m so blessed. But, there’s one thing that has been very clear it became extremely clear a few months ago.…the vision to do what God has called me to do. It started as a thought, turned into an idea, which flamed into a vision and a burning passion to do this. I feel as though I’ve heard clearly from God and he’s told me, it’s not about your comfort or what you’re doing now or how great your situation is…it’s about being obedient to ME. JOSHUA 1:9 “Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Many times I’ve said, are you sure God? ME? God has said, Trust me and Just follow. ****Remember: ROMANS 8:28. This is going to be for the good overall, I’m excited about all God is going to do here at Seven HD and Seven SD.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWiMfQydZ_g]