Finish Strong

By Pastor Tom Anderson

I thank my God for your generous support of Thrive Church over the last year. God has done great things at Thrive. I am proud to be your pastor!

Little Hadley Olson came to me asking to be baptized. She said that baptism is “when you are forgiven of your sins and take Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.” Wow. This from the lips of one of our Thrive Kids!

I remember Flynn Shantry taking the vows of baptism. When asked if he took Jesus as his Lord and Savior, he exploded in enthusiasm and urged the congregation to believe in Jesus and take him as their Savior. Wow. These events were brought to you by the Holy Spirit who used your financial support to create a vibrant children’s ministry at Thrive!

We’ve accomplished a ton for God this year:

• We held our first-ever leadership conference with Chuck and Michelle Schwaninger focusing on evangelism and discipleship.

• One of our college students, Ally Haskell went on a short-term mission trip to Africa.

• 40 kids took our Centershot archery course.

• We sent 30 in Mission to Mexico to build houses and share the gospel with children.

• We voted overwhelmingly to join the Global Methodist Church.

• We held the New Beginnings campaign that raised nearly $125,000 to pay off our former denomination and took a loan of $296,000 to cover the balance.

• 234 attended our Back-to-church-Sunday in September and we received 8 new members.

• Our rummage sale raised $6200 for our Mexico mission.

• We rebuilt the front porch and sidewalk at the parsonage.

• We repainted the hallway in the educational wing

• We installed new LED lighting across our campus.

• We added one new Thrive Group, started a monthly women’s brunch and a monthly widow’s fellowship.

Help us end the year with strong giving. Our year-to-date giving to the general fund is down 2% over last year. But overall giving is up 20% due to strong support of the New Beginnings campaign. Our financial priorities are two: to support our general fund and to pay off our remaining loan balance.

Remember all gifts must be received by Sunday, December 31 to count for tax year 2023. Gifts can be made online, by check or using the Vanco mobile app. Consider stock gifts or other non-cash gifts such as jewelry, precious metals or real estate. Check out the “Gifts in Kind” brochure on our website. Include Thrive church in your will and estate.

Thank you for giving generously this year. Children have come to Christ, homeless families sleep in houses you built for them, and people are growing in the Christian faith because of Thrive Church. The world is a better place because of you!