There’s a ton of excitement mounting as we near the date for the launch of our new Campus in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago on March 20th!  Equipment has been purchased, door hangers are being distributed, and launch team members are praying over their ‘Top Ten List’ of people they are hoping will join them for our grand opening.  Last week we held our second preview service, and I was reminded once again why we do what we do.

Dave Cox has been part of our launch team for several months.  Growing up, Dave attended COMMUNITY (Naperville Yellow Box Campus) with his parents on occasion, but he never really got connected and never made the decision to commit his life to following Christ.

For the past couple years, Dave will tell you that he had been feeling more and more like something was missing.  When he heard that COMMUNITY was opening new campuses in the city, he decided to do whatever he could to get involved - he joined a small group, began contributing on the set-up team, and last Sunday he made a public decision to follow Christ and was baptized!

Dave said:  The reason I chose to get baptized is to publicly say that I am making my relationship with Christ a priority in my life.  With my renewed faith in Jesus, I’m realizing just how blessed we all are and that a relationship with Christ makes each of us a better person.   I now realize that Christ has always been making an effort to connect with me, so it’s time that I make an effort to connect back with Him. Today I have chosen to publicly declare that I am a follower of Christ!
 
Church-planting and campus-launching is challenging yet incredibly rewarding work.  It takes tremendous planning, recruiting of people, and a steady focus on leadership development.  When God gets a hold of someone like Dave Cox, it’s a tremendous reminder that all the time and energy we put into this mission of helping people find their way back to God is absolutely worth everything we can give it!