Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

Three years ago, when the stability of our economy was in question, our church family demonstrated that we “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). Many of you made a Daring Faith commitment that led to the largest giving campaign in the 38-year history of this church.

This became God’s goal, not ours — one that was never meant to be a giving campaign, but rather a faith campaign, to collectively stretch and grow our faith in ways we never imagined. As we “tested” God and the faithfulness of his Word, we experienced his tremendous blessing, which grew our faith immeasurably.

We are no longer the same church. We are not the same people. We are transformed because of our boldness of faith.

We've heard stories of families who faced unemployment, illness, debt, and near divorce, and still, they made a commitment to Daring Faith. Today, they all tell a different story — one of thriving businesses, total healing, financial security, and peace and strength in marriages like never before.

Our prayer is that through YOUR own act of faith and obedience, that God has in return blessed you with an abundant life beyond finances.

That’s why we want to celebrate YOU, not just for your faithfulness in giving, but in your willingness to move united in faith as a church family. Your commitment helped us progress towards our five F.A.I.T.H. goals and dare to change the world. Here are just a few of the ways God moved through your daring faith over the past three years.

FILL GOD’S HOUSE WITH 40,000 WORSHIPERS

“Urge anyone you find to come, so that my house will be full.” ­–Luke 14:23

Since Daring Faith began, we’ve launched six new Saddleback campuses—Aliso Viejo, Irvine North, Saddleback enEspañol, San Diego, South Bay, and Yorba Linda—welcoming over 3,000 new people into our church family. We’ve also strengthened our existing campuses by renovating facilities, relocating seven campuses into larger spaces, and finding permanent buildings for several of our church homes. While our weekly attendance has grown to over 27,000, we now know that we have well over 40,000 people regularly attending a worship service since only 65% of our church attend every week. By the end of the summer, we anticipate baptizing our 50,000th person!  

ASSIST 250,000 PEOPLE IN NEED THROUGH OUR LOCAL PEACE PLAN

“Whenever you care for the least of these, you care for me.” –Matthew 25:40

Because of your faithfulness, we’ve launched two new PEACE Centers at our Irvine South and San Clemente campuses and launched five mobile Food Pantries. Since Daring Faith began, Saddleback members built a 1.5-acre PEACE Farm at our Rancho Capistrano campus that provides 20,000 pounds of fresh produce to our food pantries. Our Lake Forest campus expanded its Medical Center with a patient waiting room and six treatment rooms. Combined, our three PEACE Centers and five Food Pantries serve over 2,500 people a month.

INTERCONNECT OUR GROWING FELLOWSHIP THROUGH NEW TECHNOLOGIES

“Then you will all be joined together, and you’ll give glory to God.” –Romans 15:6

For the first time in Saddleback’s history, we are achieving two-way communication between campuses during live services and broadcasting of Classes, Foundations, and Bible studies to our campuses and online community. Through Daring Faith, we built Saddleback’s Interconnect Room that trains our members with video conferencing and two-way interactive broadcasts with other campuses. We also unveiled Saddleback’s new recording studio where our podcast, DriveTime Devotions is recorded and downloaded by over 20 million. This is in addition to other new podcasts like Doable Discipleship, that has been downloaded 130,727 times since it’s launch in May of 2017.

TRAIN 25% OF OUR MEMBERS TO BE GLOBAL LEADERS

“The church is to equip God’s people to do his work and build the Body of Christ.” –Ephesians 4:12

Since the beginning of Daring Faith, we’ve launched dozens of new training programs, equipped thousands of our members through SALT (Saddleback’s Advance Leadership Training), and mobilized nearly 3,000 of our members through Class 401 for personal, local, and global mission. And since Saddleback is a teaching church, our members have helped host and train several Purpose Driven leadership events that have propelled over 5,000 churches around the world towards growth and health. God also miraculously provided the opportunity to purchase a facility for our new Saddleback Central Offices which will free up more space on our Lake Forest campus for adult education and ministries, while we wait on the development of our Global Leadership Center.

HELP TAKE THE GOOD NEWS TO THE LAST 3,000 UNREACHED TRIBES

“The gospel will be preached as a witness to ALL people in EVERY nation and then the end will come!” –Matthew 24:14

As the only church that has sent members to every nation, over 26,000 people and 1,000 teams have gone on PEACE trips. We’ve also partnered with 21 churches in the U.S. and Brazil to help launch the PEACE Plan throughout the continent of Africa. By the end of the year, 16 African countries will have launched the PEACE Plan in their churches nationwide. Outside of Africa, Saddleback has partnered with churches to launch the PEACE Plan in Brazil, Cambodia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, Mexico, The Philippines, and Russia. Combined, these nations represent over 50% of the unreached people groups population.

THANK YOU for having the compassion to see the needs of others and the courage to help fulfill this vision. God continues to use you because you continue to trust in him.“Because of our FAITH in Him, we DARE to have boldness, courage, and confidence in coming to God with freedom and without fear.” Ephesians 3:12

As we celebrate all the ways God has changed lives through Daring Faith, we ask you to:

1. PRAYthat we’ll be ready and eager to ride the next big wave God has for Saddleback. Remember, we don’t create the wave, only God can do that. We can only ride it. So we must be ready for the biggest wave of our lives as we paddle into 2020!
2. GIVEcheerfully and obediently to make the greatest impact for God’s kingdom. When we remain dependent on God, not just during the bad times but also during the good, we are expressing gratefulness for what he has done, and faith for what he will do.
3. SHAREyour stories of Daring Faith so that others can be encouraged by all that God has done in your life. How did you grow in your three-year journey? Here's just one story about a member who stepped out in Daring Faith to serve in Hong Kong. You won't believe where her obedience to God's will has led her today! Submit your testimony of Daring Faith at saddleback.com/mystory.

Let’s celebrate where we’re at as a church. Let’s celebrate our personal faith experiences. Let’s celebrate where we’re headed as one big family. To be part of this ongoing vision, visitsaddleback.com/give.YOUR generosity changes lives!

To read more Daring Faith stories and updates visitsaddleback.com/daringfaith.