A century-old former National Guard Armory was filled the other night with over 200 members of Mars Hill Everett who were visiting their church’s new home. They gathered for our Everett members meeting to celebrate what God has done, and also to commit to be a part of what God will do through our church. Jesus is building his church in Everett and the opportunity has never been bigger.
Pastor Ryan Williams shares the hope and vision for Everett’s next season.
The night began with an interactive tour of our future church home paired with an explanation of the future use of the rooms. Some of the things we are most excited about are:
- Six new Mars Hill Kids rooms that could hold up to 200 kids at one service—two of which are bigger than our entire Kids space now!
- A 750-seat auditorium.
- A brand-new handicap and stroller-friendly entrance.
- A brand-new women’s bathroom.
A word out of Numbers
The Armory building needs a ton of work that can sometimes seem impossible, but Pastor Ryan shared his hope for our church: that we would pray, give, and believe that God will bring us into the building he has for us. He likened our church to the 12 spies found in Numbers who sought out the Promised Land.
“And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ‘The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.’” Numbers 14:6–9
As a church, will we be the like Joshua and Caleb who believed that God would bring them into their new home? Or will we be like the ten who believed the opposition was too great?
Everett members worship together.
All hands on deck
This opportunity is a result of Jesus’ promise to build his church (Matt. 16:18); he has been faithful to keep that promise for close to 2,000 years, and we get to be faithful, committed followers by taking hold of the opportunities he places before us. We are asking that every person who calls Mars Hill Everett home—or anyone who wants to see the mission to the North Puget Sound grow—would be generous, generous with your time, skills, and finances. We are asking everybody who’s part of the Everett church family to give an initial gift to kick off our fundraising campaign, and then each household to give a recurring monthly gift until we are holding Sunday services in this building.
Jesus cares about your heart, and how you steward your finances is the best indicator of what your heart values (Matt. 6:21). God has been exceedingly generous with each of us and we are asking that in response to his generosity that you would also be generous.
We need all hands on deck, so we invite you to be a part of what God is doing in Everett!
How to give:
- Give online, being sure to designate your gift for “Everett – Replant.”
- Set up recurring giving with your Connect Account.
- Give on Sundays. You can give toward the Armory on Sunday just by marking “Everett Replant” clearly on your check or cash envelope.
View the full set of photos from the Everett members meeting on Flickr.