Over this last year we’ve opened new spaces at Holland, moved TLC into a new home, experienced 6% growth in our network family, received the second highest income (after 2016-17) and reached record outreach investment of nearly $2.2m which is 28% of our net income (minus capital giving).

Think about that for a moment. At a time when we were celebrating opening new spaces in Holland, we were also investing in outreach in record levels. For those new to Central, I remind you that this is nothing new. In fact, over the last seventeen years, Central has invested over, wait for it, $27m in outreach or 24.6% as a percentage of net income. So, one in every four dollars that flows into our church is invested in outreach. Amazingly, this percentage does not include the time our staff invests in our Water's Edge Network and beyond.

Here’s why this is so important to me. Luke 12:48 says, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” The context of these words is how Christians entrusted with much should act in the time between Jesus’ ascension and his return. Jesus’ words are directed way beyond money to household management (v42). Jesus’ point is that: greater knowledge carries with it a greater responsibility.

Verse 48 is the conclusion to a section that begun with Peter asking, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone” (v41). Jesus’ words reveal that those with more knowledge and more resources have more responsibility. When it comes to matters of household management, Central has knowledge that we are called to share with the rest of the church. One commentator, Keener, concludes, “Leaders in the church must recognize that they are appointed only to serve their fellow servants, the rest of the church.”

We take that last statement, ‘the rest of the church,’ very seriously. So seriously in fact that we created the Water’s Edge Network to take Jesus’ words and incarnate them into the very fiber of our existence. In this report you’ll read numbers provided by pastors leading churches and serving peoples you’ll likely never get the opportunity to meet. In this report you’ll hear stories from people whose lives have been changed because we decided to evaluate our church on how many people we reach not how many people we seat.

Words cannot begin to express my appreciation for the board of elders who’ve worked diligently to help me ground everything we’ve done and are yet to do with clarity and faith. I’m thankful for the staff I am privileged to serve with and the pastors who faithfully lead their campuses and serve their congregations in our ever-expanding network family. But most of all, my deep appreciation goes to all of you who consider our mission, your mission and have served and sacrificed so generously to make this last year a year to celebrate.