Weekend Wrapup (3 words)

wow 1 |wou| informal exclamation (also wowee |ˈwouē; ˈwouˈ(w)ē|) expressing astonishment or admiration : “Wow!” he cried enthusiastically.

crazy |ˈkrāzē| informal adjective ( -zier , -ziest ) 3 (of an angle) appearing absurdly out of place or in an unlikely position : the monument leaned at a crazy angle. • archaic (of a ship or building) full of cracks or flaws; unsound or shaky.

phenomenal |fəˈnämənəl| adjective 1 very remarkable; extraordinary : the town expanded at a phenomenal rate. 2 perceptible by the senses or through immediate experience : the phenomenal world.

Those are about the only 3 words I've used to describe what's going on at Element lately. Here are some of the highlights.

--- 167 in church yesterday. $1791.86 in the offering.
--- We built a giant lite brite for church this week and spelled the word "Change" in it with big Christmas lights. We also lined the stage with 6 small light brites spelling the word Change. We talked of our core value of change and how we are a lot like lite brites. It doesn't matter what design is put on it until light shines through it. God has created us each beautifully and uniquely to live for Him. When His light shines through us is when we really change and reflect how we are to live.
--- We gave away Krispy Kreme donuts to everyone yesterday. Each week through this core value series I've talked about cravings so we've let people experience some food cravings I have. We use it as an analogy of the cravings in our soul that only Christ can quench. Our core values rise from these soul cravings.
--- I am blown away at what God is doing and who he is bringing. I don't want to stand in his way at all. We had a great staff meeting today trying to figure out the best way to make sure we connect these people. At this point, EVERYONE is new.
--- We are receiving wow, crazy, phenomenal comments from people. One's like this:

"I've been a Christian for 17 years and your message today really made me think more about my "maturity." In so many ways I'm still a baby and it was God's plan for me to hear what you said today. My daughter, (name), attended with me and she is so excited about Element Church. It's exactly what she's been looking for. She too is a Christian and she's looking for other Christian kids to hang out with. We spoke with Curtis after the service and he invited (name) to attend next Saturday. When we got to the car, she was already texting a friend to see if she could go with her. I'm so glad to see she wants to get involved! May God bless your ministry and continue to guide you. I'm sure you can't wait to see what He has planned for Element!"
--- We have a local pastor in town who pastors a healthy, life giving, successful church who has been an incredible support for us. Because of him telling people about Element Church we've seen people attend. HOW COOL IS THAT? A pastor who will say "You should try Element Church." CRAZY, WOW, PHENOMENAL. I won't share his name cause I don't have permission to, but thanks to you pastor (you know who you are, lol).
--- Another local pastor is going to try and help make some space available for our use in his church in an emergency situation. That way if we were to suddenly lose our space in the theater we could meet there to buy us some time. Again, even if it doesn't happen, how cool is that that a pastor would try and let you use their church's extra space. Also, again, thank you pastor. (You also know who you are)
--- I am being stretched as a leader. I feel we're at another tipping point. We've had a great start and people are coming. Now we need to make that move into connection mode and team building mode. We have AMAZING volunteers. We need more. We're getting to the point now where our initial volunteers cannot handle the amount of people we are bringing in. Some of our e:kidz volunteers have yet to attend church. That needs to change. Some of our greeters have yet to come to church and just be greeted. MOST, if not all, of our set up/tear down crew and band have yet to been able to come and be served instead of serving. We need to build our teams now. It's that next level for us. We're always going to be looking at that next level, how do we break the barrier, how do we grow?
--- We've had several kids not wanting to leave the e:kidz area after church because they like it so much. That is what I like to hear. Keep up the good work Katrina and e:kidz staff.

That's about it. I know I'm forgetting something but that's alright.

WOW - CRAZY - PHENOMENAL

Following Christ,

Jeff