Another great service today. I think it was THE HARDEST message, in fact this series contained the two hardest messages I may have ever preached. They just felt so real and personal to me. God was REALLY working on ME through these messages. It took some vulnerability and honesty to preach on being grateful and generous. Today's message just felt very heavy at times to me. The tension felt thick in the room, although some mentioned it didn't feel tense to them. Maybe it was just my struggle with the message. Anyway, we had a lot of great response and many people said how good it was for them to hear.
A couple of bullet points. The big question today was "What does a generous life look like?' "Generosity has nothing to do with how much is given but how much it costs the giver." "The key to generosity is to begin to see people as Jesus sees them. When I see people as Jesus sees them it breeds generosity because I want to give myself away." "Generosity reveals itself in more than just money. A generous life is willing to give of its time, talent and treasure."
--- Attendance today was 162. That was higher than I expected for the holiday weekend so that was cool. Actually up a bit from last week. Since launch we have been over 200 three times and only under 150 once. The next step for us is huge. How do we bust that 250 barrier. Going to 2 services will help enable us to do that.
--- Offering today was $2258.50. Giving has been very good as well. For a brand new church I feel we have had wonderful attendance and giving.
--- We announced our Christmas outreach today. I think this is going to be so much fun. We have adopted 4 moms (and their families) through LifeChoice Pregnancy Center. LifeChoice works with moms who are struggling with their "birth" choices. These 4 moms we are adopting have chosen life for their children yet need some help, especially through this Christmas season, financially. SO, we are going all out for these moms. Reagan (young lady in church) kind of spearheaded the whole thing and called each mom and asked questions for needs that I never would have thought of. From cribs, to car oil changes, to one months rent, we want to spoil these mothers with GENEROSITY from Elementers of all ages. Reagan has registered for the items in which we are allowed at Target and Wal-Mart. They are registered under (first name) Element (last name) Church. We will have a list of un-registered items at church on Sunday, and I'll post it on our blog and web-site as well.
I would love to do this for more than four families, and if the response is big enough then perhaps we can do more. Elementers, it's time to step it up. Lets shower these moms with Gods love in a practical way. One thing I want to be made REAL clear. I DON'T CARE IF THESE LADIES EVER COME TO ELEMENT CHURCH!!! That is not the goal. The goal is to be generous. To think of others better than ourselves. And to show God's love in a practical way. I want to be able to do this, not just at Christmas, but all year round. That's the kind of church I want to be.
--- I'm pumped about our Christmas series. "Believe" We are doing some cool stuff during the series. Set design. Effects. And Adam is putting together some AWESOME music sets, including some remade Christmas favorites.
--- We have been blessed, as a two month old church, with an UNBELIEVABLE praise band. Adam, well, lets just say it takes a world class leader to find a guy like Adam. HA! God brought us that dude. Adam is phenomenal. Can't imagine this without him. We have two OUTSTANDING drummers. Seriously, GOOD drummers are hard to find and we have two, count em, TWO KILLER drummers. One of them played for the first time today. What a blessing! Morgan has been playing bass guitar since day 1. Setting up and tearing down from the beginning. Morgan, you ROCK! Can't imagine this without you either bro!
Bryant, Morgan, Nate, Ben, Grant, Matt, Curtis, Terri (wow, Terri does so much), Keenan, Katrina, all you guys have been setting up and tearing down for MONTHS now. Seriously, you guys are amazing.
--- Wow, two services this week. That's crazy! Be praying for God to bring us new people to fill those empty seats.
--- Today we cut it close. The movie in our auditorium literally started as we were throwing stuff out the door to get out in time. We have some MAJOR issues with time in going to two services. We'll need to talk to the management this week. Be praying for us that they will move the early showtime movies to the other wing of the theater.
--- MY FAMILY IS BACK! The quiet house gets to me real quick. I'm glad Sabrina and the kids got to go spend time with her family. I got some stuff done around the house and chilled with friends. I would have loved to go, I just couldn't miss the whole week. I love my wife and kids. Missed them a ton!
--- I am tired! I have more on my mind and will begin posting regularly again this week. Sundays wipe me out man, BUT MY DO I LOVE IT! Thanks Elementers! You guys are the best!
Following Christ,
Jeff
1 comment:
http://lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=209&more=1&c=1
You really promote this guy?
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