Sunday Night Rumination (12-2-07)

TWO SERVICES HAS BEGUN! Today went great. It was a great start to our newest venture at Element Church with the beginning of our two services. We had been pushing the 210 barrier for three consecutive weeks (maxed out theater) and really felt that to maximize our opportunity to reach more people we needed to multiply into two services. We hit that over 200 mark three consecutive weeks then we went to 155 and 162. Not sure if that is just the natural ebb and flow of a new church, a result of the Holidays or the fact that we had reached capacity. I really did feel that some people when we were running at 200 seemed uncomfortable with some of the space issues. Anyway, we felt that God was leading us to make the decision and we did it. I'm glad. Here are some thoughts on the day.

--- I got a GREAT nap in today. Sabrina went to Denver to visit a friend in the hospital so I had the kiddos all day. We all layed down and got some good rest. I haven't taken a Sunday nap in weeks. My mind is typically RACING from the day. I was unusually tired. There was a reason for my being tired today.

--- I WAS UP ROOTING FOR MY SOONERS WHO WON THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP!! Boomer Sooner! Now they are off to the Fiesta Bowl on January 2nd. I typically get into bed by 8 PM on Saturdays. Last night I was up till eleven and then up at 4 am this morning. Short night. I protect my Saturday nights pretty tightly because I want to be fresh and rested for Sunday morning.

--- 190 in church today. 80 first service. 110 2nd service. That is taking out the people who attended both services. Grant did a good job of keeping track of the double attenders and taking them out of the total attendance.

--- I'll have offering total tomorrow. Not sure what it was. We took the offering at the end of the service today and I loved it. Adam and I have been trying every which way to do the offering and I think this is going to stick. We'll see. The great thing about a church plant is you can try something and if you don't like it you don't do it again or change it.

--- 10 people. TEN! Raised their hands today, acknowledging they prayed to receive Jesus Christ into their hearts as Savior! WOW! We are really battling how to connect with those people deeper. Get them some discipleship info into their hands and plugged into a Life Group. That brings our nine week church salvation total to 34. Now I know some people will question that. Ask if all of them still come. Where are they at in their walk. My response "I don't know" (on some of them). I know this, regardless of what they did with their decision, the Holy Spirit will be faithful to remind them of that moment. Their journey started that day and we will pray that the journey will continue IN CHRIST!

--- Two services meant an earlier set up, PLUS, we added some set design stuff for this Christmas series. Let me tell you. OUR VOLUNTEERS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD. We had an UNBELIEVABLE set up team today. It was like an army of ants man. Everyone moving swiftly, doing their job, getting it done. The team arrived at 6:30 AM and started working. Adam said in his blog that we got done in 50 minutes. Not bad at all. To all you who volunteer, YOU GUYS ROCK! It's actually a lot of fun. I love Sunday mornings. LOVE IT! We plugged in several new volunteers and teams today, just did an awesome job!

--- I hope we got pictures of the e:connect table. Nick and Rita did a fabulous job decorating it for Christmas. Those guys are awesome!

--- I seriously wish I could go to every door of our volunteers and say "Thank You!" You guy's make this so easy for us. We have such a wonderful group of people who serve. We need to count up how many volunteers we had today doing church. AMAZING!

--- We added a little manger scene, an 8 foot light sign again that said "Believe" and "King" on the same board. It was pretty cool. We also added some star machines that put a planetarium type feel to the front wall. We won't always do set design, but for this special series we thought we would. I think it looked great. We also added a stage piece this week.

--- Two services is going to take some getting used to. It was kind of funny. I'm so used to going out and standing to greet people, then rushing in to tear down e:worship. Today after 9 AM service I was like "Holy cow we have to do this again!" It's only a half hour difference in the day so that isn't as big of a deal. Just getting used to doing back to back services.

--- We used pipe and drape to shrink the theater up a bit. We draped off the back two rows so it moved everyone up a bit. MAN, I'm glad we did that cause it helped fill the room up a bit from being used to a packed house. We may have to take it down pretty quick for 10:30 service but for the 9 AM it really made a difference.

--- I felt my 2nd service message lagged FAR behind first service. Maybe I'm just not used to preaching twice yet but I just felt that 9 am was more fresh and real. 10:30 I didn't feel like I connected well. We had good comments on the message and service so it could be just a total feeling on my part. I felt worship was better 2nd service. Not the quality just the energy. There is something about people filling a room that creates energy for worship.

--- Adam has the worship set up on his Sunday Afterthoughts. Grant hasn't submitted to my authority and started a Sunday night blog yet. "GET ON THAT GRANT!"

--- Elementers, PLEASE don't forget about picking up some of the needs for these four moms. We want to make sure and provide for them this Christmas. I think it is a great thing that we are doing to help these moms out. Don't miss the opportunity to provide for someone. Even if it's one package of diapers, or one can of formula, every little bit helps.

--- We started something new today that will be a monthly deal. It's called "The random act of kindness idea for the month" We made a little video to promote it. The video turned out HORRIBLE because of the wind, but it made it funny. You'll need to watch it when we post our service. This months idea is, when it snows to shovel your neighbors driveway or sidewalk. We want servant hood to reach into our neighborhoods and be a part of our life, not just a church sponsored activity. So, there is your idea and challenge. Now lets hope it snows.

Alright, I've typed enough. I'm already excited for this week. I love what I do! Thanks Elementers and everyone else for following along. We'll see you Sunday.