Folks, I don't even know where to begin. What an amazing day...ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I talked yesterday about anticipation, you can read it here. Little did I know I was anticipating this. I'm convinced we should begin to anticipate more what God is capable of doing. Come to church EXPECTING. What a God we serve. God is up to something at Element Church and He's up to something in Cheyenne. I'm not sure what's about to happen but I feel like we're hanging on for dear life. I'm trying to hang on but it's like being pulled behind a car on a skateboard. I'm going to try to put down some of the things that happened today, the following are some of my deep thoughts (rumination).
--- Sometimes we can be oversensitive to spiritual things like "It's the demon of the flu" or "the sound system demon" etc. Today however, I really felt as if we were under attack spiritually. NOTHING went right this morning. Even Adam said "I feel like the devil doesn't want this to happen." I typically lean more to the other side. "Coincidence" Today was different. The results of the day lead me to believe that maybe the devil didn't want what happened today to happen. In fact I KNOW he didn't for we literally stormed the gates of hell today. Some of the things that went wrong:
--- We showed up at our normal time (6:15 AM) and didn't get into the theater to almost 6:45. That set us WAY back in setup. We actually "broke" into the theater cause no one was there and started setting up in the dark. We got lights about 7 AM when the employee showed up.
--- The speakers (one side) lost power THREE times during first service. It's never done that before. I had to run down and re-set them each time.
--- Adams electric guitar amp went COMPLETELY out in first service. It totally changed the way they wanted to do the set.
--- Little thing after little thing kept happening and it just didn't feel right to me. THANKFULLY we serve a God BIGGER than the devil and HE won the day.
--- One person became a follower of Christ today. Found that out on their connection card. Above ANYTHING else you are about to read...THAT is most important!! Praise the Lord!
--- RECORD ATTENDANCE TODAY AT CHURCH! 282 in church today. When first service started I knew we'd break 250. First service was more full than ever today. AMAZING!
--- WE GAVE AWAY LAST WEEKS ENTIRE OFFERING BACK TO THE PEOPLE TODAY! Yep, you read that correctly. ALL OF IT! We are doing a series on finances and today's theme was "God is the owner, I am the manager" We talked a lot on tithing today (more on that later). We had this message planned a few weeks ago, and we as a staff wanted to model this idea to our congregation. We really felt that God wanted us to give back the previous weeks offering for this message. Everyone got a sealed envelope on the way into service today. We opened them at the end of service and explained what we were doing. We gave the money out ($3580) in varying increments. One person got $100 in each service. Three got $50 and the rest were $20's and $10's in each service. The only catch was they HAD to use the money to do something kind for someone else. People were BLOWN away. I am blown away. We put together a video we played at the end of the service to intro it, I'll post it later. We also created a web-site www.elementgivesback.com where we've asked people to go and log there stories about what they did with their money. None of the money our church has is ours and we wanted to show that in a tangible way. Even the kids got involved. Each kid got $5 to use for someone else. (We didn't explain that real well to the kids so lots of them were walking out thinking they were rich)
--- Tuesday when Adam and I were breaking down the increments of the $$, what we wanted to give came out above what the offering was on Sunday. We felt God wanted to do what we had divided up to do, so we just planned on taking the rest out of the general fund. THAT DAY a check came in from an outside person that COMPLETELY covered the extra money we needed AND more. WOW!
--- One teenage girl came today with her friend. Her family needs groceries so her friend and her are pooling money to buy her parents groceries today because they can't afford it. She came to me in tears and said "Thank you so much for doing this today!" Folks, WE CAN'T PLAN STUFF LIKE THAT!
--- We also offered a 90 Day Challenge to everyone in the service. We hit HARD on tithing today and we told everyone that if you will sign the challenge card and commit to tithe for 90 Days, and at the end of the 90 days you feel like it doesn't work, WE'LL GIVE YOU EVERY PENNY BACK NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Why would we do that? Because I'm convinced that when we tithe biblically, WE WON'T WANT TO STOP! God will so RICHLY bless us that we can't help but keep giving. 57 people signed the challenge card. Some of them marked "I will continue to tithe" but most were "I will begin to tithe" or "I will begin to give above my tithe". MAN, God is working on peoples hearts to set them free financially and I love it!
Comments like these came in on connection cards:
"I was very moved by todays message, even though I've heard it before. It meant something today and has changed my attitude about tithing."
"I have never been so moved by the giving message, the giving of the offering to others. I will be sure to use this money for someone to make their day."
I just got this email response from a first time guest:
"Dear Jeff and element staff,
I appreciate your email in response to our visit today. I want to take a
minute to tell you about why we came this morning. My husband is a good man.
He works 6-7 days a week to support his family. He has a good job (praise
God). But, because of his work schedule, we have not had a church family in
Cheyenne. Recently, his co-worker told him about your church. My husband
told me that he wanted me to take our daughter, (name), and try it out. I
will be honest, I didn't expect much. We have not had much success meeting
and really connecting with families since our move here 3.5 years ago. We
moved here from (city) and have been returning there periodically to
keep our friendships going. Anyway, I was so touched by your teaching. I
have never been to a church that would take such a bold action- returning the
offering- just to give God the opportunity to follow through on His Promise to
"open up the floodgates". My husband is wanting to take the money and find a
prisoner to send it to. I am going to let him decide where to send the money,
as he is usually right about these kinds of things! You probably will not get
to meet him anytime soon, but my children and I hope to call your church our
"family". We will pray for you all. Please pray for us, too. By the way, my
daughter really felt the Lord speak to her through your message. Not so
much about the money, but more about letting the Lord be the Master of
EVERYTHING!!!
Thank you, thank you!"
--- MAN that gets me going. Another guy handed me a rubber banded wad of cash today shared a short story about what God had been speaking to his heart and said "Here is my tithe and beyond. I'm starting today!" WOW!
--- The band absolutely blew me away today. UNBELIEVABLE! Every week those guys blow me away. Lee led one song today and so did Katie and they did GREAT! We did an in house original song today and it blew my mind. It's a song Adam wrote years ago and just this last week "rewrote". MAN, I can't tell you how good it was. What a blessing to be able to sing original music in our church. I hope you all realize how blessed you are to have a guy like Adam lead you in worship. Such passion, conviction and genuineness to him. GREAT JOB ADAM! Even with the sound and guitar problems in first service, God's name was lifted up and it paved the way for the message.
--- Grant did a great job pushing Life Groups today. What more can I say about him? He has challenged me more than he'll ever know. I'm Grants boss yet I look up to him. (And not just cause he is ginormous) Pretty cool! God is preparing that dude for something HUGE! Can't wait to bring him on staff.
--- I have LOVED this series. The worship, messages, illustrations have ALL come together to make this thing work.
--- Man, I know there has got to be more but I literally cannot wrap my brain about what happened today.
--- Oh! We had The Tour today. About 50 people had to be there. We didn't have enough chairs to hold everyone. That is a GREAT sign, that people want to know more information. Again, blown away.
--- Both Adam and I were talking this week about why God chose us. I am blown away that I get to do this. It is ABSOLUTELY humbling to me. There seem to be so many other people that could do it better (at least in my mind). I am often moved to tears that God chose me to do this. It amazes me. After all I did in my life to Him, that HE, the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, the LORD OF HEAVENS ARMIES, would allow me the chance to offer life to people.
--- I've got to close it down. With The Tour it makes Sundays even longer. My body hurts again this week. This series is taking it's toll on me physically. Jaydah is crying so need to get her up. Heading over to some friends tonight. I love unwinding with friends on Sunday nights.
I love all you Elementers! You amaze me! Go to www.elementgivesback.com and log your story. Can't wait to hear what you do.
Following Christ,
Jeff
I appreciate your email in response to our visit today. I want to take a
minute to tell you about why we came this morning. My husband is a good man.
He works 6-7 days a week to support his family. He has a good job (praise
God). But, because of his work schedule, we have not had a church family in
Cheyenne. Recently, his co-worker told him about your church. My husband
told me that he wanted me to take our daughter, (name), and try it out. I
will be honest, I didn't expect much. We have not had much success meeting
and really connecting with families since our move here 3.5 years ago. We
moved here from (city) and have been returning there periodically to
keep our friendships going. Anyway, I was so touched by your teaching. I
have never been to a church that would take such a bold action- returning the
offering- just to give God the opportunity to follow through on His Promise to
"open up the floodgates". My husband is wanting to take the money and find a
prisoner to send it to. I am going to let him decide where to send the money,
as he is usually right about these kinds of things! You probably will not get
to meet him anytime soon, but my children and I hope to call your church our
"family". We will pray for you all. Please pray for us, too. By the way, my
daughter really felt the Lord speak to her through your message. Not so
much about the money, but more about letting the Lord be the Master of
EVERYTHING!!!
Thank you, thank you!"
--- MAN that gets me going. Another guy handed me a rubber banded wad of cash today shared a short story about what God had been speaking to his heart and said "Here is my tithe and beyond. I'm starting today!" WOW!
--- The band absolutely blew me away today. UNBELIEVABLE! Every week those guys blow me away. Lee led one song today and so did Katie and they did GREAT! We did an in house original song today and it blew my mind. It's a song Adam wrote years ago and just this last week "rewrote". MAN, I can't tell you how good it was. What a blessing to be able to sing original music in our church. I hope you all realize how blessed you are to have a guy like Adam lead you in worship. Such passion, conviction and genuineness to him. GREAT JOB ADAM! Even with the sound and guitar problems in first service, God's name was lifted up and it paved the way for the message.
--- Grant did a great job pushing Life Groups today. What more can I say about him? He has challenged me more than he'll ever know. I'm Grants boss yet I look up to him. (And not just cause he is ginormous) Pretty cool! God is preparing that dude for something HUGE! Can't wait to bring him on staff.
--- I have LOVED this series. The worship, messages, illustrations have ALL come together to make this thing work.
--- Man, I know there has got to be more but I literally cannot wrap my brain about what happened today.
--- Oh! We had The Tour today. About 50 people had to be there. We didn't have enough chairs to hold everyone. That is a GREAT sign, that people want to know more information. Again, blown away.
--- Both Adam and I were talking this week about why God chose us. I am blown away that I get to do this. It is ABSOLUTELY humbling to me. There seem to be so many other people that could do it better (at least in my mind). I am often moved to tears that God chose me to do this. It amazes me. After all I did in my life to Him, that HE, the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, the LORD OF HEAVENS ARMIES, would allow me the chance to offer life to people.
--- I've got to close it down. With The Tour it makes Sundays even longer. My body hurts again this week. This series is taking it's toll on me physically. Jaydah is crying so need to get her up. Heading over to some friends tonight. I love unwinding with friends on Sunday nights.
I love all you Elementers! You amaze me! Go to www.elementgivesback.com and log your story. Can't wait to hear what you do.
Following Christ,
Jeff
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