Sunday Rumination (4-13-08)

Hey Element Church! Did some fun stuff today at church. Another great day and here are my ruminations on it!

--- 10 people acknowledged that they accepted Christ into their hearts today. YES! Again, that is what it is all about. Offering people Life in Christ fires me up. Pray for these new followers of Christ that the Holy Spirit will empower them to grow and strengthen in their faith.

--- 455 in attendance today. I'd love to stay in the 450 - 500 range while we continue to seek and pray for a new location to open up. We've passed 500 twice but just not sure how long we can sustain those #'s in the situation we are in. We'll continue to do church with all our might knowing that our God is not bound by walls, #'s of seats or movie times. God will continue to connect people with Life REGARDLESS. Amen? (Ha, now I've started preachin')

--- We tackled the subject of death and hell today. Wow, the gravity of death and the reality of hell still weighs on me. I'm sure I thought about it more this week than usual but it just blows my mind that people will die to today and experience hell. That weighed on my heart so heavy this week. I think it should every week. For more, read this.

--- To illustrate death and the reality that we'll all "go back in the box" I was carried into service in an enclosed coffin today. First of all, the next time I do that I HOPE I'M REALLY DEAD! That is not a "happy" feeling to lay in a casket and be carried to the platform. I don't do well in enclosed spaces.

Apologies to the first service. I had intended to start my sermon from inside the enclosed coffin and then come out. I couldn't hear anything in their so I started my sermon not knowing that on the outside my mic was cutting in and out and no one knew what I was saying. I got pretty flustered in the casket cause' I knew something wasn't right. Felt it affected the entire sermon after that. The sound issue really messed up. For service 2 and 3 I just opened up the casket right away and started off. Seemed to work MUCH better. Props to the four guys who carried me in and down the stairs. Tough stuff!

--- The band sounded GREAT again today. We opened the service with a cool instrumental. You'll have to watch online to check it out. The theme of worship was "salvation" today. Adam did a great job with worship on a tough week with hell. Singing of Jesus' provision for us and rescue from sin, death and darkness to righteousness, life and light was very appropriate.

--- Had two new theater workers letting us in today. They were not only on time, had doors open, lights on, BUT they helped with set up. They did a bunch of stuff for us. It was great!

--- 1 PM movie today, but the theater manager told our lobby crew it started at noon so we tore everything down and had nothing for 3rd service guests on their way out. Mis-communication.

--- Got news this morning that my Grandpa (dad's side) is not doing well at all. He's been in the hospital off and on for over a month now. A few months ago we thought he wasn't going to make it, everyone had said their goodbyes and funeral plans were made. He miraculously pulled through. As of today, they're not sure he'll make it through tonight. We're waiting to see what happens and if he does pass we'll be driving out to St. Louis to be with family and attend the funeral. Your prayers would be appreciated. He is 89 years old, LOVES GOD WITH ALL HIS HEART, and is READY to face eternity. I thought about him a lot today as we talked about eternity. He is one of the men who has influenced my life the greatest. Such a great example of being a godly man. Passed on to his son, then me, now hopefully I can do just as good passing it on to mine.

--- Speaking of MY son. Not good when the # for the pastor's kid flashes up on the screen from e:kidz. Let's just say this...I think Jonah thought he was gonna face eternity when I dealt with him once we got home! LOL He tried to pretend he was asleep when I came in his room. The anticipation of discipline is FAR worse than the actual sometimes.

--- Two more weeks with Eternity. This weekend I'll be trying to answer the question that everyone wants to know "What is the meaning of life?". The final week of Eternity is going to be FUN. Can't share everything for that week yet. ha ha ha

--- Our next two series are going to be a BLAST. We're tackling parenting in May, then in June we're doing a series that will be perhaps the toughest I've EVER done! WOW, do I need to get prayed up for that one. It's called "Untouchables" and we'll be tackling four subjects that the church needs to address. It is going to be tough. Adam came up with an amazing graphic for it. I'll unveil the graphics this week for those two series.

--- That's about it! Heading for my Sunday afternoon nap! Thanks Element Church for being a WONDERFUL group of people to serve. You guys are the best!

Following Christ,

Jeff