Sunday Rumination (5-18-08)

Hey Element Church! Got a birthday party to get to with our kids and need to leave at 2:30. Currently 2:06 so this may be a shortened Rumination.

--- I felt GREAT this morning! Got a very good nights rest and woke up ready to rumble. Compared to last week I felt 1000 times better.

--- 452 in church today! We are consistently hitting that mark. I know everyone says when summer hits that church attendance goes down. Why don't we break that norm! I am believing for growth through summer. Who's joining me?

--- We made the announcement today that it was the FINAL service for e:coustic. We've said from day one that if a ministry wasn't bearing fruit we'd prune it (that's politically correct for CUT IT OFF!) LOL We made the decision Monday at our Lead Team meeting. The fruit didn't justify the energy, time and commitment of having it. That's the reason why. We had 23 last week in there, I think 19 this week!?? Adam said he started the service today with the band, sound team and light guy. That's not good! I don't feel like we missed the voice of God. The whole lead team felt God was asking us to do it, and maybe that's all God wanted. To see if we'd obey. I was hoping for a better response but it just didn't happen. I'm not sure anyone new connected through that service, it was all just transfer from e:worship. Anyway, we made the decision and it's done!

--- If you're an Elementer I again encourage you to come to the 9 AM service. It, by far, has the most room to grow. Also, if we start filling up again I encourage Elementers to sit down after worship starts. Leave seats for newcomers before we sit!!

--- I have some MAJOR suggestions for church planters who are considering a staggered service. So many things we learned from doing this. Most of them are things NOT to do! lol

--- ALL HYMNS THIS WEEK! I thought Adam led the band to an absolute home run today. The Elemented up 5 hymns and rocked it out. I had such an awesome time of worship before I preached in the 9 am service. We sang All Hail the Power; Holy, Holy, Holy; Come Thou Fount; Fairest Lord Jesus; and Amazing Grace! There is such GREAT theology and teaching in the old hymns. I think we miss that in the newer songs. I love singing those songs with a new modern feel to them!

--- It was funny cause at least one of our band members didn't know many (if any) of those songs. We get so worked up about "traditional" vs. "modern" and they wouldn't have known which category they were in. If we'd just shut up and worship (I know oxymoron) we'd enjoy church a lot more.

--- I really felt like today's message was very good for ME! It was right where Sabrina and I are at in parenting. Very challenging for us.

--- I haven't felt like I connected like I could yet in this series. Don't know what it is, just haven't felt great about it. I think pastors go through that in spurts. You "feel" on and then you don't. What's great is typically whether I think it was good or not, God still uses it and people tell me they got something out of it. We can't always trust our feelings.

--- We launched the "Untouchables" promo today. It was one of Adam's BEST video productions since we started I thought. I'm PUMPED for that series. Make sure and begin inviting people to it!

--- Took up our Climb pledges today. We'll update you on that later this week! We're trying to raise $100,000. We encourage you to partner with us.

--- Adam and I are going to a Conference in Washington D.C. this Wednesday. We're going to hear from some GREAT pastors and communicators. Check it out here. Can't wait to be stretched!

Alright, that's about it. Gotta wake everyone up from their nap and get ready for the party! Thanks Element Church for letting me lead you! You are a blessing.

Following Christ,

Jeff