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
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
5 reasons NOT to start a church...
...or any other ministry. Just because you've been to (insert name of church) and REALLY LIKED it doesn't mean you should start one yourself OR that your town needs one. I know, coming from someone who started a church that is ironic. Just because (insert name of church) started a ministry DOESN'T MEAN your church needs to start one. I've fallen for the trap in ministry before, maybe you have to, of seeing something work somewhere else and AUTOMATICALLY thinking "If we do that we'll get the same results." I've implemented programs, ministries, strategies and the like into youth ministries and churches I've led thinking they will give me the same results (insert church name) got. SO, that being said, here are my top 5 reasons NOT to start a church or any other ministry.
#5 I'm tired of being told what church should be like. HA. We start a church because we're tired of being told how church should be like, so we're going to do it how WE think it should be like. You know what happens as soon as, oh I don't know, five people are coming to your church? SOMEONE IS GOING TO TELL YOU HOW CHURCH SHOULD BE LIKE. Even with the success of Element, we've got our fair share of people, FROM OUR CHURCH, telling us how they think church should be done. That will never go away. EVER! People have opinions, they have preferences, that doesn't make them evil OR give you license to start a new church OR ministry.
#4 I was a good youth pastor (or staff pastor). LOL Funny thing is I WAS A YOUTH PASTOR before this. If you think you want to start a church because you were a good youth pastor and/or you could do church better, DON'T. A lot of guys start churches because they think they can do church better than the one they are already serving in. Did I always agree with my sr. pastor? No. Would I have done some things differently? Yes. Is that my reason for starting a new church. ABSOLUTELY, 100% NO!
#3 (insert name) thinks I could start a church. (insert name) likes my idea. Umm, unless GOD thinks you could start a church and GOD likes your idea you shouldn't do it. And if you are serving in a church and your pastor/leadership team doesn't feel "led" or "called" to do what your idea is, maybe they aren't the ones with the wrong vision. Just saying. Too many churches start and fail, and too many ministries start and stale because someone supports "MY" idea. Note "MY" idea.
#2 It worked for... Willow Creek, Saddleback, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Perry Noble. I don't care if it worked for the Apostle Paul it doesn't mean we'll get the same results. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked "What model of church are you?" What they want to know is, are you doing church like Willow, Saddleback, NewSpring, Mars Hill (either one), or any other successful church. Why can't we do church like Element? I've been influenced by MANY churches and pastors, and most of them you would never know their name. I know of people who attend a church like one listed above, come back to their town and because their town doesn't have one of "those" churches they think one should be started. WHY? Maybe God doesn't want one of those churches in town. He may want you to start one but ONE THAT IS YOU AND NOT RICK WARREN! Now I have used ideas, principles and approaches from guys and churches like I mentioned, but THEY ARE NOT A REASON TO START A CHURCH OR A MINISTRY! What's funny is, typically when someone says we need a (insert name) type church or ministry, they start it and it's NOTHING like (insert name) would have done it. In fact they probably would hate it.
#1 I don't like..."...any churches in my town." "the ministries in our church." "my pastor." "my job." I'll take the last one first. If you don't like your job STARTING A CHURCH WON'T FIX THAT! Nuff' said. I've heard of and spoken to so many guys who use the "I don't like..." method of church planting or ministry adding. You know what? When it comes to something as serious as planting a church or starting a ministry, GOD COULD CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE? He cares about what YOUR CITY and what YOUR CHURCH umm... I don't know NEEDS! And maybe, JUST MAYBE we don't always know what our church or city needs. If you don't like your pastor try PRAYING FOR HIM, or SUPPORTING HIM. If you don't like the ministries in the church try SERVING IN THEM TO MAKE THEM BETTER. If you don't like any churches in your town, well, tough cookies. It's not a reason to start one. This is by far THE MOST ABUSED REASON for starting churches and ministries in America.
Why did I start a church? Why SHOULD I start a church (or ministry)? Only...ONLY because the voice of God stirs my heart. ONLY! It was scary enough for me to start this church KNOWING that the only reason was that God was asking me to. If I were doing it for any of these other reasons I would be DOOMED to fail and KNOW IT from day one. NONE of those reasons are reasons to start a church. Ok, I'm done. That's been on my heart lately.
For more read this and this.
Listening for the call,
Jeff
#5 I'm tired of being told what church should be like. HA. We start a church because we're tired of being told how church should be like, so we're going to do it how WE think it should be like. You know what happens as soon as, oh I don't know, five people are coming to your church? SOMEONE IS GOING TO TELL YOU HOW CHURCH SHOULD BE LIKE. Even with the success of Element, we've got our fair share of people, FROM OUR CHURCH, telling us how they think church should be done. That will never go away. EVER! People have opinions, they have preferences, that doesn't make them evil OR give you license to start a new church OR ministry.
#4 I was a good youth pastor (or staff pastor). LOL Funny thing is I WAS A YOUTH PASTOR before this. If you think you want to start a church because you were a good youth pastor and/or you could do church better, DON'T. A lot of guys start churches because they think they can do church better than the one they are already serving in. Did I always agree with my sr. pastor? No. Would I have done some things differently? Yes. Is that my reason for starting a new church. ABSOLUTELY, 100% NO!
#3 (insert name) thinks I could start a church. (insert name) likes my idea. Umm, unless GOD thinks you could start a church and GOD likes your idea you shouldn't do it. And if you are serving in a church and your pastor/leadership team doesn't feel "led" or "called" to do what your idea is, maybe they aren't the ones with the wrong vision. Just saying. Too many churches start and fail, and too many ministries start and stale because someone supports "MY" idea. Note "MY" idea.
#2 It worked for... Willow Creek, Saddleback, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Perry Noble. I don't care if it worked for the Apostle Paul it doesn't mean we'll get the same results. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked "What model of church are you?" What they want to know is, are you doing church like Willow, Saddleback, NewSpring, Mars Hill (either one), or any other successful church. Why can't we do church like Element? I've been influenced by MANY churches and pastors, and most of them you would never know their name. I know of people who attend a church like one listed above, come back to their town and because their town doesn't have one of "those" churches they think one should be started. WHY? Maybe God doesn't want one of those churches in town. He may want you to start one but ONE THAT IS YOU AND NOT RICK WARREN! Now I have used ideas, principles and approaches from guys and churches like I mentioned, but THEY ARE NOT A REASON TO START A CHURCH OR A MINISTRY! What's funny is, typically when someone says we need a (insert name) type church or ministry, they start it and it's NOTHING like (insert name) would have done it. In fact they probably would hate it.
#1 I don't like..."...any churches in my town." "the ministries in our church." "my pastor." "my job." I'll take the last one first. If you don't like your job STARTING A CHURCH WON'T FIX THAT! Nuff' said. I've heard of and spoken to so many guys who use the "I don't like..." method of church planting or ministry adding. You know what? When it comes to something as serious as planting a church or starting a ministry, GOD COULD CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE? He cares about what YOUR CITY and what YOUR CHURCH umm... I don't know NEEDS! And maybe, JUST MAYBE we don't always know what our church or city needs. If you don't like your pastor try PRAYING FOR HIM, or SUPPORTING HIM. If you don't like the ministries in the church try SERVING IN THEM TO MAKE THEM BETTER. If you don't like any churches in your town, well, tough cookies. It's not a reason to start one. This is by far THE MOST ABUSED REASON for starting churches and ministries in America.
Why did I start a church? Why SHOULD I start a church (or ministry)? Only...ONLY because the voice of God stirs my heart. ONLY! It was scary enough for me to start this church KNOWING that the only reason was that God was asking me to. If I were doing it for any of these other reasons I would be DOOMED to fail and KNOW IT from day one. NONE of those reasons are reasons to start a church. Ok, I'm done. That's been on my heart lately.
For more read this and this.
Listening for the call,
Jeff
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Hell week!
Hey Element Church! No, we're not doing any horrible initiation rituals or anything. Isn't hell week what they call Frat initiation time? Anyway. I was able to work on my message for Sunday most of the day today. I told Terri at the end of the day that I think it's the first time I've dedicated an entire message to death and hell. I've definitely talked about hell and probably hung some people over it when I shouldn't have, but never done a whole message on it. I am VERY excited about an illustration we're doing this week. It'll definitely be a first for me. You won't want to miss it. One thing I'm saying in my message is that I DO NOT like talking about hell, but I AM NOT afraid to. Hell is REAL. It is HORRIBLE. And it is a place that people are dying and going to EVERY DAY! That scares me. Not for me, but for everyone who is headed for eternity without knowing Jesus. People must know the truth about Heaven and hell.
Now, I am convinced of this. About a year ago I felt a shift in my heart. I've always said the old cliche question "Where would you go if you died tonight?" Or "If you died today, do you know if you'd go to Heaven?" Now, those are ok questions I guess, but I began to wonder if we were asking the wrong question. I think we're asking the wrong question. Instead of asking "Where would you go if you died?" What if we asked "Where COULD you go if you LIVED today?!" LIFE is what we long for. Life is what we need. And you know what? If I LIVE for Jesus today, guess where I go if I die? We've so focused on death so much that I think we forget to live. We've so taught about Heaven so much that I think we forget people are going to hell. I know for myself I need and want a higher awareness and sensitivity to the fact that people around me may be headed for eternity away from God, and are living their lives without the fullness of knowing Jesus. MAN that should rock our world. Does it yours?
Hell week. It's going to be a heavy week at Element, but what an opportunity to offer life. Be praying for us this week as we tackle this subject.
Now, I am convinced of this. About a year ago I felt a shift in my heart. I've always said the old cliche question "Where would you go if you died tonight?" Or "If you died today, do you know if you'd go to Heaven?" Now, those are ok questions I guess, but I began to wonder if we were asking the wrong question. I think we're asking the wrong question. Instead of asking "Where would you go if you died?" What if we asked "Where COULD you go if you LIVED today?!" LIFE is what we long for. Life is what we need. And you know what? If I LIVE for Jesus today, guess where I go if I die? We've so focused on death so much that I think we forget to live. We've so taught about Heaven so much that I think we forget people are going to hell. I know for myself I need and want a higher awareness and sensitivity to the fact that people around me may be headed for eternity away from God, and are living their lives without the fullness of knowing Jesus. MAN that should rock our world. Does it yours?
Hell week. It's going to be a heavy week at Element, but what an opportunity to offer life. Be praying for us this week as we tackle this subject.
Monday, April 7, 2008
And now...
Final drum roll please...? /\/\/\/\/\ *those are drumsticks* Here are my top three memories of the past 10 months.
#3 Gas buy down. With 502 people in church this past Sunday, what we did last May seems even crazier to me. I think God sometimes clouds our "fear factor" in moments when we need to advance without fear. We had about 10 - 12 committed Elementers on Memorial Day weekend when we pulled this thing off. We recruited family and friends to come help from Greeley, Oklahoma and Gillette just to have enough help. We wanted our first event in the city to be a servant project, and we thought helping people fill their gas tanks would be a great service. We had no real consistent offering coming in, no volunteer base, no way to really promote the event. You can read all about this event and how it worked in the following blogs. Bunch of posts on this one here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Little did I know where Element would go from here. I almost put this #1. It definitely gets the award for "Most Posts On The Blog For One Event".
#2 Element Gives Back. HOLY COW was this fun! We developed a blog to log all the stories of ways people gave back. Go to www.elementgivesback.com to check it out. We planned in August to do a sermon series in January on finances/stewardship. As we were approaching the series we began talking about how we were going to illustrate the scriptural principle of tithing and portraying the idea that "this money is not our own". The gives back idea is not original to us. We saw another church do this in a different way, so we prayed about it and felt like it would be an AMAZING way to model this and that God wanted us to do it. We felt like to do it correctly we wanted to give back one weeks entire offering to the congregation. So we made the decision that the offering from January 6th, we would give back in varying increments to the congregation, on January 13th. Little did we know the kind of impact it would have on our congregation. We spoke truthfully and openly about finances and God's command for us to give 10% of our income back to Him. This is something we hope to do every year at surprise times. It not only teaches the congregation to give back, but it keeps Element Church in that mode as well. You can read all about it here, here and here.
#1b October 7th, 2007 is a day I will never...NEVER forget. I cannot tell you how it feels as someone whom God called to come plant this church, to stand at the door of a theater and watch over 200 people come to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. When we decided to do this thing I didn't have a clue if 2 people would come, let alone 200. I was amazed. ABSOLUTELY AMAZED! To literally begin to see the vision unfold before your eyes. To see the promises of God be fulfilled. Yet it was only the beginning. That day we worked SO HARD to get to, I stood there and said "This is only the beginning.". God didn't call us to launch Sunday. God didn't call us to "start" a church. He called us to lead this church, and I'll do it till I die or He calls me on. I think this would make any list I make from here on out. Not sure how launch Sunday doesn't take the cake. You can read about it here, here, here, and here.
#1a Another #1 is yet to come. Element Church, God is not done with you yet. What amazes me is the new stories that come, will blow these out of the water. God is in the business of doing AMAZING things through His people. It was fun for me to recount these stories, so if no one else enjoyed it I did. And to think, my wife had to talk me into start blogging. I'm so glad I did so we have record of all the things God has done. I'll leave you with this from Isaiah 55
"And these events will be great honor to the Lord's name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love."
Greater things are yet to come,
Jeff
#3 Gas buy down. With 502 people in church this past Sunday, what we did last May seems even crazier to me. I think God sometimes clouds our "fear factor" in moments when we need to advance without fear. We had about 10 - 12 committed Elementers on Memorial Day weekend when we pulled this thing off. We recruited family and friends to come help from Greeley, Oklahoma and Gillette just to have enough help. We wanted our first event in the city to be a servant project, and we thought helping people fill their gas tanks would be a great service. We had no real consistent offering coming in, no volunteer base, no way to really promote the event. You can read all about this event and how it worked in the following blogs. Bunch of posts on this one here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Little did I know where Element would go from here. I almost put this #1. It definitely gets the award for "Most Posts On The Blog For One Event".
#2 Element Gives Back. HOLY COW was this fun! We developed a blog to log all the stories of ways people gave back. Go to www.elementgivesback.com to check it out. We planned in August to do a sermon series in January on finances/stewardship. As we were approaching the series we began talking about how we were going to illustrate the scriptural principle of tithing and portraying the idea that "this money is not our own". The gives back idea is not original to us. We saw another church do this in a different way, so we prayed about it and felt like it would be an AMAZING way to model this and that God wanted us to do it. We felt like to do it correctly we wanted to give back one weeks entire offering to the congregation. So we made the decision that the offering from January 6th, we would give back in varying increments to the congregation, on January 13th. Little did we know the kind of impact it would have on our congregation. We spoke truthfully and openly about finances and God's command for us to give 10% of our income back to Him. This is something we hope to do every year at surprise times. It not only teaches the congregation to give back, but it keeps Element Church in that mode as well. You can read all about it here, here and here.
#1b October 7th, 2007 is a day I will never...NEVER forget. I cannot tell you how it feels as someone whom God called to come plant this church, to stand at the door of a theater and watch over 200 people come to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. When we decided to do this thing I didn't have a clue if 2 people would come, let alone 200. I was amazed. ABSOLUTELY AMAZED! To literally begin to see the vision unfold before your eyes. To see the promises of God be fulfilled. Yet it was only the beginning. That day we worked SO HARD to get to, I stood there and said "This is only the beginning.". God didn't call us to launch Sunday. God didn't call us to "start" a church. He called us to lead this church, and I'll do it till I die or He calls me on. I think this would make any list I make from here on out. Not sure how launch Sunday doesn't take the cake. You can read about it here, here, here, and here.
#1a Another #1 is yet to come. Element Church, God is not done with you yet. What amazes me is the new stories that come, will blow these out of the water. God is in the business of doing AMAZING things through His people. It was fun for me to recount these stories, so if no one else enjoyed it I did. And to think, my wife had to talk me into start blogging. I'm so glad I did so we have record of all the things God has done. I'll leave you with this from Isaiah 55
"And these events will be great honor to the Lord's name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love."
Greater things are yet to come,
Jeff
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Blog Link
Hey guys! Just wanted to link you to Adams blog. I had almost blogged about how Adam was feeling today but thought I'd leave that up to him, lol, and he did. It was one of those Sundays for him where I think spiritually he was just really feeling attacked. We prayed about it before first service and I really felt like God used him and the band today. Anyway, thought I'd link you to that.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Following Christ,
Jeff
Sunday Rumination (4-6-08)
Hey Element Church! Three services took it's toll on my today more than any. I am worn out today. Not sure what the difference is. We had GREAT services today. Here is my rumination on the day.
--- We had no worship guides or connection cards today. Poor Curtis took them home on Friday night so he and his wife could stuff the guides with the connection cards. Somewhere between then and this morning, he put them on top of his wife's car, who then drove off with them on the car. Somewhere in Cheyenne someone knows A LOT about Element Church. Heather was rummaging through dumpsters in the area this morning looking for them. Needless to say it was quite the morning for them two. I gave Curtis a hard time about it from the platform. He took it like a champ.
--- Speaking of Curtis. He is leading Varsity Fusion tonight in a Random Act of Kindness that my wife and I are DEFINITELY taking advantage of. For 2 hours they are watching Element Kids so their parents can go on a date. HOOK ME UP! That link I posted goes to Curtis' blog. They are doing a fantastic job leading Fusion.
--- 502 in worship today. WOW! Folks, that blows my mind.
--- Had a noon movie again today. With our growth and the movie times something is gonna have to change. Announcement coming? We'll see!
--- Road Crew tear down was AMAZING today. The noon movie was not in our theater but a 12:30 one was. We were out the door by 12:10. People were walking in with their popcorn and sodas as we were closing the door.
--- I thought the worship set Adam put together was GREAT! I felt the "theme" of the set was Adams best as far as themeing everything together. We sang I Can Only Imagine and people seemed to really engage in that one.
--- It sure seems people are beginning to experience freedom in worship. Just seeing more and more people engage physically and emotionally to the worship.
--- Started our Eternity series today. Talked about Heaven. I felt it went really well. I was struggling earlier this week putting something together since it is such a HUGE topic. I ended up feeling great about it leading into today and after today.
--- Next week will be tough. Tackling the subject of hell. The reality of it according to Scripture.
--- We had a better turnout in e:coustic today. That service hasn't grown like I'd like thus far but we saw some good growth from last week. I think we had around 50 in there today. Only 33 last week. It's helped alleviate a little pressure in the other services. We could use some more road crew help in there to set up. If you're interested you can email me.
--- Sundays fly by for me with the craziness of the three service transitions. I start out in our main worship center then head over to e:coustic at 7:30 to help the road crew there. By the way, to the guys who are helping in e:coustic, YOU ARE DOING AWESOME! Keep it up. Then we tear down and we're out. Amazing how quickly it goes by. Hard to imagine we are at the theater for 6 hours on a given Sunday.
--- I can't say this enough...All the Element volunteers are incredible! You guys make Sunday morning what it is.
--- Love serving and leading you guys. Thanks for allowing me the pleasure of doing it.
Following Christ,
Jeff
--- We had no worship guides or connection cards today. Poor Curtis took them home on Friday night so he and his wife could stuff the guides with the connection cards. Somewhere between then and this morning, he put them on top of his wife's car, who then drove off with them on the car. Somewhere in Cheyenne someone knows A LOT about Element Church. Heather was rummaging through dumpsters in the area this morning looking for them. Needless to say it was quite the morning for them two. I gave Curtis a hard time about it from the platform. He took it like a champ.
--- Speaking of Curtis. He is leading Varsity Fusion tonight in a Random Act of Kindness that my wife and I are DEFINITELY taking advantage of. For 2 hours they are watching Element Kids so their parents can go on a date. HOOK ME UP! That link I posted goes to Curtis' blog. They are doing a fantastic job leading Fusion.
--- 502 in worship today. WOW! Folks, that blows my mind.
--- Had a noon movie again today. With our growth and the movie times something is gonna have to change. Announcement coming? We'll see!
--- Road Crew tear down was AMAZING today. The noon movie was not in our theater but a 12:30 one was. We were out the door by 12:10. People were walking in with their popcorn and sodas as we were closing the door.
--- I thought the worship set Adam put together was GREAT! I felt the "theme" of the set was Adams best as far as themeing everything together. We sang I Can Only Imagine and people seemed to really engage in that one.
--- It sure seems people are beginning to experience freedom in worship. Just seeing more and more people engage physically and emotionally to the worship.
--- Started our Eternity series today. Talked about Heaven. I felt it went really well. I was struggling earlier this week putting something together since it is such a HUGE topic. I ended up feeling great about it leading into today and after today.
--- Next week will be tough. Tackling the subject of hell. The reality of it according to Scripture.
--- We had a better turnout in e:coustic today. That service hasn't grown like I'd like thus far but we saw some good growth from last week. I think we had around 50 in there today. Only 33 last week. It's helped alleviate a little pressure in the other services. We could use some more road crew help in there to set up. If you're interested you can email me.
--- Sundays fly by for me with the craziness of the three service transitions. I start out in our main worship center then head over to e:coustic at 7:30 to help the road crew there. By the way, to the guys who are helping in e:coustic, YOU ARE DOING AWESOME! Keep it up. Then we tear down and we're out. Amazing how quickly it goes by. Hard to imagine we are at the theater for 6 hours on a given Sunday.
--- I can't say this enough...All the Element volunteers are incredible! You guys make Sunday morning what it is.
--- Love serving and leading you guys. Thanks for allowing me the pleasure of doing it.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Top 10 part 2
YO Element Church! Here is #6 - 4. So hard to pick just 10 moments but I'm trying. Why am I doing this again? Oh yeah, thought it would be a good blog. And now...
#6 Our first preview service. Before we launched on October 7th of 2007, we did several preview services. Our first one was the first Sunday in July. A preview is just that, sneak peak at what the church will be like. It provides time for the church to "practice" what a Sunday will be like when they launch. Crazy to see our set up from then. We had to haul in every stage piece every week. You can read about it and look at pictures here, here and here.
#5 Two services. Funny how each decision we make gets bigger and bigger. Every decision, at the moment, seems like the biggest decision we've ever made. We actually struggled so much with going to two services. I can't imagine NOT doing two, and now we're doing three. If you'd have told me in November we'd be doing three by March, I would have needed a new pair of pants. You can read about two services here and here.
#4 Egg Drop and Easter: Ok, I'm running out of spots so I had to put two into one. Doing the egg drop and then the full house on Easter are tied for #4. Did I want to be this far by March in our church? YES! Was I shocked? YES! lol, every pastor wants their church to grow like this, but every pastor also knows that each church responds and moves at different paces. God has chosen to bless Element Church in the last 6 months. Here, here and here are Egg Drop and Easter thoughts.
Three through one coming soon!
Following Christ,
Jeff
#6 Our first preview service. Before we launched on October 7th of 2007, we did several preview services. Our first one was the first Sunday in July. A preview is just that, sneak peak at what the church will be like. It provides time for the church to "practice" what a Sunday will be like when they launch. Crazy to see our set up from then. We had to haul in every stage piece every week. You can read about it and look at pictures here, here and here.
#5 Two services. Funny how each decision we make gets bigger and bigger. Every decision, at the moment, seems like the biggest decision we've ever made. We actually struggled so much with going to two services. I can't imagine NOT doing two, and now we're doing three. If you'd have told me in November we'd be doing three by March, I would have needed a new pair of pants. You can read about two services here and here.
#4 Egg Drop and Easter: Ok, I'm running out of spots so I had to put two into one. Doing the egg drop and then the full house on Easter are tied for #4. Did I want to be this far by March in our church? YES! Was I shocked? YES! lol, every pastor wants their church to grow like this, but every pastor also knows that each church responds and moves at different paces. God has chosen to bless Element Church in the last 6 months. Here, here and here are Egg Drop and Easter thoughts.
Three through one coming soon!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Top 10 part 1
Hey Element Church! It's been 10 months since we did our first major servant project and started our Unplugged services (June of 07). With that I wanted to offer my Element Top 10 moments. I'll link you to a few of my archived blogs from my Top 10. It's amazing where God has brought us in 10 months, and I think it's fun to remember what has happened. So, without further adieu, the Element Top 10. Drum roll please....
#10 Starting Life Group and finding our office and finding the theater all in the same month. Here is a link to a blog on our Life Group. 13 people came. I remember how excited I was. It seemed like FOREVER before people came to our group. Here is a link to finding our office. MAN, God provided a great space for us. I think it was and is HUGE to start with an office as soon as possible. And Here is a link to our first tour through the theater. My comments are funny in light what we're going through now.
#9 Egg Hunt Cancelled! In April of 07' we were going to serve at the city egg hunt by providing inflatable games. This would have been our first face into the city. We put an ad in the paper and were REALLY excited about serving and then it got canceled. We were very bummed. Here, here and here are a some posts on it. And look at how GREAT this years event was.
#8 Christmas Outreach. This outreach wasn't as "flashy" as some of the other things we have done but that wasn't the point. I was SO excited to actually help out 4 specific moms and their families over Christmas. They were all blown away. Read about it here and here. 8 moms this year? 12? I hope to go all out again for some families.
#7 First Element Wedding. This was so much fun and it made it so much better to have my boy Grant help perform the ceremony. Read about it here.
This is hard. Didn't know how hard it would be to pick 10. I'll give you four more tomorrow. My top 2 are SET! Easy to name my top 2. But you'll wait.
What are your favorite Element moments?
#10 Starting Life Group and finding our office and finding the theater all in the same month. Here is a link to a blog on our Life Group. 13 people came. I remember how excited I was. It seemed like FOREVER before people came to our group. Here is a link to finding our office. MAN, God provided a great space for us. I think it was and is HUGE to start with an office as soon as possible. And Here is a link to our first tour through the theater. My comments are funny in light what we're going through now.
#9 Egg Hunt Cancelled! In April of 07' we were going to serve at the city egg hunt by providing inflatable games. This would have been our first face into the city. We put an ad in the paper and were REALLY excited about serving and then it got canceled. We were very bummed. Here, here and here are a some posts on it. And look at how GREAT this years event was.
#8 Christmas Outreach. This outreach wasn't as "flashy" as some of the other things we have done but that wasn't the point. I was SO excited to actually help out 4 specific moms and their families over Christmas. They were all blown away. Read about it here and here. 8 moms this year? 12? I hope to go all out again for some families.
#7 First Element Wedding. This was so much fun and it made it so much better to have my boy Grant help perform the ceremony. Read about it here.
This is hard. Didn't know how hard it would be to pick 10. I'll give you four more tomorrow. My top 2 are SET! Easy to name my top 2. But you'll wait.
What are your favorite Element moments?
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Foolish
This post by Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington D.C. was awesome!
Teaser: The people God uses the most are people that aren't afraid of looking foolish. In fact, if you aren't willing to look foolish you're foolish!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Teaser: The people God uses the most are people that aren't afraid of looking foolish. In fact, if you aren't willing to look foolish you're foolish!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Heaven is big!
Hey Element Church! No I didn't have a near death experience, but I did figure out through studying my sermon that this is a HUGE subject to tackle. Holy cow! I'm excited about this Sunday's message as we talk about Heaven. I REALLY struggled putting this message together the further I got in because of how much stuff you could talk about. The Bible has a lot to say about Heaven and we have LOTS of questions about it. I finally felt like I broke through this afternoon and I am very excited about the approach we'll be taking as we look at Heaven. I hope we all have a greater understanding of Heaven and eternity after this Sunday.
I spoke at the MOPS group out at Cheyenne Hills this morning. I was a asked a few months ago to come speak on their "salvation message" day and was honored to do so. Adam and I definitely did NOT fit in a room full of women. It was a lot of fun and I appreciated the opportunity to share with the ladies.
I didn't feel real well today. Battled a headache from about noon on. Not sure what was going on. Feel better now. Sab and the kids are over at a friends house so just waiting on them to return. I know, kind of a weird post.
Following Christ,
Jeff
I spoke at the MOPS group out at Cheyenne Hills this morning. I was a asked a few months ago to come speak on their "salvation message" day and was honored to do so. Adam and I definitely did NOT fit in a room full of women. It was a lot of fun and I appreciated the opportunity to share with the ladies.
I didn't feel real well today. Battled a headache from about noon on. Not sure what was going on. Feel better now. Sab and the kids are over at a friends house so just waiting on them to return. I know, kind of a weird post.
Following Christ,
Jeff
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