Tuesday, June 9, 2009
New Blog Address
OK Element Church, you can now find me at www.elementinsider.com Please make sure and change it in your favorites. This post will stay at the top here so you have the link. Thanks for following along.
Monday, June 2, 2008
New Blog Address
OK Element Church, you can now find me at www.elementinsider.com Please make sure and change it in your favorites. This post will stay at the top here so you have the link. Thanks for following along.
Sermon Bumper
Hey Element Church! Here is the sermon bumper we used this week for our sermon. Enjoy.
WE'RE MOVING!
Not what you think though. TRICKED YA! We aren't REALLY moving to the new location YET. However, Adam and I did take the first load of Element stuff over there today. Here a couple of pics. The move has begun!
Building Prayer
Hey Element Church! Our contractor is REALLY hoping/expecting a demo permit today. Also, he and one of the building owners are meeting with a city official about a site plan/building permit so PLEASE PRAY! If you are getting this later in the day then pray retro-actively, lol.
Praying,
Jeff
Praying,
Jeff
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sunday Rumination (6-01-08)
Hey Element Church! WOW! June. Today was a great day. Had a few bumps in the road but all in all was another awesome day at church. Here is my ruminations from the day.
--- 498 this morning. 2nd service was PACKED. 10 people on the front row. I am STOKED we had so many but HATE it when people have to sit in the front. Both services are filling up. If we have any seats it's in first service. (I wish e:coustic would have worked. We need the "ability" to grow)
--- We took aim at abortion today. I was VERY excited about the message. Mostly because I really felt like God helped me learn some stuff that I got to share. People seemed to respond well. Abortion isn't an issue that hits a lot of families. We'll see how people respond to issues that hit a little closer. lol
--- I hadn't planned on this at all but I REALLY felt led at the end of first service to ask for any women who had been through an abortion and wanted prayer to raise their hands. 4 women in first service and 6 or 7 men and women did in 2nd service. We had a good moment of prayer for all of them.
--- "God loves the women who aborted her child just as much as he loved the child she aborted." I said that today. I REALLY feel like we need to say that more as Christians. People need to know that we don't just stand up for the unborn, we will stand WITH the women who aborted their babies with the love of Jesus. There IS healing. There IS forgiveness. There IS hope. There IS restoration. Do I believe it's wrong? YES! Do I believe Jesus can forgive? ABSOLUTELY!
--- The band stinkin' KILLED it today! (And by killed I mean good...REALLY GOOD)
--- We have unbelievable volunteers. CRAZY what gets done from 6 AM to 12:30 PM.
--- Continue to pray with us for God's timing in our building. Just waiting still!
--- Next week will be interesting. Alcohol. I heard one pastor preach a message last year and his title "Can a Christian drink a cold beer? (because we all know it's a sin to drink a warm one)" Thought that was funny. Not sure what my title will be. Here are some I'm working on...
- "How can it get better than this?"
- "WASSSSSUP and other silly things you might say when drinking!"
- "Tastes great...less thrilling"
- "The Kings name isn't Bud"
- "Pure Rocky Mountain stream water...Not sure Coors is what God had in mind."
LOL totally don't know where that came from. That's a random Sunday afternoon from Jeff for ya.
--- Getting ready to go hang out with friends tonight. I look forward to Sunday nights every week. That's about it.
--- Four blogs I am really looking forward to doing this week that I'll bust out starting tomorrow hopefully. Have an awesome week!
Following Christ,
Jeff
--- 498 this morning. 2nd service was PACKED. 10 people on the front row. I am STOKED we had so many but HATE it when people have to sit in the front. Both services are filling up. If we have any seats it's in first service. (I wish e:coustic would have worked. We need the "ability" to grow)
--- We took aim at abortion today. I was VERY excited about the message. Mostly because I really felt like God helped me learn some stuff that I got to share. People seemed to respond well. Abortion isn't an issue that hits a lot of families. We'll see how people respond to issues that hit a little closer. lol
--- I hadn't planned on this at all but I REALLY felt led at the end of first service to ask for any women who had been through an abortion and wanted prayer to raise their hands. 4 women in first service and 6 or 7 men and women did in 2nd service. We had a good moment of prayer for all of them.
--- "God loves the women who aborted her child just as much as he loved the child she aborted." I said that today. I REALLY feel like we need to say that more as Christians. People need to know that we don't just stand up for the unborn, we will stand WITH the women who aborted their babies with the love of Jesus. There IS healing. There IS forgiveness. There IS hope. There IS restoration. Do I believe it's wrong? YES! Do I believe Jesus can forgive? ABSOLUTELY!
--- The band stinkin' KILLED it today! (And by killed I mean good...REALLY GOOD)
--- We have unbelievable volunteers. CRAZY what gets done from 6 AM to 12:30 PM.
--- Continue to pray with us for God's timing in our building. Just waiting still!
--- Next week will be interesting. Alcohol. I heard one pastor preach a message last year and his title "Can a Christian drink a cold beer? (because we all know it's a sin to drink a warm one)" Thought that was funny. Not sure what my title will be. Here are some I'm working on...
- "How can it get better than this?"
- "WASSSSSUP and other silly things you might say when drinking!"
- "Tastes great...less thrilling"
- "The Kings name isn't Bud"
- "Pure Rocky Mountain stream water...Not sure Coors is what God had in mind."
LOL totally don't know where that came from. That's a random Sunday afternoon from Jeff for ya.
--- Getting ready to go hang out with friends tonight. I look forward to Sunday nights every week. That's about it.
--- Four blogs I am really looking forward to doing this week that I'll bust out starting tomorrow hopefully. Have an awesome week!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Friday, May 30, 2008
Untouchables
Hey Element Church! Don't forget that we start our new series this week. I am STOKED for these sermons. (SCARED OUT OF MY MIND TOO) But stoked!
Here is a post from a pastor that I feel VERY similar too when it comes to preaching.
I am JUST as nervous each week when I preach. Whether it's for 50 people or 500. I used to not be able to eat anything before I preached. Now I have ONE donut and that's about too much. But if I don't eat I get a horrible headache before church is over. Anyway, random glimpse into me right there. Pastor Furticks blog cracked me up cause it's exactly how I feel. If you see me on Sundays after set up, you see me wandering around aimlessly a lot, or sitting by myself. We are a weird bunch, us pastors!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Here is a post from a pastor that I feel VERY similar too when it comes to preaching.
I am JUST as nervous each week when I preach. Whether it's for 50 people or 500. I used to not be able to eat anything before I preached. Now I have ONE donut and that's about too much. But if I don't eat I get a horrible headache before church is over. Anyway, random glimpse into me right there. Pastor Furticks blog cracked me up cause it's exactly how I feel. If you see me on Sundays after set up, you see me wandering around aimlessly a lot, or sitting by myself. We are a weird bunch, us pastors!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Building Update
Hey Element Church! Well, to say I am frustrated would be the understatement of the year. To say I've been worried about the progress of the building would be just short of where my frustration is at. We signed the lease on May 1st and were given two months of free use to begin the remodel of the space. As of today, we still have no permit to demo or build. Things were going SO smooth and God was opening EVERY door and then BAM...we hit a snag. I've had some heart to hearts with God about this in my prayer life recently and then He did what He should have done and SLAPPED me upside the head with a reminder. I need to beware what I preach on cause then I'm held accountable to it. lol
Philippians 4:6 says "Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and THANK HIM for everything He has done." Don't we typically forget the thanking part? I know I do sometimes. The reason we worry is that we DON'T remember OR thank God like we should. When we thank Him we are forced to remember all the things He has done. Yesterday I was REALLY challenged with this. Here is what I wrote in my journal.
"Lord, I don't know what's going on with the building but I trust You. If this is Your timing, we will wait patiently. If this is a hindrance, Lord I ask that you move it on our behalf. Your will be done. I'm frustrated but I don't want to worry. I need to follow Philippians 4:6."
So I did. I followed Philippians 4:6. Here is what I realized. At this point, I'm worrying and frustrated over ONE need. "Get the permit and start working on the building" So I wrote that need down: "Get in the building" Then I wrote down all the things God has done JUST with this building. 1. A GREAT Christian realtor who helped us through the process. 2. Our GREAT Christian contractor donating his time and doing ALL he can to get us in. 3. The book that God put on my desk that helped prepare me for the decisions that would have to be made concerning the building. 4. The support of the people of Element Church. AMAZING! 5. ONE CHECK for $20,000 6. Two free months of use. (They could have gave us NONE...HELLO!) 7. 450 people coming to church so we NEED a new facility. 8. Consistent giving that enables us to GET a building. 9. The timing of the owners calling me and OFFERING us the building. 10. A staff that didn't waiver to follow me in this decision. I stopped there but there is more. I realized, that God has ALREADY done so much WHY SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT ONE MORE THING? Anyway, God's been teaching me through this.
Element Church...the timing of things with this facility may not be ours, BUT I will trust God that it's His. He is not caught off guard. He is not waiting by the phone hoping the city calls. He is not wondering what will happen. HE KNOWS...HE CARES...and HE WILL GET US IN! Amen?
Learning,
Jeff
Philippians 4:6 says "Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and THANK HIM for everything He has done." Don't we typically forget the thanking part? I know I do sometimes. The reason we worry is that we DON'T remember OR thank God like we should. When we thank Him we are forced to remember all the things He has done. Yesterday I was REALLY challenged with this. Here is what I wrote in my journal.
"Lord, I don't know what's going on with the building but I trust You. If this is Your timing, we will wait patiently. If this is a hindrance, Lord I ask that you move it on our behalf. Your will be done. I'm frustrated but I don't want to worry. I need to follow Philippians 4:6."
So I did. I followed Philippians 4:6. Here is what I realized. At this point, I'm worrying and frustrated over ONE need. "Get the permit and start working on the building" So I wrote that need down: "Get in the building" Then I wrote down all the things God has done JUST with this building. 1. A GREAT Christian realtor who helped us through the process. 2. Our GREAT Christian contractor donating his time and doing ALL he can to get us in. 3. The book that God put on my desk that helped prepare me for the decisions that would have to be made concerning the building. 4. The support of the people of Element Church. AMAZING! 5. ONE CHECK for $20,000 6. Two free months of use. (They could have gave us NONE...HELLO!) 7. 450 people coming to church so we NEED a new facility. 8. Consistent giving that enables us to GET a building. 9. The timing of the owners calling me and OFFERING us the building. 10. A staff that didn't waiver to follow me in this decision. I stopped there but there is more. I realized, that God has ALREADY done so much WHY SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT ONE MORE THING? Anyway, God's been teaching me through this.
Element Church...the timing of things with this facility may not be ours, BUT I will trust God that it's His. He is not caught off guard. He is not waiting by the phone hoping the city calls. He is not wondering what will happen. HE KNOWS...HE CARES...and HE WILL GET US IN! Amen?
Learning,
Jeff
Thursday, May 29, 2008
WiBo Speaker #3
Hey Element Church! Installment #3 of the Whiteboard sessions overview.
Tim Stevens: Tim is the executive pastor at Granger Community Church. He just recently released a book called Pop Goes the Church, that is receiving quite a bit of buzz around the church world from those who agree AND disagree. Here are some thoughts I took away from what Tim shared. (The non quotes are my spin)
"Most churches aren't impacting their communities."
"Many churches are getting in the way of the Gospel..." instead of advancing it. WOW!
"Spiritual interest is rapidly growing in our culture..." yet we are doing a great job of continuing to reach the "churched" and not the "un-churched" or "de-churched".
"As a church, we're answering questions no one is asking!" He talked greatly about how we do not allow a culture of questions in our churches AND how we are giving answers to questions no one is asking. People come questioning real life issues and many times we skirt them for our "greater" answers on theology.
He shared John 1:14 from The Message Bible. Cool way to word what Jesus did. It's what our churches should be doing. "14 The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood." Moving into the neighborhood. IMPACT!
"We need to be using culture to raise the questions and use the Bible to answer them." If we watch culture (what movies, music, media) is saying, we will find the questions people are asking. We can then address them through Scripture.
He talked A LOT about using media (movie clips, music, tv) etc. in our services to raise the questions. I appreciated his honesty on being careful to find the line of what is "just using a clip" and "what legitimately raises a question" that we can answer through Scripture. Using things that people are familiar with (ie. movies, tv, music). This is NOT a new idea by the way. What IS new I believe is the intentionality of using pop culture to help us find the questions that need to be answered. The cry of the culture. Thought it was good stuff.
Spoke on Acts 17 where Paul used popular lyrics from a poet and philosopher of his time, as well as the statue of "the unknown" god to answer his cultures questions. Leveraging culture, increasing impact.
"We need to leverage the culture (to our benefit) or risk losing your impact."
"What do people think about our churches. Can they ask questions or do they just get answers?"
This session REALLY challenged me to know more about what the culture is asking. What are the heartbeats of our culture. What are people struggling with? Wrestling with? How can we leverage our culture to maximize our impact? Are people allowed to question? Without questions there are no answers.
Questioning,
Jeff
Tim Stevens: Tim is the executive pastor at Granger Community Church. He just recently released a book called Pop Goes the Church, that is receiving quite a bit of buzz around the church world from those who agree AND disagree. Here are some thoughts I took away from what Tim shared. (The non quotes are my spin)
"Most churches aren't impacting their communities."
"Many churches are getting in the way of the Gospel..." instead of advancing it. WOW!
"Spiritual interest is rapidly growing in our culture..." yet we are doing a great job of continuing to reach the "churched" and not the "un-churched" or "de-churched".
"As a church, we're answering questions no one is asking!" He talked greatly about how we do not allow a culture of questions in our churches AND how we are giving answers to questions no one is asking. People come questioning real life issues and many times we skirt them for our "greater" answers on theology.
He shared John 1:14 from The Message Bible. Cool way to word what Jesus did. It's what our churches should be doing. "14 The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood." Moving into the neighborhood. IMPACT!
"We need to be using culture to raise the questions and use the Bible to answer them." If we watch culture (what movies, music, media) is saying, we will find the questions people are asking. We can then address them through Scripture.
He talked A LOT about using media (movie clips, music, tv) etc. in our services to raise the questions. I appreciated his honesty on being careful to find the line of what is "just using a clip" and "what legitimately raises a question" that we can answer through Scripture. Using things that people are familiar with (ie. movies, tv, music). This is NOT a new idea by the way. What IS new I believe is the intentionality of using pop culture to help us find the questions that need to be answered. The cry of the culture. Thought it was good stuff.
Spoke on Acts 17 where Paul used popular lyrics from a poet and philosopher of his time, as well as the statue of "the unknown" god to answer his cultures questions. Leveraging culture, increasing impact.
"We need to leverage the culture (to our benefit) or risk losing your impact."
"What do people think about our churches. Can they ask questions or do they just get answers?"
This session REALLY challenged me to know more about what the culture is asking. What are the heartbeats of our culture. What are people struggling with? Wrestling with? How can we leverage our culture to maximize our impact? Are people allowed to question? Without questions there are no answers.
Questioning,
Jeff
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Untouchables Sermons
Hey Element Church! A couple things about Untouchables. First off, please pray. We are tackling 4 VERY tough subjects. I want the Bible to drive our discussion and not JUST opinion. The WORD is where we find our source of Truth. I have some strong opinions on each of these subjects, as I know all of you do as well. My goal for this series is that we could all walk away closer to Jesus and with a deeper understanding and conviction of what we believe and where we stand with these subjects.
Second, I wanted to share the order in which we are taking on these topics. I know some of you have specific subjects you want to invite people to hear. So here they are.
June 1st: Abortion
June 8th: Drinking
June 15th: Homosexuality
June 22nd: Divorce
June 29th: Q&A (we'll be setting up an email address for you to send in questions to) That will be a fun Sunday.
There ya go. Have an AWESOME day. Working on my messages right now. I'm getting pumped.
Jeff
Second, I wanted to share the order in which we are taking on these topics. I know some of you have specific subjects you want to invite people to hear. So here they are.
June 1st: Abortion
June 8th: Drinking
June 15th: Homosexuality
June 22nd: Divorce
June 29th: Q&A (we'll be setting up an email address for you to send in questions to) That will be a fun Sunday.
There ya go. Have an AWESOME day. Working on my messages right now. I'm getting pumped.
Jeff
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