Four Months Ago...

Four months ago we held our first service at the theater. We did ALL that we could to make it the biggest and best worship experience we could as a young fledgling church. I watched our first service on video tonight and MAN have we come a long way. I am definitely glad we did previews cause...well, just believe me when I say it's good we practiced. I chuckled at the set up we did and where we are at now. I think we'll keep laughing at our progress. Check out the difference in appearance from July 1st to Oct. 28th.





What a GREAT God we serve that allows us to be creative and expand our ideas and ministry. God doesn't want us to remain the same. I think God LOVES seeing his people create and innovate in His church. I think His heart swells when His people can try and connect the Gospel with their culture and new ways that they can relate too. The Gospel NEVER changes. The presentation and methods will ALWAYS change. And hopefully at Element Church, they will always get better. That last picture is our surfboard Sunday. (They are supposed to be stain glass windows) That's what we get for trying to be creative.

It's Thursday...But Sunday's a comin'!

MAN am I glad we did 2 other previews before this last weekend. This is the first week that we had to turn around on Monday and start getting ready for a "full" church service again. As of today, we are farther along in preparation than we have been on any other preview. Obviously, getting ready for our fourth preview things are getting smoother. With my personality though, once things get smooth we're gonna have to shake em' up a bit. When things get smooth it means it's time to add something. Go bigger. Get more creative. We're already talking about what we're going to add to our set up, stage, kids area, lighting, etc. I don't ever want to get to the point where we've "made it" and get complacent. If we feel like we've made it that's a SURE sign that something needs to change. There are always more people to reach, better ideas to think of, new messages to preach, new songs to sing, new methods to use and new stress to take on. HA To me the tension and stress of doing church keeps me motivated. I know this sounds weird but I don't want to feel calm about church. I get nervous EVERY TIME. Why? Because the Almighty God has asked US to carry HIS message of Life. That makes me nervous. It makes me want Sunday morning to be done with such excellence and relevance so we don't hinder what God wants them to hear. It makes me want to go ALL OUT with a great presentation of the Gospel because the Gospel has gone ALL OUT for us. Ok, what started as a "We're doing good on getting Sunday stuff done" post turned into "How can we do more" post. How does that happen?

Following Christ,

Jeff