Sunday Ruminations (5-31-09)

31 05 2009

Seriously?  It’s June tomorrow.  Crazy.  Fun day today at Element.  Here are my ruminations.

— 724 today in attendance.  I think our summer #’s are going to stick around there.

— GREAT spirit in the place today.  Each service seemed like it had great response.

— Today I took on a bunch of questions that were turned in over the course of this series.  There were GREAT questions and I had a blast answering them.  REALLY made me work figuring out some of the answers.

—  At the end of each service I answered text message questions that were coming in throughout the service.  We got some amazing questions and tried answering as many as we could.

— In first service I said I would answer all the questions we couldn’t get to on the blog.  Ummm, that’s not going to happen.  I don’t know how many questions we got, but it was a TON.  I’m going to try and respond to them somehow and offer the results at church via a pakcet or something.

— I was able to address several text questions each service.  Just depended on how much time we had.

— It was pretty un-nerving to take on open questions.  Curtis did filter them to make sure they were appropriate or make sure they weren’t divisive.

— We had a couple goofy questions texted in but I don’t think anything was inappropriate or divisive.

— The worship set was HUGE today.  Band did awesome.  Did “We Shine” and “Solution” which are BIG songs.  Was fun.

— You need to see the video that we played before answering questions.  We answered some “random” questions that came in via video.  It was funny.

— On Wednesday I was going over my notes and realized that it was going to be really awkward just answering the questions one after the other.  I asked Curtis if he’d help out.  He immediately jumped in and it was PERFECT today having him ask the questions interview style.  Made it flow much better.

—  Pastor Kody is IN TOWN and was in church today.  His first “official” day is tomorrow.  SO GLAD he is here.

—  Short ruminations today.  That is it!  Have an AWESOME week.

Following Christ,

Jeff


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One Prayer

28 05 2009

Hey Element Church!  Starting on Sunday, June 7th we are going to be partnering with literally 1000′s of churches around the word for a new sermon series.  The series is called One Prayer and the theme?  God is…  Here at Element we’ll be looking at four characteristics of God and find how they relate to us personally, our church and our community.  Starting on Monday, June 1st we are offering 28 days of unified prayer and Bible reading as a church body.  We’ll be reading through the book of Matthew together, and joining in some unified prayers.  You can download your prayer and Bible reading calender HERE or pick one up at the e:connect table at church on Sunday.  I’ll be blogging thoughts from each day’s Bible reading that you can follow along with too.  Check out the One Prayer website for more info on this awesome sermon series opportunity.  Hope to see all you Elementers out for One Pryaer.

Following Christ,

Jeff


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Convenience

27 05 2009

How much of our spiritual lives are based on convenience? In my devos this morning I came across Acts 24:25:

25 As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.”

How many of us treat God like that?  His word?  A sermon?   A trusted Christian friend?  “When it’s more convenient I’ll call for you.”

“When I can afford to tithe…I will.”

“When I have more time to do devotions…I will.”

“One more week…then I’ll quit.”

“One more time…then I won’t look again.”

“When it’s more convenient for me…I’ll call.”  Know what I’ve found?  It is NEVER convenient to do what God asks me to do, but it’s ALWAYS best!

Following Christ,

Jeff


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Delighted

26 05 2009

So here I am at jonahs soccer game. Sabrina is at a different field for the girls. The kids are assembling and warming up. The parents are gathering and setting up camp. So I’m offering my first mobile blog from the phone. Oh game is starting. Back at halftime…

Ok kids soccer is just funny. Funnier still? Parents at kids soccer games. There isn’t a group more excited or delighted than parents watching their kids play sports. We yell, scream, applaud, shout directions and jump up and down. And that is just when they touch the ball. You should see us when they score. (which Jonah did twice in half one lol). This is just cheyenne kids soccer which is pretty much meaningless but here we are as parents just delighting in our kids lives. It got me thinking.

Psalm 37:23 says “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives”

If you are a Christian, take an earthly parents delight and times that by 100. Still not close to God. He delights is every detail. Every success he cheers. Every moment he is engaged. Every step down the field he is shouting encouragemet and directions. Hard to imagine God being delighted in us…but he is.

Ok gotta go. Game started and I’m delighting. Hope that encourages you.


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Worship And Theology

26 05 2009

Pastor Michael Lukaszewski from Oak Leaf Church in Cartlesville, GA has an AWESOME post today on worship that I thought deserved some link love.  I LOVE his breakdown of worship and theology.  It goes right along with what I’ve been saying about many church issues recently.  Why not both?  I encourage you to read his post HERE.


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Sunday Ruminations (5-24-09)

25 05 2009

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  It is Monday night and I’m posting my Sunday Ruminations.  Our family and I went to Estes Park yesterday after church for the remainder of Memorial Day weekend.  We met my sister and brother in law there and were privileged to get to use his parents’ condo to relax in.  I forgot my backpack and so didn’t have my computer with me so didn’t get a chance to recap the Sunday.  Here are my ruminations on the day.

— We didn’t give an invitation and I preached on prayer but we had one person receive Christ yesterday.  How awesome is that?  So cool to see the Spirit draw people REGARDLESS of the message topic.

— 732 in church today.  Each service was down from normal but pretty even over the three.  Thought it was a good turnout for Memorial Day weekend.

— Over the past several weeks we’ve been taking questions from Elementers on their “Life’s Toughest Questions”.  Today we took on the #1 most requested topic…prayer.  “Does God hear me when I pray?”  Had some GREAT questions come in on prayer and I hope I brought some answer to their need.

— Prayer is such a tough subject to preach on.  I’m still trying to figure prayer out.  Why some prayers get answered “yes” and others don’t.  Why sometimes God is silent and others He seems as real as a person talking to you.  It’s a HUGE topic.  Still feel we need to do a whole series on prayer.  Haven’t felt the right timing yet.

—  I was actually NOT looking forward to taking on this subject because I feel so ill equipped to speak on it.  I’ve preached specifically on prayer twice now at Element, and both times felt like SO MUCH more was still out there to be said.  Like I said, I hope what was spoken and the Word of God was helpful to people.

— I did have one out of town guest tell me after service “I’ve really been struggling with prayer lately.  I know that God wanted me here today to specifically here this message.”  She told me that following first service.  It was a HUGE encouragement.  I think God had her there not only to hear the message, but to encourage me as well.

— It’s funny cause I saw Adam say the same thing on his blog today, but I felt more tired today after service than I have in a LONG time.  I told Grant afterward “I’m exhausted”.  I usually feel pretty good till I get home and sit, then I’m wiped, but Sunday just took it out of me.

—  Adam had a new band member help lead today on the song “Your Name”.  Kevin, you did an AWESOME job!  Thanks for serving Kevin.  Thanks for letting others lead Adam.

—  Still diggin’ the “I’ve Had Questions” song.  Band nailed it again.

—  Great to have Grant and Andy back this week.  The front door and lobby just isn’t the same without Grant.  Andy rockin’ the sound booth again this week fillin’ in for our regular sound tech.  It’s weird anytime any of my team is gone.  I rely on them more than they know on Sunday.

— Random thought:  I drink so much water and hot tea on Sunday that I’ve got to set a record for trips to the bathroom.  Seems like I’m in there more than anywhere on Sunday.  lol

— I quit drinking pop or coffee over the weekends starting on Saturday mornings.  I drink only water or hot tea Saturday and Sunday and it has really helped my voice.  I drink so much on Sunday though that I can’t hold it all in.

—  Pastor Kody moves here this week.  Keep praying for God to provide housing for them here and the sale of their house in Oklahoma.

— We might get the AC all working before summer.  That would be nice huh?  We had 2 new units working Sunday in the worship center, but I here it was hot enough in e:kidz to do a lesson on a place NOT called Heaven this Sunday.  lol  Need to get that unit working properly.

—  The theater was always hot too wasn’t it.  We need to get that fixed.

— Announced our next sermon series called One Prayer.  I am SUPER excited about doing this series again.  We did it last year as well.  You can find out more about One Prayer HERE.  This years theme is “God is…”  We’re gonna take on four characteristics of God and how they relate to us, Element Church and our city.

— Literally thousands of churches and hundres of thousands of Christians around the world will be partnering together to do this sermon series in June.  We have prayer calendars you can pick up at church.  We’ll be reading through the Gospel of Matthew together and praying some common prayers together as well.  It’s a GREAT opportunity for our church to be unified in prayer and Scripture reading for one month.

— The late start to the week tomorow means LOTS of work this week.  Can’t wait to get started.  Hope the staff had an awesome day off today!

Following Christ,

Jeff


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Acting Like Acts…Pt. 4

22 05 2009

This is my final post on four things I’ve seen in Acts that pertain to church and thought I’d jot them down.  I just finished Acts in my devotions today and think I might read it again.  I usually go right on but I’ve been getting so much out of it I might just stay here.  In no way are these the ONLY four things, but just four things that REALLY stood out to me this time through.

#1   If you don’t want problems…don’t grow

#2  If you don’t want opposition…don’t preach the Gospel

#3  If you don’t like change…don’t pray for God to move

#4  If you don’t like to share…don’t come out and play HA!  How you like that for a lesson.  The generosity, availability and commitment of the early Christians is UNMATCHED in church history.  If you say you want “A church like Acts” I hope you know what you are talking about.  NOTHING was held above Christ or the Church to the early Christians.  NOTHING!  Specifically, three things that the early church shared that I think we can take a lesson from.

A.  Their time —  Acts 2:46-47 says  “They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.”  EVERY DAY?  Wow!  I have a hard time giving my Sunday and one night for Life Group sometimes.  I’m not saying we SHOULD be meeting every day, but THAT was the Acts church.  They shared their TIME!  They didn’t just meet in the temple to worship, they met in homes for communion, AND met together to share meals.  What was the result?  EACH DAY the Lord added to their number those were were being saved.  WOW!  I laugh at how many people can’t wait to get out of the church building once you say Amen.  And how busy we get that we can’t be involved in ONE home group to grow with other like minded Christians.  The Acts church willingly AND joyfully gave of their time.

B.  Their talents — Acts 6:2-5 says “2 So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, ‘We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3 And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.’ 5 Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following:”  The people were empowered to BE the church and they DID IT!  The apostles chose 7 men to help distribute the food, but (reading between the lines), if the Apostles JUST did the preaching and teaching it means that EVERYONE else was using their talents for the church as well.  They were SERVING where God had gifted them AND where they were needed.  How can I be so sure that everyone was willing to share their talents?  Because of the result in 6:7  “So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.” That wouldn’t have happened with out sharing their talents.

C.  Their treasure — The early church had their treasure already…CHRIST!  EVERYTHING else paled in comparison, EVEN money.  “The New Testament doesn’t talk about tithing so I don’t have to!”  Actually it does, but that is another post!  SO let’s play your game.  Maybe you’re right, it doesn’t say we should tithe.  The NT actually goes beyond tithing.  The early church gave EVERYTHING!  Acts 2:44-5 says that they shared everything they had. “45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.”  Acts 4:32 says “And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.”  Hmm, what they owned was not their own.  Now that is a concept we need to grasp better.  Then v. 34-35 says 34 There were NO NEEDY PEOPLE AMONG them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.”  The early church didn’t give 10%, they gave EVERYTHING because they KNEW it wasn’t theirs to begin with.  You should be thankful to give only 10%.

If you don’t like to share…don’t come out and play.  BUT…but if you want to see the church grow, expand and reach more people.  Come out and play!  As near as I can tell, the GIVING of the early church brought JOY, EXCITEMENT and CONTENTMENT!  They LOVED giving, and God rewarded them for it.  When we say we want an Acts type church, we better be willing to give of our time, our talents and our treasure.

Trying to give,

Jeff


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Link Love

21 05 2009

Pastor Kody has a great post up HERE.  Check it out.


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Acting Like Acts…Pt. 3

21 05 2009

You can read the other two parts HERE and HERE if you like.  I’ve been reading in Acts for my devotions and just saw a couple church related things that I thought I’d share.

#1  If you don’t want problems…don’t grow

#2  If you don’t want opposition…don’t preach the Gospel

#3  if you don’t like change…don’t pray for God to move

I’m amazed at how many Christians and churches say they are praying for revival, and dying for God to move in their churches and communities but are totally unwilling to embrace change.  How many people say they’d do ANYTHING to see their children or grandchildren know Jesus, but won’t let their pastors change the style of music or their methods of ministry to preach the Gospel and worship Christ in a way that connects with a new generation?  “Because, well, that’s the way we’ve always done it.  I met Christ through those methods and that music.”

Folks, when God moves THINGS CHANGE.  And sometimes IN ORDER for God to move He has to CHANGE THINGS.  If you don’t like change, don’t pray for God to move.

In Acts 1, it had been about 40 days since the resurrection and Jesus had appeared to the disciples on a number of occasions.  This was the last time He would see them, before literally, their world stinkin’ flipped upside down.  In Acts 1:4-5 Jesus tells them to “not leave Jerusalem” until the Holy Spirit comes upon them.  He was preparing them for EVERYTHING to change.  So they obeyed.  We find them, with bout 120 other believers, together in once place.  What were they doing?  Praying.  On the day of Pentecost the Spirit fell on the disciples and filled them with power.  EVERYTHING CHANGED!  They had 120 believers at that point.  That is larger than the average church in America today.  But they weren’t praying for God to keep everything the same.  They were pryaing for GOD TO MOVE and when God moves EVERYTHING CHANGES!

They couldn’t just hoard this new gift that was given, so Peter goes out and starts preaching.  3,000 were added as believers in one day.  WHAT?  120 to 3,000.  That meant that not all the believers knew each other anymore.  Peter was the preacher but he couldn’t minister to all 3,120 believers like maybe he/they could at 120.  The upper room wasn’t big enough now, they needed more space.  It worked before, but now there was no way.  When God moves EVERYTHING CHANGES!

Now people were meeting in homes all throughout the city.  People were sharing their own possessions.  They ate meals together.  Prayed togther.  Worshipped together.  They would meet in the synagogue or temple all together and then go back to their homes and minister to each other (can we say small group ministry?).  In Acts 6 we see a MAJOR shift in the leadership of the disciples.  They went from doing ALL the ministry needs to focusing on just  preaching and teaching. (Wonder how many comments they got on that decision)  EVERYTHING CHANGED!

Read through Acts and see how many times when God moved things changed.  The Jewish Christians had to welcome the Gentile Christians.  Churches began popping up all throughout the region so Paul and others traveled to minister to them.  The old law was being done away with for the age of grace.  The old Jewish system had to be adapted to meet the needs of the new Gentile believers.  EVERYTHING CHANGED!

If you don’t like change…don’t pray for God to move. BUT…but if the salvation of men and women and the transformation of their lives and the permiation of God into our communities is at the top of your priority list, then PRAY FOR THE MOVE OF GOD!  DESPERATELY pray for the move of God.  When God moves things change, but if we’re honest, they ALWAYS change for the BETTER.  At least in the eyes of the Kingdom.

Praying for God to move,

Jeff


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You Asked…

20 05 2009

Hey Element Church!  All through May we’ve been taking on some of Life’s Toughest Questions for our sermon series.  Each week, we’ve been collecting some of  your questions as well.  By FAR, the #1 requested topic has been about prayer.  So, the Life’s Toughest Question we are taking on this week is, “Does God hear me when I pray?”  I’ll be straight up honest, I don’t undesrtand prayer.  Makes you feel REAL confident about the message huh?  I’m learning with you.  I believe God has some GREAT answers for us this week though as I’ve been studying and preparing for the message.

Next Sunday, May 31st we are going to try and answer as many of the other questions that came in as we can.  We received a bunch of good questions and will answer them in a Q and A type format.  THEN at the end of each service we are going to open up for LIVE questions to come in via text messaging.  If you didn’t turn in a question but you want one answered you’ll have the chance to text it in live on the spot.  I’ll do my best to answer those questions right then and there.  This has been a fun series.  HEAVY, but fun!

Hope to see you there this week as we talk about prayer!


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