Element Church Insider

Awesome day at church today.  Weather is unbelievable outside and I have to say it was unbelievable inside the church as well.  Here are my ruminations on the day.

— 23 people stood today to declare their allegicance to Jesus and receive Him as Savior.  AMAZING!  That NEVER gets old.

— If only for the one (or 23)!

— I did something today I’ve never done before.  I had 4 points in my sermon.  After point #1 I gave an opportunity for people to receive Christ.  The final 3 points dealt with what happens AFTER I’m saved, so I felt we needed to give that opportunity right in the middle of the sermon.  Worked pretty good.  I had people raise their hand after we prayed, I then had them stand at the end of the service if they had prayed.

—  So cool to see people standing each service, acknowledging Christ as their Savior.  Have lots of people to follow up with now.

— The Holy Spirit was SO HEAVY today throughout the worship service.

—  I got a blog sitting in the coffer about Presence vs. People!  It’s very easy in church leadership to trust in the #’s of people rather than the presence of God.  #’s are easier to trust cause you can see them.  You can’t always see God’s presence, but let me speak from experience, you can FEEL when it’s not there or not evident.  I’ll take presence over people any day! (That’s tougher to say when the #’s are down.  Just being honest)

—  We had a GREAT turnout today.  The 70 degrees today compared to snow and ice last week definitely showed its impact.  Completely different from last week.

—  28 FTG’s (First Time Guests) today!  That is a TON.  We average 8 – 10.  28 cards were actually filled out.  Amazing.

—  We STILL need people to move from 2nd to 1st or 3rd service.  I think we are going to have to announce this on Sunday and challenge some Elementers to make the shift.  2nd service is getting full and we definitely have room in 1st or 3rd service.

— Said goodbye to a GREAT Element couple today.  Keenan and Katrina were the first couple to show up on the scene here in Cheyenne from Gillette as a part of our launch team.  They served as volunteer staff in the beginning and have continued to be a KEY part of our church.  Due to job situations they are moving back to Gillette this week.  Gonna miss them.

—  MAN did the band absolutely nail it today.  Spot on!  Our time of worship in EVERY service was amazing.  Continue to be so pleased and impressed with the caliber of people God lets us use each week to lead us in worship.

— Continued our I Love The 80′s series today and talked about our core value of Change.  Here are some excerpts.

—  Spoke from Colossians 3:1-17.  AMAZING and powerful passage of Scripture.  Such a clear picture of salvation and what is to follow after receiving Christ.

—  If you don’t believe that a major change takes place when you receive salvation, maybe you have yet to be changed.  (I once was dead, now I’m alive)

—  Saying to Christ “He’s kinda my life” is like me saying of Sabrina “She’s kinda my wife”.  How is that gonna work out.  (I’m either dead or alive there is no kinda)

—  Telling God “I need to change first” (before coming to know Him), is like a dead man telling the paramedic before CPR “Let me try to breathe first”.  IT CAN’T HAPPEN!

—  When you come to know Jesus and your heart is made alive, your life and lifestyle need to start changing. (Can’t argue with Colossians 3:5-9)

—  I think too many people use “legalism” as their excuse not to strip off that which is of the world, weighs them down, and keeps them from being ALL that Christ wants them to be.

—  It doesn’t have to be Abercrombie, Hollister, Gucci or Armani to find pride in our labels.  The church does just fine being puffed up in our mercy, humility, kindness, and patience.  We show off our spiritual clothes just as much as our physical ones.

— If you’re getting better at pointing out how bad everyone else is, you may actually be moving further away from God because the closer you get to Him the more you realize you NEED Him.

—  When I start focusing on what clothes I have on (spiritual) and what everyone else doesn’t have, I become like a spoiled little rich kid thinking “Man, I’m glad I don’t have their dad.”  The reality is though, you have the same dad, you just don’t know Him anymore.

—  We are not made to have some of Jesus and He some of us.  We’re made to have ALL of Jesus and He ALL of us.  We’re designed to be FILLED!

—  I’m really enjoying our theme of I Love The 80′s.  It’s complimented very well our Core Values and added some fun illustration moments in Church.  Oh yeah, we’re not supposed to have fun in church.

—  Can’t think of anything else right now.  We have The Tour newcomers dinner tonight at 5:30.  Love connecting with new people in the church.

— Gonna chill for a bit watching some football and head back to the church.

— I LOVE leading the best people in the world.  You guys ROCK!

Following Christ,

Jeff

The first Winter (Fall) storm of the year rolled through over the weekend.  Left us blanketed with 6 – 8 inches of snow, major highways closed and FREEZING cold temperatures and slick roads this morning.  It was SLIM PICKENS’ in church today but the Holy Spirit was very present.  I’ll take the Spirit’s Presence over people anyday!  Overall great day at Element.  Here are my ruminations on the day.

—  I LOVE snow but I hate it when it happens over a Sunday!

— On a positive note, as I was driving to the church today I realized “I am SO glad we don’t have to load and unload the church trailer everyweek”  It was days like today that that were BRUTAL!

—  The Spirit was very evident today.  Loved our worship time together and taking communion as a church body is always great!

— Adam started doing something with the band, tech team and pastors on communion Sundays.  Since they are always working during communion we gather together before first service and I administer communion to them.  I really enjoyed sitting down with them this morning, praying over them and getting to take communion myself.

—  I hope the symbolism and “remembrance” of communion NEVER gets old to us.  Jesus established the reminder and it should ALWAYS be a powerful moment to think about what Christ did for us.

— Today we had open communion throughout the worship set.  I prayed over the elements and explained communion, we then had stations available for people to partake of the elements when their hearts were prepared.  It was cool to see people come up all throughout worship to take communion.  Some kneeling at the altar to pray before receiving the elements.  Very cool!

— The band was solid again today.  Sang two Adam Cruz originals.  LOVED both the originals we sang today.  Yearn and Till The End!

— I think we need Adam to write an 80′s throw back worship tune, who’s with me in that?

— If you’re an Elementer, whenever you get a chance make sure and thank the praise team.  They put in a TON of time to make happen what happens on Sunday morning.  Thursday night rehearsal and the first ones here on Sunday morning.

—  All of our volunteers do an OUTSTANDING job of giving their time to serve the church.  SO THANKFUL for the volunteers we have.

—  Continued our I Love The 80′s series today.  Talking about Living a RADICAL Life.  I’m having fun reminiscing to some 80′s stuff through this.  Here are some excerpts from the day.  Preached from Romans 12:9-13

—  Spoke on our core value of Family today!  We’re not made to live life alone.

—  We have replaced love with tolerance as if somehow overlooking the sin in people’s lives is a sign that we love them.

—  Tolerance is not the answer, TRUTH is the answer.

—  Real love is not the overlooking of sin but the OPPOSING of it.  (Romans 12:9  Don’t just pretend to love others, really love them. Hate what is wrong and hold tightly to what is good)

—  A commentator on Romans 12:9 “Hate sin as you would hate the hell to which it leads.”

—  How much do you have to hate someone to not tell them about sin?  (watch THIS from Penn of Penn and Teller)

—  If you’re looking for a group of people, a family, that will let you stay exactly where you are, you’re not looking for a radical life but a regular one, and last time I checked Jesus didn’t call us to regular living.

—  One of the biggest dangers to the life of the Christian is not sin but indifference, for it is indifference that leads us to the doorway of sin.

—  Most often, the way to inspire someone to greatness is to be great yourself.  We MUST start leading by example, not just exhortation.

—  Really enjoyed this weeks look into our family ties.  Hope it helped you as you heard it.

—  Pastors get comments every week on their sermons.  Typically they are good comments.  Bad comments are usually done anonymously or via email.  But every so often you REALLY get a comment that hits home and encourages you.  Maybe it comes from someone who doesn’t normally say anything.  Maybe it’s the way in which it’s said or their use of words is more than just “good sermon” or “great job”.  I got one of those comments today.  A well thought, very sincere, encouraging word.  It came at a GREAT time and was VERY appreciated.

—  Did you know it’s been TWENTY YEARS since The Princess Bride came out!  Random 80′s thought.

— If you are not currently in a Life Group I encourage you to get plugged in to one.  Check out the new Life Group booklets at church and get signed up.

—  Alright, that’s about it!  Gonna watch the rest of the Bronco game, order pizza for the family and watch Amazing Race with my wife!  Love relaxing on Sunday nights!

Following Christ,

Jeff