Element Church Insider

Well, the last Sunday of March is in the books and what a day it was.  Today was such a POWERFUL time of worship and prayer and God’s Spirit was so evident in the place today.  It was a GREAT memory that I’ll have about Element for a long time.  Here are my ruminations on the day.

—  This morning just felt weird before service started.  It was somewhat hectic and frantic, but the whole time leading up to service I just didn’t feel “right”.  Not sure what it was, if anything, but I prayed a LOT and God was very evident.

—  It’s weird how some Sundays I can do the same preparation, same routine, same everything but something just doesn’t feel right.  Once I hit the platform I know the Lord was helping me but I was definitely apprehensive leading up to the service.

—  We concluded our sermon series today called “The Others:  When God doesn’t come through”.  I said today that we take EVERY sermon and sermon series VERY seriously.  I don’t remember ever doing a sermon or series at Element “just because”.  I feel each one has been directed by the Holy Spirit.  I know there are times that our delivery of a sermon or series isn’t what we had hoped, but we always try to be obedient to what God is directing us to do.

— That being said, today’s service was a complete move of the Holy Spirit.  We had this series planned months ago, and I had planned on preaching on the prophet Jeremiah last Sunday and Stephen this Sunday.  Two weeks ago I walked into the creative team meeting for this Sunday and told the guys “I just don’t feel like God wants us to move forward on what we had planned.  I feel like He wants us to close the series off in a special way.”  SO, I trashed the sermon on Jeremiah last week and preached on Stephen.  Wrote a new sermon for this week and the worship team organized a new set.  All in all it turned out to be an AWESOME day!  To God be the glory.

—  We’ve been talking all month on the times in Scripture when “God didn’t come through”.  He didn’t step in to save the day, rescue the hero or deliver the character.  It’s been a HEAVY discussion and not always “hopeful”.  I couldn’t shake the feeling that we needed to end our series by praying over people for healing.  And so that’s what we did.

—  I preached today on “How to find healing in the midst of my hurting”.  We closed the service with several prayer warriors I recruited up front, and we just opened the altar for people to come have hands laid on them and prayer for healing.  I have no idea how many we prayed for, but it was lined with people each service.

—  We prayed for a variety of needs.  I opened it up for physical healing, emotional healing and spiritual healing.  I personally prayed for someone with cancer to be healed.  Someone with MS.  Another with fibromyalgia.  I prayed over a couple for their marriage to be restored.  Prayed for forgiveness with someone.  And the list goes on.  Prayed for two people who lost loved ones recently.  And I was one of twelve people praying.  We prayed for 15 – 20 minutes over people each service.  It was AWESOME!  Our over all prayer was “Lord, may our hope be in YOU alone!”

—  I pray not only for healing in those we prayed for, but for a spirit of HOPE to permeate their hearts.

—  It was such a powerful time of prayer.  I can’t wait to hear stories of what God’s done in peoples hearts, bodies and lives.

—  Here are some excerpts from the sermon:

• Sometimes we’re so busy complaining about our situation or consumed in our circumstances we don’t stop to CRY OUT to the Creator of the Universe Who alone has the power to do something about the situation I find myself in.  (Potty seat.  Had to be there)
• Sometimes, we need to stop calling what we’re going through a “spiritual attack” when we’re the ones who caused it by our own sinful decisions.
• Lots of people are crying out to God to save them from their situation when they first need to be saved from their sins that caused the situation.
• If you are desperate for God only in times of trouble, you may not be a follower of WHO He is, but a fan of WHAT He does.
• I need to CRY OUT FOR HELP!
• If my hope is in ANYTHING else but God, it will ALWAYS lead to disappointment.
• Healing is not always the correcting of my problem, removal of my illness or rescue from my oppressor.  Often times the healing I need is ME breaking free from being a servant to my situation, and becoming a servant to my Savior!  That my friends is TRUE healing.
• THEN the reality is, if my body is riddled with a disease like cancer, I’m not a slave to my cancer but a slave to my Savior.  My Savior RULES over cancer, therefore cancer does not own me, GOD owns me.
• My only hope is YOU God.
• I need to CHOOSE to worship.  Worship heals me in my hurting and defeats the enemy in the midst of my suffering.

— LOVED seeing people step out in boldness to CRY OUT to God for help, put their HOPE in Him and CHOOSE to worship regardless what is happening to them.

—  Got to pray with several friends individually.  So proud of each of you.

—  People asking for GOD SIZED miracles today.  I pray we see them done!

—  Adam was on vacation today so Danielle Nyght stepped in and led for us.  She and the band did a GREAT job leading us to God’s throne in worship today.  Thanks guys SO MUCH.

—  That’s about it!  Gonna chillax while watching basketball.

— Thanks Element Church for letting me lead you.  Can’t imagine being anywhere else.

Till the end,

Jeff

Anyone still instinctively start writing the year as a “0″ first?  I put “0″ first a lot, only to correct it for “10″.  Random thought of the day.  AWESOME day today at Element.  Here are my ruminations.

—  12 people stood to receive Christ today at Element Church.  LOVE seeing that EVERY time!

—  Had people in every service stand up to acknowledge Christ as Savior.

—  217 kids in e:kidz today.  HOLY COW!  That place is CRAZY!  Pretty full day in worship center too.

— Speaking of full, DON’T FORGET that we need about 200 people who are regular 2nd and 3rd service attenders to attend first service for ONE SUNDAY on Easter.  Every seat represents one person that might need to hear about Jesus so the more we have available in our prime services, the better!

—  The band kicked off service with a little old school JESUS FREAK.  They NAILED it and it was a TON of fun.

—  the only time I heard that song today was during 3rd service, but that place was ROCKING!  LOVED seeing people sing along and rock out to that great old Christian rock song.

—  MAN the band was ON today.  Such a powerful worship set, seemed like an anthem was rising up out of the church today. GREAT job Adam and band.

—  Weird how different a time of worship can “feel” from one week to the next.  I think our emotions, circumstances and surroundings cause us to connect differently each time we worship.  Worship is a CHOICE but how it feels often varies.  Today, for me, was just one of those days where I felt REALLY connected in worship.

—  I was very moved by the new song the band led us in today called “You Hold Me Now”.  Hope that becomes a staple at Element. Oh wait, Adam works for me, I can FORCE him to sing it.  lol

—  This series we are in has become much more than I anticipated.  What started out for me as a cool series on “The Others” (Heb. 11:35-39) of the Bible, has turned into something very deep and powerful for lots of people.  I think I’ve received more “this is just what I need” type comments during this series than ever before.

—  Here are some excerpts from today’s sermon:  Big Question:  What do I do with my setbacks?  (Stephen Acts 6:1-8:4)

• EVERY person who attends ANY church on ANY given Sunday is one soul headed for eternity.  That matters to God therefore EVERY number matters to God.  (rabbit trail of the day out of Acts)
• We are great at making the most of our successes, but what do we do with our setbacks?
• Anyone with any amount of faith can walk through a miracle.  I want the kind of faith that keeps me settled in my setbacks.
• In your setbacks you can use the momentum of the attack against you to advance the Kingdom of God beyond you.
• In my setbacks, what matters most is NOT whether God comes to the rescue, but how do I walk through the moment in which I need rescued?  How did I respond?  React?
• People don’t doubt whether God can do miracles, what they doubt is whether we will still trust Him when He doesn’t.  We have the opportunity to show people how a Christian walks through s setback.
• Stephen understood that “My tragedy may mean someone else’s transformation.  My downfall might be someone else’s demonstration.  My need I want met might be someone else’s necessity to survive.  I think he understood that somehow, my pain serves a purpose in God’s Kingdom.
• What happens to me today really won’t matter 100 years from now.  What will matter 100 years from now is “How did my life advance the Gospel?”
• This was one of my FAVORITE sermons in a while.  Been ready to preach this all week.  You can listen or watch it online Tuesday.

—  Next week, as we close out the series, I really feel has the potential to be one of the most powerful moments we’ve had at Element in a long time.  LOVE how God is leading us to wrap up this series.  I really believe it could be a life changing time for people in our church.  I know it’s the start of Spring break next weekend, but I hope you’ll make an effort to be at church to close out this series AND to invite someone to come with you.

—  Had some GREAT conversations with first time guests today.  LOVE that!

—  Someone gave me an 8×10 autographed picture of Billy Sims today.  Billy Sims is a Heisman Trophy winning Running back for the Oklahoma Sooners from the 70′s.  AMAZING football player.  Couldn’t believe he gave it to me.  Thanks Zac.

—  I told a story about my first kiss today in church.  Jonah was sitting in the front row during first service and the moment I said the word “kiss” I hear from my son “Woo hoo”.  It was hilarious.  Couldn’t believe he did that.  Everyone got a big laugh out of it.

—  We had The Tour newcomers lunch today.  Had about 30 people there, not counting staff or volunteers.  The Tour is one of my favorite events each month.  It’s been such a HUGE part of helping us connect new people into the church.  LOVE telling the story of Element every single time.

—  Even though my bracket is COMPLETELY shot, I still love watching the NCAA tourney, so with that said I’m gonna sign off and watch some basketball.

—  Thanks Element Church for being who you are.  LOVE leading you!

Till the end,

Jeff

MAN it feels like it’s an hour earlier than it actually is.  (I’m so funny)  Why don’t they do daylight savings on a Friday night?  That would work so much better for me.  Another great Sunday @ Element Church.  Here are my ruminations on the day.

—  Jonah attended first service today.  As soon as church was over he came running behind the curtain to the backstage area and grabbed me.  He said “Why didn’t you do four?”  I said “What?”  He said “You only did…like 3.”  I said “You mean points in my sermon?”  He said “YEAH, I thought you usually did 4.”

—  Not normal for someone to ask for MORE points to a sermon.  I assured him it’s not always just 3 or 4.  I did do an eight pointer a few weeks ago.  So you never know.  I guess he was looking out for me.

—  I have had nightmares where I walk off the platform skipping whole parts of my sermon.  Glad that wasn’t the case.  Or getting to the pulpit with no sign of my notes.

—  In the first church I served in I got up to the pulpit to realize my notes were on my desk in my office.  I excused myself and ran to get them.  Thankfully, that’s never happened here at Element.

—  Continued our series called “The Others: When God Doesn’t Come Through” today.  This has been a tough series for me to preach through.  It is not a “pick me up” kind of series, but it is so necessary.  I think so many people lose heart and give up because they don’t know how to walk through life’s disappointments and tragedies.  I truly believe that Scripture gives us the principles and truth we need to walk through those tough moments of life.  Here are some excerpts from today:

• We asked the question “How do we deal with doubts?”  I spoke from Matthew 11:1-12.  The story of John the Baptist in prison and Jesus’ response to the question “Are you the Messiah or should we look for someone else?”
• God is still God and God is still good!  (Had to be there to get the context of that one)
• Struggling with doubt is not really our problem in Christianity…Our problem is we doubt we will ever struggle.
• We have churches, pastors and Christians who tell us “Come to Jesus and He’ll fix all your problems.  God wants you to be happy, healthy and wealthy.”  While I do believe God delights when His children experience those things, He wants SO MUCH MORE for us to be HOLY.  And often to experience holiness we must walk through the fire, remain in our “prison” or experience those moments where it seems like God doesn’t come through BUT we still trust Him.
• When I come to Jesus He doesn’t fix all my problems, He fixes ME…and when I’m fixed, I’m able to face ALL my problems.
• God doesn’t have to answer ANYTHING and He answers to NO ONE!
• When Job asked why God allowed Him to lose everything, one of God’s responses was “Do you know when the wild goats give birth to their young?”  Among MANY other questions like that.
• God doesn’t owe me an answer or explanation to anything, His answer to EVERYTHING is the cross!  “I died for you”
• Jesus didn’t prove Himself to John by what He did for John, but by what He did for other people.  “Tell John everything you’ve seen and heard”
• We don’t struggle with believing in Jesus, we struggle believing WHO Jesus says we ARE.  We MUST know who we are IN CHRIST!
• When you live to advance the Kingdom of God, another kingdom will advance against you.  We need to know what to expect.

—  I know there are many people in Element who are going through or have gone through VERY difficult times in their lives.  My prayer leading up to this series has been and WILL be that God would FILL people’s hearts with hope and faith, REGARDLESS of what they are going through.

—  Adam sang one of his original songs “The Heart Of A Warrior” as a solo during offering today.  I think that may have been the first Element original song. He wrote it 2 years ago.  GREAT song!  Love the meaning behind it and where it came from in the life of our church.

—  I announced that we will NOT be doing the egg drop this year.  We’ve had some questions on that.  We really struggled with this decision as a leadership team, however it came down to doing the egg drop, or pursuing the purchase of a house for short term homeless transitional housing.  While we have LOVED doing the egg drop and it has been a HUGE success, we felt like we couldn’t pass up on providing a roof over someones head.  For this quarter we had to choose to do one or the other, not both.  It came down for me that “after a few weeks, kids will forget their plastic eggs and candy.  A family who is given a place to stay will remember that for a lifetime”.   We have some other outreach projects scheduled for later this year and we will do the egg drop again, it just won’t be happening this year.

—  Please be praying for the R3 (rebuild, restore, redeem) team as they continue to work on finding the home that God has for us.  Hopefully, we will be moving this week on a house that has been looked at.

—  We are expecting a very big crowd for Easter Sunday.  If you attend 2nd or 3rd service normally and could move to first service for JUST Easter Sunday that would be GREAT.  We feel we need 200 people to move services in order to make enough room.  In doing this, you’ll be opening seats for people to come and experience LIFE!

— That’s about it.  March Madness brackets come out at 4 PM.  LOVE this time of year for sports.  Nothing better than March Madness.

Till the end,

Jeff