- What a great day!
- Too bad a lot of people missed it because of the holidays and icy weather.
- It was great that I had a Sunday to be here but yet not have to preach.
- Josh knocked it out of the park in both Experiences.
- Really proud of him and I’m looking forward to seeing how God will use him in the future both here and possibly elsewhere.
- I know a lot of people were “moved” by his message.
- The other big thing going on this weekend was getting some of the equipment in that was originally cut from the new building.
- All of the team are now on in-ear monitors which helps to tremendously cut back on having too much volume on the stage, which in turn creates a better, clearer sound out in the room.
- In the coming weeks and months we should be able to finish up the rest of the stage to what it was supposed to be from the beginning.
- Big thanks to Andy, Aaron and Chris for the hard work getting all the new equipment installed and ready for this weekend.
- Behind the scenes, everything seemed to click well today.
- It was fun hanging out with Josh and making sure his Experience preaching was all that God intended.
- Tonight is the Hanging of the Greens service which should be great.
- Just got back from Fuddrucker’s where I ordered the 2/3 lb. burger, plus sides, figuring that I would eat some then bring the rest back to church to eat tonight right before the service…uhhh…I ate it all…seriously, I think I might be able to pull off the 1 lb. burger sometime.
- Lots of other stuff happened over the weekend, I’ll up-date you tomorrow.
Archives for November 2008
Thanksgiving 2008
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here are the 8 things I’m most thankful for here in 2008.
- Jesus. You might be saying, “Gilbert wasn’t Jesus #1 on your list last year?” Yes and He’ll continue to be #1 for the rest of my life. Every year I realize more and more how much greater He is and how far short I fall of His standard. Yet He still loves me and helps me to grow…what an awesome God.
- Lisa. Speaking of people who love me despite all my flaws. Lisa is my #1 fan and supports and loves me no matter what. She is to me an example of Jesus in the flesh…she serves, loves, cares and listens to me like no one else. To top it off she’s beautiful, sexy and smart…with just enough hint of blondness that she fell for me 15 years ago.
- Family support. I have an unbelievable family on not only my side, but also Lisa’s side as well. We are incredibly fortunate that everybody gets along, actually enjoys one another’s company and are there for each other through thick and thin.
- Grandparents. Up until 2 years ago, Lisa and I had 7 of our 8 grandparents still living. We’re down to 5 of 8 now after the passing of my grandmother towards the beginning of the year and Lisa’s grandfather is not doing well. However, all 7 were and continue to be an incredible influence on the two of us in numerous ways. I’m so thankful that I had/have all of them in my life.
- United. We continue to be used by God in big ways to reach hundreds of people. I’m thankful that everyday I wake up excited about what I get to do for a living and that I get to pastor some of the best people on the face of the planet. I’m thankful for the 100+ people who have come into a relationship with Jesus so far in 2008 and for the many letters and e-mails I get from people saying how much their lives are changing. YEA GOD!
- The Team. Whether it be staff or volunteers, I get to serve next to some of the hardest working, most dedicated, sold out to Jesus people in the world. I’m especially thankful to our worship team who volunteer countless hours to preparation, practice and performance. There are so many others of you that do so much behind the scenes stuff that it would be hard to list it all, but know that I’m grateful, the people we’re reaching are grateful, but most importantly God is pleased by your sacrifice of time and talents. Well done…and thank you from the bottom of my heart!
- Earl. Another great example of Jesus to me. With the rapid growth in United it would have been so easy for him to get jealous and try to hinder what God is doing in the multi-purpose room…but he has been anything but. In 2 years he has only said no to one of my crazy ideas once, has been a shield for a lot of criticism that comes my way and has wrapped his arms around me with love and grace when I’ve messed up. What an awesome guy to partner with in seeing CFCOG reach Franklin County and beyond…and oh yeah, he makes for a pretty good skydiving partner as well!
- Tie: House and Friends. Oops ran out of numbers. Oh well this is my blog so I can add another if I want. First, I’m thankful for the house in C’burg that God has provided for us. As I sit here typing this in my home office, I’m looking out the window at the mountains and can see the slopes of Whitetail Ski Resort. It’s a beautiful view and now having a commute that is only 12 minutes as compared to the 35 from before is awesome! Also, being a new house, it doesn’t require much maintenance which I have no clue how to do. Second, I’m thankful for friends like Andy & Gayle, Bill & Nicole and Aaron & Ashleigh who allow be to just be Gilbert, not “Pastor Gilbert”. I try to be as open and authentic as possible around all people, but these 6 have known me for many years…in the case of Andy & Gayle and Bill & Nicole, 15 years…with Aaron & Ashleigh coming up on 3. It’s great to have friends like that who have known you for so long and are with you through the highs and lows of life…truly we are better together.
Alright so there’s my list…what about you? Tell us the 1 or 2 things you are grateful for this year. Again Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy your day!
You’ve Gotta Watch This
As a part of our Contagious Christmas Challenge I’ve been saying that some things go viral and can’t be stopped. Watch this video of a little boy’s dying wish.
If he can be that generous, then why can’t we. Don’t forget to bring in your money this week.
Inside Today’s Experiences
- Another interesting day.
- After last week, Aaron said he wanted the team to pick up a lot more of the slack so I had less to do on Sunday mornings.
- So today I had very little to do until I went on stage…that was nice.
- Except I tried to print a few more envelopes for the Contagious Christmas Challenge and couldn’t get them to work.
- That was a 1/2 hour of my life I’ll never get back. :)
- The building was having some power issues today, so we had to run a little less volume than normal…but that meant we lost all energy in the room.
- Really liked the new song that Brian did today called, “All Because of Jesus”.
- It was funny seeing some of our behind the scenes techies today because they all looked like secret service agents.
- The reason was they were testing out some new in ear monitoring equipment that the worship team will soon be using.
- I loved today being able to share with everyone about the Outbreak of financial blessing that He wants to being into people’s lives.
- I think verbally and visually it was one of those messages that if it wasn’t clear what needs to be done, then you were probably sleeping.
- During the 9:15 Experience, I decided to eat some of the M&M’s during the beginning of the message…BIG mistake.
- Wow did a need a glass of water then…oh well was able to make it through.
- Can’t believe the girls on the worship team were coming out afterwards and eating the M&M’s for two reasons.
- First, because they make you thirsty.
- Second, I had been handling them all morning long with my bare hands.
- Glad they trust that I am germ free!
- Can’t wait to hear the stories in the coming months as people stop “robbing God” and start testing Him.
- I also can’t wait to see how much more of an impact we can have with the at least additional 1.2 million dollars!
- One last thing…this series was our highest attended ever!
- Please never take for granted that you are getting to be a part of something that God is doing that few people ever get to be a part of.
- However, I work is not done…1000’s of people in our community still don’t know Jesus, so make sure you invite someone to come back with you next week!
Austin Update
- Having a great trip.
- Our flight Wednesday night got delayed in Detroit by 2 hours so we never arrived until about 1AM EST, which meant the morning rolled around awfully fast.
- I’m here with my friend Chuck Frank who just got hired by our denomination to oversee church planting.
- Also along are Mike Schooley (the founder of United), Senior Pastor of Higer Hope Church and Rich Thorton, Worship Pastor at Friendship Community.
- Our purpose is to help Chuck figure out how to get at least 20 new churches started in our denomination in the next few years.
- To help accomplish that we spent a really busy day at Hill Country Bible Church.
- We met with John Herrington who is the Director of Church Planting to pick his brain about their extensive residency program that they offer.
- Wow it is great and I hope Chuck will be able to adopt it in some way.
- We had lunch brought in from a great Texas Bar-B-Que place and dinner was at the famous, Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant.
- To be honest, Chuck’s GPS unit that he brought along hasn’t been doing all that great…let’s just say we’ve taken “the scenic route” a number of times.
- Our flight is bright and early on Friday morning with a stop in Newark, NJ…ahhhh hate that airport.
- Don’t forget to invite alot of people for this weekend’s message…it’s going to be super sweet!
- Also don’t forget to start bringing in your offerings for the Contagious Christmas Challenge.