Gilbert Thurston

• Happy New Year!
• Our trip to FL was quick and not very relaxing.
• I realized about part way through that all I kept thinking about was how much work I had to get done when vacation officially ends tomorrow…so I decided to invite Terry Betz to come deliver the same message he shared in the main sanctuary with us for this Sunday. 
• Terry and I are going to do the message together in a Q&A style format.  We’ll sit up at the table and have a conversation…only 100’s of people will be eavesdropping in.
• I’ve done these in the past and they are a lot of fun.  Terry has some great info to share about decision making, so make sure you’re there and bring a friend or two along with you.
• During the summer I has an intern named Brian.  All summer long, when I’d type his name I’s accidentally, type it as Brain.  So his nickname became BRAIN.  So imagine my delight when I’m browsing through the in-flight magazine and find a toy robot you can buy for your kid called “Brian the Brain.”
• I was playing soccer with my 2 nephews the other day.  We were rotating between who was goalie and at one point it was me and my nephew Jordan against his 6 year old brother Adam.  I made a “fancy” behind the back pass to Jordan who easily scored a goal to which Adam responded, “Hey Gilbert you’re not allowed to use your magical powers when were playing soccer.” 
• In the 14 years now that I’ve been a Christian, I think I can still count on 1 hand the number of times I’ve missed a church service on a weekend.  The few times that it has happened was because of either weather being so bad that services were cancelled or I was EXTREMELY sick.  What I’m getting at is just because your on vacation, doesn’t mean you should take a vacation from church.  So no matter where Lisa and I find ourselves, we always find some place to attend.  This past Sunday we had actually already arrived home so we went to a church in Hagerstown called The Life House.
• It’s always nice being able to attend somewhere else and not have to worry about all the logistics.
• We enjoyed the service and it’s definitely a church that I’d recommend you send your friends to if Chambersburg is too far away or if they just don’t care for 1 of our 3 styles of worship experiences.
• I listened to Earl’s message on Monday and then to Terry’s yesterday.  Thought they both did a good job!
• I thought last night’s party went well for a first time out.
• With 4 bands and all the additional equipment, I thought Andy did a great job of minimizing the technical conflicts.  Yeah there were some but if you could see and understand everything he had to do to pull that off, you’d be amazed.
• A huge thanks to the worship team from Crossroads (another Hagerstown church I’d recommend) and to the Safety of Routine for coming out and being a part of the festivities.
• Of course thanks to our own band for playing as well!
• My favorite part though was the combined band at the end.
• Oh yeah…I lied…my favorite part was hearing that Tom Weil…one of the let’s just call him “older” party participants wanted to start a mosh pit down front.  Now I’m not really into moshing, but if that’s what Tom wanted, we wanted to make sure he got his wish.  Thanks Tom for showing us young-uns how to have a “good time.”
• Thanks to all of you who helped with the planning and execution of the event.  Click this link here to give feedback on your highlights and what we can do to improve on it in coming years.
• Again Happy New Year!

Everybody does these type of lists, so why shouldn’t I.  Here are the most donwloaded and listened to messages in United for 2007:

7.  What Happens When I Die…from the series “Answer’s to Life’s Tough 
     Questions.”

6.  Rahab:  Breaking the Labels that Bind…from the series “Girls Gone 
     Wild Bible Style.”

5.  Living a Renovated Life…from the series “Extreme Makeover: You 
     Edition.”

4.  Minding the Business… from the series “Mind Your Own Business.”

3.  Perhaps…a stand alone message on the 5 year vision for United.

2.  Crazy… from the series “God Pod.”

1.  One Simple Truth…from the series “Extreme Makeover: You Edition.”

This morning we exchanged gifts and then we participated in our annual tradition of eating Alaskan King Crab Legs for lunch.  Of course there are other things to eat but the 13lbs of crab legs are a hit with the guys.  Well gotta go eat dessert now, hope everyone is having a great week!