- Had a really good day.
- Today was the 3 year anniversary since I first spoke at United.
- A bunch of the United crowd threw me a surprise party last night which was really cool!
- Hard to believe its been 3 years already.
- That very first weekend we had 85 in attendance…now here we are 3 years later and not only do hundreds of people attend each week, but hundreds of people have come into a relationship with Jesus!
- This morning I came in early and couldn’t get the network or 3 screens to work…I panicked…oh no what are we going to do.
- Ummm…reach over and turn the power button on might be a start. :)
- At the beginning of the band’s warm-up, our drummer was running late so I sat down to at least provide a beat…everyone laughed at me…so I saw Aaron had come in to observe practice so I asked him to drum.
- He did the entire first song and wasn’t half bad…although when he was done I thought we might have to call the paramedics…he was wore out.
- It’s amazing how much energy our drummers expend and they just keep going and going and going. Many thanks to our drummers over the years, you guys rock (literally).
- Since Andrea was leading a bunch of songs today we also gave her the chance to do a lot of the speaking roles as well.
- I thought she did a great job…I think God has big plans for her…it’ll be interesting to see what they are.
- For the first time in a long while both myself and the team seemed to bring as much energy to the later Experience as we did the early one.
- In fact, we posted the 2nd message online.
- I’ve really enjoyed this series…hope you are as well!
- As I mentioned in the message, I’m going to be offering a class again on how to study the bible on October 10th from 9am-12pm. If you’re interested, please let me know. gilbert@unitedworshipexperience.org
- In the meantime, make sure you are in God’s Word everyday looking for principles, not promises.
- Had out of town friends visiting in the early Experience and some family members in the 2nd. Always great to have the support of family and friends.
- I dropped the hammer at 11:15 on the whole evangelism purpose…seriously God wants you inviting every week. People’s eternal destinies are at stake…what are you doing about it?
- Time for a nap and then dinner with friends…have a great week…see you and your guests next week!
Inside Today’s Experiences
- Great day today.
- School’s back in and vacations are over!
- So nice to have the energy of a big crowd again at 9:45.
- Now we need to do a great job of inviting more to the 11:15 so we can get the momentum going there.
- Funny to think that last year at this time it was exactly opposite…huge crowds late and sparse crowds early.
- In any case, things ran pretty smoothly today with the exception of one funky light that didn’t want to stay the proper color.
- We also had an unexpected absent by a key person on the tech team and another key person missing so we were scrambling there.
- I ended up running some of it and Josh Schlotterbeck stepped up to “learn on the fly”. Thanks Josh.
- If you are interested in helping with tech, let me know.
- Also don’t forget we need some more volunteers in the set-up and tear down crews. Again let me know and I’ll get your name to the proper people.
- It was great to have Aaron back for a week…love his energy.
- Speaking of energy, I think Andrea had an energy drink this morning…she was pumped up and I love hearing her sing “Unveil”.
- Had a few people tell me how much they appreciate that we cover hit songs. Aaron and the team did a great job with Kings of Leon’s, Use Somebody.
- We do this so that hopefully when it comes on the radio, a new association has been made in your mind between the song and the message.
- I had a ton of fun with the message at 9:45. Not so much at 11:15…just couldn’t get into a good rhythm.
- Guess which one got posted online? :)
- Met some great people today at the guest receptions…we’re so fortunate to be attracting so many people that are hungry to have God speak into their lives.
- All in all, a good day…I’m already looking forward to next week!
- Tonight we’ll be hanging with some of our small group peeps.
- Also excited about the Redskins game today!
Inside Today’s Experiences
- Had a good day today!
- Ok any day where 6 people come into a relationship with Christ qualifies as not just a good day, but a great day!
- What a fun series as we look back at the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
- Again the band did a fantastic job of putting a medley together.
- That I got to help by rapping, Parent’s Just Don’t Understand was not only fun, but nerve-wracking.
- I didn’t have in-ear monitors, so I had to go off the sound from the house,
but you guys were cheering so loud that I couldn’t hear the beat…got off a
few times, but all in all it was fun to participate. - I’m thinking Andrea was born to do covers of other bands…she again
killed her parts! - Had two new people on the team today and for the first time out, we
threw a lot of stuff at them and they came through…thanks Dan and
Cressa! - I again think that the medley wound people up and by the worship set
you guys were raring to go. - I loved that during the 9:45, there was one point where all our vocalists
dropped out and for about 1 minute it was nothing but the sound of your
voices…and LOUD! - I thought Brian did an awesome job with the song, Everybody Hurts. What a great intro into the message.
- I know today’s message wasn’t all touchy-feely, but it was something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
- If Jesus brand was “love” and “compassion”, what makes us think ours should be anything different?
- I’m really excited about the new You Matter ministry.
- If you want to practically apply today’s message by getting involved helping the hurting in our community, You Matter is definitely the ministry for you to get involved with.
- Big props to Scott McCurley for dressing in his best 1980’s costume…wow that was impressive. Don’t forget you can dress the part each week as well.
- Next week we’ll again look at the 80’s, this time with the song, Don’t Stop Believing.
- Almost hard to believe, but today marks the 1-year anniversary since we expanded to 2 Experiences.
- What’s amazing is that one year ago we were blown away by the attendance. In fact we set a record that day.
- Today even though we had higher attendance than 1 year ago, it felt like a let down because people are still in full vacation mode.
- I’m excited about this series, but can’t wait for the next one when everyone is back and in inviting mode and we see dozens come to Christ each week, not just 1/2 dozen.
- You say. “Gilbert can’t you just be content with what we’ve got”?
- And the answer is a big fat NO. As long as there are people in our community that don’t yet know Jesus, our mission is not complete.
- Join me in making a difference…you won’t regret it!
- Invite someone to church with you next week.
- Help “You Matter” to feed children in the Boys and Girls Club this week.
- Wear your “You Matter” wristband all week and use it to share the good news with others.
- YOU MATTER and you can make a difference!
Inside Today’s Experiences
- What a great day!
- I promised an unforgettable opener to the Experience and I don’t think the team disappointed.
- The 9:45 crowd was about to explode our of their seats…the energy was incredible.
- If you missed it, you definitely missed something special.
- One of our core values is that…”Excellence honors God and inspires people”.
- Even the midst of the band covering 70’s music, I couldn’t help but get a little choked up as I saw the team giving their all to God in the hopes that something like that would prepare hearts for what was yet to come.
- The band worked incredibly hard and the video plus medley was the perfect start to the series.
- Great job by Brian in coming up with the arrangement and I thought Andrea knocked her parts out of the park.
- Brian and the stage team did an awesome job creating a new set…definitely one of my favorites.
- I think the new times periods worked out great.
- I felt so goofy in my 70’s garb and wig, but I was pleased that the fu-manchu grew in.
- Gayle as well did a great job in covering “Imagine”…such a beautiful song, too bad as we saw in the message that the lyrics are so unrealistic.
- Thankfully though Jesus has a better way…”Love your enemies and pray for those the persecute you”.
- I’m also still amazed at how seriously Jesus takes the whole forgiveness thing…in essence…if you don’t forgive others, God will not forgive you.
- The energy at 11:15 was completely different…however still a good day!
- Right before the first Experience I was in my office and the phone rang. I answered and it was a man (not from the church) asking if he could meet with me ASAP.
- I told him I could meet at 12:30 and he said that was fine.
- When I met with him you could tell he was broken and struggling.
- To make a long story short, after a few hours and many tears, he prayed to ask Jesus for His forgiveness and to be the leader of his life.
- I’m not going to mention the man’s name or his struggles, but if you could generically pray for him and his family this week, God knows who it is you’re praying for.
- I told you this story because again there is nothing else in life like helping people discover Jesus.
- Yes we had 2 great Experiences and yes I got to be up front doing my thing…but sitting with someone in my office and leading them into a relationship with Christ was by far the highlight of my day!
- So who are you inviting next week…again we’ll be doing something special as we look at the 1980’s and I’ll be preaching a message based off the song, “Everybody Hurts”.
Inside Today’s Experiences
- Now that’s what I’m talking about.