- Not the best of days but anytime you’ve got people giving their lives to Jesus, there’s not much you can complain about.
- We had a brief power outage this morning during set-up time which delayed things a bit and then we had a cable connector go bad on my mic which meant Andy had to do some early morning solidering work.
- We had two of our teens running projection and lights today and both did a great job. Well done Ben and Dustin!
- As always the worship team did an excellent job…both crowds seemed to really be into the music today!
- I re-did the message on Monday, which I’m glad I did…still not one of my best but I think the point was clear…don’t be just a consumer, become a contributor.
- I’m glad this series is over…not because I didn’t like it, but because I’m really excited about the Maverick series which starts next week.
- I got to see a little bit of the stage design changeover that the team was doing this afternoon and it’s going to be awesome!
- During the 1st Experience announcement time I kept getting tongue tied. I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to say, “the dictionary definition” or the “definition in the dictionary says”. My mind couldn’t figure it out so I kept saying, “the defionary”.
- The more I tried to get it right the harder it got…finally I just gave up.
- I met a great couple after the first Experience, who just moved here from Hawaii, who get what we’re all about.
- They loved United and realized it’s not about making them happy but reaching out to those who are far from God.
- I attribute this great attitude to their former pastor when they lived in Virginia Beach.
- He’s a friend of mine by the name of Vince Antonucci. Vince is passionate about reaching out to his community and just took a big step of faith by leaving his church to start a brand new one on the Las Vegas Strip.
- Thanks Vince for such an awesome job of teaching and modeling for people that it’s not about what we want, but it’s all about sharing the good news of Jesus with others.
- Speaking of…make sure you invite lots of people for the new Maverick series…I think people will be surprised by the fresh look at Jesus we’ll be taking.
- Be there…be there early…and don’t forget to sit up front!
- I’ll be posting the final Reality Check video later in the week…great job by Brian and Aaron in making these happen!
- Ok time for a quick nap before heading back over to the church for our annual congregational meeting…come on out to hear the exciting things we have in store for 2010!
Inside Today’s Experiences
- Another great day!
- What a lot of fun this series has been and today was no exception.
- From a behind the scenes perspective, we couldn’t have asked for a smoother day.
- I really love the new song the team did today called, “Arms Open Wide”…a good mix of slow worshipful reflection and driving rock.
- Brian is doing an awesome job with the stage sets and this particular one has made his lighting go to another level.
- So cool to have Dustin Swartz as our guest guitarist for “Don’t Stop Believing”…only 14 years old…wow!
- For those that missed the story, he played it as his audition song for Aaron just a matter of minutes after the creative team meeting in which we decided to use it as a part of this series.
- There’s coincidence and then there is God…we definitely thought this was a God thing and so we used him.
- Awesome job Dustin…keep using your gift to glorify God!
- Even after the wild outfits the last few weeks, today’s made me feel incredibly self conscious.
- Maybe because some people still dress like that today and I was embarrassed to be seen like that.
- I had a lot of fun with today’s message…talking about video games and the Gospel…does it get any better?
- Had 8 more first time professions of faith…that will never get old!
- Can’t wait for the Next Steps ministry to start in September.
- Speaking of new ministries…in case you missed it, last week we started the “You Matter” ministry and the first task was to provide a week’s worth of food for the Boys and Girls Club of Chambersburg.
- Not only did we do that, but we far exceeded it. We gave…
- Enough drinks to last them through November…
- Enough food to last through the winter…
- Enough cash and gift cards to get them to next summer!
- This week’s task is to fill backpacks for needy kids and already about a dozen have been filled and turned in…wow! Keep it up.
- I met some great new people today and all of them just couldn’t get over how different United was than what they expected from a church.
- If I haven’t mentioned it for awhile, let me remind you that I love getting to be your pastor. You guys rock!
- I’m really excited about next week…not only will there be a 1990’s medley but I’ll be preaching based on the Beck’s song, Loser.
- I’m really, really looking forward to this message…make sure you invite a lot of people.