- Think we’ll call this the “Water and Fire” edition.
- First the water…more specifically, the rain.
- Amazingly in the 4+ months we’ve been meeting, this is the first Sunday we’ve had rain or snow on a Sunday morning as we set-up.
- Needless to say, putting out signs was not fun…although it was better than the mornings doing it in the bitter cold.
- We had the team come in earlier than normal for set-up to try to fix some of the sound issues from the previous week.
- Andy was pretty sure he knew what it was, but it turned out not to be the case.
- Thankfully within a few minutes he thought of something else and that ended up fixing it.
- As always after set-up, the band did a warm-up, then a full run through of the mornings music.
- When we do this, we use all the video’s, transitions, lights, music, welcome remarks, etc. Basically the only thing that doesn’t get practiced in the run through is my sermon. So in a lot of ways it feels like the real thing.
- Our opener for the day was B.o.B.’s song “Airplanes”. Instead of having me rap again, we brought in a real rapper.
- After the run-through was over, everyone was wondering what happened to him…
- Turns out he was in his car on his way home…he thought the run through was the real thing and he was done.
- When he got back he said he thought it was weird that only a few people had shown up!
- In any case he did a great job when we did it for real…click this link to watch he and the band cover the song. Great job Mark!
- The theater was really hot today…guess as the weather is starting to change we’ll have to adjust…my solution today was to take off the long sleeve shirt I had on and just going with my ECTV t-shirt I had on.
- A friend of mine once said he thinks it’s weird to see a pastor wearing his own churches t-shirt during an Experience because it’s almost like watching a rock band wear their own t-shirt during a concert.
- Not sure I agree fully with him, but I think of it anytime I wear one during the Experience.
- As if though there aren’t other things to think about. 🙂
- The Experience itself went well.
- Great to see Pastor Pat and Beth Kelly from Caring Community Church with us today. They and their church were a big part of helping us get launched….thank you , thank you, thank you! Enjoy your vacation.
- Also had Justin and Laura Beth Meier with us today as well for what will probably be the final time for awhile.
- The entire Meier family travels the country in an RV helping churches get launched...they soon move to Nashville to help Ed Stetzer with his new plant.
- Really excited about the new series we began today called ME*TRADE.
- Today we talked about how beliefs lead to the decisions we make and how decisions impact the outcomes of our life.
- Here’s the link to today’s message called, Renewing Your Mind.
- As as reminder, everyday starting tomorrow we’ll be reading through the book of John together as a church.
- Once you read that days chapter then go to our Facebook page to share your SOAP for the day.
- Just click the discussions link on the left side of the page then click that days chapter/date.
- If you don’t know how to use SOAP for your devotions, click the message link above and you can download the insert which explains what to do.
- Briefly, SOAP stands for… Scripture Observations Application Prayer
- Ok, so I started this post by saying today was about water and fire…so what’s the fire part?
- Well after the Experience was done, I’m in the lobby talking when…the fire alarm goes off.
- It was a false alarm but the fire trucks and firemen still showed up regardless.
- Made for an exciting end to the day.
- Here’s the scary part though, along with a spiritual application.
- Most people even though the alarm was going off just continued in their normal conversations as if everything was ok. This was before we knew it was a false alarm.
- Unfortunately that’s the state of America and modern day Christianity. The alarm bells are going off but most of us just keep on keeping on.
- In other words people are lost and going to hell but either they don’t respond to Jesus offer of forgiveness or if they are already a follower of Jesus, they seem to care less that other are in the same predicament that they themselves used to be in.
- That’s why every week we encourage you to “Show and tell” your faith. Show it by getting involved with our You Matter ministry.
- Tell is by inviting someone every single week to come to church with you on Sunday.
- Here’s the link to the promo video we showed today that can help you do that.
- Ok, this has been a long post so I’ll stop…looking forward to hearing everyone’s SOAP tomorrow about John Chapter 1.