Gilbert Thurston

Random Thoughts About Life, Ministry and Whatever Else Happens to be on my Mind

Tag Team Effort

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I grew up in the midst of the WWF’s (now WWE) heyday.  Guys like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, the Iron Shiek and Rowdy Roddy Piper were bigger than life both literally and figuratively.  But it was the tag-team events that I truly loved…the British Bulldogs were my favorites.

The reason I bring this up is the way we do United is much the same…the tag-team part that is, not all the other stuff.  I mean it’s pretty obvious that the words steroids and Gilbert Thurston have never been used in the same sentence until now. 

You see when you walk through the doors you are in essence tagging me, the worship team and our creative team saying…”You do your part to make sure me and my friends have an Experience with God today”.  And then when you leave we tag you saying, “Go out into the community and be bold enough to invite someone to come back with you again next week”.

We have an amazing partnership in this way and I just want to encourage you to do your part.  This weekend’s message about alcohol is an easy one to invite people to…and as you saw last weekend, we’ll do our part to create an Experience that people will never forgot, but more importantly will be life-changing.

We’re working hard right now to make sure Sunday is memorable…are you doing your part?

Inside Today’s Experiences

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brian

  • Now that’s what I’m talking about.
  • Great Experiences today!
  • 3 more people asked Christ to forgive them of their sins and asked for His leadership!
  • That never gets old.
  • Coolest part was a son and his mother were two of the three but they both did it at seperate Experiences.
  • In other words…God spoke to both of their hearts and they responded but about an hour and a half apart…amazing!
  • The 9:15 set another attendance record…total we had our 2nd highest attended day ever and church wide we did set a new attendance record.
  • So great to be a part of something where God is moving in so many ways.
  • The day started out real early…it was still dark when I got in, but all the extra work was worth it.
  • Got a call right before practice from Hannah to say she has laryngitis.
  • That meant a lot of what we practiced on Thurday needed to be changed but Aaron and Andrea did a great job of adapting.
  • Speaking of Aaron he and his creative team did an incredible job with the new stage set for this series and the corresponding lighting.
  • And what can you say about Brian?  What an awesome job he did on the turntables. (pictured above)
  • What other church can say they used Fergie, the Beastie Boys, and the Shop Boyz to set-up a message today?
  • Brian did a great job mixing it all together and the lighting for it was sick!
  • I included Brian’s mix on the beginning of the message podcast.
  • And speaking of the podcast…I also included both live questions we took at the end of each message.
  • At 9:15 the question via text was “What happened to the dinosaurs” and at 10:45 it was “What does the Bible say about swearing”?
  • Ok actually at 10:45 they wanted me to answer, “How do you stay so good looking” but I refused.
  • The 9:15 crowd must have gotten a lot of sleep last night…they came in rowdy and ready to go…the energy was great.
  • I had alot of fun with today’s message and yes at 10:45 I did say that God can even use an ass to get his point across. 
  • If you don’t believe me read this…Numbers Chapter 22
  • In the message I also referenced Tim Steven’s book “Pop Goes the Church“…seriously pick up a copy…you won’t regret it.
  • I can’t wait for next week…the next question you wanted answered was “Is It Alright for Christians to Drink Alcohol”?
  • Yet again you’re not going to want to miss what we have up our sleeves…do whatever you can to get people there!
  • Don’t forget to use our new Promo Video to help in the inviting process.
  • Ok time for a nap and then it’s off to some friend’s house for dinner.

    • Inside Today’s Experience

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  • What a contrast to last week…in more ways than one.
  • The weather today is incredible and unlike last week all aspects of set-up went very well.
  • Not sure though the extra hour of sleep helped though…even though we didn’t move our clocks forward, everyone seemed a bit lethargic.
  • I know some were fighting colds…Aaron was a real trooper battling through both Experiences despite a bad cold.
  • Had a record crowd for the 9:15…think we picked up some of the 10:45 crowd because attendance was down there although overall attendance was about average.
  • Here are some links I mentioned in today’s message…
  • Now you know why I don’t sing!
  • A lot of fun though with everyone singing along…especially the “Nobody Bothers Me” commercial.
  • At 10:45 though I started in a key higher than I should have an just barely made it through “Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man”.
  • I promise no more singing for awhile.
  • A big thanks to Dan Fry, Jenny Shilfer and Missy Kibbe for their testimonies during this series.
  • Can’t wait until next week and the kick-off to the “You Asked For It” series.
  • The creative team has some great surprises in store…don’t forget to invite someone.

    • “Mystery Shopper” Visits United

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    Late last night I was searching for any new health information on the status of Gilbert Arenas who plays for the Wizards…yes I’m a Wizards fan…let’s move on.

    In any case, searchng for stuff for him made me think, “It’s been awhile since I googled, ‘Gilbert Thurston’ so I should do so to see what the latest and greatest (in some cases gripes) about me are on the internet”.  Apparently it’s been at least 1 year since I last did it because I found out that a mystery guest from “Church Visit” had paid us a visit in February of 2008 during our 3 Wise Monkeys series. 

    I had heard of these guys before…they hire a person in various communities to “mystery shop” churches and then write up a review so guests can get a glimpse into what they might experience in a church before actually attending.

    With a sense of nervousness I began reading our review.  Wow you couldn’t have asked for much better.  And it’s not like this guy is afraid to speak the truth either.  He has now reviewed about a dozen churches in the Chambersburg area and he is sometimes even more brutally honest than I am.  You can read the others in the blog archive on the right hand side of his site.

    Way to go United and everyone else in CFCOG!  As I said this past week it takes all of us doing our part to make United truly an Experience.  Keep up the great work!

    Other Weekend Thoughts

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    With Taylor snowtubing

  • Friday didn’t turn out to be much of a day off, but I did get to spend Friday evening with my niece Taylor (pictured with me above) snowtubing at Whitetail.
  • This was the second weekend in a row I had done this and it was amazing the difference.
  • The week before it had been really cold and icy…this past Friday it was warm, rainy and the course was slushy.
  • Made for slower runs but we had a good time none the less.
  • They were having a problem with the conveyor belt that transports you to the top of the mountain…it kept stopping all of the sudden which means people go flying.
  • At one point a little kid maybe about 6 years old was in front of me riding up the mountian when it stopped and he went flying off onto the stationary ramp beside the belt.
  • The problem was the belt started again but he still had his arm attached to his tube which was riding up the belt.
  • So as I go riding by either I have to jump his tire or do something else…I did something else.
  • I reached down and with one hand picked him up by the back of his jacket and plopped him back down on the belt…I felt like Superman.
  • Then while still riding…I undid his arm from the tube and picked it up so he wasn’t tangled in it anymore.
  • Poor kid was so tramautized by the whole thing that he leaned forward and threw up all over the belt.
  • As we get to the top of the mountain I’m trying to warn the operator to avoid the puke but he for some reason didn’t see it until the last minute and jumped out of the way just in the nick of time.
  • Other than that…a pretty fun night hanging out with Taylor…and of course what night would be complete without stopping for ice cream on the way home!
  • Saturday involved a lot more work and then heading up to the church for our first ever Connection Event.
  • It went great…lots of newer people to the church got to mingle and get to know one another and by the time this weekend was complete, 3 new small groups had been formed out of the evenings festivities.
  • A great big thank you for a job well done to Dan and Jan Krull and Josh Schlotterbeck for getting everything coordinated and planned.
  • Next time we have one of these I’d strongly recommend attending…it was a lot of fun.
  • Yesterday after church Lisa and I made a commitment to do nothing at all…but yet do it together.  Very relaxing!!!
  • Got caught up on shows like American Idol…too bad Nick/Normal Gentle went home…he was hilarious.  Love Ryan’s line…”I think that’s the first time anyone got to 2nd base with our logo.”
  • Today is sermon prep day…working on messages for the You Asked For It series.
  • The votes are in and you have decided that I should preach on…..
  • Come on did you really think it would be that easy…stay tuned for details in the days and weeks ahead.