Gilbert Thurston

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

Inside Today’s Experience

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  • 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.

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.

    • Random Thoughts on a Thursday

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    Andy & G at Caps game

  • The above pic is Andy and I at the Caps game on Tuesday night right before it started.
  • As you can see we had awesome seats!
  • The bad part was the Caps lost the game 4-2 to the Flyers.
  • Wow being that close to the ice gave a much better perspective for the size of the players and the speed of the game.
  • Because of how low we were, when the play was at the far end of the arena we had trouble seeing through the glass clearly so we had to switch back and forth from watching live action on the Jumbo-Tron to watching live action right in front of us.
  • A few times I forgot and just kept watching the Jumbo-Tron.
  • It’s amazing how conditioned we are as humans to watch our content on a screen.
  • This is why I’m excited about some of the things we’ll be able to do via video in United in the future.
  • Funniest thing that night was the lady sitting next to me.  She introduced herself as a Flyers fan, but not an obnoxious one.
  • At one point in the game she turns to me and says, “Well you don’t have to cuss about it”.
  • I assured her that I hadn’t said any swear words.  She insisted that I did and then repeated back to me what she thought I had said.
  • I told her it’s been about 15 years since I said anything like that.
  • She says, “No way, you’re a liar”.  To which I lean over and say, “Seriously I don’t…I’m a pastor”.
  • She was blown away…first with embarassment.  She said she felt like she needed to go to confessional…not sure why people always assume pastors are Catholic.
  • Then she’s tellling all her friends how cool it is that a pastor is 1.  At a hockey game.  2. Has such good seats.  3.  Is wearing Caps gear (guess she thought I was missing one of those little white collar thingies).  4.  Is yelling for the home team.
  • I was able to tell her we cheer louder at United than we do at games though…she thought that was cool.
  • Wish I would have had the new United Promo Video loaded on my phone…that would have really shocked her.
  • Overall been an interesting week so far…
  • Got to share my faith with a Buddahist yesterday…that was cool
  • Last night I taught Earl’s class for him and as always had a good time hanging out with the senior saints of the church.
  • Last night I talked with them about being culturally relevant…at one point I threw out the name Brittany Spears…blank stares back.  Then Kayne West…blank stares.  Ummm…..ummmm….Perry Como…eyes lit up.  :)
  • Should be a great weekend as we launch our brief 2-part series “What If”.
  • Make sure to invite someone to come out!