- Well we’ll call today unexpected.
- First was the unexpected snow storm this weekend.
- Man am I sore today…that was a heavy snow.
- This morning, even though I had cleaned my car off yesterday, it took me 10 minutes to “break” into my car because all the doors were frozen shut.
- Other than that the rest of the mornings set-up was about as normal.
- The last 2 weeks I’ve had my niece Taylor hang with me all morning as my “personal assistant”.
- It’s awesome being able to hang with her and have her pray for me right before the Experience starts.
- Today she told me she thinks people like me because I’m funny.
- Had someone else tell me today that I remind them of a cool Catholic priest they once knew.
- Hmmm…now I know my Halloween costume for tomorrow night…a Catholic priest that does stand-up comedy. :)
- Another unexpected thing was how good our attendance was today considering how yucky the weather was.
- Oh well we’ll take it.
- Great energy from the crowd today…perhaps it had to do with so many people sitting as close to possible to the stage…never seen the first few rows that full…it really helped.
- The band did a great job with “Secrets”…I hope when you hear it on the radio it reminds you of today’s message.
- Speaking of the band, huge thanks to Tim Arthun! Today was Tim’s last day as a part of the band (other than being a potential fill-in for the future). Tim has been with us from the beginning and has a bright future ahead of him. Thanks again Tim…couldn’t have done the first year without you!
- Wrapped-up the “Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them” series.
- To be honest all week long I was ok with the message but not extremely excited.
- Last night though something clicked…and I couldn’t wait.
- You can listen to it here.
- I talked about the need for getting real with others.
- Seriously take a listen.
- Best of all…6 more people came into a relationship with Jesus today!
- That never gets old!
- Excited that 30+ more people have decided to get involved in a Life Group as a result of this series.
- That’s in addition to the 40-50 that were already involved…great to see so many becoming a part of the “Be With” plan.
- I love meeting in a movie theater but one disadvantage is having to clean-up so quickly which means not a lot of time to hang-out afterward getting to know people.
- So today we invited anyone who wanted to out to Infinito’s.
- The third unexpected thing of the day was how many showed up.
- We had reserved their backroom and not only filled it up but also another whole section towards the back.
- We had 60+, which not only is good for their business but also good for us as I heard many say they got to meet some people that they normally don’t get to talk with.
- This Saturday at 9am at the “Pot of Love” restaurant we’ll be doing it again for anyone that’s interested.
- Got a couple of nice cards and gifts today as a part of Pastor Appreciation Month…certainly appreciate the encouragement!
- Also one final reminder that anyone interested in the FREE Church Planting Dinner here in Harrisburg on November 10th needs to RSVP immediately.
- Next week we begin a new series called, “Just Walk Across the Room”. What if you impacting someone’s eternity was only 20 feet away…come next week to find out what that means and what you can do!
Inside Today’s Experience
- Kicked off the new “God at the Box Office” series today.
- The day got off to a rough start when one of my contacts ripped on the way to the theater this morning.
- So I had to turn around and go back home…not a big deal but it did put me a bit behind.
- Set-up today went fairly smooth considering a new set needed to be assembled for the first time.
- Bill did an awesome job creating a film strip look that covered the entirety of the stage.
- Andy did a great job lighting it all up and creating some new effects we’ve never had before.
- I guess one of the limitations of being in a portable situation is the not being able to see if things will work until you actually get there.
- In my previous church when a series was finished, the set got torn down that Sunday afternoon and the framework of the new set was erected.
- That gave all week to work on getting it just right before Thursday night’s practice where the final bugs would be worked out in preparation for Sunday morning.
- Here there’s a lot more hoping and praying! :)
- All thing considered though the team does an awesome job with the limited amount of time we’ve got.
- Bill Hybels once said that “Excellence is doing the best you can with what you’ve got”.
- I think we’re doing that.
- Big thank to the Regal for donating popcorn for all 4 weeks of the series to us.
- Nothing like doing a movie series and being able to give away free movie popcorn!
- Attendance was way down today.
- I knew this going in because I had 12 of our adults who normally serve on a Sunday morning let me know they wouldn’t be there.
- Add in all their children and right there you’re missing 25-30 people even before you start.
- Most frustrating though was the lack of first time guests for the new series.
- We did heavy video promotion and provided everyone with a minimum of 5 invite cards.
- Hopefully it will pick up in future weeks.
- The band did a good job despite the lack of energy in the room.
- Here’s the video of their cover of “Iridescent” by Linkin Park which is the main song from the Transformers movie we talked about today.
- The video will also give you a chance to see what Bill created for the set.
- I was a bit windy today but it’s something every Christian should listen to and take seriously.
- Hoping people take the 5X5X5 challenge seriously.
- We recognized the 13 who got baptized last week with their custom made baptism certificates…everyone loved them and were telling me where they were going to put it.
- Hope the visual reminder impacts them for the rest of their lives.
- Love hanging out in the lobby afterward talking with people…we’ve got a great group of people that are building the foundation of what we’ll be for years to come.
- Got a really busy week including a conference that 8 of us from ECTV will be going to…hope we’re inspired to go to new levels for God personally and corporately.