SUNDAY NIGHT SUMMARIES
Saturday Night:
* We finished 4Th at the races on Saturday night!
* Next week is my debut in the 70 car. I am pretty excited.
Here is a cool pic from last night: The last couple weeks at the races we have had this flame coming out the side of the car. It makes for great pictures, but isn't so good for the paint!
Sunday Morning:
Every Sunday The Rock Church team lays it all out on the line holding nothing back. I got a sense the moment I arrived on campus, this morning was no exception even though it was a challenging Sunday as the entire country has been mourning the shootings at Virginia Tech. In a way, this Sunday was a memorial service for our country. Great job TRC for providing comfort to those needing comfort!
Today, 1st service was weird for me, but not in a bad way. It felt like there was a lot of distraction. Sometimes in a message series, like Friction, where there has been so much victory in the previous messages (48 re-commitments, 16 salvation's, and 91 h2o baptisms) there can be one message in the series that, seems to me, like it struggles to connect. I felt like 1st service was that message. Glad it is out of the way:)
Between services I sat down with the team and asked them what they thought. One commented that the song we used for the video baptism highlight was out of place. Ryan re-edited the video, changed the song; as a result, 2ND service was completely different. It is amazing how song selection can play such a big role in a worship experience making an impact. HA! The 80's tune, Watergrave by the Imperials, was not the song lyric we needed...
2ND service was dialed in. The message connected, in my opinion, a lot better. As a result several people responded to re-commit their life to Christ. One person stood to proclaim Jesus as Lord for the very first time.
I love that regardless of whether we hit the mark in service planning or sometimes come up short, God does His thing with the message and lives are impacted. Several people commented on how the Door of Faith spoke right to them. The FRICTION series concludes next week with the final door. Check back this week to see what the final door is!
Some highlights from the weekend:
* This morning Melinda and I drove to church listening to STRYPER! That's right, the hair band who sang, "To hell with the Devil." I was rocking out and got a great idea, I played it for the worship team to get them in the zone for the song they were opening the service with. Gotta love the 80's...
* My thankfulness for those praying on the 1st and 3rd Saturday evening of each month overflows. We simply cannot do church without prayer! Right now I can't be there because of the racing outreach at the track, but it is wonderful to know that there are so many committed!
* I met a half a dozen families at the Meet and Greet. Denise, and her son and daughter; Jake, Shana and their kids, Sydney, Matthew, Nicolas and Whitney; Nikki and John, from Woodinville; and some others. Meet and Greets are one of my favorite times of the month.
* Jeff Gordon won in Phoenix! I am have been a huge Jeff Gordon fan since the 90's.
* I was able to spend some extended time with two of my spiritual kids after service on Sunday who I don't see very often. Ilya and Johanna Ogorodnik are Youth Pastors in a church up in Lake Stevens. I am so proud of them!
* I took a test for my Old Testament class tonight and scored well! It is sometimes hard to balance the time it takes to complete my Master's degree and the time it takes to lead The Rock Church, but somehow the homework and messages get completed.
* We have the most amazing volunteers in Snohomish County. There are just not enough words in the English language to articulate how much I value our volunteers.
Finally, this coming week is destined to be a week of laughter, fun and fellowship. Oh certainly it will have its' challenges, but my choice this week is to make certain it is full of JOY!
