Sunday Set List

Bare Bones Sunday is what we called this past Sunday. We literally used ZERO volunteers. NONE. NO ONE. It was the WORST Sunday ever in the history of Element Church as far as presentation goes. No one greeted, no donuts, coffee, no ushers, no worship guides, no lyrcs on the screen, no screen at all, no theatrical lighting, no sound (I PLUGGED MY MIC AND GUITAR INTO MY AMP) and led worship, no First Impression people in the lobby, no door openers, no one in the parking lot. IT WAS HORRIBLE. FOR THIS REASON, we can't do anything without our volunteers. Our volunteers are priceless and they do a phenomenal job. It takes over 100 volunteers to pull off 1 Sunday morning. We didn't want to TALK about it anymore we wanted to SHOW it. The point was made.

-- We received over 90 interest cards for people to step up and volunteer.

Set List:
O Praise Him: David Crowder
Reign In Us: Starfield
Funny How: Adam Cruz
For Who You Are: Hillsong United

Sunday Afterthoughts 8-23

This week I wrote a new song based on the series we are in, called "Till the End". It was literally a download straight from heaven. I wrote it late one night and felt like it was my heart for this series. Jeff has coined the phrase "Till the End" throughout this series. So today Jeff talked about making it to the end in our Marriages. I had Amber sing the song with me at the end of service for a time for Couples to pray thru this idea. It was beautiful having her up there with me. I love my wife very much and I am committed "till the end" with her. I love being able to do what we love, together. (who knows maybe with enough prodding from you she will consider singing more on sunday's, hint hint). Regardless it was a really cool moment today to participate in that with her!

I love being a part of a church that is helping people experience life. I love that when I come in, I leave different. I love having a pastor that isn't afraid of man, but fears God and preaches what God says to preach. I love serving with a team that is WILDLY CRAZY ABOUT JESUS. It's contagious.

We had some 247 kids in our E:Kids ministry today. Absolutely in sane.
Had a packed house all 3 services

I love walking out into the lobby and feeling an intense BUZZ in the air of anticipation and passion for Jesus and what He is doing here at Element Church.

To say that I am incredibly STOKED for our next series "BE", would be an understatement. We have things planned at Element that have never been done before. EVER! YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS SEPTEMBER 6th! AT ALL! Make sure you do everything you can to be here at Element, and don't think you'll just listen to the podcast or check it out online. The rest of the weeks are going to be incredible as well as we take a look into what the church should really "BE"!

Jesus was worshiped today, the Word was preached and lives were changed. LOVE IT!

Had a GREAT night of Settlers of Catan at the Andrews house. I won!!! Cannot EVER get enough of that game. lol

Off to bed. Excited about Lead Team meeting with the guys tomorrow morning. Finishing up the book "IT" by Craig Groshel. Really good book.

Set List:
Today is the Day - Lincoln Brewster
Sweetly Broken - Brandon Heath
Came to my Rescue - Hillsong United
How He Loves - Kim Walker
Till the End - Adam Cruz

Till The End,
Adam

Sunday Afterthoughts and updates

Man I have entered this summer at full speed. I feel like I have been out of Cheyenne more than in Cheyenne. I always have thoughts that I want to blog to help keep everyone in the loop with what is happening with Amber and I and here at Element but I am not doing a very good job so far.

-- I am tired from today & I have no voice left. Someone told me to go drink a few shots because it helps. Hmmmm. I think ill pass, any other thoughts?

-- God was worshiped today! God's presence was thick today. We as believers bring the presence of God with us when we gather. I love gathering in a corporate setting to lift high the name of Christ. On the contrary its of vital importance that we worship (in song and word) privately.

-- We began our new series called "UNTOUCHABLES" today. Thru the month we will be taking straight aim AT THE CHURCH. Jeff talked about the issue of Character today. Very challenging. I am truly stretched like I have never been thru the words God gives Jeff.

-- Getting pumped about next week for our Tailgate baptism party. I think we are baptizing some 28 people. Going to be sweet. Remember next Sunday following 3rd service.

-- I have already designed the graphic for our next series and will start work on the new promo video which will show next Sunday. Untouchables and this next series are going to be intense here at Element. I am excited for the freedom God is bringing to all of us thru this next 7 weeks.

Alright I am headed to partnership class. And then sleeping lol.

Set List for Sunday July 12th:
Today is the day - Lincoln Brewster
Spring of Life - Kristian Stanfill
Mighty to Save - United
From the Inside Out - United


Adam

Sunday Afterthoughts 5-24-09

Here are my thoughts from the day.

-- I'm tired. Its been awhile since I have felt exhausted on sunday, not sure if its cause I've been sick all week. But man I'm tired today.

-- Worship was powerful. God's name was declared! My team was ON today. Element you guys have a great worship team, PUT ME ASIDE, this team passionately loves Jesus, loves worship and loves to see His church worship. I am so blessed with great musicians that love Jesus so much.

-- Jeff tackled the topic of prayer today! Something we all struggle with. Not "HOW TO PRAY" but "DOES GOD HEAR ME WHEN I PRAY?" We reminisced over lunch about the sermon and what was big for us. It was cool to hear everyone. Great job Jeff.

-- Amber and I are headed out of town to run the boulderbolder 10k. Should be a good time. Our first competitive run.

Set List-
Sing Sing Sing - Chris Tomlin
Let Your Kingdom Come - Adam Cruz
Your Name - New Life Worship
I've Had Questions - Tim Hughes


Adam

sunday afterthoughts

Today we started testimonies in our worship team small group time. I asked each person to share their story of coming to know Jesus. I shared mine and Amanda shared her's. Thanks for being brave Amanda. I am looking forward to hearing everyone's story. There is so much power in our story's. I love the POWER OF GOD in both sides, the one who experienced the party rebel life, and the one who stayed strong. There isn't a boring story when you are talking about Jesus rescuing us from hell. I love you guys. Thanks for your sacrifice in developing a healthy worship team.

It has been a worship filled weekend. Friday morning, I took a few team members with me to Sheridan, WY to lead worship for a big 30 HR Famine city wide worship night. It was a really powerful time. We did an hour and a half worship set and God's name was praised in that WYO theater. We were all beet afterwards. Got home yesturday and got up this morning to continue.

I have been looking forward to today for a while. We schedule out our set lists 6 weeks in advance. I knew that song wise this was going to be a powerful sunday. Partnered with Jeff's message on God's love, it was an intense day. The altar response 3rd service was just awesome. Each service was great but 3rd, there was a presence that took us to a whole new level. Jeff told me of several stories of people who found life today. I never get sick of hearing that.

We all need to be experiencing the love of the father. Love Jeff's line "if we are not experiencing the love of God who's fault is that our's or God's?" We choose to accept the love of God. He has already offered it.

I am so tired after this full weekend. But its so worth it. Wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Set List Sunday May 10th:
All Who Are Thirsty (just the chorus) - Brenton Brown
Open Up The Gates - PlanetShakers
The One Who Loves Me - Adam Cruz
Indescribable - Chris Tomlin
How He Loves - Kim Walker


resting,
adam

Sunday AfterThoughts!

Im always interested in the week after easter. Who comes back? What sticks the most? How many come back? Churches always see an increase on easter sunday, the catch is what sticks and causes them to WANT to come back. Not sure what the percentage is of post easter attendance but i was amazed.

We saw 960 people come to element church today. A non easter record for element.

Today Jeff was on vacation with his wife Sabrina, so he handed the pulpit to Andy our student ministries pastor. Andy did a fabulous job.

A funny story today:
We started doing a Life Group time together as the worship team during 1st service. So the entire team was over in the office meeting while Andy was preaching. First mistake was not asking Andy what his que was to come back up. And I wasnt sure how long he would preach for. But after 20 min i received several texts saying, ITS TIME! LOL. I heard "WHERE'S THE BAND" like 3 times. Funny moment. Next time ill find out how long the message will be.

Set List:
My Savior Lives - New Life Worship
Glorified - New Life Worship
Reign in Us - Starfield
Rescue - New Life Worship

Adam

Sunday AfterThoughts!

Sunday was awesome! There is nothing like a facility that is jammed packed with people. Shoulder to shoulder, can't even move, bringing in more seating, and creating overflow in a lobby. LOL. That explains what happened sunday!

Then 9 people get saved! COME ON CHURCH! I love it. Jeff had them be bold and stand up and the church erupted in tears and praise. It was really powerful!!

This was an awesome opening of our new series Sunday School. In this series Jeff is unpacking some of the major bible stories in a whole new way! Week one was awesome and I am looking forward to the rest. ESPECIALLY EASTER! You dont want to miss what we have planned for easter!

Dont forget that we are moving to 3 services this sunday. The new times are 8:30, 10:00, & 11:30am!

Alright and I promise that there will be a website this week! We have been working hard, hit a few snags, and had a bit bigger project than expected in some areas. But it looks amazing and its coming!! Ill announce that today or tommorow!!

OH YEAH & my creative team knocked it out of the park with our set design this series. Simply brilliant. Great job, very creative. You guys rock.

Alrighty I am off to the gym!

Sunday Set List,
Beautiful One - Tim Hughes
My Glorious - Delerious
Reign in us - Starfield
Hosanna - Hillsong United
----
Adam

Sunday AfterThoughts!

Today I wore flip flops!!

This is my favorite season. I love flip flops. And it was a busting 60 degrees today, so I started early.

We had some hickups this week with the worship team. But they did awesome. Adjusted well. And God was worship. I really felt like today everyone was connecting. I love seeing physical demonstration of what God is doing in peoples hearts during worship.

Jeff closed the Wild Goose Chase series today with a passionate, fire-up, finale. I love being behind a man with so much vision and executing passion for a church and its impact in a city. COME ON CHURCH! Its game time!

We have SO many things happening here at element, there is buzz in the air.
1) We are launching 3 services in 2 weeks
2) We are launching our new series Sunday School
3) We are launching our brand new website by the end of this week
4) We are dropping 40,000 easter eggs from a helicopter April 4th
5) We are doing an easter service in a way I am sure will surprise you all!!

I love this church!

Set List for 3-15-09
Everyone (praises) - Desperation Band
Blessed be your name - Matt Redman
Beautiful Jesus - Kristian Stanfill
Mighty to Save - Hillsong United
It is well


Buzzing
adam

Sunday AfterThoughts!

Starting on Friday night, I began having a buzz and an anticipation in my spirit for Sunday. All day yesterday as we were constructing the set design for our new series, I was so pumped for today. God is up to something at element and I don't understand why I get to be a part of it. I feel so blessed. I have so much to learn.

This morning I got up, just pumped. Again I couldn't wait to start rehearsal. And it went great. And then FIRST SERVICE happened. Man it was rough. Between a broken string, a broken guitar (pickup sounded like it was exploding, headphones that were blown, so i didnt hear anything the entire service, and no metronome, a backup guitar out of tune, and then peaking with distortion, wow. I struggled honestly today. It was tough. After so much anticipation and excitement for everything today, I was discouraged. I went and hid in my office and pouted, "why this, why that". As Nathan and I reflected on how tough it was to continue, I jumped into the psalms to set my heart right. God spoke something big to me during that time, which I think is key for us as leaders:

"I MAKE IT HAPPEN".

"Your cool new set design. Awesome. It helps with what I am wanting to do. Your creative spin on an acoustic set. Awesome. Thanks for changing things up. Your light show, haze, sound tech, motion backgrounds, cool songs, etc. Awesome. It all helps people find life in ME. BUT I MAKE IT HAPPEN. YOU DON'T. ME SHOWING UP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT. Not that everything would go just right although I think its important to eliminate distractions. SALVATION AND REPENTANCE IS THE GOAL. Not a cool set, good tunes, creative guitars. I MAKE IT HAPPEN.

I felt a huge heart check and talked with Nathan and encouraged us in our attitudes.

THEN...

I go to close service and my guitar freaks out again, sounding like it was going to explode. So I dismissed everyone, and Nathan and I just laughed. My friend Brian came up to me and said "REMEMBER WHAT YOU ALWAYS TELL THE TEAM, WHAT ITS ABOUT". He is right I just didn't want to hear it.

WOW.. Sorry so long. Just thought I would be honest about my feelings.

However, 2nd service was moving. No crazing technical things happened and worship was powerful. It was both services, my heart was just right second service.

702 people today. So good.

Love seeing new faces every week and hearing the stories of how they come.

We built a sweet set design this weekend, I will post pictures tommorow.

We stripped everything down and did an acoustic set. Lots of fun. Good job nathan.

Then to top everything off we baptized 8 people tonight. I loved that. It was amazing watching all those people.

Alright I am off to play some "SETTLERS.

Peace out!

Set List:
The Chase is on - Tony Sutherland
Unchanging - Chris Tomlin
Everything Glorious - David Crowder
Yearn - Adam Cruz
Sweetly Broken - Jeremy Riddle



Adam

Sunday AfterThoughts!

it was a great weekend around here at element church. Brad and Danielle Nyght rolled in late friday night in preparation for the worship team auditions. Saturday we had an eventful day with rehearsals for sunday and rehearsals for auditions. I must say that for our first time doing auditions, it went pretty well. We had a good group of people show and they all did a great job. Thank you to all who came out. It means a lot to me that you would be a part of what God is doing here at element church. Brad and Danielle were an incredible contribution to the audition process, for flow, structure, evaluations, etc. It was a blessing to have them apart of this. I am looking forward to the additions we will make here at element worship.

WOW has it snowed. It started friday and is still going today, monday. Probably a good 6 - 12 inches on the ground. It has been a blast. I love when it snows like this.

We really had a great worship time yesterday. We have made huge headway in our sound. I really feel like its very close to what it needs to be. Brad and Danielle were able to join us for worship, which always a good time. I asked for them to do a complete evaluation on me as a worship leader, and it was so good. They really pushed me in some areas that I feel like are going to help take element worship to that next level. I love learning. I read 1 kings a couple of days ago, which has become a common phrase around here, but this weekend I really felt this. Chapter 3 vs 7, "Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn't know his way around." I have a long ways to go but I am humbled to be a part of this team.

Jeff really did tackle probably one of the most uncomfortable topics in the american church. We almost opted out of it, but Jeff pushed thru and delivered well. We had great response, "that's just what I needed to hear", "thanks for being bold", etc. Glad he chose to stick it out. He tackled the issue of self-control, living disciplined PHYSICALLY, mentally, and spiritually and how they all relate.

Brad and Danielle decided to stick around one more day. We had so much fun yesturday afternoon. After eating at Guadala-HOLL-A (curtis's tag for the mexi resturaunt), lol, we hit up walmart for some ingredients. Brad Nyght actually made ice cream out of the freshly fallen snow. I must admit i was blown away. Never knew you could do that. I was a really fluffy version of icecream but tasted amazing. I have a new thing to make now. After watching some office episodes we sat down and introduced the world of LOST to Brad and Danielle. We popped in the first disc and watched 4 episodes. They are hooked, SO GOOD TO SEE!!!

Thats it, we had a great weekend and now its time for a huge monday and a good week of planning exciting things here at element.

Set List,
Counting on God - New Life Church
Sing, Sing, Sing - Chris Tomlin
Sweetly Broken - Jeremy Riddle
Let it Burn - Adam Cruz
At the Cross - Hillsong


Loving life,
adam

sunday afterthoughts

awesome day yesturday. 2nd week of 21.

-- Jeff talked about our devotional life in a very challenging way.

-- "why do we call them devotions if we aren't devoted" - so good

-- 670 people today. Lots of new faces. Full room. SO GOOD!

-- You need to know how blessed you are to have such an awesome tech team and worship team (not boasting of myself). They put in so much time to provide you the best worship possible. We have made some huge headway in our sound for that room.

I love being your worship pastor.

Set list from Sunday:
Solid Rock - New Life Worship
We Lift You Up - New Life Worship
Hungry - Vineyard
Better is one day - Matt Redman
Everything - Lifehouse

sunday afterthoughts

Sunday was beautiful in so many ways. I took 4 team members from the worship team down to the ENTER worship conference in Colorado Springs for the weekend. You can read all our posts about that below. I told my wife after service today that as we were worshipping I was seeing so many of the things we talked about from the conference take effect, or I just saw why or how they worked. It was a neat experience for me.

We didn't hold a thursday night rehearsal this week which made me very nervous, and yet the band rocked. For not rehearsing you guys did an amazing job.

Curtis knocked it out of the park yesturday. I thought he did a great job on personal evangelism. Make sure to listen to that if you weren't there.

I love worshipping with all of you.
adam

set list sunday
Solution - United
Let your kingdom come - adam cruz
the stand - united
rescue - Jared Anderson
Go tell it - Lee Mcderment

Sunday Afterthoughts

Here are some thoughts from the day.

Today, 1 year ago, marks the first gathering as element church in preparation for our Launch in October. We met at the holiday inn for a very stripped down approach to a service, called unplugged. We casted vision and developed our core team with these weekly gatherings until oct 7th. Great memories.

Jeff tackled the subject of alcohol today as part of our untouchables series. He did a great job. Quote of the day yesturday for me was, "Changing your behavior does not make you a christian, but in becoming a christian your behavior will change".

We had a full house yesterday, I wasn't sure if 2nd service was even going to be able to contain everyone. Its great to see all of you coming out thru our summer series. Most churches on average decline over the summer with all kinds of various reasons. It doesn't have to be that way.

Last night I jumped in a van with a group of Highschool/College students for a nice relaxing evening of some ROCK N ROLL in Denver, CO. I have never seen Emery or The Almost live, it was very good.

Worship Set for June 8th,
What I want - Chris Daughtry
Happy Day - Tim Hughes
Glory - United
Everything Glorious - Crowder
Glory in the Highest - Chris Tomlin

HOME

What a great Easter we had at Element Church. It was a little nerve racking at first when our Theater Employee that lets us in did not show. So we had to practially break into the theater so we could get setup.

528 in church easter sunday. That is incredible. I do not believe it when I think about it. If someone asked me where I thought we would be after 5 months of church I would have said, um I hope we have a good solid group of 50 with the possibility of maybe reaching like 150 or so. 528 NO WAY!

27 salvations on sunday. Everytime people ask how the church is going, I say people are finding their way home. It blows me away that over 70 people have come into relationship with Jesus at Element Church. WHY DO I GET TO BE A PART OF THIS!

Jeff did a really cool illustration this week for his message. It will be online probably at the end of the week.

Amber and I were able to come back to sheridan for a few days and it has been so relaxing, just seeing some old friends.

Short but sweet,
Peace out element,

Set List for Easter Sunday,
My Savior Lives - New Life Church
Marvelous Light - Charlie Hall
At the Cross - Hillsongs United
My Chains are Gone - Chris Tomlin

Worshipping Him,
Adam

UPDATE

WOW sorry I have not blogged for a long time. With a Volunteer Banquet, Dropping 25,000 easter eggs from the sky, going to 3 services, and buying a house that I painted every night for the last 2 weeks, I have not had time to blog.

We launched 3 services last week, which went phenomenal. We have an incredible Road Crew who set that whole service up.
Our e:coustic service was a good feel. It was actually a really relaxing service.

Our egg drop was unreal. You can view the video here. Over 2000 people showed up, 60 some volunteers and 2 helicopters. I was great.

Easter is this sunday and I am nervous if we will have enough room. I am praying that we pack that place out, all 3 services.

I still need to post pics of our new house, its coming together. If anyone likes to paint, feel free to come paint. HA.

I don't do this often but I just loaded my itunes with a bunch of new stuff so here is a music update if your looking for something new:
Jared Anderson - Where Faith Comes From
Lee Mcderment - A matchlight in the dark
Jon Foreman (lead guy for SWITCHFOOT) - Acoustic EP (Fall and Winter)
Pillar - For the love of the game

Set List for Sunday March 16th,
Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin
Beautiful Jesus - Kristian Stanfill
Nothing But the Blood/I could sing of your love forever - Element arrangement
Hosanna - Hillsongs United

OH and one last thought, LOST is taking a 4 week break but this next episode is going to out of this world. We find out what happened to Michael. There you go LOST fans.

sunday afterthoughts

Hey e: peeps and e: followers, here is the update from sunday.
Woke up at 5:30am in our NEW HOUSE. Yes Amber and I are official home owners. We are very excited and cheydan loves having a back yard now. We are in the process of painting and some small construction but it will be a very nice place for Amber and I to call home. I will post pics soon.

366 in service yesturday. I think we have maxed out our facility. We are really hoping that our 3rd service "e:coustic" will help us continue to reach more in the cheyenne area. 5 people gave their lives to Christ today. I just cant get enough of that. People are making the greatest decisions they will ever make in life and its so exciting to be a part of it.

We opened our new series HEROES: ordinary people living extraordinary lives. Very excited about this series. Jeff opened with the story of Esther. "Perhaps we were created for just such a time as this", I love that. Our theme song this month is "God of this city" by Chris Tomlin off the new Passion cd. It is the heart beat of Element Church. We truely believe that God is not finished with Cheyenne. There is no God like our God and Greater things have yet to come. Love it.

I had some fun with our set design this month. I will post pics next week. We all want to be the city Hero and God has called us to be heroes of the Kingdom. So I built 2 skycrapers and 2 basic building that had light shining through. and some chain link with traffic light to create a city feel. It was a lot of work but well worth it. We thought they turned out good.

Cheyenne Egg Drop is going to be huge. 2 weeks away, 25,000 eggs and a ton of kids. Thats how we roll. We meaning all of you have to promote this huge. We ordered 2000 rave cards. This sunday seriously grab a handfull of 50 if you can. Give them to your kids to hand out at school. Leave them everywhere. We want to rock cheyenne.

I loved our worship set this week. We have had the privelage of having Nathan join us on guitar which has added a lot to our sound. One MAJOR problem this week was at 5:45am I got a call from BRYANT our drummer that day and he informed me that he would not make it due to a search and rescue mission with the AF. I was freaking out. I told jeff when I got to the church "I have bad news" lol, but BRIAN our other drummer came out with out rehearsing and rocked the set. Way to go Brian. I was really excited about Bryant playing this week cause he was ON. He hasn't played for a few weeks, worked hard this week and then got called in. Total bummer.

Exciting times around here at Element. I am sorry for all of you who don't live in cheyenne and attend Element cause "God is doin it, God is doin a nu thang, YO..." lol

Worship Set March 2nd 2008,
Open up the Gates - Planetshakers
My Savior Lives - New Life Worship
Love the Lord - Lincoln Brewster
God of this city - Passion
Faith Like That - Jonah 33

Sunday Afterthoughts and a new office

Hey friends,
Well I am sitting here in my new office recapping yesturday. We hired a receptionist (PAM) and so Terri was getting moved out to the garage for her office. So I decided that wasn't cool and that she should have my office. So a few came into the office and moved all my stuff out to the garage and painted Terri's new office some really BRIGHT colors and moved all her stuff in on Friday night. Saturday she came in and was completely surprised. Loved it, cause I was at a conference with my wife and Terri all day Saturday and she had no clue. We love you Terri. We honestly could not survive as a church if Terri wasn't here.

Yesturday was a great day. The weather was amazing. God's presence was all over our service. People worshipped and were set free from life long struggles. God is so good.

4 people made decisions for Christ and let me say again that is what this is all about. God really moved in our service.

371 was our attendance. We are excited to launch our 3rd service starting March 16th. We hope this will enable us to continue to reach more people for Christ. E: coustic is going to be an acoustic service, but that doesn't mean it will be a boring service. Its going to be done well, I am really excited about it.

We finished Satan's Sex Ed this week. What a series it was. We were all nervous going into this, but God has just pulled through in a huge way. People responded well and really engaged and enjoyed this series. I hope it was a help to all of you. We will have the complete SERIES packs available this sunday.

We finally got our tshirts and sweatshirts in, so if you missed sunday make sure you come this week to get your free tshirt and the sweatshirts for $15.

We had a huge announcement about our big easter outreach. This is still contingent on city code and a few things but we hope it goes through.

YES you see that right. We are dropping thousands of eggs from the sky via a helicopter. Its going to be out of this world. 15,000 easter egg hunt. Cheyenne will not want to miss this.

Heroes starts this week. We are really excited about this series. "Ordinary people living Extraordinary lives". If we pull off the set design its going to be fantastic. *BY THE WAY -- WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR CREATIVE PEOPLE. IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN HELPING WITH OUR SET DESIGNS EACH SERIES, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT adam@elementweb.net. WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOME HELP IN THAT AREA.

Set List for Sunday Feb. 24th 2008:
Open up the gates - planetshakers
Glory - United
Holy is the Lord - Chris Tomlin
Yearn - Adam Cruz
Jesus paid it all - Kristian Stanfill

Worshipping Him,
Adam

Sunday Afterthoughts Feb 10th, 2008

OH MY! I told Jeff today back at the office while we were unloading, "what now"? God obviously and most definently knows more than we do but man do I hope he shows us soon! 372 today, YEAH, 372. I told Jeff last week in the office, after having 313 last week, that in a FEW weeks when we hit 350 we have a problem, cause we would literally max out the theater. HA didn't realize that would be the following week and 20 some over that. 2nd service people were standing along side of the theater and sitting all over the floor on the sides. We had over 200 second service and the theater maxes at 180. So I guess you could say God has a plan. LOL. It's just the toughest part when you are waiting!

We had some fun today as a worship team! It seemed to be a struggle to get anything to go right. We added a new guitar player "NATHAN", who by the way is a fantastic guitar player and I feel like it really solidified our sound. Made it bigger, more professional, just made is well done. Back to the struggle, the opening song I forgot to put the capo on (which around here is an often experience, HA), and "B" (our drummer) had already started playing but I wasnt ready so yeah he just STOPPED. AWKWARD! Then the second song AGAIN I forgot my capo and so I made a big strum on that first chord and WOW did that sound pretty when the rest of the band was in a different key. I could have walked off stage then but I new I had to finish HA. THEN, yeah THEN, Nathan started the next song and his guitar was completely out of tune. OTHER than all that worship was GREAT! HAHA. Seriously it was good. We just had to laugh it all off and try better 2nd service, which by the way went fine. It was funny though cause my prayer this morning was "God help us focus on you and not being perfect on stage", I guess he answered that one.

Jeff again, preached a phenom message on SEX targeted towards our teens, however it applies to us all. Again this series has blown me away at how God is using it to set people free. It was great to have a youth group of about 6 come and visit us today. I love having a church that teens enjoy coming to.

A new CD just came out for all of you WORSHIP FANATICS out there: PASSION: GOD OF THIS CITY. Make sure to itune it this week. Its great.

Well I guess we keep this thing going, PLEASE don't stop inviting people. We will find a place for everyone. Also we have some room in first service so if you can, come join us for 1st service to free up some room in 2nd.

Continue to check out www.elementgivesback.com. There are some great stories on their.

Worship Set 2-10-08:
You, You Are God - Gateway Church
O Worship the King - David Crowder
Maker of Heaven - Desperation Band
Hosanna - Hillsong United
From the Inside Out - Hillsong United

Worshipping Him,
Adam

Element Church Sunday Afterthoughts 2-3-08

GO GIANTS! That had to be the best superbowl I have ever seen. I honestly didn't think they had it in them but I am so glad they stuck with it.

We tackled one of the toughest subjects in the church that I ever had. I felt for Jeff cause he was the one that had to stand up there and present it. ELEMENT we are so blessed to have Jeff leading this church. Working next to him on a daily basis I get to see how passionate he is for you and offering LIFE to everyone who comes through those doors.

We tackeled Satans 6 biggest sex lies, to expose him for who he is. People are finding freedom. 2 people found LIFE, making decisions for Christ. And several people raised their hands for freedom.

I will post some pics this week of set design and series graphics.

313 in church today, which means contiuned growth which means we are looking for our next location here at Element Church. Very excited about that. More to come.

SET LIST FEB. 3rd:
I will never stop- Michael Gungor
Blessed be your name- Matt Redman
The Stand/Mighty to Save- United
Wrap me in your arms- Lisa Gungor
Come and Rescue- Adam Cruz


Worshipping Him,
Adam

Element Church Afterthought 1-27-08

We had a blast today at Element Church. I love worshipping with you all. And man was God worshipped today. We had a ton of fun at the end of service. I am so blessed to have some great musicians here at Element Church. Bryant, one of our drummers, put together this trash can blue man group thing to end the service along with "the noise we make". You must watch the video it was fantastic. Jeff did a fantastic job closing the Deal or No Deal series. He casted a lot of vision for the church and where we are headed. And the closing phrase was "we were not made to be silent but to make some noise" in reference to our impact in our commmunity, and so we ended with this song. It was a blast and if you were in element today I bet you left excited. God has been so faithful to us here at element church and we anticipate so much what is ahead.

We will start our Satan's Sex-Ed series next week, where we will expose what Satan is teaching, our kids, our singles, and our married couples. I am looking forward to this series, it will be in your face but again the goal is freedom and looking more like Christ.

Please continue to pray for my family, I talked with my mom today and its been so tough down there. There is some laughter today and everyone is starting to talk a little, however, it comes in waves, and when the grief comes its very intense and difficult. My prayer through this all has been for God to protect everyones heart. Its in times like these where our faith is tested and we have to trust. It is ok to grieve and to be angry and frustrated but my prayer is that we don't let that replace our trust in God. Please pray that everyones heart, God protects. As a testimony my mom and dad said that God's presence has been all over that house and there is such a peace that truely they don't understand, they said "it's weird, how they can be grieving and then laugh". Thats just God answering our prayers. Praise Him! My cousin was a believer and gave with his life for everyone else. He moved into an apt. with a kid with MS just to take care of him, what 23 year old does that. He daily worked with my autistic cousin Blake, and always was looking at how to take care of people. Ryan truely was a neat guy. And he just gets to be with God first, NO FAIR. Seriously isn't that the best thing ever, that after we are done here we get to go be with our God. Oh I can't wait. My prayer now more than ever is God make everyday count while on earth. Sorry so long just wanted to update you all. Ryan we will miss you!

Worship Set 1-27-08-
Salvation is here- United
Not to us- Chris Tomlin
Madly- Steve Fee
Yearn- Adam Cruz
Amazing Grace (my chains are gone)- Chris Tomlin
The Noise we make- Chris Tomlin (Element Style) LOL

Worshipping Him,
Adam