Just some thoughts I wanted to share.
---502 at Element yesterday. I tell people all the time -"I'm blown away, yet I'm not, yet I am, yet I'm not." For me, anyway, that describes best how I feel most days. I am totally PUMPED and truly HUMBLED all at the same time. It's an awesome place to be.
---For those of you that have been waiting for me to blog more often, good news. I actually intended to blog every day last week. Every day? Yes, it's true. Could you handle it? I had the titles and themes written down and everything. Well, then life happened and I ended up leaving town last week. It was a much needed break, though. Except for about a fifteen minute time-frame of some wacked-out theology, the rest of the four days was amazing. It truly was a blessed trip.
---Our volunteers are the best. They really are. We had a couple bumps in the road yesterday and they just took it in stride. No big deal. Whatever it takes to get the job done. Wow. Thanks. A million times, Thank You.
---I/We are reading a great book. "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. I've been thinking as I'm reading it--" I should be underlining this, well I'm just going to read it again, I'll underline it the next time through" Just so happens Mark is a church-planter, so there is that connection. But anyone can benefit from it. Prepare to be challenged.
---Life Groups are going great. Once again, God has blessed us with some amazing people. Honestly, that is one area that does need and deserve more of my time and attention. So.. to ALL of you that have been hosting, leading, and attending, thanks for your patience, for your perseverance, and for your leadership.
Loving life,
Grant
Monday, April 7, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
San Diego
Where to start?
Terri Lynn and I are sitting in the San Diego airport waiting for our flight to get home. And really, I don't know what to say.
Let me start by saying God is awesome!!! Words fall short when trying to express what I'm feeling and all that I experienced on this trip. I felt God's presence so strong all week. It was incredible.
For those of you that don't know....my sister Mary died suddenly last week. The funeral was yesterday in San Diego. I just "happened" to be on vacation from Frito this week so we were able to go and we decided to take a couple extra days for pleasure and relaxation. Honestly, it has been a GREAT trip. We love San Diego but we love Cheyenne more. Wyoming is home.
For those of you that offered me your condolences, I thank you. I do appreciate it, I really do. I really don't know how to feel when it comes to one of my family members passing on. I know what my head wants to believe but I also know what my heart feels. The last time I saw Mary was twenty years ago at my wedding. It's weird to lose a sibling you hardly even know. I do take some comfort in knowing that I was able to boldly witness to her on one occasion. So...who knows?
I DO know this. One thing this trip has allowed me is this: being able to "get-away" from it all (everything that is in my life in Cheyenne) for a couple days has totally shown me how truly blessed I am. Being able to ponder, kind of looking back at all that has happened the last year in Cheyenne and being able to share parts of our story with people has reminded me of how far I've come and how far God has taken Element Church. May I never EVER take any of it for granted. EVER!
Those of you that serve with me (both staff and volunteers), THANK YOU!!!! I truly am humbled to be on your team. I tell people all the time how awesome ALL of you are. I don't care if they believe me or not. At least they know that I believe it.
Terri Lynn and I were blessed to be able to have dinner with a gal from Outreach that helps us with our mailers. All I wanted to tell her about is all of you guys, your God stories, and what you mean to me/us.
So again, thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for all that ALL of you do for me and for Element and for (most importantly) God.
Grant
Terri Lynn and I are sitting in the San Diego airport waiting for our flight to get home. And really, I don't know what to say.
Let me start by saying God is awesome!!! Words fall short when trying to express what I'm feeling and all that I experienced on this trip. I felt God's presence so strong all week. It was incredible.
For those of you that don't know....my sister Mary died suddenly last week. The funeral was yesterday in San Diego. I just "happened" to be on vacation from Frito this week so we were able to go and we decided to take a couple extra days for pleasure and relaxation. Honestly, it has been a GREAT trip. We love San Diego but we love Cheyenne more. Wyoming is home.
For those of you that offered me your condolences, I thank you. I do appreciate it, I really do. I really don't know how to feel when it comes to one of my family members passing on. I know what my head wants to believe but I also know what my heart feels. The last time I saw Mary was twenty years ago at my wedding. It's weird to lose a sibling you hardly even know. I do take some comfort in knowing that I was able to boldly witness to her on one occasion. So...who knows?
I DO know this. One thing this trip has allowed me is this: being able to "get-away" from it all (everything that is in my life in Cheyenne) for a couple days has totally shown me how truly blessed I am. Being able to ponder, kind of looking back at all that has happened the last year in Cheyenne and being able to share parts of our story with people has reminded me of how far I've come and how far God has taken Element Church. May I never EVER take any of it for granted. EVER!
Those of you that serve with me (both staff and volunteers), THANK YOU!!!! I truly am humbled to be on your team. I tell people all the time how awesome ALL of you are. I don't care if they believe me or not. At least they know that I believe it.
Terri Lynn and I were blessed to be able to have dinner with a gal from Outreach that helps us with our mailers. All I wanted to tell her about is all of you guys, your God stories, and what you mean to me/us.
So again, thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for all that ALL of you do for me and for Element and for (most importantly) God.
Grant
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Bring The Rain
So I heard this song the other day and I can't get it out of my head until I blog about it.
The song is "Bring The Rain" by Mercy Me, which just happens to be one of my favorite bands. They write some amazing songs.
The gist of the song (at least in my brain): Well.... it's kind of a prayer to God. Basically says---"LORD, if I need some "rain" in my life to get my eyes focused on You and not me, then bring the rain"
Which then got me thinking--Have I EVER done that? Have I ever woke up in the morning praying that prayer. Have I ever purposely asked God for some "rain" in my life for that day? What about a "storm". Have you? Probably not.
Why? Well, if you're like me, when I'm in some rain or in a storm my focus tends to be on the storm and not God. So is it as simple as a decision? My attitude IS my decision.
When Peter was walking on water, when did he start sinking? When his focus changed! When he took his eyes of Jesus and started looking at the waves--the storm- he sunk.
So that is a challenge, isn't it. What to do when you're in a storm?
We all know that storms happen--life happens. My prayer for you and me---Focus on our SAVIOR and not our storm.
Grant
The song is "Bring The Rain" by Mercy Me, which just happens to be one of my favorite bands. They write some amazing songs.
The gist of the song (at least in my brain): Well.... it's kind of a prayer to God. Basically says---"LORD, if I need some "rain" in my life to get my eyes focused on You and not me, then bring the rain"
Which then got me thinking--Have I EVER done that? Have I ever woke up in the morning praying that prayer. Have I ever purposely asked God for some "rain" in my life for that day? What about a "storm". Have you? Probably not.
Why? Well, if you're like me, when I'm in some rain or in a storm my focus tends to be on the storm and not God. So is it as simple as a decision? My attitude IS my decision.
When Peter was walking on water, when did he start sinking? When his focus changed! When he took his eyes of Jesus and started looking at the waves--the storm- he sunk.
So that is a challenge, isn't it. What to do when you're in a storm?
We all know that storms happen--life happens. My prayer for you and me---Focus on our SAVIOR and not our storm.
Grant
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Our Volunteers!!!
I'm sitting here trying to "digest" what just happened at Element Church today, and all I can think about is how incredible our volunteers are. I mean that. Each and every one of them serve so willingly. THEY are what make Sunday mornings happen. Each one of them are AS important to Element as any of the staff. Whether they serve five minutes of five hours on Sunday, each and every one of them are helping us help people find LIFE. And that is why we are here, to help people find THE LIFE in CHRIST.
So.....to all of you that volunteer at Element Church, THANK YOU!!!!!! I count it an honor and a privilege to serve beside you, to call you friends, and to watch you pour yourselves into other people's lives.
Thank you all for your patience and encouragement to me as I grow and learn and stumble and get up and learn and grow and keep pressing forward.
Grant
So.....to all of you that volunteer at Element Church, THANK YOU!!!!!! I count it an honor and a privilege to serve beside you, to call you friends, and to watch you pour yourselves into other people's lives.
Thank you all for your patience and encouragement to me as I grow and learn and stumble and get up and learn and grow and keep pressing forward.
Grant
Monday, February 4, 2008
Pastor Jeff
I just wanted to share some thoughts going through my head.
Jeff you are the MAN! Your sermon yesterday was incredible! Your honesty, transparency and passion only caused me to love and respect you more. It is awesome for me to sit there and watch a friend let himself be used as an instrument for God's truths. I pray you are blessed for your obedience. I know some/most of what you shared yesterday was not easy for you. Thank you for leading. Love ya bro'.
MANY times I am blown away that I get to be a part of this. That I get to be on this team. What God is doing at Element Church, well......I really don't know what to say. Mere words just seem to fall short. Indescribable!
This morning I was reflecting back on the "time-line" of the past six years of my life. And how God was putting this all together. The fact that God was working on my heart to plant a church the same time as He was Jeff's and we never talked about it to each other, well that's just a God thing. Over the years, Jeff and I have had MANY conversations in his office and home. Many! And planting a church together? Well, it just wasn't on our radar. Or was it?
Jeff and I will talk about "that day", Feb.28, 2006, until we die. Hope you guys never get tired of hearing about it.
I've been blessed to get to hear Jeff preach for five years now. May I NEVER take for granted his passion for the truth, his boldness from the pulpit, and his leadership behind the scenes.
Jeff, I got your back man. Let's Go!!
Grant
Jeff you are the MAN! Your sermon yesterday was incredible! Your honesty, transparency and passion only caused me to love and respect you more. It is awesome for me to sit there and watch a friend let himself be used as an instrument for God's truths. I pray you are blessed for your obedience. I know some/most of what you shared yesterday was not easy for you. Thank you for leading. Love ya bro'.
MANY times I am blown away that I get to be a part of this. That I get to be on this team. What God is doing at Element Church, well......I really don't know what to say. Mere words just seem to fall short. Indescribable!
This morning I was reflecting back on the "time-line" of the past six years of my life. And how God was putting this all together. The fact that God was working on my heart to plant a church the same time as He was Jeff's and we never talked about it to each other, well that's just a God thing. Over the years, Jeff and I have had MANY conversations in his office and home. Many! And planting a church together? Well, it just wasn't on our radar. Or was it?
Jeff and I will talk about "that day", Feb.28, 2006, until we die. Hope you guys never get tired of hearing about it.
I've been blessed to get to hear Jeff preach for five years now. May I NEVER take for granted his passion for the truth, his boldness from the pulpit, and his leadership behind the scenes.
Jeff, I got your back man. Let's Go!!
Grant
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Life Group update
The Knit Together Life Group have a blog it is:
www.elementknitters.blogspot.com
Check it out!!!!
www.elementknitters.blogspot.com
Check it out!!!!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Life Groups
I've decided to expand my horizons a little when it comes to my blog and use it as a informational tool in addition to sharing my thoughts. I will give occasional updates on this blog about the ministries that I oversee at Element Church. So this blog is going to be about Life Groups. Mostly an update, but I'll share a little (or a lot) at the end.
We have several brand new groups launching, plus some that are relaunching.
The new ones first:
Knit Together--- a ladies knitting group that meets on Monday nights
Foundations---Pastor Jeff will be leading this group on Monday nights. It will be about foundational and "core" beliefs of the Christian faith. This course will be geared towards new or fairly new Christians.
The Barbarian Way, a book by Erwin McManus--this group will be for men on Wednesday nights.
Galatians--this group will be going through the Book of Galatians, meeting on Thursday nights.
Celebrate Recovery--this group is for anyone who has or is struggling with any addiction. This group will be meeting on Saturday afternoons.
These groups are relaunching:
Ephesians--this group meets on Wednesday nights at my house at 7.
40 weeks of Purpose--this group is going to go through a curriculum based on the book "Purpose Driven Life". This group is currently looking for anyone interested. It will be meeting on Sunday nights.
More groups that are in the pre-launch stage, that people have expressed an interest in, that we a currently looking for leaders and/or hosts include:
--a Mother/daughter group--have a host home, looking for a leader and other people interested
--Praying Parents of teenagers; we have a couple interested in leading and hosting, just looking for more people wanting to attend.
--Marriage 101---we have some couples interested in some type of marriage Life Group.
---twenty-somethings group--looking for host and leaders
We also have a couple of groups that are currently a couple of weeks from being done with there current study and will be "re-tooling" and getting started again (one is a couples groups that meets on Wednesday nights and the other a ladies group that meets on Thursday nights.
Honestly, a church our size, there is WAY more room for more Life Groups in ALL areas.
I realized most of this information is VERY basic. At this point, I didn't have permission from any of the leaders and/or hosts to give out names and numbers and locations, so I didn't feel comfortable posting that info on this blog. I just really wanted to get the basic info out there. If you want more specific info, or have any questions, e-mail me at-- grant@elementweb.net, and I'll get back to you.
Let me stress a couple things, if you can't find one of the groups that you think fits you, then let me help you find one or create one that does fit. And, feel free to try a group out for a couple weeks, if it's not working for you, your free to try another.
Hope this helps.
Grant
We have several brand new groups launching, plus some that are relaunching.
The new ones first:
Knit Together--- a ladies knitting group that meets on Monday nights
Foundations---Pastor Jeff will be leading this group on Monday nights. It will be about foundational and "core" beliefs of the Christian faith. This course will be geared towards new or fairly new Christians.
The Barbarian Way, a book by Erwin McManus--this group will be for men on Wednesday nights.
Galatians--this group will be going through the Book of Galatians, meeting on Thursday nights.
Celebrate Recovery--this group is for anyone who has or is struggling with any addiction. This group will be meeting on Saturday afternoons.
These groups are relaunching:
Ephesians--this group meets on Wednesday nights at my house at 7.
40 weeks of Purpose--this group is going to go through a curriculum based on the book "Purpose Driven Life". This group is currently looking for anyone interested. It will be meeting on Sunday nights.
More groups that are in the pre-launch stage, that people have expressed an interest in, that we a currently looking for leaders and/or hosts include:
--a Mother/daughter group--have a host home, looking for a leader and other people interested
--Praying Parents of teenagers; we have a couple interested in leading and hosting, just looking for more people wanting to attend.
--Marriage 101---we have some couples interested in some type of marriage Life Group.
---twenty-somethings group--looking for host and leaders
We also have a couple of groups that are currently a couple of weeks from being done with there current study and will be "re-tooling" and getting started again (one is a couples groups that meets on Wednesday nights and the other a ladies group that meets on Thursday nights.
Honestly, a church our size, there is WAY more room for more Life Groups in ALL areas.
I realized most of this information is VERY basic. At this point, I didn't have permission from any of the leaders and/or hosts to give out names and numbers and locations, so I didn't feel comfortable posting that info on this blog. I just really wanted to get the basic info out there. If you want more specific info, or have any questions, e-mail me at-- grant@elementweb.net, and I'll get back to you.
Let me stress a couple things, if you can't find one of the groups that you think fits you, then let me help you find one or create one that does fit. And, feel free to try a group out for a couple weeks, if it's not working for you, your free to try another.
Hope this helps.
Grant
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