Greater Things Are Yet to Come

Well it's been a couple days now since we held our first service in our new location. I agree with Jeff--I don't know when to stop calling it our "new location" and start calling it our building, the building, the church, our church,etc. Something will stick. It is nice to have our offices in the same spot. One thing I know for sure, it's not OUR building, it's God's. We just get to use it for His Kingdom.

Being portable was Awesome! It really was. But, now we are in a different season. Our message or our methods won't change. Just our location.

We continue to get several awesome emails from people about Sunday's service. Love reading each and every one of them. Love when people are excited about church. That same "buzz" in the air that was in the theater between services was there Sunday.

After second service was a little surreal. Everyone that had been helping me tear down the theater lobby every Sunday for a year didn't know what to do after second service this time. "You mean I can just leave this stuff here and will still be here next week"? "Yup"! "Cool"!
One guy came up to me in the middle of second service and said "Man I need a job. I need something to do on Sundays. " We'll definitely find something for him to do.

THE most important thing that happened Sunday was that people found LIFE. Several people prayed for salvation in both services. It STILL gets me. It still ROCKS my world that I get to be a part of this. That God would choose someone such as me to do His work. WOW! May it always be so. May I ALWAYS rejoice when someone gets saved at Element Church!
I really do believe that our best days are ahead of us.

Greater things are yet to come! Are you ready?
Grant

T C O

Yesterday we got our TCO. We are in. We will worship at our new location this Sunday. YES!! More work yet to be done. Nothing we can't handle.
So much I could talk about. So many thoughts.
But I really only have one thing to say at this time, and that is "Thank You."
Thanks to ALL of the people that have given of their time and resources for this project.
Couldn't have done it without you. May you be blessed for your efforts.
GREATER things are yet to come!
Grant

Devotional

I've been reading a devotional by A. W. Tozer. I thought today's was awesome and very timely.

Worthy Or Unworthy?
The love of Jesus is so inclusive that it knows no boundaries. At the point where we stop loving and caring, Jesus is still there--loving and caring.
The question may be asked: "How does the living Christ feel today about sinful men and women who walk our streets?"
There is only one answer: HE LOVES THEM!
We may be righteously indignant about the things they do.We may be disgusted with their actions and their ways. We are often ready to condemn and turn away from them.
But Jesus keeps on loving them!
It is His unchanging nature to love and seek the lost. He said many times when He was on Earth-"I have come to help the needy. The well do not need a doctor--but the sick need attention and love."
We are prone to look at the needy and measure them: "Let us determine if they are worthy of our help" During all of His ministry I don't think Jesus ever helped a "worthy" person. He only asked-"What is your need? Do you need My help?"

Good stuff!
Grant

Fruit

I grew up on a dairy farm a few miles outside Lovell, Wyoming. Obviously, I have many memories from life on the farm. Many adventures. Many challenges. Let's just say life was not boring.

One memory I am going to share today may seem a little strange at first. Hopefully it will make sense when I am done.

Growing up we had five apple trees behind our house, and they were great. They ran parallel to the dirt road that went by my house. Anyone driving down that road, especially those that lived on the road, could enjoy those five trees in every season in all of their glory. They really were beautiful. Even greater then their beauty was the fact that most years they produced an abundant harvest. Most years the branches were so full of apples that they drooped from all the weight. One of those "childhood anticipations" for me was waiting for all those apples to ripen. I used to love to go out a pick and eat one "fresh of the vine".

Anyone that has ever grown any kind of fruit tree already knows that they take work on the front end of the growing season before you ever get the harvest on the back end. It takes cultivation of the soil. It takes pruning of the branches. It takes water. And yes, it even takes some fertilizer. It takes work to produce fruit.

Oh ,how this life-truth applies to OUR lives. To produce "fruit" it takes work. Just like that tree, for us it takes cultivation, pruning, water, and yes even fertilizer.

Here is my point and/or challenge. Allow it to happen. Allow yourself to be "pruned" on the front-end of a "growing season" in your life to then allow yourself to produce fruit when it's harvest time. I don't know what needs to be pruned or cultivated in your life, in your heart. I only know what needs "pruned" in my life.

Like Jeff shared in one of his sermons (I think it went something like this): "One of the saddest things in life is to see a plant that is alive but is producing no fruit". We were created to produce not just exist.

My childhood farm is still there. That same dirt road is still there. But something HAS changed. Where once five glorious trees stood, only weeds grow now. Same location, same weather, same old soil. Someone driving down that road now would have no clue that in that spot once stood five of the greatest apple trees you would ever want to see. Now---WEEDS.

An Army

You've heard it said-"It takes a whole neighborhood to raise a child." That is true. What is even MORE true-"It takes a whole army of volunteers to have church every Sunday morning--especially if your portable!"

Every Sunday morning I marvel at the team God has brought us. The first volunteers start showing up around 5:45 AM, and the last ones don't leave until around 12:30 PM. And there are MANY that come and go in between. I am not going to name names or even try to give a count. I am going to say this, I want EVERY ONE of you to know how much you are valued. Whether you are behind the scenes or out in the open, if you are serving at Element Church, you are JUST as important to bringing people to know Jesus as anybody else. THANK YOU!!!!

In moments we will begin the process of "build-up" in our new location. Another army of volunteers. Again, Thank You.

Can't wait to see was God has planned for us there.
Grant

Five Guys Go Camping

Ok, not really.
Yes we were in the mountains for our first ever Staff Advance. Yes there were log cabins, fire pits, wildlife, dirt in your shoes, fresh air, etc. All the stuff you would associate with camping. But when you stay in a motel room , even if it is in the mountains, I wouldn't call it "camping".
But that is not why we were there. We were there for a definite purpose.
Us five guys locked ourselves in a room for two days and let God blow our minds. The one word that keeps coming to mind --"Amazing".
Trust me when I say "Greater things are yet to come!"
Also, trust me when I say that the four other guys that God has me on this journey with are awesome. I love hanging out with them, dreaming with them, laughing with them, being challenged by them, and leading with them.
Elementers, you are in good hands.
Grant

P J

My second "blog-love" goes to Pastor Jeff.

I could write pages of what it's been like as God has forged our friendship over the years, and maybe someday I will. But today is not that day.

I am simply going to quote Johnathan's armor bearer in 1 Samuel 14:7 "Do ALL that you have in mind, I am with you heart and soul!"

Love ya man. Let's GO!!!

Grant