The Sunday That Was (October 2)

It was a struggle... the portable church demons were out in full force yesterday! We had our monitors go out so the band could not hear themselves for the most part, not to mention they all had sinus infections! We had two of our VGA cables that take the signal to the projectors short out or something so we were down one video screen. Half of the video and media files got corrupted somehow when we transferred them off the portable hard drive. So, with less than an hour before church started I made a mad dash for my laptop while the guys finished set up and fought all these other issues. We got everything going at about 10:15am just in time to open the doors so we didn't get to rehearse the service before going "live" and had a few hiccups. Like I said the portable church, wear and tear, nothing is the same week to week demons were out doing all they could to keep us from experiencing this new series on forgiveness.

BUT, God won! He pulled it all together and the service was really powerful I thought! It might not have been perfect, but it was powerful. I got to pray for our band before they went out on stage, something I get to do every once in a while when I walk in on them backstage, but I prayed the only thing I knew to pray... "God if you show up and your presence fills this place then all this stuff doesn't matter."

I was also jacked up when I came out because a bunch of our middle and high school students were filling up the front row! Awesome to see you guys sitting together and being the church! Loved it!!! Keep it up, show us adults how it is done!

We started a new series called "F-Bomb" that I have been wanting to bring to you guys for a long time. I felt over a year ago that forgiveness was going to be something our church needed to wrestle with in 2011 and the only thing I am bummed about was the number of people who missed out one of the most powerful talks I have ever been able to preach. I didn't feel like I brought my "A-game" but the content and what God did made up for it! Guys I hope you will do everything within your power to help pack the house this Sunday! If there has ever been a time our church and our community needed to hear something it is this series! I actually wrote a handwritten letter to some friends inviting them to this series, I have never invited someone like that, but I just felt I needed to put into words why I was so passionate about this. So no excuses, be there this week and bring some friends.

Normally, I would leave you with some thoughts from the message, but I want you to watch or listen to the message if you missed it. It is worth the time investment, again not because of anything I said, but because forgiveness is that powerful and most of us don't really know why, or have been misinformed about it. So watch or listen and let me know what you think. I would love to hear your stories about how God is using this series. In fact you can share them here:

stories@canthisbechurch.com

A couple "announcements" to leave you with that I am also excited about from Sunday:

For the past 4 years we have done something as a church that has become a favorite for Cheryl and I each year. Halloweenie is where we take our grills from around back and put them in the drive way. We put signs (that the church provides) out the week before, and we grill hot dogs for all the people out trick or treating. We give out from 100 - 125 plus each year and then we give them an invite card for the new series we usually start that Sunday. The past couple of years we have had our NEXT Group help us and it is always so much fun! The signs will be available the next few weeks at church and from there it is up to you how big you want to make it!

On Saturday, October 22nd at 9am we are also meeting at the West Pasco Pregnancy Center to help them with some basic maintenance and clean up. Our NEXT Groups will be helping and EVERYONE is invited to help us make a difference in Pasco County. E-mail Marge to let us know who is coming:

Margie7444@aol.com

I love my church!