Fall Kick Off [RE-CAP]

This past Sunday at the Suncoast we had our annual fall kick off. This year we took a chance and did this before Labor Day, for the past 4 years we have done this after Labor Day by a week or two. School starts way early in Pasco County so we thought we could grab some of that natural momentum. Here are some random thoughts on the day and some pics:

• First of all thanks to Rita for helping with the stage idea and for making it happen. Here is what it looked like as people walked in. Notice the lights on the jeep under the screen light up!!! It was a cool stage design!

• Our Coastal Kids ministry rolled out a new bounce house, how cool! We had the one bounce house as you walked in near the check in kiosk, BUT the shark was awesome! Thank you Crystal for doing so much with our kids!

• We also started the service with the band doing "Life is a Highway" and I am always impressed by how they can learn and pull off new songs with only getting to practice for 45 minutes on a Sunday. Thank you Steve for making all my crazy song ideas a reality! The song helped to set the mood.
• We also started a new message series called "Joyride". I talked about how chasing happiness is like chasing the wind. Happiness is based on happenings and those always change. So, what if there was something more foundational that was independent of our circumstances we could count on for the ups and downs on this ride through life. You can watch the message here on my blog at the upper right.

• After the service we had sno cones! We found out it slows people down and makes them stick around for a minute since no one wants a car full of kids with sno cones. Everyone seemed to have a great time. We also had popcorn AND...

• My favorite part was we had R/C trucks with a track set up for the kids to race on. You will also notice the bright red jeep parked on the walk way! That was the first thing people saw as they walked up Sunday. It was a little bit of a "Wow" factor and thanks to Hal Mayer for letting me borrow it.

• Then it was time for tear down... took a bit longer this week with all we had going on, but thanks to the peeps who got drenched as we loaded the trailer!

• I thought Sunday was a good day at the Suncoast. We did what we do best I think. Everyone had fun!!! Yes, fun in church!
• I am always blown away when someone takes the time to e-mail me and say something from Sunday changed/challenged them! Go God!
• I'm not going to lie, I was a little bummed by the total attendance at the end of the day, but we had a good number of first time guests and the room felt full. Not sure if the timing was off by doing it before Labor Day, but we tried something new?
• I am stoked about this series and what I think God is going to do in people's lives!
• If you invited some people like I did, and they didn't show, keep asking them to come. This week is a great week for them to jump in. Keep in mind why we do this. Our church is not here for us, it is here for them! Be the Gospel this week Suncoast!
• I can't wait for this Sunday... so I can drive the R/C trucks again :-)