The Day after Sunday

Yesterday at Elevate my husband spoke on restoring relationships.  Who among us has never had to do that?!  It was an amazing message - practical and full of hope!

Matthew 5:23-24 says "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."

Go back and look at the words...  first go.  God doesn't tell us to go reconcile after you come and worship him - it's one time where he tells us that restoring relationships comes before worshiping him.  FIRST GO!

So how do we do that?  How do we apologize with integrity?
1)  Get specific in your apology.
2)  Don't make excuses.
3)  Accept the consequences.
4)  Change the behavior.
5)  Ask for forgiveness. 

At the close of the message 11 people made the decision to begin a new life in Christ!!  Celebrating awesome news like that will never get old!!!

All messages can be listened to online at http://www.elevateerie.tv/.

 

Bye Bye Pacifiers

We did it!  Well, I guess I should say HE did it.  Park turned 2 last week so it was high time we said goodbye to his collection of pacifiers.  He used them strictly in bed at nap and night time but he was a HUGE fan. Sucked one and held two - every time! 

Here he is on our way to ToysRUs!



Going to see the "paci lady!"



Heading into the store

He was so excited to get inside and find a PRESENT!  We did the same thing with Jake - - let him pick out a new toy and then "pay" for it with his pacifiers.  Thankfully both boys picked something cheap...  we steered them clear of the 4-wheeler isle :). 

Maybe a chair?  Or this sword?



Hy-yah!



Everybody now



Wade was helping

Jake too!

Colby told him to put the baton down.

In the end, he stuck with old faithful - Elmo.  However, when I put him to bed tonight, sans pacifiers, he totally rejected sweet Elmo.  I think he's mad at him.  But there were barely any tears - so proud!!

The Day after Sunday

Yesterday was our 2nd worship experience at Elevate Church!  We learned a lot from our first Sunday, met as a team during the week to work some things out, and this Sunday we killed it :) 

We have such an AMAZING group of individuals who serve on our Dream Team!  Set-up, Hospitality, Connection Tent, Greets, Ushers, Parking lot, Children's Check-in, Nursery, Elevate Jr, Elevate Kids, Worship team, Tech team, Tear-down, Trailers.....  the people that God has brought together to serve at Elevate Church are sold out to our calling to reach the unchurched and the spiritually restless in Erie with the life-giving message of Jesus.  THEY ARE INCREDIBLE!!!

Each Sunday, one hour before the worship experience starts, everyone on the Dream Team meets together in the lobby for our "Huddle."  The main purpose of the Huddle is to celebrate the wins with our team.  It is one of my favorite parts of Sunday morning!!

Yesterday, Pastor Colby preached an awesome message on forgiveness.  We are currently in our 2nd week in "Getting Past your Past." 

He talked about the two reasons why we should forgive:  because unforgiveness hurts me (Hebr.12:15) and I'll need forgiven again (Matt:6-14,15.)  Just like the error message that PC's users get when something goes wrong *Click ignore the problem or Report the problem* we have that same option in our own lives!  We were challenged to not always want to go report the problem but instead forgive and let it go.

He then walked us through how we forgive.  This for me is the hardest part...  I know I should forgive but doing it can sometimes be almost impossible. 
1)  Pray for those who hurt you. Most of the time we wait for an emotion to generate a response.  But in praying for those who hurt us we don't usually have that emotion - you might have to MAKE yourself pray!  And it's okay for those prayers to start out small.
2)  Forgive as you have been forgiven.  Col. 3:13 says, "Bear with each other and forgive one another.... forgive as the Lord forgave you."  It's might not be easy - bear with each other!!

We'd love to have you join us next week at Elevate as we continue in this series.

It's my baby's birthday!!

Parker Dean is 2!!!

This has been a busy season in our lives so I'm not really prepared for today...  but Colby & I did get a sitter last night and go out to dinner & do a little shopping for our sweet baby. 

So he has a cake!  (that is made, just needs decorating)

And he has a present!  Actually two :)  Listen, do you remember your second birthday??  I don't.  Two presents is plenty.

Park we love you SO MUCH.  You are hilarious and bring us so much joy.  You are always happy and your dad & I literally fight each morning to see who gets to wake you up.  Our prayer for you is the same one that we pray over you every single night...  that God would raise you up to one of the greatest men of God of your generation!!

The Day after Sunday

Yesterday was the launch of Elevate Church!

It was an incredibly amazing day.  We saw around 560 people walk through the doors of Harding School.  And the absolute best news on the planet is that 38 of them began a new life in Christ!!

Our current series is entitled "Getting Past Your Past."  My husband led us through these three points:

1) God will give you a new name...  Anyone who belongs to Christ is new person.  2 Cor. 5:17  God will give us a new name (transformed, healed, overcomer) and he will help us grow into that name!

2) God will give you a new purpose....  Out of our greatest weakness can grow our greatest strength.

3) God will give you a new future!  Don't dare insult God with faithlessness about our future. 

God's power is bigger than our past.  What an awesome message for our first Sunday!!  If you'd like to listen online just click here.

We'd love to have you join us next week for the second message in this series.

Title of this post? I have no idea.

I'm also not doing to be able to write complete sentences either.....

But here are some of my random thoughts:

I AM SO EXCITED  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We launch Elevate Church is 4 days!

We made the news - so awesome!

Our radio ad has been airing on 7 local stations for the past week. 

Our Dream Team is amazing.  We have SO many people helping us!

We just got our sweetness T-shirts in the mail. 

We've been meeting in different homes each night this week to pray for our families, our church, and our city. 

The school we are meeting in (Harding) has been amazing.

Elevate Kids is gonna rock.

My husband is the hardest working man I know.

Our direct mailer went to 56,000 homes in and around Erie!

My house is a wreck.

My God's not dead - he's surely alive!!!!  LOVE that song.

I'm praying that all the friends I've invited will come on Sunday.

My sister and family leave in the morning to drive from SC all the way to Erie.

My boys love Elevate already.  SOOOO fun to see them excited about church.

I have stupid pink eye. 

I'm so ready for Erie to see people excited about worshipping God!

My Dad & Mom and brother & SIL are driving to Erie on Saturday.

It's hard for me to concentrate at work anymore.

I've been blown away by people's generosity and their heart for reaching the lost.

I'm exhausted.

I'm encouraged.

I'm nervous.

I'm ready!!!!!!!!!!!