Sunday Mind Dump

• What a perfect day.
  
  
• Both services today were exceptional.
  
  
• Even though we had many families out for holiday travel, attendance held strong. We were about 45 people lower than last Sunday – most of whom we were aware would be out.
  
  
• Our band was missing three musicians (drummer, bassist, & percussion) and two singers – total five. That’s a pretty big gap. Yet we were able to fill these vacant positions with other talent from our church, resulting in a church service that was seamless. Good job guys!
  
  
• A special shout-out to Wade C. for an excellent job on drums. This young man (high school student) played in service for the FIRST TIME today. He spent the last week practicing in preparation for today’s service… and it showed. It’s not an easy thing to do to step in to a band like ours and be a good ‘fit.’ Yet, he did it. Way to go Wade.
  
  
• I’d like to give another shout-out to our regular musicians and singers who were out today…. for giving us notice. It gave us time to find someone to fill the gap. Thanks for thinking ahead.
  
  
• Today’s sermon (Preparing for Armageddon) was one of the strongest messages to-date in our current series. The book of Revelation paints a very grim picture… and much of this series has had grim content. I’m glad that we have turned a corner and will soon be talking bout the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ’s Second Coming and His Kingdom on earth.
  
  
• I’ll be honest with you. This series is emotionally draining for me. Yes, it’s the content. But it has been good for our church. We are a twelve-year-old congregation and it was time for us to be exposed to a diet of strong meat together. It has lifted us above the thin glaze of Christian feel-good religion. A positive outcome of this series will be that, by the time we finish it, we will have journeyed together through this series and will have matured together. This kind of thing brings joy to a pastor’s heart.
  
  
• Three people got up and walked out today; a couple, and a lone individual. Since it was 12:00 noon, it may have meant nothing. Maybe they needed to be somewhere. Maybe they couldn’t hack it. I don’t know. But when you get right down to it – this stuff is in the Bible. It’s God’s Word. I’m reading it line-by-line and teaching it that way.
  
  
• Our attendances has been increasing during this message series. Go figure.
  
  
• The baby dedication was special and meaningful. We dedicated one baby in the first service, and four in the second service.
  
  
• I took a quick glance at the commitment cards today just before I left the office. It appears about 8-9 committed to Christ.
  
  
• After church today, at 5:00 PM, we held our All-Church-Volunteers Appreciation Banquet. What a great time we had. About 130 people were there!
  
  
• Can you believe that we actually have that many volunteers at PCC? In fact, not all were able to make it. We actually have about 150 volunteers. That is amazing!
  
  
• The Department Head of Food Service & Catering at UWF (who was responsible for organizing the banquet) said to me, “Your church has a lot of volunteers; more than I’ve ever seen.” I said, “Yes, these are the people who make our church work.”
  
  
• The agenda for the evening was perfect; 30 minutes of gathering together, selecting a table, and registering for door prizes; opening comments (by me) about 5 minutes long ;one hour and ten minutes for eating, visiting with friends, fellowship and hanging out together; then ten minutes for a wrap up.
  
  
• The drawing for the door prizes was fun. Giving away the coffee mugs was a big hit! I was surprised, but everyone took us up on the offer. We probably should have done it sooner.
  
  
• The food was FANTABULOUS.
  
  
• There was so much heart-felt gratitude and appreciation for one another being expressed tonight. Our church is made up of some wonderful people.
  
  
• I think the most meaningful (insightful) thing I said tonight was this: “Even though we have a compelling vision and a Biblical mission that we all work together towards, Pace Community Church is FAMILY. We actually LIKE EACH OTHER, and we enjoy BEING TOGTHER. We are tennis partners together, movie-goers together, vacation travelers together, eating out couples together, and we share our lives together.” That really meant something to me.
  
  
• One lady said the nicest thing to me. “Being a military family, we have moved a lot over the years and have attended a lot of churches. We have discovered that good leadership is very hard to come by in churches. This church is absolutely the best church we have ever been a part of. We only hope that we can find another church as good as PCC when we are transferred.”
  
  
• It’s easy to take one another for granted…. but when you hear comments like that, it helps put things in perspective. Thank you Cindy B.
  
  
• I am thinking about doing a sermon series on the book of Job (the man who lost his family and wealth in an instant, yet remained faithful to God). The book of Job is not an easy book to read, to teach, or to accept. But it is God’s Word. I think it would be very helpful for a lot of people . Would you be interested in a series like this? Let me know. I feel a strong leading in this direction.
  
  
• I just can’t say this enough – there aren’t’ any volunteers like the volunteers at Pace Community Church.

• Pictures didn't take very well. Sorry.

• Check back every day this week. I feel a writing spurt coming on!