Sunday Night Reflections
Man it is stinking cold! But that did not stop us from having an incredible Sunday morning gathering! Wow just love what God seems to be doing in and through the hearts of people. The problem for me today was that it seemed to go by so fast. I would have liked to go through the worship one more time! I loved the new Israel Houghton's tune that Nick and Jeanine led us in called I Know Who I Am! The song that came right after the video was called He Is on Our Side by Bethany Dillon. What a powerful song and Jeanine did a great job singing it! Harold and Andrea Hardin just blew me away by the spirit in which they sang Friend Indeed. Asking the question – Is Jesus Enough? - is a question we need to ask ourselves on a regular basis. It is easy for us to add Jesus to our agenda instead of asking Jesus to help us live our life by His agenda.
Always good to have first time guest with us and today was no exception. What is just incredible is that we have not had a Sunday gathering yet at Elmwood in which we did not have at least a couple of first time guest. That goes to show that we really our living out the iRULES that we established "way back" in the day, to inVEST and inVITE. Elmwood let's keep at it, God is on mission and we get to be a part of it everytime we inVEST relationally with people and then inVITE them into a real, authentic relationship with their heavenly Father!
We had a great mission trip meeting with those who are going. Our numbers are small but that is ok. There are 6 of us that are defintely going and maybe a couple of more. This is the first "mission" trip for most the group so there is a little anxiety so pray for this crew. Pray for health, to help everybody get everything done that needs to get done, pray that everybody will get the needed funding in order to go. It is costing each person around $1,500 to go. Nobody has the money to go but they are trusting God to provide. If you would like to help contribute to the general fund to not only help the team get to Costa Rica but to bless the churches we will be partnering with to reach every man, woman and child for Jesus in their country and city we will give you that opportunity in the next couple of weeks. We want everybody that calls Elmwood home to be a part of this trip through, prayer, encouragement, giving of resources and support and we will let you know how you can do that in the days to come!
We sold a lot of MLL tickets today, we have a few more weeks to get them. We are working hard behind the scenes to get ready for Feb 8 which is our next MarriedLife Live experience. It is going to be a great night – the music is going to be hot and of course the desserts are always great. This is a perfect example of creating an environment and experience that will allow people (married/engaged couples)to connect to God and with each other. Do not miss it and bring someone with you!
I am tired but extremely thankful for all that God has done today! 
