5 Prayers for our CHURCH
Posted by tomelmore in Everything Else, General, Thrive on January 16, 2010
As a Pastor one of my Big Deals is Prayer….my goal is for no one to beat me in the amount of time that our church gets talked about with God. I believe what the Bible says about prayer – it can make things happen – it can help us hear God’s heart and it can provide protection from the enemy’s attacks. Here are the 5 things that I am currently PRAYING for THRIVE!
1. WE TRUST MORE! - Call it faith, trust – whatever you want…..Our relationship with God is built on believing God at his word and then acting on those beliefs. My prayer is that we TAKE HUGE LEAPS OF TRUST in the coming year. What are the focus areas: our time, families, jobs, finances and being a connector to God!
2. COMMUNITY GROWS! – We were built for more than sitting in a seat on Sunday! The church was designed to “do life” and at the same time, be “life-giving”. I’m praying Thriver’s eat together, play together, have conversations about God, life and family. The book of Proverbs describes it as “iron sharpening iron” – let’s sharpen each other!
3. PROTECTION FROM THE ENEMY! – The truth is Satan hates us! He will distract, deploy, and put despair in our lives to hold us back from God’s blessings and power. I’m praying that our eyes are wide open to the enemy’s schemes and that we grab a hold of the spiritual weapons that God has given us! Go read II Corinthians 10:4
4. EXPERIENCE AUTHENTIC JOY – When we can smile beyond our circumstances, laugh in the middle of storms and be thankful when we experience blessings…that’s when we can say “I have Joy”. Joy is not circumstantial – it’s an inward peace that comes from our confidence in who GOD IS! I’m praying that Thrive is busting out the doors with people who are discovering the real deal!
5. WE IMPACT OTHERS LIVES – The Bible describes the Gospel as “good news”. Good news deserves to be shared and given out freely. I get excited when I think about our friends, family members and neighbors connecting to Christ in 2010. We can impact other’s lives when we are willing to share our story – love people and invite them to go on the journey with us. It’s incredible to think that we can help people discover God’s Purpose and plan for their lives!
Praying hard! Pray with me!
See you Sunday…..
Tom
8 Steps to a Boring Church…
Posted by tomelmore in General, Leadership on January 15, 2010
This Blog was soooo good I had to re-post it….it’s from a Perry Noble, pastor of New Spring Church in Anderson, SC. He hit the bulls eye on this one! Enjoy -Tom
I know some people do not agree with me…but I FIRMLY believe that church should not be a boring place…because…
· The Bible is NOT boring–the teachings of God’s Word are more relevant and exciting that anything on the planet.
· Jesus was NOT boring – to see His life lived out in the Scriptures AND to see WHO HE IS should inspire AWE, not apathy!
· Our message is NOT boring – Jesus was DEAD, came BACK TO LIFE and offers us the same opportunity, to cross over from death to life and be reconciled to God–THAT’S FREAKIN AWESOME!!!
· The Book of Acts is NOT boring – there is NOWHERE in the book of Acts that ritual replaced relationship!
If the tomb is empty, Jesus is alive and HOPE is possible then HIS church should reflect that.
BUT…if you want to make sure your church is boring, here are Eight Simple Steps…
#1 – There has GOT to be apathetic leadership – Seriously, the leaders in the church MUST be obsessed with not rocking the boat and pursuing personal comfort
#2 – There CANNOT be a desire to reach people far from God! Seriously, new birth can bring excitement to a church, which is NOT what people in pursuit of boredom desire. SO…don’t focus on the Gospel…instead teach lots of history lessons and talk about things that very few people actually care about. This will keep people far from God away from your group of people, thus not messing up the chemistry in your holy huddle. WHATEVER you do…DO NOT talk about the Gospel…it changes people!!!
#3 – DO NOT call for ANY type of commitment from ANYONE–EVER! People MUST be allowed to come and go as they please…and must NEVER be made to feel uncomfortable under any type of circumstances. If people begin responding to God it will increase the excitement level, which cannot happen in a boring place.
#4 – Always be predictable. Do the same songs at the same times, pray the same prayers and make SURE that people can look at their watch at any point in the service and know exactly what’s coming next.
#5 – Make excuses when things are done poorly! WHATEVER you do…do NOT address the obvious issues that are right under your nose. In fact, if you will simply criticize any church or ministry that IS seeing success it will take the attention off of your dysfunction and allow you to maintain the current state of your church.
#6 – PLEASE make sure not to make ANY type of references to culture in your church services. If you want to have a boring church then you’ve GOT to make people believe that the lives they live Monday through Saturday and then the life they live on Sunday are two separate things. You cannot teach that Scripture speaks to culture…because if people begin making that connection then they will begin to experience what Jesus promised in John 10:10!
#7 – You’ve GOT to allow people to pretend that their lives are perfect! Seriously, if someone has a problem then you must either put them out of your church OR tell them to act as if they are perfect.
If people begin to bring their junk to your church and Jesus begins to help them work through it and they get delivered from it…your church cannot maintain its boring status.
#8 – You MUST focus on the external and NOT the internal. Make the way people dress the MOST important issue…and the way they LIVE a non- issue!!!
Want a new Marriage?
How do we help people connect to God? We invite them to church!
We just invited 40,000 of our closest friends to be our guest on Jan 24th, just in time to kick-off our new series “I want a new marriage”.
Don’t have a flyer? Don’t worry; we will be giving them out this Sunday so you can personally give one out to your friends, neighbors, co workers and family. Let’s help people make it easy to FIND and FOLLOW Christ!
Thrive – YOU CAN DO IT!!!
Tom
Thoughts from the Week…
Still wrapping my mind around the incredible week that God has blessed me with….here are some thoughts….
· Last Sunday’s Service was one of our best yet…people gave their life to Christ, attendance was up and I met some cool people that came for the first time.
· Still thinking about the message last Sunday – An Exceptional Life starts with the habits of Generosity, Gratitude and Pursuing Guidance from the Bible and Godly people….
· It never gets old when people come up to me and say “I have not been to church in YEARS”….love it!
· Our NEW worship leader Jimmy Savage and his beautiful family is leaving the cold state of MI and joining our Thrive tribe – he’s the real deal – pure heart – incredible talent….reminds me that we “get what we pray for”.
· We will be announcing our the titles for our Second Growth Group season very soon…phenomenal leaders will equal phenomenal group experiences…can’t wait
· Our mailer hits in over 40,000 homes tomorrow….always blown away to see what God can do through a simple flyer….more coming in 2010
· Still thinking about some of the “leadership nuggets” I received at the coaching network I attended at Bay Area Fellowship…Pastor Bill Cornelius is one bad dude….again more to come on that one.
· Our family is LOVING that American Idol is back… my daughter is convinced she’s the next BIG THING….she’s already one of the Big Deals in Daddy’s world!
Already looking forward to this weekend…more excited than you can imagine about the blessings that God has placed in my life…Thrive, the BEST IS YET TO COME!
See You SUNDAY!
Tom
Welcome Woodlands Church!
So excited! Woodlands Church is opening their West Campus – preview service is this Sunday. Let’s be praying for them, another Church to reach the lost and un-churched.
Tom
Thoughts from Sunday
We just kicked off a new series this Sunday called “Brand New”. I think I am more excited about this series than any we have done yet.
The New Year is a natural time for us to look back – revaluate what’s important and make some new commitments to improve on the year before. That’s great – the problem is – most of us don’t follow through very well. Ever wonder why that is?
One of the reasons is we spend a lot of energy and goal setting on the externals – money – looks – stuff. The result is we rarely change the way WE BELIEVE about those things……Our thoughts and beliefs always dictate our actions. What I believe about my health, my family, my faith can always be seen by my actions first – then my words.
I think the key to change in any of our lives starts when we invite God to change the way we think – change what we give mental energy to. What we focus on is OUR CHOICE. The next couple of weeks at THRIVE has the potential to really set a NEW direction for us in 2010. I do get excited when I think about how God empowers us to recalibrate our lives. He Gives us power to choose faith over our fears ….I am looking forward to figuring it out with you!
2010 is going to ROCK!
Tom
Christmas Gifts I wish I had gotten…
The Elmore’s had a great Christmas this year. Our kids got tons of gifts from all our family – including a Wii, which I have played more than my kids. (By the way try to stop me in Wii Tennis- I dare ya!) We had a great time creating our new family traditions as well as spending time with new and old friends. Looking forward to all that God has for our family in 2010!
Happy New Year!
Tom
P.S. This is what I REALLY wanted!!
4000 Year Old Ritual
Posted by tomelmore in Everything Else on December 4, 2009
This is a post written by Mark Batterson @ National Community Church in Washington, D.C. He has a great blog at Evotional.
“Continued our Ritual series this weekend. Talked about a 4000 year-old ritual called tithing that traces all the way back to Abraham. Honestly, I used to hate talking about money. Thought people would think it was a money grab so I was almost defensive about it. But the longer I tithe the more I love talking about it.
We need a paradigm shift. So many people perceive the tithe as an obligation. It’s an opportunity! Yes, Malachi 3 says you are “under a curse” if you are not giving a tenth. But what a promise! God wants to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on you that you cannot contain.
Here are a few principles I shared this weekend:
1) God can do more with 90% than I can do with 100%
2) U cannot out give God
3) 2 be blessed beyond your ability u need to give beyond your ability
4) When u start tithing, your financial problems become God’s problem
5) The tithe keeps money from becoming your master
6) Tithing positions u 4 blessing
7) Tithing = Trusting
In my personal experience, tithing makes finances fun. It infuses me with economic optimism because I’m walking in obedience. I live in holy anticipation to see the way God is going to provide!”
Enjoy,
Tom
Thoughts from Sunday …
Here are a few thoughts on an amazing day…
- It’s becoming clearer every day that starting a Life giving church is a lot of FUN and one of the BIGGEST ADVENTURE’S OF MY LIFE – so far!
- Let me ask you a question – Do you know another place where you could… watch 2 grown men have a “gift wrapping” competition in service? It was brutal- now I see why they invented the Christmas BAG!! Guys on Dec 14th @ 7pm we are going to help our ladies by wrapping all our gifts (while watching MNF)!!
- Heard 3 different families tell their story on how they reconnected to church and the difference it’s making in their lives and families. Way to go – Liz, Justin, Christine, Patrick and Patty!
- Listened to a great band cover Mute Math’s “Typical” – Justin, Dan, Rocky – you guys blew me away!
- Saw kids all over the place having fun while at the same time learning God’s truth.
- Heard a Talk from Luke 16 about $ and understand that God sees it as…
- A TOOL
- A TEST
- A WAY of seeing what is in our HEART
- OUR CHALLENGE: Everybody has a little bit of TIME and a little bit of RESOURCES. What are you doing with yours?
- Gave away FREE Christmas CDs and THRIVE ornaments for your trees to remind all of us to PAY IT FORWARD….
Next Sunday is HUGE for our Church!
- Our new worship Leader Jimmy Savage will be in town and leading us in worship! He moves here early January – pray for him and his family!
- We will be collecting our “Pay it Forward Christmas offering” – Our Goal 175K – Big number – Bigger GOD!
- Starting new series called “A place for everyone” – click here to check it out.
- Praying HARD you step out of your comfort zone and bring a friend….God can do a lot with a little bit of courage!
Peace,
Tom
SNAPSHOTS from the WEEK…
Posted by tomelmore in Everything Else on November 18, 2009
Friday Night – We Threw a Party for our AMAZING THRIVE Volunteers
· We had our first ever DREAM TEAM Dinner at our house and it was a PARTY!
· Jackie and I were blown away that over 50 people showed up…I thought around 20 would come – so much for my faith and forgetting to do a RSVP.
· Of course it was a TX BBQ (something I love and appreciate about this great state called TX) with brisket, ribs and pulled pork sandwiches – can I get a yee haaa!
· The chief was none other than Thrives own Buddy Broussard. He cooked for 2 days strait and donated all the meat (sorry dude you just lost your reward in heaven -your giving is public).
· Loved watching everyone that showed up late hope that there was meat when they walked in and saw the crowd. (There was just enough – kinda like the fishes and loaves story in the Bible)
· People were laughing and having a good time, always a plus when people are hanging out at your place.
· I’m missing some of my DVD’s as a result of the party – Rodrigo Vargas I would like them back 
Sunday AM
· We launched week 1 our new series “Inked – marked to make a difference” – seems like everyone is pretty pumped about tattoos…I personally like to go with the “lick on ones”.
· Today’s message was specifically for us to OPEN our eyes to the fact that God is a GIVER!
· After Salvation, and His Spirit, God gives us spiritual gifts to help us discover His plan for our life.
· My Gifts show my value as well as become the key to living a life that’s FUN and FULFILLING.
· A Ton of Christians have “Gift Envy”. It can creep into our lives – We don’t need another Billy Graham – we need YOU to be YOU.
· Dan Nieves stepped up and led worship for us – it was his first time leading at Thrive and probably not his last.
· I mentioned in the message that my eyebrows are prominent but not that significant….I also mentioned that I think my eyebrows have a “thing for each other” – they keep trying to get hooked up….in case you are wondering, my wife says “never the two shall meet”.
· Our youth did a drama during the service and they almost got a standing ovation – it was stinking awesome. Teenagers still rock my world!
· We introduced some of the details for our first Christmas offering…we are calling it “Pay it forward”. I challenged to seriously INVEST in the lives of children, teenagers and our community! We are TRUSTING God for 175K. That’s a big number but – chump change for the creator of the universe. Can you think of a better investment than children and youth in this economy – can you?
· I know that People came to Jesus today! That always makes every service a HOME RUN!
Sunday PM
· THRIVE 101 class went well. Had some great families find out what who we are and where God is taking us.
· Laughed hard at the “ME church” video….if you haven’t seen it yet go You tube it – funny stuff!
· Thankful and excited to see the all the Partnership sign ups – we have some people that are going “ALL IN” …still mind blowing.
· ONE youth met in the gym while Thrive 101 was going on….over 60 teenagers and 6 teams are competing for a free cruise to the Caribbean. I hope they ask me to chaperone!
· Chris Palmer, our guest speaker at ONE reminded me how God often works “full circle” – he was one of my students in my Jr. High ministry -man I feel old! Check out his site and don’t let the suit fool ya www.chrispalmerministries.com
· Saw the movie “2012″ later that night – prognosis: not a great “end of the world flick” but still made me feel like praying on the way home.
Monday
· Tried to relax – still found myself looking at used cars and answering church e-mails.
· Loved talking about Prayer with my Growth Group that evening.
· Felt God showed up as we prayed for some Big Needs in our group.
Tuesday
· Met at Night with our ONE youth Leadership Team. Aarron and Tina Martin are incredible hearts and are serious about reaching young people.
· Tried talking them into making me a chaperone on the Winners Cruise….we will know the verdict soon.
· Felt Thankful that all the team leaders really know that ONE BIG PARTY is an outreach to help teenagers connect to JESUS.
That’s about it for now…except for a few challenges to EVERYONE who attends THRIVE…
· If you will…PRAY for our service this Sunday everyday this week
· PRAY and ask God what your part is in our “PAY IT FORWARD campaign” www.thrivechurch.cc
INVITE someone to church this week…seriously…step out of your comfort zone and do it!
Be generous to someone this week – pay for someone’s star bucks – leave a waiter a huge tip….JUST DO IT and watch what happens….
The best is yet to come…
Tom
