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