Sunday Rewind, October 25th

*Carlotta, Camden and I (along with Brad and the Catalyst Band) led the worship at LaGrange Church of God this weekend.

*LaGrange is not only the church that launched Carlotta and I into church planting. They have become huge partners on many fronts in getting Catalyst off and running as well.

*Of the 6 active Catalyst participants in leading yesterday at LCOG, 5 actually would call LaGrange their "home church."

*Chris spoke about the topic, "How do I know I'm going to Heaven?"

*Jesus' disciples followed Him not just to secure an eternal destination, but because they made the conscious choice to BE WITH Him. They lived in close relationship with Jesus, and only later did they fully internalize that that relationship would carry on into eternity.

*The way we confirm heaven as our eternal destination is through experiencing relationship with Jesus in the here and now.

*Great response and a great opportunity to connect with lots of our great friends.

*Band did a great job and taught some cool new songs I think. I get the feeling yesterday won't be the last time many of those songs are played at 11am in LaGrange.

*Got a chance to enjoy lunch with some of the LCOG staff team.

*Everyone who was part of yesterday's services walked away with at least the knowledge of what God requires to assure home in heaven when this life is over!

Catalyst Rewind, Sunday October 4th

One of the people whose blog I regularly follow pastors a church near Atlanta. Each week on Sunday or Monday he posts what's called a Sunday reflex. It hits the highlights of what happened that weekend and a tidbit or two going forward. I like it. I'm stealing the idea (though not claiming it as my own: Thank You Shawn Lovejoy.)

So, here's the first official Sunday rewind....

• Our first preview service was above and beyond what we could have imagined. All that praying, "God, only you can do something amazing today, so we're asking you to please do!" was answered in an amazing kind of way.
• We started week 1 of our series, "Outside the Lines," talking about forgiveness and revenge.
• We had guest appearances today by Mel Gibson, Carrie Underwood, Jacob Marley and the late Heath Ledger!
• So much to say about forgiveness. Wherever we are on the forgiveness spectrum with those who have wronged us, there's room with God's help to take the next step toward healing and peace.
• The band was awesome. Every song was great. The OneRepublic cover of Apologize was amazing. Tech team was right on cue at every step. Thanks Paula, and Eli on video and lights and Kevin and Chris from Axibus for partnering with us again.
• Every Kids ministry area (Elementary, Pre-school, Infant Toddler and Check-in) all hit a home run today. No glitches from check-in to science experiments to the Praise Baby in the nursery.
• The building looked great. The children's ministry rooms were just unbelievable. Thx to Crosspoint for the wallboards and to Heather and Lauren for the hours you put into prepping them. Ryan and his team led well in the setup/teardown and in the greeting. The gym didn't look like a gym! It was a stylish little auditorium with just enough seats to feel full and the energy in the room was high.
• There are Catalyst Connection cards on my desk with names of people wanting to know about small groups and volunteering for the next preview!
• Okay, I hope I've built anticipation and that you know at Catalyst we are not all about numbers, but about transformation. Are you ready for the total? Again, no direct marketing, no major advertising, just word of mouth and some little reminder cards....84 adults and 28 children in Catalyst Kidz for a total of 112 on our first preview Sunday!!!!

So, that's a look at Catalyst's preview week 1. If you want to check out some photos, we'll post them to the Catalyst flickr page or you can checkout the Catalyst Facebook page for several great photos.

The message podcast will hopefully be up tomorrow and check back here for a link to maybe a few video clips of the weekend as well! Blessings, grace and peace and thanks for your prayers.

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