What a great way to start 2010 Monday Night Prayer. We had a full house. The prayer room was packed. Gods presence was evident. The last song in worship was "Fire fall down". We lingered in His presence at the end of the worship time. John 15:16 came to mind as we soaked in Gods presence. "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and appointed you that you would bear much fruit and that your fruit would remain". Even in our brokenness God has chosen us and will use us. He wants us to produce eternal fruit which only comes from spending time with Him.
We walked through the Lord Prayer in Matt 7, topic by topic. We spent time reading comments from this weeks service and had a couple of stories of what God had done recently. We then had people pray on the mikes that God would grow us in His word, prayer, and in community. We prayed for next weekend where Chris will share the vision of Experience Life for 2010. We prayed for revival in us (intimacy) and revival to us (God showing up in our geographic area).
The time ended as we had people stand who were sick and those who were believing for something specific for God to do in 2010. We had all those around them gather and pray for them.
I am more convinced than ever that prayer is vital to what God wants to do. I am praying we get stronger and more efficient in prayer in 2010.
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Christmas Eve Service
First Time commitments to Christ 25
Baptisms 2
What a blessing! You guys are all amazing and so talented. Thank you for all you do! May unending blessings be poured out on all of you! Merry Christmas!
A life experience and eye opening! (this FTG committed their life to Christ)
"Have had trouble finding a church I connect with but want to find one badly...Awesome band and sermon!" This was a 23 yr old FTG who committed to Christ, wants to volunteer with children, and marked Prayer Gathering interest ~ I think she found a church :)
The first time I visited this church I wrote on the connection card ♫ I still haven't found what I'm looking for ♫ I have now found what I was missing! (He committed his life to Christ!)
Jan. 2 and 3rd service
First Time commitments to Christ 5
Baptisms 8
Comments:
Awesome! I feel God's love! Even in a skating rink!!
It was awesome! I felt at home!
It was awesome :) I have never been so excited to wake up and come to church!
It was a very, very spiritual experience.
I like experiencing life differently! :)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
Prayer Celebration 2009
As a staff we are reading through the Bible in 90 days. As I was going through the Psalms I noticed how they were always encouraged to celebrate Gods goodness. Many of the Psalms were written to be used in corporate worship. It struck me that we should celebrate Gods goodness in all of the amazing ways He answered prayer this past year.
So our newly born Monday Night Leadership Team began to brainstorm about what that would look like and "The Prayer Celebration" was born. The Prayer Celebration began with us decorating the room. We put up some huge posters with the names of God on them and artistically done by one of our artist. We began by sharing with people some of the things God did among us at Experience Life this year: Over 550 first time commitments to Christ, over 250 baptisms, we shared some individual stories of answered prayer. Then we had the full band rocking the house with thanksgiving to God. In between sets we would have individuals come up and share their most exciting time of the past year. One story was the powerful way God moved at two year anniversary at the end of all services as people came up and did cardboard testimonies and we sang "All I Need". Each service left people crying at Gods goodness.
Another was praying over the skating rink where we hold services one night and sensing Gods presence so strongly. It was the first time our people praying circled around the whole rink.
After worship and more sharing we went into a time of communion where people reflected on all God has done in 2009. Finally Chris, our lead pastor came up and shared from His heart about the year. He shared his appreciation to all the people of Experience Life and those who had been a part of corporate prayer this year.
We appreciated some of our volunteers and finally gave a rousing standing ovation for the one who had made it all possible: Jesus. We closed with one more song.
It has been an incredible year. God has been faithful through the good and the touch times. I am looking forward to seeing how we grow in prayer in 2010.
So our newly born Monday Night Leadership Team began to brainstorm about what that would look like and "The Prayer Celebration" was born. The Prayer Celebration began with us decorating the room. We put up some huge posters with the names of God on them and artistically done by one of our artist. We began by sharing with people some of the things God did among us at Experience Life this year: Over 550 first time commitments to Christ, over 250 baptisms, we shared some individual stories of answered prayer. Then we had the full band rocking the house with thanksgiving to God. In between sets we would have individuals come up and share their most exciting time of the past year. One story was the powerful way God moved at two year anniversary at the end of all services as people came up and did cardboard testimonies and we sang "All I Need". Each service left people crying at Gods goodness.
Another was praying over the skating rink where we hold services one night and sensing Gods presence so strongly. It was the first time our people praying circled around the whole rink.
After worship and more sharing we went into a time of communion where people reflected on all God has done in 2009. Finally Chris, our lead pastor came up and shared from His heart about the year. He shared his appreciation to all the people of Experience Life and those who had been a part of corporate prayer this year.
We appreciated some of our volunteers and finally gave a rousing standing ovation for the one who had made it all possible: Jesus. We closed with one more song.
It has been an incredible year. God has been faithful through the good and the touch times. I am looking forward to seeing how we grow in prayer in 2010.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Prayer the Past Few Weeks
The key constant of Monday Night Prayer this year has been the awareness we all have of the presence of God. It is a humbling thing to be in a place where everyone believes God is in the place and working in hearts and lives of the people there.
In the past few weeks we have been privileged to celebrate how God has graciously moved among us in 2009. At the first of the year, we prayed that God would give us 500 people who had committed their lives to Christ for the first time. Two weeks ago we surpassed that. We recognize that this is a God thing. It wasn't something we were smart enough to do on our own. It wasn't something we could have planned. We prayed a prayer we thought was a "Gods will" prayer and God amazingly brought the fruit. Sometimes in the last months we surpassed 200 baptisms. I tell people in prayer it is like moving from awe to awe. I can't seem to get a grasp on how God is moving on one thing and we see Him touching people again and we have to move on to that amazing thing.
We continue to grow with our prayer teams. At Monday night prayer we are now asking those people who have been through our initial prayer training to come to the front and side of the room and be available to pray for various people.
This past week (1st Monday in December) we prayed for people who felt like giving up in some area of their lives. We also prayed for those who were dry in their walk with God. This prayer time followed worship at the front end of Monday night. We had people raise their hands if this prayer request fit them and then had various people pray for them on the mike.
As 2009 is winding down, I find myself seeking God for what lies ahead in 2010. As prayer pastor I am excited. We are starting the year 2010 by bringing our prayer service to the first weekend. The services for the first weekend in 2010 will actually be a prayer service for our whole congregation. We will be doing this twice in 2010. Prayer is a priority for us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are Thankful for:
Commitments to Christ 11
Interested in Baptism 1
Unique Comments:
In the past few weeks we have been privileged to celebrate how God has graciously moved among us in 2009. At the first of the year, we prayed that God would give us 500 people who had committed their lives to Christ for the first time. Two weeks ago we surpassed that. We recognize that this is a God thing. It wasn't something we were smart enough to do on our own. It wasn't something we could have planned. We prayed a prayer we thought was a "Gods will" prayer and God amazingly brought the fruit. Sometimes in the last months we surpassed 200 baptisms. I tell people in prayer it is like moving from awe to awe. I can't seem to get a grasp on how God is moving on one thing and we see Him touching people again and we have to move on to that amazing thing.
We continue to grow with our prayer teams. At Monday night prayer we are now asking those people who have been through our initial prayer training to come to the front and side of the room and be available to pray for various people.
This past week (1st Monday in December) we prayed for people who felt like giving up in some area of their lives. We also prayed for those who were dry in their walk with God. This prayer time followed worship at the front end of Monday night. We had people raise their hands if this prayer request fit them and then had various people pray for them on the mike.
As 2009 is winding down, I find myself seeking God for what lies ahead in 2010. As prayer pastor I am excited. We are starting the year 2010 by bringing our prayer service to the first weekend. The services for the first weekend in 2010 will actually be a prayer service for our whole congregation. We will be doing this twice in 2010. Prayer is a priority for us.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are Thankful for:
Commitments to Christ 11
Interested in Baptism 1
Unique Comments:
Thank you for sharing His Crazy Love.
Super job - you guys rock!
This is a reminder of God's crazy true love for us!
Fulfilling!
Great! :) Great Reminder for Me!
All I can say is Thank You!
Very Uplifted!
Amazing! Got Holy Spirit goose bumps! :)
Monday, November 16, 2009
Getting to See the Results of Prayer: Monday Night Prayer November 09, 2009
Each Monday we share highlights of the last week and comments from our services. This week we had some great stories of how God had answered some of our prayers. Kerri Ladd shared about their journey with their daughter Amanda. Amanda had a lung transplant that started giving her problems so ended up having to have another transplant and went through some very traumatic days. So traumatic in fact that the doctors said if things don't get better within two weeks it could be all over. At the end of two weeks things were still on the bubble. A nurse approached the Ladds and told them she felt God was telling her to encourage them not to give up, not to look at the appearance of things and trust in him. Soon after things began to look up.
We spent time praying for children and families that were going through some of these kinds of struggles.
Another story was of a mom named Tori. Here daughter Kimbree has had many struggles also and is in a halo.
Tori said that she had a dream a few nights ago that Kimbree (her daughter) had entered a drawing contest at Scottish Rites and she'd won 1st place in the drawing. Tori said that the drawing, in her dream, was of a horse. Tori said that it felt like the dream lasted all night. At 8:30 the next morning a lady from Scottish Rites called and asked if she was Kimbree's mom. Tori said that she was. The lady then said that Kimbree had entered a drawing contest for a Christmas card contest and that Kimbree had won first place! Tori had forgotten that Kimbree had even entered the contest which was back in the summer. Anyway, Kimbree's drawing of a rocking horse will be on the Christmas cards that Scottish Rites sells! Kimbree's caption that she wrote for the card says, "Have a rockin' Christmas!"
An amazing story of how God gave a mom a dream to encourage her.
We spent time praying for our services, specifically that God would bring in people who didn't know Him and that they would commit themselves to Jesus.
Our prayer teams prayed for people who were discouraged and for our lifehouse leaders.
--------------------------------------------------------
We are Thankful for:
First Time Decisions:
Commitments to Christ 25
Interested in Baptism 5
Unique Comments:
• Kelsey from the children's check in area was very helpful. :) (Just thought you ought to know this one!)
• Experience Life Guys, This church is such a blessing to me. I applaud what God is doing here. Great music, great answers, great God!
• FAQ today showed me that I was truly ready! Thank you E-Life!!
• I have a wonderful time here. It's my happiest day when I come to service.
• Wonderful and Eye Opening!
• Right on the mark! It's the message I needed. (this individual committed her life to Christ this weekend!)
We spent time praying for children and families that were going through some of these kinds of struggles.
Another story was of a mom named Tori. Here daughter Kimbree has had many struggles also and is in a halo.
Tori said that she had a dream a few nights ago that Kimbree (her daughter) had entered a drawing contest at Scottish Rites and she'd won 1st place in the drawing. Tori said that the drawing, in her dream, was of a horse. Tori said that it felt like the dream lasted all night. At 8:30 the next morning a lady from Scottish Rites called and asked if she was Kimbree's mom. Tori said that she was. The lady then said that Kimbree had entered a drawing contest for a Christmas card contest and that Kimbree had won first place! Tori had forgotten that Kimbree had even entered the contest which was back in the summer. Anyway, Kimbree's drawing of a rocking horse will be on the Christmas cards that Scottish Rites sells! Kimbree's caption that she wrote for the card says, "Have a rockin' Christmas!"
An amazing story of how God gave a mom a dream to encourage her.
We spent time praying for our services, specifically that God would bring in people who didn't know Him and that they would commit themselves to Jesus.
Our prayer teams prayed for people who were discouraged and for our lifehouse leaders.
--------------------------------------------------------
We are Thankful for:
First Time Decisions:
Commitments to Christ 25
Interested in Baptism 5
Unique Comments:
• Kelsey from the children's check in area was very helpful. :) (Just thought you ought to know this one!)
• Experience Life Guys, This church is such a blessing to me. I applaud what God is doing here. Great music, great answers, great God!
• FAQ today showed me that I was truly ready! Thank you E-Life!!
• I have a wonderful time here. It's my happiest day when I come to service.
• Wonderful and Eye Opening!
• Right on the mark! It's the message I needed. (this individual committed her life to Christ this weekend!)
Give Thanks: Monday Night Prayer November 2nd
We began with a different opening than usual this week. Instead of our opening worship set, we began giving people a chance to think of reasons they were thankful. There were four pieces of black board around the room. We also left 2 different color post its in every chair. Everyone was invited to write three of life's small things that they were thankful for and post it on the board. Responses like Hagen Daz ice cream, or sunsets in West Texas, iphone apps, or Starbucks mocha popped up. On the other post it we asked people to write two things they appreciated about God.
I explained that Thanksgiving is appreciating what God has done and Adoration is appreciating who God is. We let some encouraging music run in the background as we did this.
We celebrated all who had committed their lives to Christ for the first time this week and then went into our worship set.
we spent some time praying over some corporate prayer requests and then prayed for the individual requests that we give to people as they come in the door each night.
Our prayer teams prayed for those involved in childrens ministry and anyone who had a need.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We are Thankful for:
First Time Decisions:
CC 6
Baptisms 5
Unique Comments:
• from 5th grader: "I have been reading my bible more since I have been here. I want to follow God for all my life!"
• Great! What a refreshing, REAL look at the word!
• Starting to question my faith...in GOOD ways!
• I got a full time job!!! Thanks for praying over the last few months.
• I wanted to share something with you. I interviewed 2 families today that said the reason they are joining the church is because of the children's ministry. Both families said their kids are learning so much and love coming each week and they have visited other churches that their kids didn't get much out of. They chose Elife because of our children's ministry.
I explained that Thanksgiving is appreciating what God has done and Adoration is appreciating who God is. We let some encouraging music run in the background as we did this.
We celebrated all who had committed their lives to Christ for the first time this week and then went into our worship set.
we spent some time praying over some corporate prayer requests and then prayed for the individual requests that we give to people as they come in the door each night.
Our prayer teams prayed for those involved in childrens ministry and anyone who had a need.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We are Thankful for:
First Time Decisions:
CC 6
Baptisms 5
Unique Comments:
• from 5th grader: "I have been reading my bible more since I have been here. I want to follow God for all my life!"
• Great! What a refreshing, REAL look at the word!
• Starting to question my faith...in GOOD ways!
• I got a full time job!!! Thanks for praying over the last few months.
• I wanted to share something with you. I interviewed 2 families today that said the reason they are joining the church is because of the children's ministry. Both families said their kids are learning so much and love coming each week and they have visited other churches that their kids didn't get much out of. They chose Elife because of our children's ministry.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
A Little Crazyness - Monday Night Prayer 092609
We arrived at the Sportsplex tonight only to find the electricity was off in that portion of the city. The Sportsplex which is a giant skating rink with some other rooms has very few windows. So we began the process of deciding how we could do prayer in a cold, dark sportsplex with no childcare.
We decided on having an abbreviated prayer time with candles and give parents a choice to head on out or keep their kids with them during this time.
There was something refreshing about having no microphones, no video projectors, and no heat. It brought everything back to the heart of the matter: PRAYER
Mark did pull out his guitar and led us in a couple of worship songs. We had our Large Group Prayer Team stand out to one side and pray for anyone who wanted prayer. We had everyone individually pray through some requests: pray for family, our services the next weekend and for people to come to Christ for the first time.
We had an abbreviated prayer time, but an encouraging one.
--------------------------------------------------------
We are Thankful for:
First Time Decisions:
CC 6
Baptisms 5
Unique Comments:
Praise Jesus! I know I need to pay a friend's mortgage now!
Something changed in me today! Thank you!
I am amazed by the growth and love that is pouring out of this church.
Awesome! I love your worship and freedom in this church!
Great job guys! Thanks for sharing. What a blessing you ALL are. May God continue to do amazing things in each of your lives and at ELife!
We decided on having an abbreviated prayer time with candles and give parents a choice to head on out or keep their kids with them during this time.
There was something refreshing about having no microphones, no video projectors, and no heat. It brought everything back to the heart of the matter: PRAYER
Mark did pull out his guitar and led us in a couple of worship songs. We had our Large Group Prayer Team stand out to one side and pray for anyone who wanted prayer. We had everyone individually pray through some requests: pray for family, our services the next weekend and for people to come to Christ for the first time.
We had an abbreviated prayer time, but an encouraging one.
--------------------------------------------------------
We are Thankful for:
First Time Decisions:
CC 6
Baptisms 5
Unique Comments:
Praise Jesus! I know I need to pay a friend's mortgage now!
Something changed in me today! Thank you!
I am amazed by the growth and love that is pouring out of this church.
Awesome! I love your worship and freedom in this church!
Great job guys! Thanks for sharing. What a blessing you ALL are. May God continue to do amazing things in each of your lives and at ELife!
"Large Group Prayer Teams" go into action - Monday Night Prayer 101909
I was really excited about this Monday night as we had our LGPT in action for the first time. LGPT is our "Large Group Prayer Team". We had a training time for those interested in being on this prayer team in September. I'll share more about that in another post. Monday night, instead of having everyone in the room pray for various needs. We asked that our staff and support staff stand and for anyone in major transition to stand. We then had our LGPTers go to them and spend time praying for them.
We continue to see the devotional prayer time before corporate prayer set the tone. There is something about people coming in early and preparing their hearts for prayer that helps corporate prayer take off quickly at 7:00 pm.
People were connected in worship tonight. Our worship team for Monday nights are our primary worship team from the weekend. They have varying musicians with them each night. One reason our prayer time works is because our lead pastor is strongly behind the this time and is our whole staff.
After three songs I shared about the story of Jacob going to the land of Goshen as Joseph had asked. He was uprooting from a familiar place and going to a new place. I encouraged people to be willing to let God lead them to new places. Interesting too that as Jacob headed to Goshen he stopped at an alter made years before. There are times when we move to a new thing that God wants us to remember the old things He has done. We remember His faithfulness, we remember His promises to us and we remember His love toward us. We prayed for a moment about this.
We had a testimony for one of our college students on how God led her to go home one summer from college and spend the summer praying for her family. She shared how God moved powerfully in that summer in their relationships. She had to give up going on a short term missions trip to do this.
Another of our monthly focuses in foreign missions. We let people come to microphones and pray for specific missionaries and countries. God has developed many in our body who have a heart for the nations. We usually have 10 or more who will come and pray for various countries or missions.
Another night of Gods faithfulness to us as we sought Him in prayer.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks given for:
18 first time commitments to Christ.
18 people wanting to be baptized.
Connection Card Responses:
Unique Comments:
I feel Christ is really speaking through our pastors!
Way to go staff and how awesome you are as examples as servants for us all.
I feel so welcome here!
A new experience...5 out of 5 stars! ;)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We continue to see the devotional prayer time before corporate prayer set the tone. There is something about people coming in early and preparing their hearts for prayer that helps corporate prayer take off quickly at 7:00 pm.
People were connected in worship tonight. Our worship team for Monday nights are our primary worship team from the weekend. They have varying musicians with them each night. One reason our prayer time works is because our lead pastor is strongly behind the this time and is our whole staff.
After three songs I shared about the story of Jacob going to the land of Goshen as Joseph had asked. He was uprooting from a familiar place and going to a new place. I encouraged people to be willing to let God lead them to new places. Interesting too that as Jacob headed to Goshen he stopped at an alter made years before. There are times when we move to a new thing that God wants us to remember the old things He has done. We remember His faithfulness, we remember His promises to us and we remember His love toward us. We prayed for a moment about this.
We had a testimony for one of our college students on how God led her to go home one summer from college and spend the summer praying for her family. She shared how God moved powerfully in that summer in their relationships. She had to give up going on a short term missions trip to do this.
Another of our monthly focuses in foreign missions. We let people come to microphones and pray for specific missionaries and countries. God has developed many in our body who have a heart for the nations. We usually have 10 or more who will come and pray for various countries or missions.
Another night of Gods faithfulness to us as we sought Him in prayer.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks given for:
18 first time commitments to Christ.
18 people wanting to be baptized.
Connection Card Responses:
Unique Comments:
I feel Christ is really speaking through our pastors!
Way to go staff and how awesome you are as examples as servants for us all.
I feel so welcome here!
A new experience...5 out of 5 stars! ;)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Strong Presence of God - Monday Night prayer 101209
We continue to see a strong presence of God among us as we come together to pray on Monday Nights. Last night was no exception. One of our key prayer people told me that when they entered the room at 6:30 they were immediately struck by an awareness of Gods presence.
Worship tonight was two slower songs. "I exalt thee" which is a vintage song and "the more I seek you" from Gateway worship. The lights were dimmed and there was a incredible peace for me indicating Gods presence. I could hear sobs to my right and God was moving in someones heart and then someone to the left sobbing also.
Our prayer intern, Matt, really felt led to encourage people that God was there in a powerful way and that He was breaking chains upon people. I got up and had people linger more in Gods presence. I had Mark and Brandon sing I exalt thee again.
As we consistently do we went into a time of thanksgiving where we hear answers to prayer. Everyone gave a great round of applause for at least 30 seconds when the announcement came that we had 28 salivations this past weekend. David Eppler, a local pastor from Cityview Fellowship came and shared about 10 minutes on what it is to be an intercessor. An intercessor is one who stands in the gap and helps bridge the gap from a persons reality now to what the reality of Gods will is.
Tim led us in prayer for a young girl who was wrestling with the option of abortion, we prayed for David Eppler and the leadership of Cityview, we prayed for the prayer movements in the city: Pray Lubbock, 24/7 prayer, Remnant and all prayer gatherings of people, we prayed for people to come to Christ this coming weekend, we prayed for our lead pastor.
During our prayer ministry time we prayed for all public servants: mail, govt., police, fire dept, utilities, we prayed for all those who had gone through intercessory training, and then for any need anyone had.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks given for:
28 first time commitments.
20 people interested in baptism
Comments for the weekend:
I enjoyed it greatly and felt like God was talking to me through Chris.
THANK YOU! Amazing, Uplifting, Encouraging, Just what I needed!
What awesome worship time! Brandon thanks for reading scripture over us!
Awesome! I loved the loving atmosphere!
Off the chain!!!
Worship tonight was two slower songs. "I exalt thee" which is a vintage song and "the more I seek you" from Gateway worship. The lights were dimmed and there was a incredible peace for me indicating Gods presence. I could hear sobs to my right and God was moving in someones heart and then someone to the left sobbing also.
Our prayer intern, Matt, really felt led to encourage people that God was there in a powerful way and that He was breaking chains upon people. I got up and had people linger more in Gods presence. I had Mark and Brandon sing I exalt thee again.
As we consistently do we went into a time of thanksgiving where we hear answers to prayer. Everyone gave a great round of applause for at least 30 seconds when the announcement came that we had 28 salivations this past weekend. David Eppler, a local pastor from Cityview Fellowship came and shared about 10 minutes on what it is to be an intercessor. An intercessor is one who stands in the gap and helps bridge the gap from a persons reality now to what the reality of Gods will is.
Tim led us in prayer for a young girl who was wrestling with the option of abortion, we prayed for David Eppler and the leadership of Cityview, we prayed for the prayer movements in the city: Pray Lubbock, 24/7 prayer, Remnant and all prayer gatherings of people, we prayed for people to come to Christ this coming weekend, we prayed for our lead pastor.
During our prayer ministry time we prayed for all public servants: mail, govt., police, fire dept, utilities, we prayed for all those who had gone through intercessory training, and then for any need anyone had.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks given for:
28 first time commitments.
20 people interested in baptism
Comments for the weekend:
I enjoyed it greatly and felt like God was talking to me through Chris.
THANK YOU! Amazing, Uplifting, Encouraging, Just what I needed!
What awesome worship time! Brandon thanks for reading scripture over us!
Awesome! I loved the loving atmosphere!
Off the chain!!!
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