Well with a couple of days of perspective I can finally make a comment or two about Journey’s Christmas Eve services.
LOTS OF PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY OUR FRIENDS – that’s the point. We make no bones about it: we want to leverage whatever holiday spirit that people have that makes them a little more open than usual to come to a church service. All of you Journey-ites did a great job of inviting, of bringing and of hosting! All four services were full. 4:00 was packed! They all felt different but all were great!
LOTS OF PEOPLE, GIVING ALL THEY GOT – I absolutely LOVED the teamwork. There were tons of people taking advantage of “FIRST SERVE” opportunities. There were lots of people that no one saw on stage working long and hard to make it a great experience. A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO DAN MATTICKS our photographer. He said he woke up to socks full of coal. Somehow I doubt it! You just keep serving with such joy! Thanks.
LOTS OF TASTING AND SEEING THAT THE LORD IS GOOD! This is my favorite part of my job. I love the reaction of people who are new to church, or who have been away for years who think they would hate going (that’s what I thought) only to find people a lot like them, music they love and how absolutely relevant the gospel is to their right now lives! When we cranked up that Florence & The Machine song – Dog Days are Over – you could feel a cool shock wake run through the building. “They didn’t really do that… did they?” FUN!
2011, COME ON! I’m looking forward to another great year, an even better one. Again, thanks to all of you Journey Peeps – you made these huge services huge, you made them fun.
