Sunday Recap...

I have gotten out of the habit of writing on here and really need to get back to it. For better or worse, here is my view on the day at Catalyst.

• I always fear that on Holiday weekends we will have nobody show up for church. Not so at Catalyst. We had a good crowd which is always more fun than the Sundays when the pickens' are slim.
• Felt like the band did a good job. Sometimes they scare the crap out of me during rehearsal. They always pull it off when it counts.
• Sprang has this thing he says when he introduces a new song. He always says, "it is a really simple song..." Ha. I think his idea of simple has become skewed over the years. I was gonna bust him on it during the welcome time, but I forgot so I thought I would bust him now. I am waiting for him to intro a new song and say, "this song is really complicated, good luck staying with us..."
• Felt pretty good about the sermon. The passage was one that I had to wrestle with a lot, but felt like God gave me clarity during the preparation.
• I love talking about hope.
• I feel I am most in my element when telling stories. I have learned that as preachers we have to find our rhythm and groove and improve on it. I feel best when I am "me" up front and not trying to be somebody else.
• I won't ever apologize for telling stories because I see Jesus doing it all the time in the New Testament. I think we need to be able to connect our stories to God's story on a regular basis.
• When we sent the kids off the "The Lab" after the music today it felt like half the room got up and left. I love it, love it, love it. We opened this church with young families in mind and we are hitting that target.
• We are participating with a couple of other churches with an Angel Tree project. We committed to supporting 40 kids and we ran out of kids. I love that Catalyst folks are so generous.
• We also made available a journal for the Catalyst folks to journey through Advent and Christmas together. Sprang and our buddy Scott Stargel did a bang up job getting the book produced and printed.
• If you are interested in ordering a book or bunch of books, you can pay via paypal (send it to catalystrowlett@yahoo.com). Books are $5 each and shipping is $2 per book if needed. $7 shipped or $5 local. Shoot us an email if you live in the area and want a book.
• Went to lunch at Dos Charros Mexican bufett. It was awesome. Will definately be going back.
• Took a short nap and the rest of the family took longer naps.
• Warmed up the Thanksgiving leftovers for diner and settled in the living room to watch "The Polar Express" and "The Tale of Despereaux". Had a great movie night with Heather and the kiddos.
• Here is a peek at the book cover:
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