Code Orange Christmas

Readers-

It's no secret. I LOVE my church! I mean I think about moving and I realize "Megan, if you move, you won't have Elevation" and then I realize how much my life has changed and how truly blessed I am to be surrounded by such awesome people and I come back to my world. :)

Now, anyone that attends Elevation will most likely tell you they love it, they are proud of it and they are involved but it's not for everyone. And that is definitely ok!!!! However, I wanted to share the link below. I wish it was the entire Worship Experience from beginning to end so that you could fully grasp the energy and excitement and message, but it's a few snippets and Pastor Steven's sermon and it really is just powerful. Even sitting at the computer I am PUMPED!

Code Orange Christmas @ Elevation Church

www.elevationexperience.com

I can't watch without crying. I can't think of the service I attended without getting teary eyed. It was powerful. It was awesome. It was just amazing!

I mean the Global Choir! That was AWESOME!

Code Orange Christmas:

6 locations

30 services

2182 people stood to their feet to profess Jesus as their savior!

Merry Christmas!

God is. God was. God will be with you!

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Snapshots

This weekend started a new sermon series titled

"Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf"

it's all about relationships and I am SO excited to hear what Pastor Steven has to preach these next 5 weeks! I'm also excited because this was the first Elevation Experience for my Mom as she came to visit and didn't leave until early this morning so she was able to attend last nights service!

Just for the purpose of documentation, Prince William & Kate displayed a lovely Royal Wedding on Friday, April 29, 2011 and this new sermon series began Saturday, April 30.

Keeping with the times, the sermon was aptly titled The Royal Marriage.

Based on 1 Samuel 25:1b-42 and a lovely quote of "you are surely and mean in your dealings" as well as a bit of a preview into Proverbs 18:21, I could already tell that this sermon series is going to be epic! Pastor Steven did a great job of informing everyone that we are not going to have a royal wedding, but we can have a royal marriage.

Eat the salmon!

basically, this boils down to the fact that so many people in a relationship think that engagement/marriage is the next step. everyone wants the wedding (the planning & preparation, the dress, the reception, the cake) but not many really think about the marriage itself. it's like a great salmon dish at a restaurant, you love all of the side items and garnish but if you don't like salmon, you're not going to be ordering the dish.

Where life is spoken, humility must be present

The tongue has the power of life of death, speak life.

i think this is true for many occasions. words can be hurtful, so always speak life into your significant other, into your career, into your family.

Don't wait for the prince, crown the king!

this was a great one too! don't wait for the dashing prince charming and his white horse to find you, crown the king that's inside your significant other. speak life into them and they will be king!

What you fail to celebrate will eventually leave your life.

Sunday Snapshot

Our God is so good.

Everything happens for a reason and this weekend was the perfect example of that! Let me give you a little bit of my weekend before I dive into my notes for the final sermon in the

Grapes & Giants series.

Saturday night, I did not attend service, I filled in for a greeter that was out of town and distributed Easter tickets, so I did not get the full sermon experience.

This morning, I assisted with First Experience and had to go to work after that so I missed both the 9:30 & 11:15 services.

Tonight, I was supposed to lead a greeter team, but some things happened and I ended up experiencing one of the worst days of my life, received devastating news and walked through the doors a crying, sobbing, snotty mess. I was quite the site for eyes to see :) After explaining everything to one of the Associate Campus Pastors, I decided I would help where I could and then go into service. BEST DECISION EVER!

Y'all, I LOVE my church but man oh man. Everything happens for a reason! I missed Saturday night and this morning because God knew i needed to her Pastor Steven's sermon at 6:00 Sunday night. He knew i needed to watch those baptisms and cry my eyes out while watching/singing and cry through that sermon. I've said it before that "this sermon is my favorite" or "that sermon hit the nail on the head" but nothing compares to tonight's experience!

So, Grapes & Giants, week 4 of 4!

Deuteronomy 7:12-24 and Ephesians 6:10-20 were the verses the sermon was based off of and they are AWESOME!

The Promise of God's Protection

Get Dressed! Put on the full armor of God!

God made provisions for your protection

You can't defeat your enemy if you don't discern your enemy.

Thieves don't break into empty houses

The enemy wants me because there's something awesome there that he wants. (hello!)

STAND YOUR GROUND. When all else fails, just STAND! (side note, I LOVE the Superchic(k) song about stand your ground)

Guardian angel-can't protect you if you're not entering the fire. Live your life so your guardian angel slaps you and says "Do you have any idea what you put me through?" :)

God can only give you strength for your struggle, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

He gives strength for those willing to struggle

I'm not STRUGGLING, I'm getting STRONGER!

The enemy hates me but God will protect me, I'm his investment.

Never underestimate what a father will do to get back to His child.

Sunday Snapshot

Have I mentioned how much I am LOVING the Grapes and Giants Sermon Series????

Purpose: The Prequel to Power

Ephesians 1:3-14

God has made the promise and given the blessing but I must take possession. 1. Before God made the world He made a plan for me. Ephesians 1:4 It's not fake, it's fixed. The outcome is decided and we won! 2. Before God called me to do something special He chose me to be something special. Ephesians 1:4 Ephesians 1:5 We obsess over direction but neglect character. When you know who you are, you will know what to do. 3. Before I can find my purpose I must lose myself in Gods passion. Ephesians 1:6 Ephesians 1:12 4. Before it all fell apart God has a plan to put ot back together Ephesians 1:7-10 5. Before I chose to live for God He chose to live in me. Ephesians 1:11 6. Before God can give you the land as your possession you've got to give Him your LIFE as His possession. Ephesians 1:14

You have every spiritual blessing if you believe!

Love Week

Love Week is pretty rock solid if I do say so myself! It's February 26-March 6 and 20+ churches in Charlotte have signed up to serve 25,000 service hours!!! Volunteers can make sandwiches, clean up parks, sort clothes, donate food and more! Yesterday, volunteers could put together shoes for Samaritan's Feet. Volunteers had to lace the shoes, tie them together, write the size on the bottom and then box them with their "mates" so all size 6 men's shoes made it into the same box. It was pretty awesome to see so many people helping.
Yesterday afternoon a new shipment of shoes came in since the morning crew got the entire truck done between the 2 morning services. Well, the Sunday night shoes were knock off Air Jordan's and other Nike's. It's kind of bittersweet....people thought they could make knock off Nike's for dirt cheap, sell them for market value and make a lot of money. Well, the bad guys got caught and the Secret Service people that acquired the shoes, donated them to Samaritans Feet. It's upsetting that someone would replicate a shoe and have a horrible plan for them, but cool that they were donated and now kids, adults and senior citizens in Sudan and all sorts of other places with hear the word of God and get a pair of shoes! Service projects rock!

Red Carpet!

I'm feeling very behind with life and the blog world these days! What can I say....we have 24 hours in a day but sometimes I think we need more. Or maybe we just need shorter work days, or we don't need phones and computers for awhile and life would be a little easier? Laid back? Relaxed? A lot of people say we have the same amount of hours in a day as Einstein but really, he didn't have e-mail or voicemail or other social media outlets that require updating.

I didn't do a Sunday Snapshot this week because not only did I have time, but it was a special week....there wasn't a sermon, but there was the viewing of the documentary featuring the first/past 5 years of the church, from the beginning, behind the scenes, raw footage, present day and a glimpse into the future.

Instead of a Sunday Snapshot, I want to recount the Red Carpet Movie Premiere Weekend because it was AWESOME! I felt like such a celebrity (which is funny because I was on a local news channel Fri night but that's another story!)

Last Friday, the church had a Red Carpet Movie Premiere and it was AWESOME! I felt like such a celebrity! I'm talking red carpet, photo backdrop, those "danger" poles with red ropes, Hollywood Stars on the floor and an Ice Sculpture.

The 5 year This Is How We Change The World documentary was equally amazing and made me so proud to have found an incredible church and it made me realize how blessed I am.

The man with the BEST Vision!

Stop...collaborate and listen! Ice is back.... :)

Hollywood Stars!

My Small Group friend Nichole

Overall, it was a pretty cool weekend! Hope everyone had a great week!

Sunday Snapshot 3

Today's sermon was the third in the "GET BACK" series.

Thoughts to Ponder:
1. Go to God
-as long as you know where to go when in trouble, you're not far from help
2.Face your situation
-before God can give you a miracle, you must follow his instruction
3.Check your perspective
-all God needs is all you have. Even if you're poor, your Father is extremely rich!
4. Demonstrate your faith
-get some jars. God's not short on oil
5. Make your plan
-build a special room for God t move in your life

Phrases to enjoy:
I am an empty jar.

Get some jars!

Song to listen to:

sorry, I couldn't find a clip for my favorite song

So there it is. My third Sunday Snapshot. Completely random, but informative.
***Also, I posted last week but I dated it for 1/16***

Hope everyone has had a GREAT weekend!

Sunday Snapshot 2

Today's sermon was the second in the "GET BACK" series.

Thoughts to Ponder:
1. Sometimes you live in the midst of it and don't see it
-too often we have exactly what we are praying for, but we're too busy with our routine that we miss out on the new things
2. We can't all play the same part
-embrace your place! the arm is nothing without the hand which is nothing without fingers. We are all different but we can all work together for the greater good
3. The grass is greener where you water it
-don't run away from something, embrace it and change or adapt

Phrases to enjoy:
You have to go where you don't want to be to be where God wants you to be.

When you leave the place, your don't give God the change to work in you, for you.

Song to listen to:
http://www.elevation-worship.com/album/the-lord-is-my-rock/
So there it is. My second Sunday Snapshot. Completely random, but informative.

Hope everyone has had a GREAT weekend!

Sunday Snapshot 1

I've fallen off of the blog train but I'm trying to get a ticket to get back on!

In an effort to keep myself accountable, I've decided to at least have 1 post each Sunday for the three of you that probably still read my blog. :)

I've titled this blog series, "Sunday Snapshot". Creative right?! HA!

Well, "Sunday Snapshot" is going to be similar each week. I want to be able to recount what I've learned in church, record it on here and share it with you. It is my goal to do this for a year, or really the next 50 weeks...I realize I missed out last week, so instead of me offering 52 weeks worth of Sunday Snapshots, I'm offering 51. 1 shy of a year. Bummer.

I attend a large and rapidly growing church that I LOVE. I've never felt so great in a church before so I think that says something.

Today's sermon was the first for the "GET BACK" series.

Thoughts to Ponder:

1. Don't play God when you've got it

-what good is it to make great time if you're headed in the wrong direction?

2. Don't blame God when it's gone

-sometimes we forget God in our success but blame Him in our failure

3. Find the music

-use natural means to kick start supernatural momentum

4. Dig some ditches

-get ready for the blessing your believing in as if it's yours

Phrases to enjoy:

You can make it. Don't give up. God is with you. No matter what.

You can't make God send you the right person but you can be the right person.

Song to listen to:

http://www.elevation-worship.com/songs/give-me-faith-the-song/

So there it is. My first Sunday Snapshot. Completely random, but informative.

Hope everyone has had a GREAT weekend!

that's what I love about Sunday....

Today was my first day off in exactly 2 weeks.

Crazy. I know.

I had big plans for today!

I woke up this morning and went to a brand new-to-me church.

Can I just say that it was AMAZING!

As you know, I'm a self described "church hopper" so I've gone to a few churches in the area and wow, after today I think I found a new home.

Despite today's sermon being the last in the series, I really enjoyed it. The intro to the sermon was pretty neat as a few members of the staff recited Romans 8 from memory and it was just powerful. So powerful that we got a glimpse into football season and ended up high fiving the people sitting around us...which was super weird since I went to church by myself and was seated next to a random family. Oh well!

The sermon was based off of Romans 8:37

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

As you probably guessed, it was about conquering and the difference between being a "Conqueror" and being a "Super Conqueror" and really, all I could think of for a moment (among church things of course) was Superman and having super powers. I then had to chuckle because I now had the image of a picture that I used to have (that sadly I don't have on my laptop to show you since it was taken with gasp.... film) of D when he was 5 years old, standing on the front steps leading into the house with a "suit" on, his hands along the buttons of his shirt, clip on tie flapping in the breeze and his Superman pajama shirt underneath as little E was in her car seat fresh from the hospital, wrapped in a pink blanket....Big Bro a step above her to protect her! (D&E I babysat for when I was in High School) Too cute!

Anyway, I'm super excited for the next sermon series and glad that I can listen to the sermon online as well. It's so funny how far church has come. I grew up sitting in the very front pew, not allowed to talk or turnaround, singing the hymns and only clapping when we went to church Saturday night and the "fun" worship leader (back then was just a lady with a guitar and a microphone) was leading everyone....moving on to a church that was a bit more relaxed but still piano/organ and hymns....moving on to a church that was expanding and having a Contemporary Worship Service in the Fellowship Hall with folding chairs, drums, guitar and microphone to slowly adding a projector and a movie screen to today where it was just intense. God is good!

I left church feeling happy and like I may have found a church "home" and I was excited! I was so pumped that I headed here:

to look for one of these to take home with me:

and I was now so overwhelmed and confused with the massive selection, that I came back to my apartment without a fan.

I just want a plain ol fan that someone will install so I don't burn the place down. I would like to be able to just flip a switch and it'll turn on. I don't need or want anything fancy. But really, does the length of the blade matter? Yes, the color does, but the speed and the light and the size. It was too much to deal with right then and there because I had an important lunch date!

The Newlyweds, Claire and Dave, were in town for a wedding last night so naturally we had to meet for lunch! It was great that I got to see them for a bit as a married couple!!!! And really, who doesn't want to enjoy some Chili's Chips and Salsa with friends on a Sunday?!?!?!

After lunch I came back to my apt and headed to "Sundaes on Sunday" which was supposed to be a way to meet your neighbors but it was raining. The ice cream was mighty tasty though!

I sat on my front porch and watched it rain as I ate my ice cream. It was so weird. I was so excited to have a pool day since I haven't been to the pool in at least a month and gosh darn it, it was sunny and it rained, rinse and repeat. So I sat outside, eating ice cream and watching it rain.

I did some laundry and met Adrienne and Jeff for dinner! I tried sushi for the first time but ended up ordering my staple, Chicken Teriyaki with Fried Rice as they ate sushi...what can I say, I may be a creature of habit :)

And now, Remember the Titans is on. Really, what more could I want!!!

I am so ready for some FOOTBALL!

"Alice, are you blind? Don't you see the family resemblance? That's my brother." -Gary Bertier

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, those who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28

Go Tell It On the Mountain

My mom, bro and I went to the same Catholic church, every week, from the time I was in kindergarten until my freshman year of high school.

However, around the middle of 8th grade, some things happened that we didn't agree with/believe in so we began seeking a new church in our town.

We found a new church, different religion (Presbyterian), but enjoyed it. Oddly, I went to this new church, sometimes with my mom, and sometimes with family friends of ours. I was blessed to have two STELLAR Sunday school teachers for the next two years. My mom occasionally came to church with me, my bro, back and forth, and of course, come holiday time, we went to new church as a family.

Things at that church changed (or fell into a downward spiral really quickly (ie small church, older congregation, minimal youth) and the Methodist church down the road was starting a contemporary service.

We were all baptized/confirmed Catholic, but, after two years at what I now refer to as "my home church", our family became Methodist.

When I moved almost three months ago, I was elated that I would be able to attend an AMAZING church each week (sadly, my work schedule doesn't allow me to go every week but I attend when I am not working). I went to new church Sunday morning and was just in awe.

The praise team is PHENOMENAL. I'm talking, you're just filled with such joy and excitement on the inside and your smile will spread ear to ear and then some! But as I sat there by myself, alone, in a seat, now knowing anyone around me or even recognizing anyone, I started to think about my home church.

I realized that home church is just that...my church at home. It's sanctuary is filled with people that I have known for what seems like my entire life (beauty of small town living), parents of people that I went to school with, former teachers, best friends, kids that I've babysat and so on. It's every bit of a home church.

And I started to feel guilty.

I LOVE new church. The energy from the Praise Team is so amazing that it's almost like being at a Billboard Top 10 concert. The support and response from the congregation is spot on and the sermon, oh my the sermon...it's deep, it's fun, it's true, it's applicable. If I could bottle up the 60 minutes I spent in new church Sunday and send it to the world, by golly I would.

And I felt guilty. And I almost feel guilty about this entire post.

Why? Because I. Love. New. Church. A lot. To the point where I wish I could take the people from home church and bring them to new church so that they can experience what I do. The super cool thing is that new church is already broadcast live via satellite to two other campuses. Awesome!

But then I got to thinking. As I sat there. Is it wrong that I have come to love and enjoy new church much more than I do home church? Is it wrong that my main draw to home church is the home aspect of it? After all, I love new church for the worship, which accounts for 95% of church-going so I love it for all the "right" reasons. But I still feel guilty.

If only I could find a way to broadcast new church to home church each Sunday....I wouldn't feel so guilty!