Five Reasons Why Easter Rocked at Creekside
1. Our "volunteer army" at Creekside are out of this world! Barry and Sandy Hall steam cleaned ALL the carpets, sewed skirting for the stage, planted flowers, caulked the fountains, and more ... Sherri Dickson and her decorating team did an outstanding job of making Creekside look beautiful ... Patti Shaw did a great job with bulletins ... John Shaw and Dries Pruis put together a rock solid team of greeters and ushers who helped everything run smoothly ... Eric Munns was a stud and ran to the store at 8:00 am to get cookies ... Cammie Schmidt rushed to make an extra pot of coffee when we ran out BEFORE the start of the 11:00 hour (a first) ... Furman Foster and his 9:30 usher team worked like champs to utilize every single chair at Creekside for people ... there are so many others involved beyond these guys too!

2. The band and choir were flat-out, screaming awesome! Even Simon Cowell would have given them props. I can't get over how strong all the musical aspects were at all three of our worship services. Sitting in the front row - The choir's enthusiasm and belting energy made my job of getting up and speaking that much easier. Steve Hanson & Scott Gillespie's "Amazing Grace" performance was chilling and Steve Viss' keyboard behind it was powerful, Kelli Singleton's "You Did That For Me" performance moved me (and everyone else, too) at all three services, Jerry Burkeen's slide guitar solo was too sweet, and what a rocking rythm section that Jake Kennedy and Billy Vance drove. You guys are always great ... outstanding!!!

3. Children's Ministry was on the top of their game this weekend! CreekKids is always great, but this Sunday Natalie Pruis and her team went way beyond great. They were gutsy enough to pull of a whole new check-in process on Easter Sunday no less. Thanks to all their hard work to prep for this, everyone who showed up on Sunday saw an amazing finished product. Safety and Fun are two high values for our children's ministry and it was definitely executed this Sunday. What a Team!

4. YOU all were amazingly friendly, inviting, and engaging this weekend! We had MANY first time guests this weekend and it was SO COOL to see you guys engaging in conversations with them and helping everyone feel welcome to be a part of the Creekside family. I am so proud of you all! What a great church!

5. God showed up in a powerful way! God is always present when we worship Him, but this Sunday there was something unique going on. Did you sense it? For the program team, it's a good morning when people laugh and cry in the right places ... but on Easter Sunday God was obviously touching people (myself included) in some very sensitive places in their lives and helping them experience Him in a deeper and more "real" way.


Some Numbers from Easter at Creekside
We had 450+/- people in total attendance on Easter Sunday ... very cool!
Our offering for Sunday was over $6,384, which is a great thing!

It was a great morning! ... Now the work through prayer and conversations of follow-up begins. Please join us in praying that many of these newcomers will feel loved and accepted enough to join us again at Creekside this Sunday and that they'll begin to make friends with people here at Creekside so that eventually they can become friends with Jesus ... which is obviously the MOST IMPORTANT thing.

I'll see you this Sunday at 9:00 or 10:30 am as we continue our 3:16 - The Numbers of Hope series. We'll be talking about how amazing it is that God loves us. Bring your friends ... it's going to be another great morning!

"Blessed is the man ... his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." Psalm 1:1-3

What a life worth living!
Planted by streams of water (A life of FAVOR ... planted in a wonderful place)
Yields fruit in season (A life of PURPOSE ... doing what I was designed to do)
Leaf does not wither (A life with STAYING POWER ... able to keep going)
Whatever he does prospers (A life of SUCCESS ... accomplishing great things)

Now I'm not a "prosperity gospel" type person but it seems clear from the psalmist that the key to a life of FAVOR-PURPOSE-STAYING POWER-SUCCESS is found by delighting myself in the law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night. His Word ... His Way becomes my stream of water which works through me to yield fruit, sustain me, and give me life ... life at its best.

So what is that keeps me from really soaking up His Word - His presence? I know that this is why I find myself uprooting where He has planted me ... why my fruit at times seem so weak and spotted ... why I sometimes feel like a sickly, leafless tree in a late autumn windstorm.

The answer ... simple meditate on the law of God day and night.
Living it out with consistancy ... obviously easier said than done.

But, here I go again God. Not more effort - but hopefully more abiding.
Thank you for being a gentle gardener!