Holy Hangover

Holy Hangover - it's not new, in fact I adopted it from Mark Batterson. But it definitely describes how I feel this morning. I don't really want to be here. . .in the office. My mind is mush, my energy is zapped, and yet,after this weekend I'm compelled to get up and get in here and get 'er done!

This weekend was incredible. At Greater Gresham, we kicked off the weekend with our Good Friday Service. It was moving, challenging, and powerful. The Lord definitely met with us. It was refreshing, energizing, and what we needed.

Then we moved into our Easter celebrations with one service on Saturday evening and 3 on Sunday morning. The attendance on Saturday night blew us away! THEN came Sunday morning. the 8:30 am service took us by surprise. pleasant surprise, but still a surprise. By the 10:00 service we were having to add chairs. And still, the 11:30 service came and went with still more people coming.

Here are a couple of thoughts from the weekend:

• I loved doing it and would do it again next week!
• It's about people - the people who came, the people who served, and the people who led. We couldn't have done it without them.
  
• The number of people it took to pull this off is staggering - I still don't know the total count of volunteers who served, but it happened with hardly a hitch. From Lisa and her greeters, to Arne and the parking team, to Brian who cleaned and prepped bathrooms all weekend and kept them ready for people, to Ken & Lance who drove shuttle vans, to Lyne, Bev & Cindy who worked to get the cardboard testimonies together, to Janice and her tech team who worked all week to get everything just right, and the video crew who set up and took some chances and tried new things, to Mark & John who built the crosses, to Gary and the praise teams who served service after service, along with Ceil, Danielle, and Iona and their host of volunteers who led our children and preschool ministries, and our prayer partners who stayed after each service to meet and pray with people. What an amazing group of people. . .and not one complaint from anyone who served! I did see lots of smiles, though.
• In every service we saw someone come to Christ for the first time and many who recommitted their lives to Christ.
• I watched in awe as member after member shared their cardboard testimony. Sharing with us the difference Christ has made and is making in their lives. They have definitely shared in Christs sufferings and have known the power of His resurrection (Phil 3:10-11).
• I love our praise team! They definitely brought their "A" game this weekend and it showed. Their energy, passion, and giftedness came through. Gary, keep up the great work.
• Keith, my friend and brother in Christ, thank you for sharing the anointed Word of God with us. It was a blessing each time I heard it.

I still want to go home and go back to bed. Actually, I would love to hit a coffee shop and just reflect on all the details of the weekend, then go back to bed. But alas, the week awaits and I still have a stack of stuff to do. It definitely makes it easier come here after such a powerful movement of God among His people. Thank you God for weekends like this!

Mike