being jake wood

Weekly Teaching Series:

RE Part IV: REthinking the Paranormal

Tonight we took a tough topic and talked about the paranormal (ghosts, spirits, fortune telling, etc.).  We talked about an uncomfortable scripture found in I Samual 28, where Saul sought out a spiritist who called up the dead prophet Samual.  We talked about how fear can drive us to dark places sometimes and that we are spiritual people first.  We are not “body” with “spirit”, but “spirit” with “body”.  We all can recognize that there is more to this life then just the physical.  God has given us a natural desire to WANT to connect to Him, but when we don’t, we open the door for other spirits to fill us up.  We also looked at the story in Luke when Jesus cast out a demon from someone and talked about how our physical body is a house and we can do ALL we want to clean up the house, but when we don’t let the spirit of God do the work He needs with our souls, then we can get caught in the frustration of bondage and can seem even worse than it was before.

The final question we asked was… “what kingdom or spirit are you walking in?”  Because if we’re not walking in the spirit and Kingdom of God, then we are walking in the spirit of darkness.

Overall we had an awesome night and prayed with a ton of students who are making huge changes in their lives.  God just blows me away each week.

Sermon In a Sentence:

When God interrupts, you have the choice to switch.

Element of Fun:

Tonight Blake and the team led us in a simple and always fun game where each tribe takes their shoes off and piles them in the middle of the gym.  The first team to have all their shoes on and in a line wins.  CRAZINESS.  You have to have leaders watching because a dog pile with over 100 people can get crazy.  Lot’s of fun though!

This Week’s Scale of Difficulty:

4 out of 10.  A fairly good week of preparation.  We have so many excellent leaders in place who are playing their part and contributing so much to each week.  Because of this, I can really focus more on the message and not the other details.  The message was one that has been on my heart since the beginning of the year, it just took some time to flesh out.

Attendance:

The attendance was up 176% from last year.

Service length:

95 minutes

Music Playlist:

Life Redefined

Break Free

You Hold Me Know

The More I Seek You

Wednesday Night Video:

Funny video Jordan and his video team did that ties into topic of the paranormal.

Overview of the Night:

We officially ended the series with a bang.  Great night with an amazing team of leaders and student leaders.  We also had 8 students who have signed up to be baptized next month.  Student leaders were all over the place helping out and serving.  This fall term we have 40 students who are participating in OT (student leadership).  We are growing so much each week that next week we will have to push back our pipe and drape to make room for more chairs.

For those interested, here is the schedule for last nights service..

October 21, 2009

Here is a download link of all the media stuff that we used for this series.  Feel free to use it and customize it to your ministry or group needs.

Re: series media and graphics