Brian's Corner
Dear Leader,
I hope you had a wonderful Easter and I hope you were able to make it to the Jobing.com Arena for our Easter service. It was really great being able to have our entire church family together for one big service! There certainly were thousands of people there. I know many people in our church family invited lots of family and friends. Great job doing that! I hope some people you invited actually came!
It was difficult to get an official count, but I know there were somewhere between 5500 and 6000 people there. It was really fun having our entire church family together in one service like that!
I have heard several reports from people who were sitting on the floor of the Arena who had a very difficult time hearing clearly what was being said from the stage area. We are so sorry about that. We did not know that was going to be the case. If we had known, we would have alerted everyone and not had people sit on the floor. (People sitting in the stands reported having no problems hearing.)
Just so you know, the sound was not done by our Vineyard tech team. It was handled by a professional sound company, but they evidently could not make the sound on the floor any better because of the way the Arena speakers are set up.
If you sat on the floor, please accept my sincere apology for the sound problems. I hope that did not ruin the service for you.
If we ever go back to the Arena again, we will not have people sit on the floor.
But even with that downside, there certainly were many positives about the service too. Several people approached me, telling me how deeply the service touched them. I know many people made either first-time decisions for Christ or re-dedication decisions for Christ during the service. We can all rejoice with them!
I also want to thank all of you who helped make this service happen. So many of our church family pitched in by serving in some capacity. If that was you, thank you so much! The service certainly could not have happened without so many wonderful volunteers.
I am looking forward to getting back to the "Following the Master" series on the weekends. I hope you are enjoying this series and learning more and more about Jesus through it.
Again, thank you for all you do to help make our church the church that it is. I appreciate you so much.
See you this weekend!
Love,
Brian
Update on Recent Events
The Women’s Evening Bible Study (WEBS) leadership team felt that our last session really impacted a lot of people. Close to 100 women were involved in our WEBS services. Many women experienced healing and freedom as they were released from the “secrets” that brought them shame and accepted forgiveness that God had for them. This session allowed our women to see that everyone has something in their past (and it may not always be pretty). The sessions taught that if we allow God to work through the good and not-so-good parts of our past, He can use us to help others.
-Thora Anderson, Associate Pastor
In anticipation of our Easter service at Jobing.com Arena, the youth group hit the streets to invite people to church. We set aside one Wednesday night and went through neighborhoods near the church, passing out 2000 fliers to homes from 51st Ave to 67th Ave and Olive to Cactus.
Our youth were unbelievable! We started the night with prayer, asking God to use us to place several door hangers that would make a difference for eternity. I explained that our goal was not to fill the stadium, but was instead about sharing Jesus with a world in need of Him. I asked the youth to pray as they went door to door. Everything went smoothly. There were no accidents, no lost kids, and no one got yelled at.
One of our new leaders shared an exciting story about the door hangers. He said that he gave one to a young man from the school he teaches at. The young man had never been to the arena before and was very excited that he could come for free. It didn’t matter that he was going for church – he was just excited to go to the arena. The only thing the young man knew about Easter was Easter egg hunts. God provided this leader with a great opportunity to share the gospel with a door hanger. The young man was really captivated by Jesus’ resurrection, asking if it really happened. He commited to come to the service and bring his parents.
Needless to say, the night was incredibly successful!
I’d also like to say thank you to our church family – they did an incredible job of handing out 4000 fliers! I know that there were many incredible testimonies from the experiences that they had when they passed out just like we had with the youth group.
-Craig Beyer, Associate Pastor
What do you get when you have a beautiful Arizona weekend in the spring, 50 tables and about a hundred small group leaders? One incredible Small Group Fair. On March 1 & 2 our Small Group Ministry was front and center of our church courtyard as our groups were about to kick off the start of the new semester. Pastor Brian preached on “Friendship” during the services and then afterward everyone got a chance to visit the decorated tables that were hosted by small group leaders and members. The fair also marked the first bi-annual “Best Decorated Table Contest” which was won by the Riches small group. Congratulations and enjoy your prize…a pizza party.
-Mario Fernandez, Associate Pastor
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Events and Highlights
Here are some major events that we can expect to see soon:
- Women’s First Wednesday, April 2, 9:00 am
- Updraft, April 3, 6:30 pm
- Small Group Focus, April 4, 6:45 – 10:00 pm
- Illuminate, April 6, 6:00 pm
- Marriage Connection, April 11, 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
- Vineyard Food Drive, April 12 – 27, during weekend services
- Ministry Team Gathering, April 13, 6 pm , room A & B
- SW Leader Team Meeting, April 14, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
- Momentum, April 14 and 28, 6:30 pm
- Alpha Holy Spirit Weekend, April 18 – 19
- Cry Out, April 19, 7:30 pm
- Men’s Retreat, April 24 – 26
- Prayers at the Capitol, April 24, 10:00 am
- Child Dedication, April 26, 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm
- 50+ Event, May 2, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
- Single Mom’s Spa Day, May 3, 8:30 am
- Illuminate, May 4, 6:00 pm
- Women’s First Wednesday, May 7, 9:00 am
- Cry Out, May 7, 7:30 pm
- VLI Intensive: Johannine Literature, May 9 – 10 http://www.vli.org
- Mother’s Day Pictures, May 10-11, during weekend services
- Momentum, May 12, 6:30 pm
- Illuminate, May 18, 6:00 pm
- Golf Tournament, May 17, TBA
- Musicians’ Night, May 25, 6:00 pm
- Memorial Day Water Baptism, May 26, 10:00 am
- Updraft, May 30, 6:30 pm - 9 pm
- Kindergarten Promotion Party, May 31, 9:00 am
- Illuminate, June 1, 6:00 pm
- Women’s Evening Bible Study, June 4 – 24, 6:45 pm
- VLI Intensive: General Epistles Literature, June 6 - 7 http://www.vli.org
- Momentum, June 9 and 23, 6:30 pm
- AVC SW Region Pastors and Leaders Conference, June 9 – 14
- Daddy/Daughter Dance, June 13, 7:00 pm
- Leadership Meeting, June 22, 6:00 pm
- Marriage Connection, June 27, 6:30 pm
Upcoming Classes:
- Women’s Leadership Training Class, April 6 – 13, 10:00 am (Conference Room)
- Introduction to Leadership Class, April 13, 10:00 am (Room A)
- Reducing the Risk Class, April 13, 10:00 am (Meeting Room)
- Women’s Mentoring class – Sat. April 19, 6pm, Conference Room
- Small Group Leader Training, April 27 – May 11, 10:00 am (Room B)
- Water Baptism Class, May 17, 4:30 pm (Meeting Room)
- Newcomers’ Class, May 18, 9:45 am – 12:45 pm (Rooms A and B)
- Water Baptism Class, May 18, 10:00 am (Meeting Room)
- Advanced Ministry Training, May 18, 11:30 am (Meeting Room)
- Water Baptism Class, May 25, 10:00 am (Room A)
- Water Baptism Class, May 25, 11:30 am (Room B)
- Marriage Mentoring Class, June 1 – July 6, 8:30 am (Room A)
- Food Bank Interviewer Training Class, June 1, 10:00 am (Room A)
- Christian Disciplines Class, June 1 – 15, 10:00 am (Room B)
- Secret Greeter Class, June 1 – 8, 10:00 am (Meeting Room)
- Parenting Class, June 1 – July 6, 11:30 am (Room B)
- Ministry Training, June 8 – June 29, 10:00 am (Room A)
- VLI Introduction Class, June 22, 10:00 am (Room B)
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