Hey Evergreen!

We’ve got so much going on in the next number of weeks that I want you to be aware of, but first, let me say a HUGE thank you to everyone that helped to make the series we just wrapped up, Hot Potato, one of our best series EVER in the history of our church!

The KIDS ministry KILLED IT all month long by offering kids programming for both services. Without them doing what they did it would have been difficult for us to talk about the topics we talked about. These were “adult swim” kinds of topics and our Kids Ministry are the ones who really helped us create the environment we needed in the worship center to have the kinds of conversations we did.

The response to Hot Potato has been amazing. In case you missed it, the message on homosexuality alone has already received 90 views on Vimeo and it’s been watched in The United States, Canada, England, Australia and the Russian Federation (btw, you can catch that message HERE). That’s not too shabby for a little church in Pine City, MN!! That’s big time stuff, guys!! I’m so glad that so many of you responded so positively to this series. It was definitely a risk, but one worth taking.

As we move into the month of December there are 4 things I want all Evergreeners to know!

1. WE NEED MORE SPACE AT THE 11AM SERVICE! We’ve reached capacity at our 11AM service and we need some of you to make a commitment to start practicing “MISSIONAL SEATING”. What does that mean? It means we need at least 20 people to make the switch from attending the 11AM service to the 9AM so we can free up more space at our most popular service, creating more room for people far away from God at a time they’re more likely to attend. Seriously, guys, your butt can save the world by sitting in a service 2 hours earlier on Sunday! There is a definite attendance gap between our two services, and that’s something we EXPECT. But to the extent that we can even things out a little bit, we will be able to continue to have room to grow through the holiday season. Would you be willing to be on mission with Jesus by getting you and your family to church a couple hours earlier so someone else can have room to find him as well? Shoot us an email, a Facebook post or a comment on this blog that lets us know that you’re on board with us and that you’ll help us practice missional seating!

2. Evergreen’s Community of Leaders gathering takes place tomorrow, November 29 at 6:30PM. If you’re at all interested in Evergreen, this meeting is FOR YOU. As we always do at COL meetings, we’ll be doing our yay-God’s, developing as leaders and talking about some stuff that we do NOT talk about on the weekends. I would love to see as many people who call Evergreen their home join us for the November edition of COL – I promise you – it’s fun and you’ll leave having spent some awesome time with God and having a better handle on who we are and what we’re all about as a church.

3. A number of you have been asking about Evergreen’s holiday schedule this December. Here’s the skinny: We’ll be holding Christmas services on December 23 & 24 @ 6PM, and we’re doing something a little different this year – we’re asking you to pick up tickets for our special holiday services. WHY TICKETS? Because as we get closer to Christmas, it helps us to have an idea of how to prepare and get ready for the big day(s). For example, if we need to move service times or add a service, it helps us to have a general feel for where people are landing with their holiday worship plans so that we can maximize our space and the opportunity to share Jesus with people this season. SO – STARTING THIS WEEKEND… Please pick up your family’s (free) tickets to the Christmas services on Dec. 23 & 24!! Bringing guests (you SHOULD BE!)? Pick up tickets for them as well! The services are already planned out – and they’re going to be AMAZING! You will not want to miss them – they’re more creative than anything we’ve EVER done!

4. Whoville starts this weekend at Evergreen and this is a series that we want you to be more invitational with than you’ve EVER BEEN! There are people that are willing to check out church at Christmas that aren’t willing to go any other time of year, so be passing out your invitation cards, utilize Facebook by re-posting Evergreen Creative Videos and messages and send out invites to your friends, utilize POST CARDS and send people an invite through the mail – in short, DO EVERYTHING SHORT OF SIN TO GET PEOPLE TO CHURCH THIS DECEMBER AT EVERGREEN! We’ve been thinking and praying about this series for months now, and we’re so excited to dive into it with you. But who are the who’s that are counting on YOU to bring them to church this Christmas?