The Day The Lights Went Out

At staff ADVANCE this weekend, we talked about Spy Rules and how they apply to us as leaders at The Connection Church. One of the rules was "Technology will always let you down." And then I went on to talk in my usual optimistic way about how smoothly everything has gone for us as a church over the last 4 years. That's when the rest of the team reminded me of all the many times things have gone wheels off. I want to make sure we write all of those times down so we never forget all the mistakes and problems that we've overcome.

But I never could have imagined what would happen the next day. On Sunday morning, less than 10 minutes before the first service started, the power went off on the west side of town. I had to make the call to move our first celebration service into the lobby. Within moments, the entire lobby was setup for the service. Our booths were repositioned. The chairs were all put out (in straight lines). An upright piano was pushed into place. Greeters were repositioned. And we were able to start the service on time without any problems. It was unbelievable!

Not only did it have the feel of when we were first starting out, but it made me think of how it must have been when churches met without any electricity (and some still do today around the world). The great thing was that everybody was so pumped about it that even when the power came back on a few minutes into the service, everybody wanted to carry on with the unplugged service.

Turn Your Eyes from Cole Phillips on Vimeo.

The whole morning is a confirmation that no matter how high-tech we get, our power doesn't come from a power plant. God's people get their power directly from the Source. Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." And when we're all about His mission, there is nothing that can stop us. I was reminded in a very clear way that I get to be a part of a church that will do whatever it takes! The day the lights went out is a day that we will never forget.

If you want to see the plugged in version of Sunday's service, check this out.