Never Once Have We Ever Walked Alone

Each year about this time I get nostalgic. On Sunday, October 7th (2007), Element Church officially held our first public service for the community in the movie theater in the mall. At that time, we had a group of 30 – 40 committed people, including kids, that were giving of themselves to make this thing happen. It all originally began with six people in my basement. We didn’t know what to expect that first day. What happened blew our minds and God continues to do so today.

On that first Sunday, 200 people showed up. 200! In my mind that may as well have been 20,000 people. I couldn’t believe it. Five people put their faith in Jesus that day. The firstfruits of hundreds more that would follow. I stood on the back ramp outside the theater where we loaded and unloaded our portable church supplies and cried that day. I couldn’t believe how a dream that God placed in my heart had come to fruition. I was so thankful. I still am.

Since we met in a movie theater we were able to talk the manager into cooking up some fresh popcorn for us to serve. In the middle of the service, we passed bags of popcorn down each row. It was so much fun. Our core team met together following the service and marveled at all God had done. We couldn’t believe God not only allowed us but called us to be a part of something so amazing.

We did so well with the service the first week that we grew from 200 in week one to 127 in week two. HA! It was a backdoor revival, to say the least. After that first week where we declined though, we haven’t looked back since.

It’s been a long road. We’ve seen incredible successes and we’ve experienced many scars. We’ve made many mistakes but we’ve also experienced God’s great mercy through it all. I’m forever indebted to and so thankful for the families who sacrificed everything and moved to Cheyenne to help start this church. Grant and Terri Clark. Adam and Amber Cruz. Keenan and Katrina Fitzgerald. Ben and Jill Roberts. Element Church would not exist without your sacrifices and commitments.

On Sunday, I drove by the theater before I came to the church. I stopped in the parking lot and played a song that has become an anthem for me throughout the history of our church. The song is called “Never Once” by Matt Redman.  It was written years ago but it has so much meaning to me today. I can’t think about all that we’ve experienced as a church and not think about this song. It will forever be my Element song. I posted the video and the lyrics below.

“Thank you, Lord for choosing me as your son. Thank you for calling me to start this church. Thank you for the many people who have sacrificed to make it happen. Thank you for the life change. Thank you for the transformations. Thank you for all your provisions. Thank you for the impact that we’ve made. Thank you for YOU! Never once have we ever walked alone.”