The Bowl Tickets - Part 1
12/28/07 10:27 AM
So - is everyone back to work? I've gone to the
office a couple of times since Christmas and done
some work from home, but I have definitely enjoyed
some time off with my family. Today I've got to get
busy on my message for Sunday and a few other
things.
I wanted to share the story of our Chick-Fil-A Bowl tickets with you. As many of you know, we gave away 2 Bowl Tickets as a part of our Christmas Eve service. But how we got those tickets and who ended up with them is quite a story. When we came up with the idea at our Creative Team meeting we only had a couple of weeks to get our hands on them. The Bowl was already sold out, but like many Bowl games, I figured we could find someone who was willing to part with them at a reasonable price. I called everyone I knew - Clemson people, Auburn people, Atlanta contacts, Chick-Fil-A contacts. No avail. I went to Ebay, but didn't want to pay what they were asking for them.
Well, time was slipping away and so on the Friday before Christmas I decided it was time to go the Ebay route. I scrolled through auction after auction after auction. I landed upon one particular auction where the seller at least seemed to have a reasonable starting bid, had more than one ticket, and listed his phone number. I decided to give him a call.
"Hi, I'm calling about your Bowl tickets for sale on Ebay." Extremely nice guy. He told me that he was a member of IPTAY and bought the tickets but that his wedding anniversary is January 1st and that his wife said, "We will not spend our anniversary at a football game." He also told me he would be willing to break up the set and sell 2 of them.
Well for whatever reason I decided to tell him who I was and what we were going to do with the tickets. I told him all about the service and our "Unwrapping Christmas" series. I told him about my sermon, "My Favorite Things," and gave him a point by point run down of my message. The whole time he kept saying things like, "Wow! That's great! Very creative."
And then when I was done he told me that his wife had literally just asked him about the tickets and that he was checking the auction when I called. But then he told me that he was a volunteer staff member at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC! He volunteers in the Children's Ministry with child security and check-in. I have talked about the NewSpring church several times on this Blog. Jeremiah and I went to their Unleash Conference last spring and pre-registered for 10 tickets for this year's conference. In fact, we had just stopped by NewSpring on our way to see Janet's family in GA a couple of weeks ago.
All of a sudden it was like we were old friends. We forgot about the game and talked about church and ministry. He offered to help us out in any way he could and even offered to give us a "behind the scenes" tour when we come to the Unleash 08 conference. When we finally got back to talking about the game he said he would shut down the auction and sell them to us for what he paid for them. He asked for my name and address so he could send the tickets. When I told him my name he said, "Spell your last name." "R-o-l-l-i-n-s." He said, "You're never going to believe this, but that's my name!" No - we're not long lost brothers, separated at birth or even cousins. But still, you have to admit - that's pretty cool!
God was definitely up to something! I told him to pray for the person that ends up with the tickets (you'll have to read Part 2) and that I would call him and tell him all about it. I always knew Clemson was God's team!
I wanted to share the story of our Chick-Fil-A Bowl tickets with you. As many of you know, we gave away 2 Bowl Tickets as a part of our Christmas Eve service. But how we got those tickets and who ended up with them is quite a story. When we came up with the idea at our Creative Team meeting we only had a couple of weeks to get our hands on them. The Bowl was already sold out, but like many Bowl games, I figured we could find someone who was willing to part with them at a reasonable price. I called everyone I knew - Clemson people, Auburn people, Atlanta contacts, Chick-Fil-A contacts. No avail. I went to Ebay, but didn't want to pay what they were asking for them.
Well, time was slipping away and so on the Friday before Christmas I decided it was time to go the Ebay route. I scrolled through auction after auction after auction. I landed upon one particular auction where the seller at least seemed to have a reasonable starting bid, had more than one ticket, and listed his phone number. I decided to give him a call.
"Hi, I'm calling about your Bowl tickets for sale on Ebay." Extremely nice guy. He told me that he was a member of IPTAY and bought the tickets but that his wedding anniversary is January 1st and that his wife said, "We will not spend our anniversary at a football game." He also told me he would be willing to break up the set and sell 2 of them.
Well for whatever reason I decided to tell him who I was and what we were going to do with the tickets. I told him all about the service and our "Unwrapping Christmas" series. I told him about my sermon, "My Favorite Things," and gave him a point by point run down of my message. The whole time he kept saying things like, "Wow! That's great! Very creative."
And then when I was done he told me that his wife had literally just asked him about the tickets and that he was checking the auction when I called. But then he told me that he was a volunteer staff member at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC! He volunteers in the Children's Ministry with child security and check-in. I have talked about the NewSpring church several times on this Blog. Jeremiah and I went to their Unleash Conference last spring and pre-registered for 10 tickets for this year's conference. In fact, we had just stopped by NewSpring on our way to see Janet's family in GA a couple of weeks ago.
All of a sudden it was like we were old friends. We forgot about the game and talked about church and ministry. He offered to help us out in any way he could and even offered to give us a "behind the scenes" tour when we come to the Unleash 08 conference. When we finally got back to talking about the game he said he would shut down the auction and sell them to us for what he paid for them. He asked for my name and address so he could send the tickets. When I told him my name he said, "Spell your last name." "R-o-l-l-i-n-s." He said, "You're never going to believe this, but that's my name!" No - we're not long lost brothers, separated at birth or even cousins. But still, you have to admit - that's pretty cool!
God was definitely up to something! I told him to pray for the person that ends up with the tickets (you'll have to read Part 2) and that I would call him and tell him all about it. I always knew Clemson was God's team!
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