mattmehaffey

Sunday Blend :: November 16, 2008

Yesterday at The Pursuit Christian Church, we wrapped our series The World is Flat in which we have been talking about God's call for us to love our global neighbors.  The three weeks were: Lonely World, Impoverished World & Lost World. 

• The Big Idea yesterday was: Responding to God's call to help people find their way back to God. 
• We looked at Luke 15:1-24 and saw that lost people are of immeasurable value to God.
• We showed the video below (from Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL) to help illustrate how uncomfortable Christ-followers can be when talking about spiritual things.

• Great crowd yesterday.  Both the auditorium and the Kids City area were nearing capacity. 
• After the Celebration Service, we invited the church over to our house for Yuleima's baptism.
• A bunch of people accepted our invitation and cheered on Yuleima as she was baptized in our hot tub! 
• It was also really special for me to watch Janie baptize her. Very proud of her.
• Speaking of baptisms, I am going to blog later this week why The Pursuit will never build a baptistery in any of the buildings we ever occupy. 
• After everyone left, the party continued because my niece, Reagan turned 3 years old.  And it must have been good because she said, "This is the best birthday party ever!"  

Christmas Series: Advent

Hope. Peace. Joy. Love.

Those words might make us think about Christmas, but do they really reflect a typical Christmas season?  Or is it more like ...

   “That jerk just took my parking spot!”
    “I can’t find that stupid gift receipt anywhere!”
    “You charge how much to check my luggage?!?”

The Pursuit Christian Church wants this year to be different for all of us.  Let's countdown to Christmas together by observing Advent. Advent is all about the arrival of hope, peace, joy and love into a world desperately in need of all those things.

Advent Celebration Services - all services are at 10:30 am:
•    Sunday, November 30 - Hope
•    Sunday, December 7 - Peace
•    Sunday, December 14 – Joy
•    Sunday, December 21 - Love

If you live in the Miami, Pembroke Pines, Miramar area you will find The Pursuit on the map below:

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The Office Mugs ... which one are you?

One of my favorite TV shows, "The Office" is now selling the mugs that recently made an appearance in an episode a couple weeks ago.  I know some of my blog readers are Office fans so post below which of the characters from the show is your favorite character (notice Jim, Dwight, or Pam do not have a mug because they didn't go to Angela's party!). 

My favorite is Andy.  Oh and you can buy the mugs here.

 

Exponential Conference 09

If you or your church is interested in church planting, you simply must block off April 20-23, 2009 for the Exponential Conference in Orlando. 

I have attended the last two years: the first conference was eight months before we launched The Pursuit Christian Church and the second was four months after launch.  Both were invaluable experiences for me and my team.  This has become a must-attend event each year for our team.

Not only does '09 have a phenomenal speaker-lineup (Erwin McManus, Craig Groeschel, Tim Keller, Francis Chan, and many others) but we will also hear about the amazing ways God is moving in other corners of the globe. 

Don't forget to register by December 1st and receive the Super Early Bird Rate of $129.

 

Sunday Blend :: November 9, 2008

Despite the fact, I felt like junk, Sunday's Celebration Service at The Pursuit hit the mark.

- This week was part 2 of our three-week "The World is Flat" series.

- The Big Idea: "Responding to God's call to reduce poverty in the world."

- We looked at Matthew 25:31-46 and honed in on Jesus' words when he said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these ... you did for me."

- The band nailed the U2 classic, One.

- We are getting a lot of interest for our Mexico mission trip in the summer of '09. 

- It was awesome to see my sister, Daria and her family.  Especially, my nephew Ryne since this was the first time I got to meet this little guy.  

- The Colts won a close game against the Steelers.  First time they have won in Pittsburgh since 1968, I believe!  They started off slow but they have a favorable schedule heading toward the playoffs.

- Janie and I ended our night by going to see one of my favorite bands, Coldplay in concert at the Bank Atlantic Center. 

Batter in a Bottle

On Janie's last trip to Costco, she bought these "Batter Blasters." Just think pancake/waffle batter in a Reddi Wip bottle.  I secretly wish everything came in bottles like this. 

This morning, I sprayed out a couple of waffles and cooked them to delicious perfection.

I have nothing profound to say about this.   Just that Batter Blaster may very well be our generation's version of the Tower of Babel. 

Partner with The Pursuit

The Pursuit Christian Church was started with the generosity of many followers of Jesus.  Each of our full-time staff members are completely supported by outside financial support.  One day, we will reach the milestone when this campus' giving will be completely sufficient but until then we will continue to rely on partners to help us continue the work.

This week our staff sent out packages to all of our partners including a DVD celebrating stories of life-change we have seen God do in the past few months.  (I threw on some movies to help pass the time as I put my packets together.)  We hope you will celebrate with us because if you are a financial or prayer partner with The Pursuit, God has used you to help people find their way back to Him.  

If you do not receive a DVD or just can't wait to get yours you can watch one of the videos by clicking here.

If you want to partner with us financially you can do so by clicking here!

Christmas Playlist

I just got inspired to throw all my Christmas music on my iPhone.  I also put my top twelve Christmas songs in a smaller playlist. See it below.

What Christmas song(s) would be in your favs?

 

Bold is Beautiful

This Tuesday in staff meeting, I reminded The Pursuit team about many of the bold steps we have taken in starting the new church.  That said, we cannot rest on past risks.  The moment we stop being bold is the moment we settle for mediocrity.

I talked about Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14 who picked a fight with the Philistine platoon with only his tweenage, armor-bearer.  I love his pep talk.  "Let's go take these guys out.  Maybe, God will be with us!"  The word, "Maybe" is probably not something the young boy wanted to hear.  But that's the thing about boldness, there's a good chance, heck it's even likely, without God we will fail. 

Bob is taking a bold step tomorrow that we need to pray for. 

Bob and Linda live in a 55+ gated community in Pembroke Pines with 15,000 residents.  There are zero churches in the community and many people who are far from God.  Bob and Linda have been busy building relationships with many residents through golf, poker, choirs, meals, Bible studies, etc.  Several of their new friends have come to The Pursuit.  But the goal is to reproduce a new campus of The Pursuit in the heart of their community.

A month ago, Bob approached one of the board members of the community to see if they could use a room in the club house to use for a Celebration Service.  They were graciously told, "No."  Where some would quit and get frustrated, Bob and Linda said, "Let's do something bold. Maybe God will be with us!"

Tomorrow they have a meeting scheduled with the President of a Jewish Synagogue that is already in the community.  Might The Pursuit's next campus be meeting in a synagogue?!?  Talk about going old skool?  I love it!  Please pray for a God-led meeting tomorrow morning at 10:30. 

 

Next Steps

Nothing thrills me more than seeing people take next steps in their journeys with God.  Recently, Manny Cabeza took the step to be baptized.  Check out Alex's blog for more on Manny.

Manny's Baptism from Alex Diaz on Vimeo.