FunDay Follow-Up

August 29, 2010 — 6 Comments

One of our Fun Day participants... having fun!

We had a great day yesterday at The Bridge’s (free!) Family Fun Day.  We had a steady stream of attendance (an average of just over 100 people an hour from the community) and over 120 volunteers from our own launch team and other District churches who helped make the day an amazing success.  Some more photos of the day’s events are posted at facebook.com/BridgePGH.

Our District Superintendent also having fun 🙂

Here are the ways God answered your prayers for the day:

  • We asked you to pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and we definitely sensed we were operating in God’s strength and by his favor.
  • We asked you to pray for safety and security and we had no serious incidents; we were able to leave the park in better shape than we found it.  There was one medical need that occurred immediately following the arrival of area medics who wanted to check in–the timing was amazing as God provided the right people at the right time!
  • We asked you to pray for deep connections and I believe these were made!  We had amazing conversations with people seriously interested in The Bridge, our ministry, and finding out about when/where we’ll be meeting.  Quality interaction occurred with people from a variety of backgrounds and religious histories.

  • Our DS's wife taking part!

    We asked you to pray that seeds would be planted and they were!  We were told by many people they couldn’t believe we would do such a high-quality event for free, that individuals hadn’t been around so many nice, caring people in a long time, and saw genuine appreciation for what was happening.  One individual from the community even asked if people had been praying for the event because they could clearly sense God’s presence on the grounds!

  • We asked you to pray for people to come to know Christ.  As far as I know, no one crossed the line of faith yesterday, but I am confident we built significant relationships with people who, as a result of interacting with followers of Jesus through The Bridge, will recognize Jesus as King and find new life in him.

The Holy Spirit is on the move and using all kinds of different people from many different churches as he grows his Kingdom and builds The Bridge in East Pittsburgh!

Thanks for taking part with us!

In Prayer , , , , , ,
 permalink

Pre-Fun Day PrayerNote

August 27, 2010 — Leave a comment

image: tim cox

I sent a PrayerNote to our committed prayer partners earlier this morning asking them to take time to pray for our Family Fun Day tomorrow; I’m posting it here in hopes that as you read it, you would also pray for us and the event.  Things for tomorrow are shaping up nicely and we’ve been overwhelmed at the response of the community thus far (not to mention the 100+ people who have committed to join us as volunteers!).

Here’s the Note:

We know…that a great event without the activity of God’s Spirit is just a fleeting moment; with God’s hand at work and his response to your prayers, tomorrow can be more than the opportunity for good publicity for The Bridge–it can be the day eternities are changed as people meet Jesus.

To that end, we’d ask you to pray as you think of us today and tomorrow for…

  • …the anointing of the Holy Spirit on our volunteers, leaders, and prayer team — that none of us would operate solely in our own power.
  • …safety and security — a similar event in the community was discontinued due to vandalism and we certainly don’t want the same thing to happen here; our desire is for people to feel secure and to leave the park where we’re hosting the event in even better shape than we find it.
  • …deep connections — we want to build relationships and make meaningful connections with those we come in contact with tomorrow.
  • …seeds to be planted — what if the people we interact with find their hearts drawn and mind consistently turned to what they saw and experienced among the Christ followers who will be present?  What if a few minutes at a free event brings them to that place where they realize the ‘something more’ they’ve been seeking was seen in the lives of others who know Jesus?
  • …people to know Christ — what greater joy could there be than seeing people come to know Jesus?  Please pray that we are able to relevantly articulate the hope we have to those who are ready to receive it.

This is going to be a red-letter day for us, The Bridge, and our volunteers; thanks for being part of it!  I can’t wait to tell you how tomorrow goes.

In Prayer , , , , ,
 permalink

It’s just like riding a bike…

August 25, 2010 — Leave a comment

This Saturday, The Bridge is hosting our biggest event of the Summer as an opportunity to connect with our neighbors and build new relationships in Penn Hills.  Two weeks from Sunday, we’ll be hosting our first public worship gathering (we’re calling them “Monthly Celebrations” because “preview service” doesn’t really make a lot of sense to people who aren’t familiar with church or church planting).  All that to say: we’re in the middle of a big push to gain and hold momentum.  It has meant a lot of long days for Rick, our families, and me, and a ton of behind-the-scenes coordination and ‘procurement’ by people on our launch team.

We’re pushing the limit in terms of energy and emotional RPMs.  But just as much as we have been determined to push hard for what’s taking place in the next couple of weeks, we have noted the need to take time to refresh and renew.  Our sense is that ministry, apprenticeship, strategy, training, preparing, executing… all come in seasons — a season of pushing hard and a season of resting.

We’re determined to communicate with excellence, to have worship environments and ministry areas where everything is done very, very well.  We’re also determined to raise up new leaders… but apprenticeship is messy and sometimes our apprentice leaders won’t do things as well as we think they should or know they could–and ‘excellence’ can suffer.  So, there are seasons of pushing hard for excellence, and seasons of learn-by-doing-with-permission-to-really-mess-up.

The best illustration we’ve found (in the Ferguson brothers’ Exponential) is the idea of riding a bike and working the pedals: pushing on one pedal and resting on the other.  Momentum continues and the work is sustainable–but only if the pattern of push-rest-push-rest is properly applied.  For ministry-leader types, though, resting can seem like work.  So can letting off the pedal of ‘excellence’ to push harder on the pedal of apprenticeship.

I’m hoping that, like riding a bike, we may falter and fall at first, but will develop a proper sense of balance and harness momentum.  Time will tell.

In the meantime, I’d better get back to pushing hard toward this weekend’s event.  And then I’ll rest hard… next week :-).

In Leadership , , , ,
 permalink

That way!

August 24, 2010 — Leave a comment

image: internets_dairy @ flickr

As Sarah and I seek clarity on the ‘where’ of our next ministry endeavor (planting The Bridge’s first daughter church in Pittsburgh), the cry of our spirits to God’s has been, “Show us where you are moving and how to join you there.”

A few years ago, in zeal and even greater  immaturity than I now possess, I probably would have forced an exciting vision to bubble up, created a strategic plan, and then charged after what I had fabricated.  But that isn’t right, and it isn’t at all what we want.  We are praying, “show us when and where to move,” and will develop our plan based on the open doors and sense of God’s leading.  In some ways, it feels like that means “let’s make this whole thing up as we move along,” but it’s the best way I know to heed what the Spirit directs rather than chase and build my own cardboard kingdom.

So, we wait for clarity and believe when the time is right we’ll find a passion for a specific people/area growing within us along with an undeniable sense of where we must be.  It is in the waiting and silence, however, when I am most tempted to pursue my own design.  I have a feeling waiting isn’t nearly as hard as the alternative of moving on our own terms and then expecting God’s blessing to follow…

In church planting , , , , , ,
 permalink

My Prayer for this Week

August 23, 2010 — Leave a comment

As we prepare for our free Family Fun Day (this Saturday!), I have found myself laboring in prayer on behalf of the people who will be in attendance.  My prayer for the week/weekend has been something like this:

Father Dear,
I know your Spirit is working even now drawing hearts and lives to you.  Thank you for your incredible faithfulness and love–without you we have no hope.  As we do our part of ‘meeting you halfway’ for Family Fun Day and preparing for our PreView service, help us to remain faithful and focused on sharing your love and hope with those around us; give us eyes like yours and courage to speak, act, and love when prompted.  God, we have asked you for twenty people to come to know you this Summer as a result of your interaction with them through The Bridge–help us to be a vessel you can use this weekend and as we make connections; would you please invade lives, families, and communities this week?  We are asking that children conceived in a home far from you would be raised in a home radically changed by you.  We are asking that people who have long ignored you would hear and heed your call.  We are asking for your light, hope, love, and power to be made undeniably known this week, this weekend, and consistently through The Bridge.

We want none of the credit for what you alone will do; we desire none of the glory that is only yours; help us to seek nothing but your Kingdom.  We are desparate for you to move.

Break us and use us.  Please.

In Prayer , , , ,
 permalink