Archives For Pittsburgh

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!

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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.

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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…

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Week-in-Review

August 22, 2010 — Leave a comment

Everyone with experience (who also feels the need to give free advice) has told me how much hard work church planting is. It’s true: long hours, late nights, big meetings, laboring in prayer, making connections, planning, designing, preparing, negotiating… it really is tons of work (and our senior pastor at the Bridge, Rick, does a great job of not only coordinating a lot of the work but also getting out and doing it).

Now, after hosting another mission team this summer (a group of teens who did a great job helping us make important connections), I’m reminded of how physically hard the work can be.  Sore feet, knees, and back remind me: this ain’t no office job.  After all of our canvassing (in a place called “Penn Hills” which gives you an idea of the terrain), connecting with businesses and a couple of service projects, it’s time for a new pair of shoes and some icy hot.  And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

This was part of our push toward our ‘big event’ of the Summer: a totally free Family Fun Day for the community.  We went door-to-door inviting people and hanging doorhangers, the team put up about 140 flyers, posted yard signs, and hosted a free carwash (which facilitated the opening of some amazing doors of opportunity with people of influence in the community); cookies were baked and platters of them given to local businesses; giveaways from area businesses were received  which will help keep Family Fun Day free for the people who take part.

God is moving in very real ways and I’m excited to see what the results will be of God’s undeniable activity and our obedient effort.

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August JourneyNote, the Final Installment!

August 14, 2010 — Leave a comment

Image: Timothy Cox

A few days ago, we shared with you jus a few of the ways we have seen that the Holy Spirit is undeniably at work in Pittsburgh (I still can’t believe we get to be part of what he’s doing here!).  We also shared our very real need for individuals, groups, and churches to support us as missionaries here.  Yesterday we sent out a few ways you can help make sure we’re funded, and we genuinely thank you for prayerfully considering how God might use you to help us live and minister in Pittsburgh.

We are committed to the work we’re doing in Pittsburgh, and I am in the process of finding outside employment.  That’s where this final installment of the “Help Jeremiah and Sarah with Funding” JourneyNote miniseries comes in:

With church planting is my primary vocation, a ‘second job’ in order to make ends meet needs to be one of a much more flexible nature than traditional employment.  Given my experience as a writer, copywriter & editor, as well as with some design work, we are looking for opportunities to use this skill-set to serve people and businesses who may know what they want to say but not quite how to say it.  If you know someone in need of a skilled (ghost)writer with marketing and branding experience, please send them our way (we’ll be updating jxgomez.com as a point of contact for this).  Keep in mind, I am also available to speak at churches, camps, and other meetings…and would be happy to furnish samples and references for the afore-mentioned services.  By using the gifts of communication & preaching that God has blessed me with, and hopefully some creative time management, we expect to find ourselves more active and fulfilled than ever!

Again, here’s the contact information for sending support (make sure ‘Gomez” is in the memo line!):

The Bridge
℅ 264 Shawvlle Hwy
Woodland, PA 16881

We thank God for you and the part you’re playing in His story for Pittsburgh.

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