The Miami Pursuit

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You can also follow the blogs of other team members of The Pursuit Christian Church.

Alex Diaz
Bob Smith
Erin Diaz

Sunday Blend :: September 21, 2008

Blogger: Matt

What a day! Our new place is already feeling like home and the atmosphere was electric.  I am very proud of everyone who went the extra mile to make this uber fast transition possible. 

Be sure to click here and check out the slideshow to see the rest of the images.

Alex and Erin also posted about the day.

Sunday Blend::September 14, 2008

Could we pack anything else into today's Celebration Service at The Pursuit Christian Church?  I think not. 

We successfully kicked off our 40 Days of Purpose and nearly everyone committed to:

1. attending Sunday Celebration Services the next 6 weeks
2. getting involved in a Community Group
3. reading a chapter a day from the Purpose Driven Life
4. memorizing the key verse each week

We introduced Zeca and Talita to the church.  They are already well loved!  I can't wait for them to be here for good. 

We are giving a large portion of this week's offering to help a church in Haiti recover from Ike. 

Finally, we announced that this is the last week the church will meet in the Floridian Ballrooms!  That's right we are changing venues.  More to come about that later ... exciting stuff in the works!

Sunday Blend :: September 7, 2008

Today we wrapped my favorite series we've done so far at The Pursuit.  Our Retro series has been an absolute blast to teach.  I've also been very happy with all of the creative elements we've added the past three weeks. 

Today was 80s week and the Big Idea was:  The world says, "Get all you can get for you."  But Jesus says, "Live generously for Me."  We talked about everyone's favorite wee-little man, Zacchaeus and his life-changing encounter with Jesus.

Here are some highlights:

• We had a low crowd today but several new guests.  We have a steady stream of new people who move into the area, find us online and decide to come based on our website. 
• Mike Ruiz showed off his Rubiks Cube skillz. 
• There's a definite buzz about the upcoming Purpose Driven Life series.  People keep signing up for Community Groups. 
• I felt good about the message this week.  Unfortunately no podcast this week due to technically difficulties. 
• The band brought their "A" game today.  Raul was back after some vacation and it was great to have him back on the drums.  They set the 80's mood by rocking out to ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man."  Check out the video below (shot goofing around during rehearsal).

Sharp Dressed Man @ The Pursuit from Matt Mehaffey on Vimeo.

Sunday Blend :: August 31, 2008

Blogger:  Matt

Labor Day weekend hit The Pursuit crowd this morning but not as nearly as bad as I expected.  Today was 70s week in our Retro series.  "Do the Hustle" is still stuck in my head.  We also had some fun at Bob's expense (nice picture).  I was born in 1976 so research was fun.  The ideology of the 70s was, "If it makes you happy do it.  All that matters is self."

The Big Idea for today was: The world says, "Find yourself in you." But Jesus says, "Find your identity in Me." 

We talked about one of my favorite guys in the Bible today, Jacob. His story is captivating. Here's a guy who lived a "me-centered" life. He didn't care who stood in his way.  He was going to get his.  God comes down and picks a fight and ends up giving him a brand new identity. 

Doesn't take a sociologist to see we are influenced by this today in 2008. We have bought into the lie that meaning in life can be found in our own selfish pursuits. 

Jesus says, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)

Today's Highlights

• We finally had an excuse to use the disco ball in the Ballroom!
• The band played a rocked out version of "I Will Survive." I would buy it on iTunes if it were available.
• God has brought new people with great potential the last several weeks. Very exciting.
• We had more Community Group sign-ups than we have ever had.  Looking forward to our Community Group Launch in two weeks.
• We passed out a bunch of 40 Days of Purpose books for free thanks to many generous individuals! We will be giving out more the next two weeks too.  The Pursuit's 40 Day campaign begins September 14.   

Next week is 80s week.  I need to wear this ensemble. It's tempting.

Sunday Blend :: August 24, 2008

Yesterday we kicked off our Retro series at The Pursuit. We took a trip back in time and looked at the 60s.  Like no other time in US history, the 60s was the decade of rebellion.  "Question Authority" was the mantra of the day.  It was widely taught that freedom could only truly be found through rejecting all authority. Today in 2008, we are still widely influenced from this mindset.

The Big Idea: The world says, "Be your own authority." But Jesus says, "Make Me your authority."
Text: Matthew 8:5-13 - Jesus and the Roman Centurion

I had an absolute blast preaching this message.  I'll link to the podcast when it's up later this week. 

Highlights of the day:

• Several people came dressed up in 60s attire!  Ashley Cross gets the prize though.
• God brought several new people to The Pursuit.  One family just moved to Miami from North Carolina (usually it's the other way around).  How did they find us?  They were visiting family in Orlando this past July and attended Journey Christian Church one of the weeks I was preaching there!  I love watching God work.
• I took a cheap shot at Brett Favre.  C'mon, he deserves it for the constant media coverage he's put us through!
• Alex's rendition of The Beatles classic, "Blackbird."
• The laughter that came as a result from Yearbook Yourself.  If we did not get you this week, do not think you are safe! 
• We had a great group at Pursuit 1.0 last night.  My friend and new member of The Pursuit, Frank Fernandez, is a police officer in Miami and because of his job he gets to go to every home game for the Dolphins, Marlins and Hurricanes.  When Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run, Frank was the guy who pulled the guy who caught it out of the scrum. Last night he gave me a game used baseball from a Marlins game.  Cool!

Tropical Storm Fay

Blogger:  Matt

Many people from other parts of the United States and the world are following this blog and have expressed concern for us over Tropical Storm Fay. This was my first encounter with any named storm.  We don't name tornadoes or blizzards in Indiana, but maybe we should because it's the polite thing to do.

Besides a steady diet of rain and wind (a little bit of flooding in parts), Fay didn't effect us too much.  Thank you for all the calls and emails we continue to receive but we are all doing just fine. 

One thing I have learned, don't watch the local news. Meteorologists are excited as kids on Christmas morning when a storm with a name is anywhere close by.  They love the hype and getting their mugs on TV more than getting factual information to the public. 

Actually, Fay has been a godsend to the area of South Florida.  Lake Okeechobee, our main source for water, has been seriously low for over a year and Fay is projected to refill it to a much better level. 

Sunday Blend :: August 17, 2008

Blogger: Matt

Today was The Pursuit's first Family Celebration & Child Dedication. Six families took part.  The parents made commitments to raise their children under God's way and eleven children were dedicated to God (that's my unofficial count).  This is something we have been planning since June and it turned out to be a very special day for our church family. 

Highlights included: 

• the infusion of Kids City into the Celebration Service went very well.  The goal was to give everyone a sample of what a typical Sunday in Kids City is like.  Erin Diaz led a game show pitting moms against their kids and Linda Smith did a great job teaching the kids lesson.
• Alex changing the words of the song by the late, great Rich Mullins "Boy like Me, Man like You."  Original words, "I grew up around Indiana, you grew up around Galilee."  Alex's words, "I grew up around Venezuela, you grew up around Galilee."
• We had our largest crowd since April.
• Met a really great couple (first time guests) who came because they saw us outside of Wal-mart for our School Supply Drive.
• I put several people into shock when they saw me wearing a jacket.  Wait until I pull out the tie some day! 

Today was a great team effort and I am very proud of the way everyone stepped up and made this one of our best Sundays to date.

The Pursuit Needs Purpose Driven Resources

Blogger:  Matt

The Pursuit is going through the 40 Days of Purpose starting September 14.  Bob and Linda, Paul and Ali, and Janie and I went through this study together at Traders Point Christian Church several years ago and it was a momentous event in the life of the church.

I am really excited about what God is going to do through this study for our young church.  80% of the people at The Pursuit said they had never heard of the 40 Days of Purpose before.  Have I mentioned lately, South Florida is one of the most unchurched regions in the U.S.? 

You Can Help!
I know there are hundreds of churches and people out there who have Purpose Driven Life books and Small Group workbooks collecting dust in storage.  Would you please consider sending them down to South Florida so we could distribute them to guests for free?

Please send them to:

The Pursuit Christian Church
18520 NW 67th Avenue, #198
Miami, FL 33015

Thanks for partnering with The Pursuit Christian Church!

Sunday Blend :: August 10, 2008

We Love SoFlo, The Pursuit's 10-week summer series is officially a wrap.  This has been my favorite series so far.  It strikes at the core of who we want to be as a church.  The series may be over but we are just beginning to show our love for the region.

Yesterday's celebration was called "Superpowers" and The Big Idea was, "We become good news to South Florida when we discover and use the power God gives us to build his church." I'll post the link to the podcast when it's up.  There are many in our young church who are using the abilities and skills God gave them, but there are also still many who have not yet taken the step to contribute.

Highlights

• Several 1st & 2nd time guests
• One of our largest offerings to date
• The band's acoustic rendition of "My Hero" by the Foo Fighters. (Love that song!) 
• I discovered my gift of prophecy.  While loading up the trailer after the service, I made the comment, "Do you guys, realize in 7 months of loading and unloading this trailer we have not once been caught in the rain?"  Two minutes later, the skies opened up and we were drenched. 
• We had 16 in Kids City which is the largest crowd we've ever had!  Quoting Erin Diaz, "God is teaching me how to deal with controlled chaos."   

Next week is The Pursuit's first ever Child Dedication Sunday. We have several families signed up to commit publicly their desire to raise their children in the way of God.  Erin and her team are preparing a great Celebration Service next Sunday.  I am really looking forward to it.