The Miami Pursuit

Skype-ing Brazil

Blogger: Matt

Monday was an absolute blast for me. I had the opportunity to talk via Skype with my friends Zeca and Gabia who live in Brazil. What was even better was getting to "meet" two of their three delightful daughters, Talita and Larissa (I still have yet to have the privilege of meeting Melissa). Brent Foulke also joined us on the call.

As I've said before, Zeca and his family are passionate about starting new churches that are good news to the city and helping people find their way back to God. They've been doing that together in Brazil for years. But it appears God is leading them to a new location.

After meeting them in May, while they were in the States, we felt an instant bond with them. We shared the same values and vision. There are thousands of Brazilians who have relocated to South Florida, which is already one of the most unchurched regions in U.S. There is a great need for leaders, like Zeca, who are willing to take a risk and do whatever it takes to start more and more Jesus-loving, Jesus-centered churches in SoFlo.

Here's the news: The Pursuit, Zeca and his family are "pursuing" the possibility of them joining our team. Zeca, would officially become a Campus Pastor at the Pembroke Pines / Miramar campus for a period of time but then he would start another campus of The Pursuit in another area of South Florida (where there is a high Brazilian demographic). Our hope is we can begin working together in early 2009. There are obviously several hurdles we have to climb before this becomes a reality. Support raising and the visa process are the two biggest.

We would appreciate keeping this entire process in your prayers.

Blogging in Brazil

Blogger: Matt

A month ago or so, I blogged about our new friends from Brazil, Zeca & Gabia. Well, come to find out they have their own blog. You need to subscribe to their blog. Their story is one you will want to follow.

I am constantly amazed by the people God has brought into my life over the past year. Janie and I were the people who were in no hurry to get passports and now the majority of our friends are from somewhere else. Now that we have our passports we have a long list of places we want to visit: Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and now Brazil.

Zeca and Gabia (and their three amazing daughters), are following God's leading to plant churches in the U.S. and The Pursuit Christian Church is chewing over how we can partner with them. The crazy thing is they have family in the Pembroke Pines area and Gabia's mother, Leni, has been coming to The Pursuit for the past month.

I can't wait to watch what God continues to do through this phenom of a family.

Burning the Ship

Blogger: Matt

This week last year, Janie and I, officially became home owners in South Florida. We moved here because we felt God's overwhelming nudge to start a movement of missional and reproducing churches in an area starving for Jesus. A year later the work is well under way and The Pursuit Christian Church has become a reality. People are coming to know Jesus and the start of something God-sized is being built.

Have things gone as I planned ... no.

If I am going to be honest, I have to say there was a big part of me that thought we'd launch The Pursuit on January 27, 2008 with 300+ people and we'd be off and running. This is 100% my fault because I allowed myself to be convinced by others that in church planting a + b = c. There were sleepless nights where I wondered, "Am I the right man for the job? What could I have done differently? Should we have planted in Arizona, downtown Indy, or somewhere else in the Bible Belt?" Those nights still come. But...

... have things gone as God planned ... yes.

God is building "His church" not mine. People who were once far from God have found their way back to Him because of The Pursuit. God is growing me in ways I never thought possible. It's like when you go to the gym for the first time in a long time, muscles you didn't even know you had ache. It hurts all over but at the same time it feels so good because you know it is something you desperately need.

I guess what I am trying to say is this: After following God to SoFlo and being here for almost one year I believe in His mission more than ever. South Florida with all it's faults has become our home which we dearly love. I can't imagine being any place else.

The famous military commander Tariq ibn Ziyah who led his army to take Gibraltar taught us an important lesson when his men faced their enemies on one side and the merciless sea on the other ... burn the ships. There was no going back to the place of comfort they once knew. The message for them and the message for us is, "Take this land or die trying."

We have Lift Off!

Blogger: Matt

Today has left me speechless and absolutely drained. I can barely muster the energy to type this blog. I've been riding a massive wave of emotion all day long. Can't tell you how much our team appreciated (and needed) all the prayers and encouraging texts, emails and phone calls from people across the globe. Thank you.

The Pursuit Christian Church successfully launched today with 139 people in attendance. Half of them were launch team members of The Pursuit and people from supporting churches in Florida and Indiana but the other half were first time guests!

The thing I am going to bed celebrating and the first thing I will think of when I wake up tomorrow morning is how I saw God calling people back to Him right in front of our eyes.

I promise there will be a lot more said in the days to come (probably some great pictures too) but please know we serve a faithful God who is madly in love with His people and who will never stop searching for those who are far from Him.

I love my job!

1.27.08 is here

Blogger: Matt

I have no idea what to say. The day we have been working towards for so long is now here. I feel like a kid on Christmas! At the same time, my heart is heavy for the many lost people in South Florida. I hope some show up cause they need to hear today's message more than anyone else.

Can't wait to see what God does.

Good night!

At the Top of the List

Blogger: Matt

It's a little overwhelming when you look at the "overkill" of conferences out there for church leaders. However, if you are a church planter the solution is a simple one. The National New Church Conference, April 21-24 in Orlando is honed in right where church planters live. Yes, the list of main stage speakers is great, but that's not where the gold is.

Alex and I went for the first time last year and attended the pre-launch track. There aren't many more important things I would recommend than surrounding yourself with people who are just a few steps ahead of you. It doesn't do a lot of good to look at mega churches who have been in existence for twenty years. Wisdom is looking at the churches who just launched or are a couple years in and learn from them.

National New Church is a great mix of new church planters and experienced church planters. The connections we made at this conference have been vital to where we are now. This year I am excited because the entire staff of The Pursuit will be in attendance and we will be a whopping three months old at the time!

Preview #2 is in the Books

Blogger: Matt

Last Sunday, we held our second of three preview services at the Floridian Ballroom. This time we didn't have a group from out of town there to help us out so it was pretty much on our shoulders. That being said, I couldn't have been more pleased with the atmosphere that was created. Kids City looked great and the room where the Celebration Service was held looked a million times better than the first week.

Here's a few more thoughts now that I've had time to digest the day:
1. We had two new guests both of whom came because they received our first postcard. The great thing about that is the postcard specifically invited people to launch Sunday, January 27. Both went online and saw we had a preview service and decided to come check us out early!
2. Alex, Raul, Mike and Andres sounded great. Rodolfo did a remarkable job on the board too. I am absolutely loving the band God is pulling together for The Pursuit. It just reflects the culture here beautifully!
3. Erin, Linda and the team in Kids City is knocking the setup out of the park.
4. The Info Booth Janie has created looks stinking cool.
5. Our First Impressions Team (you might call them Guest Services) is beyond what I ever imagined we could pull of. Bob, Paul, Ali, Klara, and the other Bob have really elevated their game.
6. My favorite moment of the service was when we whipped out our brand-spanking-new translation equipment. We had two gentlemen who were able to understand the message clearly because Alex did such a great job translating.

1st of Four Postcards Ready to Go

Blogger: Matt

I have heard several points of view from pastors who are very opinionated when it comes to "church marketing." Some say it's the most important aspect in church planting and others say "marketing" and "church" are two words never to be uttered in the same sentence. I fall in the middle on this. As a wise person says, "Marketing is about getting the message out to the masses. We have the most important message on Earth why wouldn't we want to get the word out?"

However, marketing at the expense of being out in the community is just plan idiotic. Church planters can't just hole up inside a coffee house and expect post cards, blogs, websites, and signage to attract people.

Over the past few months, The Pursuit Christian Church has been involved in several different opportunities to "be the church" before our first Weekend Celebration. We also have several more on the calendar before January 27. Can't tell you how often we've talked about how necessary it is for us to start a church that is "good news" for the community around us.

Now that we have been clearly seen out in the community being "good news" we hopefully have built credibility with people when they see our postcards. In case you are interested, we have four postcards going out over the next four weeks. Our very own Klara Estrada (artist & member of The Pursuit) designed the first card and the over all look of all four. I am really excited about the second, third and fourth. I really want to show them to you (but we'll keep you in suspense for just a little longer). =)

Here' a sneak peak of the front and back of the first one going out tomorrow.

A Great Community in Tamarac

Blogger: Matt

The entire staff of The Pursuit Christian Church drove up north to the town of Tamarac to worship with Community Christian Church today. Community just moved into their new building which is awesome. I appreciate their Senior Minister, Scott Eynon. He's been getting it done in South Florida for a long time and he is the one who connected me to Dan Donaldson and Florida Church Planters.

For the past six months, Janie and I have been checking out churches around the area on Sundays but that stops now. The next two weeks are The Pursuit's second and third preview services which leads us up to Launch Sunday.

Needless to say, I can't wait!

The Pursuit Staff

Blogger: Matt

There is so much to say about the team God has pulled together to form the staff of The Pursuit Christian Church.

1. We love God more than anything.
2. We are loyal to one another.
3. We challenge each other.
4. We have fun together.
5. We work very hard.
6. We invest in other people.
7. We encourage each other.
8. We know what God is doing is far bigger than us.

Last night, we all went out to dinner at The Melting Pot in Cooper City for our staff Christmas party. I am starting to see a very cool pattern developing. Whenever we go out to eat with this group the person(s) who serves us is going to hear about the church and be invited to join us. Love it.

Last night we looked back to what we were all doing one year ago. It's amazing how much God has done in a very short time. It will be interesting to find out what He will do in this next year.