The Miami Pursuit

The start of something HUGE!!

It has been an absolute joy to have Jose and Nicole Lopez visiting us this weekend. They are great friends (and partners of Team Pursuit) from our previous home in Indianapolis. As I mentioned earlier, they joined us for Pursuit 101, so I asked Jose to write about what he saw. Below is his experience...

Guest Blogger: Jose Lopez

While planning our trip to Miami to visit the Mehaffeys, Nicole and I were not expecting to attend The Pursuit 101 class. When we were asked to attend, we jumped at the chance. We were excited to see the first steps of a long journey.

I didn't know what to expect as we got to the Estrada's house. After introductions, we milled around the Dunkin' Donuts munchkins and conversed. Even though I had just met everyone, we talked, laughed and bonded. Just like a family.

The class was great (make sure you read Matt's post for the details), and afterwards we talked some more. Alex even played Rain Down by Crowder and we sang a verse in Spanish. It was awesome. As I sat there observing this new church body meeting and bonding, I couldn't help but think about the first Christians in the early first century. I asked myself "is this what the first churches looked like?"

Matt mentioned a study that determined that 90% of Miami residents were unchurched. My experiences told me that there was a lot of selfishness and self-centeredness in the area. And there is going to be a lot of resistence to the message The Pursuit is going to bring to the area. Much like the first church experienced. Yet the 10 people who committed didn't hesitate to sign on. They are taking on the challenge to love, live, and lead.

With us being able to experience the first Pursuit 101 class, our belief in this venture has deepened. As such, Nicole and I are increasing our financial support of The Miami Pursuit. We will continue to pray for the staff and the residents of this area. And we look forward to seeing what God is doing in the Miami area.

Pursuit 101 Recap

Blogger: Matt

It's Monday morning and I am still amped up over yesterday. On Sunday morning, The Pursuit Christian Church had its first official membership class, Pursuit 101. When we put October 7th on the calendar at Bible Study about a month ago we had no idea God had a better plan for that day than we did. As it turned out we had two of our sending churches represented at the 101 class: Robert and Lori Simmons, (Erin's parents) from Central Christian Church in Carmel, IN and Jose and Nicole Lopez (great friends of ours) from Traders Point Christian Church on the NW side of Indianapolis, IN.

Outside of our guests from Indiana, we had ten people present at the Estrada's house in Miami for Pursuit 101.

Alex kicked things off by leading us in a time of singing and did a great job focusing the group on the reason why we were all there. I taught for a couple hours on the following topics: What is the Church, the need in South Florida, the vision of The Pursuit, and the strategy to accomplish the vision.

Most of our time though dealt with expectations. The Pursuit's expectations of its members and the members' expectations of The Pursuit. We will post a link later to a copy of our membership covenant for you to see.

Erin wrapped up the service beautifully as she led the group in celebration through communion.

Of the ten people who were there for the class all ten accepted the challenge and committed to membership! I told the group, "Remember this day. You get to be a part of what God is doing through The Pursuit from the very beginning and your active role will help shape what it will become."

Pursuit 101 this Sunday!

Blogger: Matt

Sunday can't come soon enough. It will be a milestone in the early life of The Pursuit Christian Church. Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. we are offering the first Pursuit 101, which is a gathering for the church leadership to clearly communicate what expectations we have of those interested in membership. There's a lot of ground to cover such as:

What is the Church?
More specifically, what is The Pursuit Christian Church and where is it going?
What are the expectations of members?
What expectations should members have of the church?
What is a leader?
Why is a committment to a local church important?

I am a firm believer in setting a high treshhold for membership. God set the bar high for us. We are to be like Christ. As God grows a gathering of Christ-followers together to accomplish His mission in South Florida it is our responsibility to communicate what is expected and help them in fulfilling their commitment as they become fully developed followers of Christ.

Alex is preparing to lead us in worship through music and we are also going to worship by participating in the Lord's Supper. We are expecting a handful of people, mainly people who have been attending our Sunday night Bible study, and hopefully soon I can announce the first members of The Pursuit Chrisitan Church!