mattmehaffey

The Pursuit's First Christmas

I came back from Orlando yesterday and saw the amazing job Yanice Fernandez and Jennifer Villareal did on decorating for The Pursuit's first Christmas Series, Advent.  I have been looking forward to this series for months (and not just because I get to teach from a comfy loveseat!).  Hope you will join us as we count down to Christmas this year.

Here a few pics of the place...

 
 

Sunday Blend :: November 23, 2008 (Orlando Edition)

Being away from The Pursuit on a Sunday still seems strange to me.  Janie and I traveled 4 hours north to Orlando so I could preach at Journey Christian Church.   Journey definitely feels like a home away from home for us.  They are one of the largest reasons The Pursuit exists and we are so thankful for their generosity. 

• You can listen to my message via Journey's website.  The recording is of the 8:45 a.m. service (they also have a 10 and 11:15). I wish they would have used either of the other two because the crowds were much more responsive. 
• My friend from Long Island, Bert Crabbe, filled in for me at The Pursuit and flat out brought it.  Check it out here.
• Preaching three services wore me out.  I napped for 4 hours when we got back to the rental house.  Can that even be classified as a nap?
• We decided to stick around Orlando until Friday.  My parents, who are on the home stretch of their 6 week vacation in Ft. Myers (must be nice!), are driving here for Thanksgiving.  My siblings in Indiana are hating me that I stole my mom's amazing cooking this year!  I feel terrible about it but after a plateful of turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, and pecan pie I will feel much better.  
• 24 is back!  I thought season 6 was an absolute waste but after the 2 hour movie last night I cannot wait until season 7 to begin in January.  I love how it parallels real life with the inauguration of a new president.
• The Colts may not lose again for the rest of the year.  Can anyone say Manning vs. Manning in the Super Bowl? 

Are You using Evernote? You should.

A few weeks ago, I discovered Evernote, a brilliant, new program that helps me capture ideas wherever I am at and instantly sync them with my Macbook and iPhone. 

At lunch the other day, a great idea for a future sermon series hit me and all I had to jot down notes was a napkin. What do I do?  Easy!  Take a picture of the notes with my iPhone, sync it with the Evernote iPhone app, and later at my Macbook I filed it under my "Big Idea" folder.  What's even more amazing is that Evernote can even read my handwriting so if I do a keyword search it will locate the word on the photo of the napkin!

Later that week, while flipping channels I stumbled upon a clip of Gene Hackman on Inside the Actor's Studio, where he vividly describes the day his father left and you see clearly how his heart has never recovered.  It clearly fits with the message I am preaching on Father's Day called "Man Up!" I found the clip on youtube, saved the link on Evernote and filed it under Message Ideas. 

Same thing happened when I heard the song "Rockin' the Suburbs" by Ben Folds.  Great song for our  Suburban Legends series coming in 2009.

Evernote has helped me remember blog ideas, upcoming messages, contacts I need to follow up with and much, much more. 

You can watch this short video for more info.

Guest Speaker: Bert Crabbe

This Sunday, I will be speaking at Journey Christian Church in the Orlando/Apopka area (if you're in the area stop by for either the 8:45, 10:00, or 11:15 service).  I am a big fan of Journey and am honored they asked me back.

I will be missing everyone in The Pursuit family this week but I am leaving you in some really great hands.  Bert Crabbe, Lead Pastor of True North Community Church in Long Island, NY (a fellow Yankee fan!) will be speaking at the 10:30 a.m. Celebration Service.  You do not want to miss this. 

You may have seen Bert and his church on all the news stations recently for this story:

Sunday Blend :: November 16, 2008

Yesterday at The Pursuit Christian Church, we wrapped our series The World is Flat in which we have been talking about God's call for us to love our global neighbors.  The three weeks were: Lonely World, Impoverished World & Lost World. 

• The Big Idea yesterday was: Responding to God's call to help people find their way back to God. 
• We looked at Luke 15:1-24 and saw that lost people are of immeasurable value to God.
• We showed the video below (from Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL) to help illustrate how uncomfortable Christ-followers can be when talking about spiritual things.

• Great crowd yesterday.  Both the auditorium and the Kids City area were nearing capacity. 
• After the Celebration Service, we invited the church over to our house for Yuleima's baptism.
• A bunch of people accepted our invitation and cheered on Yuleima as she was baptized in our hot tub! 
• It was also really special for me to watch Janie baptize her. Very proud of her.
• Speaking of baptisms, I am going to blog later this week why The Pursuit will never build a baptistery in any of the buildings we ever occupy. 
• After everyone left, the party continued because my niece, Reagan turned 3 years old.  And it must have been good because she said, "This is the best birthday party ever!"  

Christmas Series: Advent

Hope. Peace. Joy. Love.

Those words might make us think about Christmas, but do they really reflect a typical Christmas season?  Or is it more like ...

   “That jerk just took my parking spot!”
    “I can’t find that stupid gift receipt anywhere!”
    “You charge how much to check my luggage?!?”

The Pursuit Christian Church wants this year to be different for all of us.  Let's countdown to Christmas together by observing Advent. Advent is all about the arrival of hope, peace, joy and love into a world desperately in need of all those things.

Advent Celebration Services - all services are at 10:30 am:
•    Sunday, November 30 - Hope
•    Sunday, December 7 - Peace
•    Sunday, December 14 – Joy
•    Sunday, December 21 - Love

If you live in the Miami, Pembroke Pines, Miramar area you will find The Pursuit on the map below:

View Larger Map

The Office Mugs ... which one are you?

One of my favorite TV shows, "The Office" is now selling the mugs that recently made an appearance in an episode a couple weeks ago.  I know some of my blog readers are Office fans so post below which of the characters from the show is your favorite character (notice Jim, Dwight, or Pam do not have a mug because they didn't go to Angela's party!). 

My favorite is Andy.  Oh and you can buy the mugs here.

 

Exponential Conference 09

If you or your church is interested in church planting, you simply must block off April 20-23, 2009 for the Exponential Conference in Orlando. 

I have attended the last two years: the first conference was eight months before we launched The Pursuit Christian Church and the second was four months after launch.  Both were invaluable experiences for me and my team.  This has become a must-attend event each year for our team.

Not only does '09 have a phenomenal speaker-lineup (Erwin McManus, Craig Groeschel, Tim Keller, Francis Chan, and many others) but we will also hear about the amazing ways God is moving in other corners of the globe. 

Don't forget to register by December 1st and receive the Super Early Bird Rate of $129.

 

Sunday Blend :: November 9, 2008

Despite the fact, I felt like junk, Sunday's Celebration Service at The Pursuit hit the mark.

- This week was part 2 of our three-week "The World is Flat" series.

- The Big Idea: "Responding to God's call to reduce poverty in the world."

- We looked at Matthew 25:31-46 and honed in on Jesus' words when he said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these ... you did for me."

- The band nailed the U2 classic, One.

- We are getting a lot of interest for our Mexico mission trip in the summer of '09. 

- It was awesome to see my sister, Daria and her family.  Especially, my nephew Ryne since this was the first time I got to meet this little guy.  

- The Colts won a close game against the Steelers.  First time they have won in Pittsburgh since 1968, I believe!  They started off slow but they have a favorable schedule heading toward the playoffs.

- Janie and I ended our night by going to see one of my favorite bands, Coldplay in concert at the Bank Atlantic Center. 

Batter in a Bottle

On Janie's last trip to Costco, she bought these "Batter Blasters." Just think pancake/waffle batter in a Reddi Wip bottle.  I secretly wish everything came in bottles like this. 

This morning, I sprayed out a couple of waffles and cooked them to delicious perfection.

I have nothing profound to say about this.   Just that Batter Blaster may very well be our generation's version of the Tower of Babel.