mattmehaffey

The World is Flat

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation.” - Nelson Mandela

"...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  - Jesus from Acts 1:8

There has never been a time with more opportunity and potential for global change than the time in which we live.

Globalization is nothing new for the city of Miami.  The latest study by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that over half of the city's residents were born in another country.  Miami is a gateway to the corners of the earth. 

The Pursuit Christian Church wants to storm that gate!

That's why our next series has been dubbed, The World Is Flat.  In his book, with the same title, Thomas Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, looks at how globalization gives people all over the world greater opportunities economically and socially than ever before. Friedman says that the world has “shrunk and flattened” in a way that empowers individuals like never before. 

In this series, we will be challenged by the life of Jesus to see our opportunities and responsibilities to change the world in three key areas:

• Sunday, November 2 - Lonely World: "Responding to God's call to reduce loneliness in the world."
• Sunday, November 9 - Impoverished World: "Responding to God's call to reduce poverty in the world."
• Sunday, November 16 - Lost World: "Responding to God's call to help people find their way back to Him."

Sunday Blend :: September 21, 2008

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.

The Pursuit's New Home

Well the e-news is out. 

The Pursuit Christian Church has a new location and we are starting this Sunday, September 21.  Much love to Floridian Ballrooms who allowed us to rent their beautiful space for the past 8 months but the new place made us an offer we couldn't refuse. 

The negotiations have been long and at times difficult but leader extraordinaire, Paul Smoot went above and beyond to secure us the best deal. 

To make a very long story short, we were approached by another church in the area who was closing its doors and the existing members were merging into another Presbyterian Church in Weston.  The leaders of Christ Church have been extremely gracious through this process and we look forward to continuing the legacy they started in this location. 

This move excites me for many reasons:

1. It's 24/7 space.
2. We will pay less per month in the 24/7 space than in the ballroom which we rented for 4 1/2 hours per week (Seriously!).
3. We will have an office where the staff can interact more frequently. 
4. This will be a place where many people will find their way back to God!
5. No more unloading and loading the trailer in the intense South Florida heat! (for now)
6. We can be more creative with our set designs for each series.
7. We are located directly across from the brand new West Broward High School (next to the track).
8. Meeting in a warehouse sounds more manly than meeting in a ballroom.
9. The church staff will finally get all of the junk out of our garages! (ok, that one's a bit self-serving)
10. We have a space that can be used to be good news to SoFlo.

Below is a slide show of the new location: (This is how it looks now.  Can't wait to Pursuit-ify this place)

Florida Church Planters Retreat

Just spent a full 24 hours in Orlando with some great leaders and church planters from all over the state of Florida.  The Pursuit Christian Church is proud to be associated with these guys.

• Dan Donaldson, Director of Florida Church Planters

• Jeff Swearingen @ Crosspoint Christian Church in Cape Coral

• Phil Ayers @ LifePoint Christian Church in Lake Mary

• Danny Schaffner @ Common Ground Christian Church in Tampa

• Mark Michael @ Crossbridge Christian Church in Tallahassee (no offense Mark but how in the world is Tallahassee our state capitol?)

• John Porterfield @ River Run Christian Church (Brevard Campus) in Melbourne

• Brent Captain @ Palm Coast Church in Ormond Beach

• Ryan Sudsberry @ Cooper Creek Christian Church in Sarasota

I really enjoyed getting to know this group of guys because we have many shared experiences.  It's easy to feel isolated being scattered over this massive and widely unchurched state.  We need more qualified church planters in Florida (especially South Florida).  Excited to see how this group is going to grow as FCP continues to expand its influence.

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!