mattmehaffey

Sunday Blend :: August 31, 2008

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!

Sunday in the Bag

Yesterday, was a hard but very good day. Feeling like I was about to puke my guts out while unloading the trailer was my first sign. Luckily, I was able to hold it together.

Sunday's celebration service at The Pursuit we looked at the true marks of a godly leader. We looked at 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 and you can find the audio here. The Big Idea for yesterday was "We become good news to South Florida when we lead as we serve like Jesus."

This was a difficult message for me to preach because I talked about a couple of men who I considered godly leaders (I am where I am today because they pointed me to Jesus) but they hit the eject button on the church, one abandoned his wife and kids for another woman. Paul says, it's not enough to aspire to be a leader but to be a faithful leader.

I found a prayer journal I kept while I was at Cincinnati Christian University where I wrote the names of 20 of my peers who were studying to become leaders in the church. I committed to pray for these guys for a time. While many are still growing and persevering almost half have dropped off the map.

I think what consumed my thoughts yesterday was how fragile all leaders (and all churches) really are. There is something deep inside all of us that loves to put people up on pedestals and when that leader proves what we should have known all along ... they're human and scarred by sin ... we realize too much of our faith was anchored to them instead of Jesus.

Highlights of the day:

1. We saw a beautiful display of grace take place during communion. Good place for it!
2. Kids City is rocking and rolling. Recent first time guests are coming back because their kids had such a blast.
3. We looked briefly into the future to when The Pursuit will transition from the current management team to a local eldership. I said, "If there are men who aspire to this position you need to know and live 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9." While saying that, I saw a bunch of people writing down those verses to study later. Love that!
4. We now have three chefs at The Pursuit ... thank you Jesus!
5. A great summer crowd showed up.