mattmehaffey

Environmentally-Conscience Church

I was reading an old blog post from Scott Hodge, Lead Pastor at The Orchard Church in Aurora, IL about the importance of creating a great environment for guests who come to your church.  I think at The Pursuit we have done the best possible job we could in this area in our first year of existence BUT ...

... it's definitely time we take a giant step forward.

Starting Sunday, February 22 (the beginning of our WITH series) as soon as someone drives in the parking lot of The Pursuit we want to make their experience with us one they will remember.  Even our regular attenders and members are going to notice a huge difference in our efforts to create a guest-ready environment. 

We have already taken one step in upgrading our road signs which I am really happy with.  The past three weeks there have been guests who have come simply because of our road signs. Scott Johnson at Brown Cow Creative knocked these out of the park.  

Other areas we are stepping up:

• Food - We have amazing Latin bakeries all around us and it's time we utilize them. 
• More great coffee -  better to have too much than not enough.
• More Guides less Greeters - Instead of saying to our guests, "Our Kids City area is over there, just follow the signs."  We will say, "Let me show you where our Kids City registration table is."
• A Hub - Our building doesn't have a great room for people to hang out, talk and drink coffee before and after the Celebration Service.  It will starting on Feb. 22. 
• Scent - To quote a shampoo commercial, "You only get one chance to make a first impression."  Why not make sure you engage all the senses?  We are going to the Henri Bendel store in Aventura today to pick out a scent that fits The Pursuit.
• Music - Upbeat and relevant tunes playing in the background.
• Time - By 10:00 a.m. the band is done rehearsing, greeters are in position, everything is done and we are expecting guests to arrive.
• Set design - Eye-catching and theme-appropriate graphics, lighting, and props that support the series.

There are more elaborate changes in the works but they won't be ready by Feb. 22 but they are coming in the first half of 2009. 

The Pursuit's Summer Interns

When I was a Student Minister, I had the privilege of getting to know some amazing young men and women who are sold out to the mission of Jesus.  Two of those students are Carl Wittrig (who I used to call Chuck all the time because I could never remember his name) and Hannah Draper. 

Currently they are both students at Cincinnati Christian University and preparing to go into ministry full-time.  I am very proud of them both.

That is why it was a no-brainer to ask them both to come down to South Florida this summer for some hands-on-training at The Pursuit.  They will be helping out with our Kids City program on Sunday morning as well as creating some summer events for Middle School and High School students.

I am thrilled to get to work with these two!

Living Life without Limits

God created us to live life without limits but too often we settle for so much less. This Sunday, The Pursuit begins a 3-week series designed to challenge us to break free from mediocrity and step into a life of no-limit living.

February 1 - Loving without Limits
February 8 - Living without Limits
February 15 - Leading without Limits

Want to check out The Pursuit?  Click here for helpful info. 

Lesson from Le Tub

Monday night, Janie and I ate at the world famous Le Tub restaurant in Hollywood, FL.  A few years ago they jumped into the spotlight when "The Oprah" declared them to have the best burger in the U.S.

It definitely is worth checking out if you are in the area (the ambiance alone is a unique dining experience).  A brief paragraph in the handwritten menu caught my attention.  

"We are a small restaurant.  We do not serve fast food.  We do regret that we may not be able to accommodate you as quickly as you'd like.  But we will not let the wildly increasing demand affect the quality of our cooking. Please enjoy yourselves."

A great reminder from an unexpected place that staying on mission is crucial to The Pursuit's future.  Perhaps I'll scribble the following in our menu/programs from here on out.

"The Pursuit helps people find their way back to God.  We are not here to make Christians feel comfortable.  Sorry, we will not scratch your itch to 'go deeper' (if you had the depth you claimed to have you would be focused on helping people find their way back to God too).  There are way too many people far from God in South Florida and we aren't guaranteed another breath so get busy being the Good News of Jesus."

Happy Birthday to The Pursuit

I am still trying to catch my breath after an unbelievable day at The Pursuit.  I am so honored that God has chosen me to lead this church.  I absolutely love the people who have made the commitment to be a part of this movement of God.  Today, The Pursuit turned one-year old and we celebrated everything God has done over the past year.

One of my favorite parts of the day was overhearing so many people reflect on shared moments that occurred over the past year at The Pursuit.  We have been studying the life of Nehemiah over the last 4 weeks.  The vision of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem first belonged to Nehemiah but the vision HAD to be owned by many other people for the job to be done.  I can still remember the time when the vision of The Pursuit started with me but how much more fun it is now that it belongs to many, many more people. 

Here's a brief video that Alex created that we showed at today's Celebration Service:

The Pursuit is 1 Year Old! from Alex Diaz on Vimeo.

Here are some pics from The Pursuit's 1st Birthday Celebration. 

The Pursuit Turns One!

This Sunday, January 25 after Celebration Service, we are going to celebrate The Pursuit's 1st birthday.  This is a milestone in the lifespan of every church. 

A year ago I had no clue who God would bring to be part of this with us but now I am so grateful and honored to stand with so many people who want to be Good News to South Florida.

We will be grilling out some good food at Chapel Trail Park tomorrow starting at noon if you want to stop by! 

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:

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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. 

Sunday Blend :: October 26, 2008

Today at The Pursuit we put a bow on the 40 Days of Purpose with a blow out Celebration Service.

• We unleashed the band and gave them almost double the time they usually get.  MAN, did they ever bring their "A" game!  They were on fire!
• Church planting gurus and friends, Jon Ferguson and Brent Foulke showed up and gave us fresh eyes on where we are winning and where we can improve. 
• Raul sang and I declared my love for Mr. Morera.  That's right, I've got a man crush.  Dude is loaded with talent.
• A lady came in looking for the old church that used to meet in our new warehouse space.  She was bombarded by our army of greeters and she stuck around for the entire service.  She didn't stand a chance!
• Two individuals, Liliana and Manny, shared their stories of what God has been doing in their lives during the 40 Days and did a remarkable job. 
• I fooled the entire crowd in to thinking I just destroyed a $2,000 MacBook Pro right in front of their eyes.  It was awesome!  Check out the podcast and listen to the gasps.
• My boy, Manny Cabeza was baptized after the service and I had a mini heart attack as Bob did a belly flop in to the lake.  I will be having nightmares tonight.
• Several others indicated on their Connection Cards that they are ready to be baptized too.  Keep 'em coming!
• After the baptism, about 25 of us went to Fuddruckers for lunch.  The people of The Pursuit love hanging out together.