courage « jxgomez.com | Your message matters.

26 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 3 (of 5)

LEAP OF FAITH. “Either we sell the house, or Sarah gets a job. We can’t move to Pittsburgh until then.” Of course we couldn’t move ‘until then.’ It was the only way ends would possibly meet. It made practical sense, so we dedicated time to trying to sell or rent the house and hunt for work. But after a couple months, neither the house sold or rented and my wife, Sarah, had yet to get a call for potential employment. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment, on my way to the ‘Burgh to look at potential apartments for us, when God clearly spoke to me that he had called us to Pittsburgh and we needed to be *IN* Pittsburgh. I immediately called my wife from the car and said, “I think I’m going to find our new home today, and that we need to move as soon as possible; are you okay with me signing a lease even (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Leadership, Pittsburgh, Prayer, The Bridge
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25 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 2 (of 5)

This post is part of a series celebrating some of the incredible ways God has shown his favor in planting The Bridge. You can read the first post here. “Family Fun Day” was the high-water mark of our summer ministry season in 2010. If you read yesterday’s post, you saw some of the cool ways God made a way where there was no way in securing a location at the right time. But one of the most exciting aspects of the day was seeing how churches from across our district partnered together to see incredible things take place. Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote earlier about the day: …during The Bridge’s summer outreach event, a free “Family Fun Day,” held at the end of August when ten of the District’s 28 churches helped provide over 100 volunteers, funding, food, and other supplies which made the day a great success. The Bridge had 425 present at the event, providing (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Family Fun Day, Holy Spirit, outreach, Pittsburgh, Prayer, The Bridge, Western PA District
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24 Jan 2011

Favor: Post 1 (of 5)

The Bridge is having a Grand Opening Celebration this weekend (it’s our ‘official launch’ for those of you who prefer church-planty lingo) and we are incredibly excited. It’s hard to believe the day will actually be here — especially when you stop to consider that a year ago neither the Coxes nor the Gomezes had yet become residents of Pittsburgh and our Launch Team could have been described as ‘embryonic’ at best! In preparation for and celebration of this weekend, I am making it a point to share some of the ways we have seen God’s favor in the adventure of launching The Bridge. So, I’ll be posting one example of this each day from now to Sunday. Here’s today’s: The Park At the end of August, The Bridge was hosting a “Family Fun Day” as a way to connect with the community. More details about the day will be included in tomorrow’s post, but the biggest hurdle early on (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, courage, Encouragement, faith, Family Fun Day, Holy Spirit, Pittsburgh, Prayer, strength, The Bridge
Posted in church planting | 4 Comments

19 Oct 2010

You may need to hear this, too!

This past weekend, my generous, amazing, nine-months pregnant wife was willing to let me take the weekend away to spend some quiet time for prayer and solitude. During that time, I felt like my soul was refreshed and that some nuggets of wisdom were given to me to digest…lessons that you may find valuable, too–maybe messages from God’s heart to yours: You already have God’s favor–He sent Jesus for you. He desires you. He is FOR you. You don’t need to pursue God’s favor because he isn’t withholding it; it’s freely given. You must have more of God’s Spirit–God favors you to the max, but you must have more of his Spirit convicting, encouraging, transforming, enabling, and anointing you. Don’t settle for yesterday’s victories and intimacy. Your weakness is a positive game-changer–”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power (more…)

Tags: courage, Discipleship, Encouragement, faith, Holy Spirit, Leadership, personal, Scripture
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31 Aug 2010

Beauty in the Cluster.

One of the points of conversation following our FunDay the other day was the beauty of a cluster of churches working together with a missional focus. We know that there’s no way The Bridge could have, by herself, provided the kind of quality event that people experienced this past Saturday during the Family Fun Day. We could not have handled the expense, procured the necessary supplies, or raised the army of volunteers needed on our own. One of the the things that made the day great was seeing so many of our District churches, all with different histories and of varying sizes, partnering together to love on the people of Penn Hills and demonstrate solidarity with us. The same is true for church planting: for some churches, there’s no way they could, by themselves, daughter a healthy, multiplying church; at least not yet. For all kinds of reasons, raising up a church planter and sending them out with a healthy (more…)

Tags: church, church planting, Cost, courage, Encouragement, Family Fun Day, Leadership
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24 Aug 2010

That way!

As Sarah and I seek clarity on the ‘where’ of our next ministry endeavor (planting The Bridge’s first daughter church in Pittsburgh), the cry of our spirits to God’s has been, “Show us where you are moving and how to join you there.” A few years ago, in zeal and even greater immaturity than I now possess, I probably would have forced an exciting vision to bubble up, created a strategic plan, and then charged after what I had fabricated. But that isn’t right, and it isn’t at all what we want. We are praying, “show us when and where to move,” and will develop our plan based on the open doors and sense of God’s leading. In some ways, it feels like that means “let’s make this whole thing up as we move along,” but it’s the best way I know to heed what the Spirit directs rather than chase and build my own cardboard kingdom. So, we wait (more…)

Tags: church planting, courage, faith, Leadership, Patience, personal, Pittsburgh
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02 Oct 2009

Revival!

<image courtesy of clearly ambiguous> Beginning this evening, I’ll be preaching a series of messages for a ‘revival’ being held in Watts Towndship at the Wesleyan Church there. I know it sounds old-timey, and the concept of ‘revival meetings’ has long ago lost its luster in many places… but I’m incredibly excited about this opportunity. The desire of the church’s pastor is true ‘revival’–”to stir up or rekindle a fire which is slowly dying.” The heart of the pastor and many of the people is that by dedicating a few pointed hours of their weekend to hear and heed the Spirit of God, a dying flame will be rekindled into a full-on blaze. As excited as I am, I’m also a little scared: the people are praying for, hoping for, and expectant of a genuine revival in their hearts and church which will spill over into the lives of their community. Why does this scare me? I’m the preacher. And (more…)

Tags: church, courage, faith, personal
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24 Aug 2009

What Battles are You Facing?

<Image courtesy of army.mil> So much of life seems like it involves ‘battle.’ Think of how we describe much of what we endure in a single day: At the beginning of the day: we fight to get out of bed. During the day: we fight to maintain attention. Sometime in the afternoon: we fight cravings. Once things wind down: we fight to keep our eyes open. And that’s just the normal kind of day; this is to say nothing about the different ‘corporate battles’ people face, those who find themselves ‘battling cancer,’ those trying to fight the battle of the bulge, fighting to keep the skeletons in our closets at bay, the couple in a rough patch who are fighting for their marriage (even though it appears they may be fighting each other). Then on top of that (or perhaps related to many of the things just listed), Scripture reminds us, like-it-or-not, believe-it-or-not, we are entrenched in a spuiritual battle (more…)

Tags: courage, Encouragement, faith, Joshua, Scripture, victory
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15 Aug 2009

Question: Have I Counted the Cost?

<image courtesy of iboy_daniel> When it comes to taking those risky steps of faith, it can be difficult to know whether the ‘next step’ we see is our own desire or God’s leading for us. Scripture gives us a bit of a lens through which we can view those situations and determine whether or not ‘now is the time to take the leap. We’ve already asked, “Have I Put First Things First”, and, “Have I Waited?” You can read the introduction here. When it comes to taking those risky steps of faith, it can be hard to know whether the ‘next step’ we see is our own desire or God’s leading for us. Scripture gives us a bit of a lens through which we can view those situations and ask if ‘now is the time’ to take the leap. We’ve already discussed asking “Are First Things First” and “Have I Waited.” As Joshua and the people prepare for their crossing of (more…)

Tags: courage, Joshua, Scripture
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12 Aug 2009

Question: Have I Waited?

<image courtesy of wallyg> We’ve been asking the question of how to know when to take steps of faith—and finding answers by asking other questions. The first questions was “Are First things First” Another question worth asking is the same as the title for this post: HAVE I WAITED? The people of Israel are getting ready to cross the Jordan River in order to begin conquering the land promised them in generations past. God has instructed them to cross the flooded Jordan. It’s obvious that this is the only next step from a strategic and logistical perspective. Josh 3: 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. (more…)

Tags: courage, faith, Joshua
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