Archives For Prayer

Favor: Post 2 (of 5)

January 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

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.

image: Sarah Gomez

“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 open doors of opportunity to develop significant relationships with many in the community; had it not been for the deep partnership of these district churches, the day would not have been possible.

We may never fully know the impact of the selfless giving of people, time, and finances the churches of the WPA District lavished on Pittsburgh, but as the nature of this partnership grows, one thing is for sure: greater things are already here and will continue to be seen in the eternal difference being made in homes, families, and communities.

image: Sarah Gomez

Our partner churches were selfless: they gave financially, gifted material, brought supplies, and invested energy.  Their people prayed, provided, and participated in an unprecedented way.  Through this army of volunteers, hundreds of people were impacted in a way The Bridge could not have effected by herself.  God moved in hearts, individuals, and churches as an incredible expression of his favor on Pittsburgh!

—

In church planting , , , , , , , , , , ,
 permalink

Favor: Post 1 (of 5)

January 24, 2011 — 4 Comments

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

Image: Timothy Cox

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 was securing a location to hold the event. The park we needed to use didn’t have any openings for the reserved areas; in fact, in the process of looking for open dates, we were told that the park needs to be booked a year in advance and someone else already had the date we needed.  We prayed for God to open a door for us to meet at the right place on the right date, thinking this meant somewhere else, maybe at some other time.

But God moved in an unexpected way: the park opened up for the last Saturday of August and we were able to step right in. Even more exciting, the favor shown to us didn’t end there; more than having one pavilion at one end of the park, we were invited to make use of a much larger recreation area including two pavilions and the land between them; we were invited to use large playing courts and given run of the place from water to electricity, from ample parking (when the offer came to have a league softball game rescheduled) to extra trash receptacles. In a moment we went from ‘impossibility’ to ‘blessed beyond measure’ as a path was made for us which we could not have cut ourselves.

As we have sought to be where God is moving, he has demonstrated his exceeding faithfulness. I can’t wait to share more with you in the days ahead!

In church planting , , , , , , , , , ,
 permalink

The Rest of January

January 15, 2011 — 1 Comment

The rest of this month is going to be pretty busy as we prepare for our official launch/”Grand Opening” of The Bridge and spend time serving our community.  We will be hosting preview services, topping-off washer fluid for motorists at local gas stations, hosting a blanket giveaway, and, of course, launching!  In between we’ll be canvassing neighborhoods, inviting friends and neighbors, sending out postcards, and doing whatever else we can to get the word out to the community.

We have seen the Holy Spirit go before us in amazing ways, and in the next post, I’ll share some of the highlights of how he’s shown us his favor (it’s probably going to leave you speechless). In the meantime, we are asking you to keep the following events as points of serious prayer throughout the month:

  • Saturday, January 15 — Washer Fluid Top-Off (Exxon @ 7409 Saltsburg Rd, Penn Hills — click for map) from 10 am – 1 pm
  • Sunday, January 16 — 10:30 am preview service in our new meeting location (Grand Ballroom of 3 Lakes Golf Course)
  • Saturday, January 22 — Washer Fluid Top-Off (Sunoco @ 280 Hulton Rd, Verona — click for map) from 10 am-1 pm
  • Sunday, January 23
    – Final preview service (10:30am @ 3 Lakes Golf Course)
    – “Commissioning service” at Sandy Lake Wesleyan Church
  • Saturday, January 29
    – Washer FluidTop-Off (Sunoco @ 6500 Saltsburg Rd, Penn Hills — click for map) from 10 am-1 pm
    –  Blanket, Scarf, Glove & Hat Giveaway (@ Penn Hills YMCA — click for map) from 10 am – 1pm
  • Sunday, January 30th — LAUNCH SUNDAY! (1o:3o am @ 3 Lakes Golf Course Grand Ballroom, 6700 Saltsburg Rd, Penn Hills (click for map)).

Thanks for praying.  And thanks to to our committed launch team members who are taking an active role in seeing Greater Things coming to Pittsburgh.  This wouldn’t be happening without you!

In church planting , , , , , ,
 permalink

FunDay Follow-Up

August 29, 2010 — 6 Comments

One of our Fun Day participants... having fun!

We had a great day yesterday at The Bridge’s (free!) Family Fun Day.  We had a steady stream of attendance (an average of just over 100 people an hour from the community) and over 120 volunteers from our own launch team and other District churches who helped make the day an amazing success.  Some more photos of the day’s events are posted at facebook.com/BridgePGH.

Our District Superintendent also having fun 🙂

Here are the ways God answered your prayers for the day:

  • We asked you to pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and we definitely sensed we were operating in God’s strength and by his favor.
  • We asked you to pray for safety and security and we had no serious incidents; we were able to leave the park in better shape than we found it.  There was one medical need that occurred immediately following the arrival of area medics who wanted to check in–the timing was amazing as God provided the right people at the right time!
  • We asked you to pray for deep connections and I believe these were made!  We had amazing conversations with people seriously interested in The Bridge, our ministry, and finding out about when/where we’ll be meeting.  Quality interaction occurred with people from a variety of backgrounds and religious histories.

  • Our DS's wife taking part!

    We asked you to pray that seeds would be planted and they were!  We were told by many people they couldn’t believe we would do such a high-quality event for free, that individuals hadn’t been around so many nice, caring people in a long time, and saw genuine appreciation for what was happening.  One individual from the community even asked if people had been praying for the event because they could clearly sense God’s presence on the grounds!

  • We asked you to pray for people to come to know Christ.  As far as I know, no one crossed the line of faith yesterday, but I am confident we built significant relationships with people who, as a result of interacting with followers of Jesus through The Bridge, will recognize Jesus as King and find new life in him.

The Holy Spirit is on the move and using all kinds of different people from many different churches as he grows his Kingdom and builds The Bridge in East Pittsburgh!

Thanks for taking part with us!

In Prayer , , , , , ,
 permalink

Pre-Fun Day PrayerNote

August 27, 2010 — Leave a comment

image: tim cox

I sent a PrayerNote to our committed prayer partners earlier this morning asking them to take time to pray for our Family Fun Day tomorrow; I’m posting it here in hopes that as you read it, you would also pray for us and the event.  Things for tomorrow are shaping up nicely and we’ve been overwhelmed at the response of the community thus far (not to mention the 100+ people who have committed to join us as volunteers!).

Here’s the Note:

We know…that a great event without the activity of God’s Spirit is just a fleeting moment; with God’s hand at work and his response to your prayers, tomorrow can be more than the opportunity for good publicity for The Bridge–it can be the day eternities are changed as people meet Jesus.

To that end, we’d ask you to pray as you think of us today and tomorrow for…

  • …the anointing of the Holy Spirit on our volunteers, leaders, and prayer team — that none of us would operate solely in our own power.
  • …safety and security — a similar event in the community was discontinued due to vandalism and we certainly don’t want the same thing to happen here; our desire is for people to feel secure and to leave the park where we’re hosting the event in even better shape than we find it.
  • …deep connections — we want to build relationships and make meaningful connections with those we come in contact with tomorrow.
  • …seeds to be planted — what if the people we interact with find their hearts drawn and mind consistently turned to what they saw and experienced among the Christ followers who will be present?  What if a few minutes at a free event brings them to that place where they realize the ‘something more’ they’ve been seeking was seen in the lives of others who know Jesus?
  • …people to know Christ — what greater joy could there be than seeing people come to know Jesus?  Please pray that we are able to relevantly articulate the hope we have to those who are ready to receive it.

This is going to be a red-letter day for us, The Bridge, and our volunteers; thanks for being part of it!  I can’t wait to tell you how tomorrow goes.

In Prayer , , , , ,
 permalink