Pittsburgh Plant: Prayer/Journey Notes

Before long, Sarah and I hope to be living in Pittsburgh. But before we can actually move, there are a number of things which need to happen: our current home needs to be put in order, cleaned, and rented out; a new home needs to be procured (we’ve spent hours and hours and hours researching, touring, and searching for apartments in the city); and moving days need to be set.

Just like moving takes a lot of preparation before anything is ‘seen,’ church planting takes a lot of passionate labor before things begin to spring up. One of the most important aspects of preparing for the work of planting, doing the work of planting, launching, and sustaining the ministry of a new church is prayer.

A few weeks ago, we sent out a JourneyNote detailing some of the ways we need our friends and family members (that’s you!) to be involved and at the top of the list was ‘prayer.’ Already, we have a committed core of people who have promised to dedicate themselves to regular, focused intercession on behalf of the people of Pittsburgh, the Coxes, and Sarah & me as we work the soil in Pittsburgh.

We know that the commitment of these people to pray is no small thing, but is a commitment to labor and battle. We have already expressed our thanks to those faithful warriors who will be keeping us in prayer, but wanted to make sure you had the chance to be part of this team, too.

If you are not already on our PrayerNotes list, but would like to be a member of this incredibly important team, respond to this note or give me a call (717.609.7504).

What follows is the first PrayerNote we sent out last week (if you already got that Note, maybe this can serve as a reminder to keep praying for what's outlined below):

First, allow us to express our deep gratitude to you: you’ve agreed to ‘go to the mat’ for the people of Pittsburgh, the people of the future church which will be there, as well as the Coxes and the two of us. As has been stated earlier, we recognize the value and violence of prayer--prayer is our posture of worship, communion with the Spirit, and our place of battle. We understand that you are, by praying for us and the work God has called us to in Pittsburgh, putting yourself on the line. It is no small thing you are doing... so, again, thank you. We know that our victory through Christ is assured, that He has already won and our enemy has already been dealt a death-blow as the result of Christ’s great work on the cross.

That said, we invite you to gear up.

Prepare your mind, ready your heart, and discipline your spirit--we are certain this is part of a great adventure and you’re taking part in a very special, very real way. We will be sending updates on the first Wednesday of each month (with urgent needs/requests communicated as they come our way) on those specific areas in which we are asking for focused prayer; we'll also be including reports on what God has done in response to your faithful intercession.

This week, we ask that you begin by joining us in prayer for the following needs:

The Spirit’s Working...

...in the hearts of those who don’t know Christ: we are engaging in relationship building and trying to discern ‘good soil’ in the active faith that we will see twenty people come to know Jesus through the ministry of the Pittsburgh Church Plant by the end of August.

...in the hearts of our launch team: we believe God is already working in the hearts of those who he desires to serve in the missionary opportunity as part of our boots-on-the-ground team preparing to get the new church off the ground!

Wisdom...

...for us (the Coxes and Gomezes) as we prayerfully consider potential names for this new church.

...for Sarah and me in finding a strategic place to live and make our new home in Pittsburgh--this is a very important step in making sure everything comes together.

Provision...

...in terms of renting out our current home in Carlisle: we need the right person/people at the right time.

...in terms of fundraising: in order for us to be full-time in Pittsburgh, we need commitments of over $3700/mo. We are believing for God to move in the hearts of 75 churches, organizations, groups, and individuals to each pledge $50/month.

Thanks again; it means the world to us to have you in our corner!

Jeremiah (& Sarah, too!)