5 Axioms

Five Axioms from Rev. Phil Stevenson, Director of Church Multiplication & Leadership Development, Pacific-Southwest District, Wesleyan Church and former General Director of the Evangelism & Church Growth Department of the Wesleyan Church.

1. No one church can do everything.

2. What a church can do it should do intentionally.

3. Seek God for what your church ought to do.

4. Intentionally do what God has called your church to be about doing.

5. It is not about the everything, but the few things God has called you to do.

A few don'ts from Wesleyan Church planters

Church planting is a dynamic ministry environment often maintains an element of unpredictability. As my veteran church planter friend, Wayne Otto, puts it, "Usually what we expect is not what we get, and what we get is not usually what we expect."

In light of that reality, here a few “don’ts” from Church Planters at the recent Church Planter Assessment Center.

“Don’t put your office in your home.” - Jerolyn Bogear

“Don’t assume.” - Kevin O’Conner

“Don’t enter into church planting spiritually unprepared.” - Jesse Pratt

“Don’t shortchange your own spiritual growth.” - Jim Bogear

“Don’t be afraid to make ‘the ask.’” [spiritual decision/partnership] - Wayne Otto

“Don’t stop.” - Jim Bowen

“Don’t go in without definition of success.” – Duane Brown

The Bridge Grand Opening

The following is a note Rick Cox recently sent out in connection the Grand Opening of The Bridge on January 30th:

Rick delivering the Bridge's Grand Opening message

Special Visitors for our Grand Opening

The grand opening of The Bridge was held in the Grand Ballroom of the 3 Lakes Golf Course on January 30, 2011. A group of 65 braved the cold, snowy morning to be a part of the launch of a brand new Wesleyan Church. Excitement was in the air as we greeted visitors from the community; Bridge 'regulars' who had been attending our monthly preview services; visitors from our sister Wesleyan churches around us: our district superintendent and his wife, Randy & Gayle Swink; and one very special visitor, Dr. Thomas Armiger who serves as our General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church. Each of our visitors gave us a confirmation that our dream was becoming a reality. We sense in a very real way that God's blessing is on The Bridge. Continue to pray for us as we move forward. We not only want to build on the relationships we have in our community, but we also want to continue to find ways of connecting with new families around us who have no church home. 

Blanket Distribution 

We were able to do another blanket distribution in January. This time we were joined by a gentleman from the community that we met at the first distribution.  We were glad to have him helping us. We also received a call from a lady  from the community. She had a box of items she was wanting to bring to us for the distribution.    As she dropped them off another lady entered the YMCA, who was on the phone and was quite distressed. We found out that she had just received  word that her neighbors house had burnt to the ground.   We were able to give her a whole box of items that the other lady had dropped off. The box contained sheets and different kinds of bedding items.  God had it all planned out before we even got there.   We gave away over 50 more blankets along with hats and gloves. 

Wind Shield Washer Top Off

January is not an easy month to get out in your community and meet people, but God has helped us find some creative ways to do just that.   One way has been the wind shield washer fluid top off. Our volunteers were out on  three different Saturdays at several gas stations around our community filling peoples wind shield washer fluid for FREE which ended up being the question of the day,  "You mean it's really FREE!?". Our answer was yes!   This act of kindness not only allowed us to be a blessing to many people in our community, but it also gave us a chance to promote our new church plant. 

"Engage" with Phil Struckmeyer

The CMTF if excited about the upcoming Spring events. They are going to be great "value adding" events for those already engaged or ready to engage in the Missional Multiplication Movement.

We are thrilled to host Phil Struckmeyer for this event. He is a great guy and a proven practitioner.

We hope you are able to make the most of this opportunity.

Click here to register or copy and past the following link: http://www.wpadistrict.org/engage/

Click on the event picture below for the details.

Lawn Sprinklers and the Church

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” [John 4:13-14]

I’m no expert, but I recently did some research on lawn irrigation systems. (i.e. lawn sprinklers) It may be an obvious principle, but to effectively irrigate a lawn, a homeowner needs to distribute water to every area of the lawn. Seems simple, right?

The reality is that each sprinkler has a limited range, and cannot reach every area. With only one sprinkler, we will end up with beautiful, lush grass in one area; but the rest of the yard will be brown and dead in no time.

As a result, its essential to install multiple spigots in a pattern that sufficiently covers the lawn. It’s not the most complicated principle, but I share this because there is a similar reality when it comes to church impact and effectiveness.

Each church has a limited reach. Even the most effective and vibrant churches have a limited reach based on a number of factors [i.e. people, geography, etc.] Even with a lot of people and resources, they can only reach so far from one location before issues of distance, culture, etc. become a limiting factor.

That’s why intentionally seeking to multiply believers, leaders and churches is so important!

If we are going to follow Jesus, we will obey what he commands, which means we will seek to fulfill the Great Commission. [ref. Matthew 28:18- 20] In order to do that, we must work to intentionally multiply believers, leaders and churches.

That being said…What is one thing you can do or start doing this weekend to move towards a lifestyle of multiplication?

- Regularly pray for a friend or neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus

- Give financially above and beyond a tithe to support the work of multiplication

- Invite a family from the neighborhood to dinner

- Initiate a spiritual conversation with a friend or co-worker

- Perform a random act of kindness

- Support a new church plant or planter in process

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” – Jesus, John 14:15

Launch of The Bridge!!

Once again as a district, we have the awesome privilege of celebrating the launch of another new church! I love it!!!

The Bridge Launched yesterday in the Penn Hills, and I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do in and through them as they advance the Kingdom of God in Pittsburgh.

Take a moment today to praise our God for His faithfulness in this process.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the LORD.

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;

praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,

praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,

praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD.

January @ The Bridge

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

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This post is also published at www.jxgomez.com/blog