Reflecting on Two Years at North Way East End 1-27-14

This is a big week for North Way East End... we're celebrating our two year anniversary! I'll be sharing a lot of stories and photos this week to reflect on how far God has brought us as a church in such a short amount of time. I've been privileged to see lives transformed by the profound love of Jesus Christ. I've experienced the ups and downs of Christians doing life with one another. It's been quite an adventure.

On our church launch day in January of 2012, everyone was hopeful. We had a big turn out from people from North Way locations checking out what this campus in East Liberty was all about. The launch team had worked hard to get everything up and going. While we had our first church service, giving all the glory to God, somebody was outside breaking into about a dozen cars and a local convenience store. Here's a picture of one of the cars that was broken into, which included my sister's car and also Pastor Freedom's:

We haven't had any break ins since that day. It turned out to be just a one time thing. Still, we weren't discouraged. We knew that we needed to persevere. There were other challenges to press through, as well. Our ministry center space wasn't quite ready so we held kids church in the lobby of the theater. Our technology wasn't quite ready so we had to get creative to pull the first worship service off. It looked like this:

It was amazing to see God come through on that first day, and on every day since then. Starting a new church has been a huge challenge. But, it's been worth it to be an integral part of God's redemptive mission in our city. I'm looking forward to what God is going to do in 2014!

Celebrating One Year at North Way East End

Our leaders at North Way East End are preparing for a big one year anniversary celebration. We will begin by worshiping at 10am at 5941 Penn Ave in East Liberty as we ordinarily do. During the service we'll be reflecting on all that God has done this past year, and I'll be preaching live so that I can tell our church's story and cast vision for this upcoming year. It all culminates with a block party in the East End ministry center after church. We also have a small group connect this coming Sunday, so there will be a lot going on. Whether you've been regularly attending North Way East End, or if you've never had the opportunity to experience our church community, I invite everyone to join us for this Sunday's special time together. I'm sure it will be a memorable experience!

Expecting Big Things

I had a great time attending the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit simulcast this week. Over the course of two days our staff and interns at the North Way city campuses had the opportunity to hear from some amazing leaders. We caught a tremendous glimpse of what God is doing globally with regard to leadership and advancing the kingdom of God. I look forward to the event every year because it serves a reset of sorts for me in terms of how to be a more effective leader. I'll be debriefing with my team during our staff meeting on Monday, and I can't wait to learn more from each other about where God may be taking North Way East End in this coming ministry season. God has given us a powerful vision to reach the entire East End of the city of Pittsburgh with the love of Christ, and we live out that mission through missional, cross-cultural community, solid biblical teaching, passionate worship, meaningful relationships, and by empowering the next generation of leaders in the church. God has been moving in miraculous ways at North Way East End, and I know that God is going to do BIG things this fall. Let's go!!!

A Full Day in the East End

Sundays are becoming interesting days for me as a pastor in the city. Yesterday we had a worship service at North Way East End where people connected with God through powerful music, a strong, biblical teaching message, and communion. We are building community with one another even though the church is relatively young, and we are building relationships with people outside the walls of our church on a consistent basis. I spent most of yesterday afternoon after church with three seventeen year old kids from the inner city. We visited the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix where we walked and talked while watching races and looking at all of the sports cars. We went to a movie, we listened to music on the car ride, and we talked while we were riding in my car. We talked about what it means to be a man. We talked about dating relationships and marriage. We talked about money and how God wants us to steward it. We talked a lot about life while we enjoyed the activities together. Then, after I dropped all of them off at their homes, I drove through Homewood and saw a bunch of teenagers sitting on the front porch of their row home. They were sitting outside because it was such a hot day. Honestly, this is the kind of scene where people would just drive by them as fast as they could in order to get out of the neighborhood. They're coming over to my house for dinner tonight. Mrs. McCabe is making stromboli. We'll talk about life while we're eating, I'm sure. The dinner table is one of the best places to have deep discussions about life, and we love having our neighbors over for dinner.

Spending time with Christians. Spending time with nonChristians. Spending time with neighbors. Gathering with friends in a performing arts theater to worship God together. Gathering with friends at an auto race in the community where I serve as a pastor. Hanging out with doctors and entrepreneurs. Hanging out with at-risk youth. All of these things represent the kingdom of God advancing in my city. The gospel takes hold because of the Holy Spirit and through the relationships that we build with one another. We live in a world with great evil, but we live in a world with a God who sacrificed all through his Son so that we can live victoriously and joyfully through his grace. We live in the now, but not yet. God is on mission to redeem my city, and to redeem the world. North Way East End is a part of that mission. It is a wonderful calling that brings tremendous purpose to every day of the week... not just Sundays. It's a new day today. I can't wait to see what God does today!

Final Prelaunch Service in the East End

Tomorrow morning the final prelaunch service for the new North Way East End church will be held at 10am at 5941 Penn Avenue in East Liberty.  Power will be out in the ministry center so that electricians can finish the electrical work, so we will have the kids in with everyone in the theater once again. It should be a great worship service with a powerful message. This is our last big step before the grand opening of North Way East End next Sunday, January 29th at 10am.

A Big Weekend

This is a big weekend for the North Way East End launch team. On Friday night a group of volunteers are serving at the House of Manna in Homewood. On Saturday, the East End worship team practices together for the first time. On Sunday, East End launch team members will be serving together at the 9am worship service at North Way Oakland. The next few weeks will be fun as we develop new frienships with one another and begin preparing for worship services in the East End in January. This is a great time to be a part of something new at North Way!

Launch Team Meeting Tonight

Tonight I'm looking forward to another meeting of the North Way East End launch team at the Myles Dental offices located at 715 N. Highland Ave in East Liberty. We are really starting to pick up momentum for the new North Way location! We'll share dinner together to build relationships, I'll share a little bit about the vision for the campus, we'll split up into groups of volunteers who will be serving in different areas in the East End, and then we'll spend some time out in the community getting to know our neighbors and praying for the community. It's so amazing to see all of this come together. God is doing big things in Pittsburgh!

Nehemiah: A Good Example of Urban Ministry

The North Way East End launch team meeting this past Saturday morning was so much fun! Around 60 people gathered in a completely unfinished ministry center space in order to learn more about how God is calling us to join his mission to reach people in the East End of the city of Pittsburgh. I had the opportunity to share from the Bible about Nehemiah, who set a great example of what it means to be in a relationship with God while joining into mission in the urban context. Before Nehemiah did anything to rebuild Jerusalem, he actually went there and spent time, his heart broke, and he humbled himself before the Lord while praying and fasting. The attitude of humility is crucial in launching a new church location in a city. In Pittsburgh, the Holy Spirit has been working in the East End for a long time. There has been some tremendous work going on the city for many years, and North Way will seek to join the good work that God is doing in the East End. Just like Nehemiah, we will pray and be sensetive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We will seek to be good neighbors and love others well. We will seek to reach people with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These things are so simple, but they all spring from a foundation of prayer and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. The next step in the adventure is another launch team meeting on November 18th from 6-8pm in the East End ministry center location. I can't wait to be with everyone again!

East End Launch Team Meeting

This Saturday is the big day! The North Way East End launch team is gathering from 10am to noon at 5947 Penn Avenue in East Liberty. If you are planning to be a part of the East End launch, I hope you'll join us for this time together. I'll be casting some vision, going over some details, and then mostly we'll be connecting with everyone and plugging people into areas where they are passionate about serving. We'll also be praying a lot for this new adventure. Oh, and we'll have food. What more could you want for a Saturday morning? Come on out and be a part of what God is doing in the city.