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!