A few quick observations/lessons from not preaching Sunday:

• Setup went unbelievably smooth by all accounts, in spite of (or because of) me not being there for it
• We had a bunch of people serving in specific areas for the first time (including 2 families that came for setup early)
• My father has about 34 years of preaching experience on me.  It showed on Sunday.  Great job old man!
• We’re trying to create an environment that’s safe and unintimidating for people who want to know more about Jesus.  We’re not quite where I’d like to see us on this front, but we’re getting there…
• We may not have a “full-time” worship leader, but God has sent us two amazing talents in Brandon and Neil
• I know more than ever after Sunday that things are in good hands when my man Jeff is around
• All in all, Sunday was a great reminder that Iron City Church is not about me.  It’s about God’s mission to use men and women who are sold out to transform lives through a relationship with Jesus – whether I’m around for every little detail or not.

Since my Catalytic Pastor (aka: Dad) was preaching Sunday and we were originally scheduled to be out of town for the day, I got to come as just a “regular” ICC attendee.  I showed up about 30-45 minutes before the service started and everything was already set to go.  I got to serve as a greeter for a little while before things got cranking and then sat and experienced what everyone else was experiencing.

It’s always nice to get a different perspective on things once in a while.  I missed preaching, but I definitely need a break from time to time to stay fresh.  The old man knocked it out of the park!  He wrapped up our “Game On” series with a message called “Breaking the Huddle,” and rocked the house. 

We had a lot of our regulars out of town, but with about 7 first time guests, we were still right up in the ballpark of where we’ve been, attendance-wise (47).  It was a great day!

Well, Amber, TJ and I went to Chicago for turkey day to spend some time with her mom and brother.  It was a good time.  We headed out Wednesday morning and came home Saturday evening.

Chicago is an interesting city.  It was – go figure – windy while we were there and a little chilly.  We spent a lot of time hanging out in the hotel and then driving around.  It was good to relax a little bit, even if part of that relaxing was watching my LSU Tigers lose their shot at a national championship in 3 OT’s to Arkansas.  Arkansas!  What is this world coming to….

Made it home uneventfully Saturday evening about 5 pounds heavier (thank you Chicago deep dish pizza!) and a little bit more relaxed.  Good trip.

I’ve been convicted this week of my selfishness.  Without consciously choosing to be, I’ve been selfish about all the stuff that has to be done at ICC.  And my selfishness has not just affected me, but all of the people who have been working their tails off to make things happen each week.  We have done a lot of generic things to let people know about opportunities to help out, but I have failed to lead by inviting people personally to come along and serve with us. And after yesterday it’s obvious to me that A LOT of our regulars are chomping at the bit to get more involved. 

I just mentioned in passing before dismissing everyone that hanging out and helping is a great way to get to know some folks and that we were short a couple of our normal breakdown people for the day.  No hard sell.  No big promotional push.  No “the sky is going to fall if you don’t stay and help pack the trailer” speech.  Just a mention and an open invitation.

We had 11 people stick around for the first time and help break everything down and pack up the trailer!  By just mentioning it in the service…. Unbelievable.  A word to each of two different groups who might read this:

To Iron City Church: I ask your forgiveness and I repent of not asking each of you to come and serve.  It’s going to take ALL of us working hard to move this church towards turning the Pittsburgh metro area on it’s head and acheiving the vision that God has laid out for us: to be a dynamic movement of Christ followers: building bridges and changing the world.

To other church planters/pastors out there: I encourage you to be bold (not obnoxious, bold) about inviting people to step up and serve.  One of our guys told me yesterday after the service, “thanks for asking me to help – it lets me feel like I’m an important part of this thing.”  The truth is that he’s always been an important part of this thing, but by me not giving him a clear invite to serve he didn’t feel like he was.  Don’t let this happen to you….

Have a great week!

We started our new series – Game On: Takin’ it to the Streets – yesterday.  The core idea is that the Church is God’s team to continue Jesus’ mission on earth.  Our goal is to share the value of getting off the bench and into the game.  One of our values as a church is that “ministry is everyone’s job.”

Yesterday I shared a message called “Picking the Team.”  The scripture we focused on was Luke 14:15-24 (the parable of the great banquet).  I spoke to the idea that, as Jesus’ servants, we’re called to be recruiters for this great banquet known as the Kingdom of God.  I rambled a good bit but I felt like the concept connected pretty well.  We had another decent crowd (45 total) and something awesome happened after the service - more on that later. 

Here’s the link for the message .mp3.

I am enjoying this series already.  We had a bench on the stage with water coolers and a bunch of sports stuff.  I even sported my new preaching hoodie yesterday.  It was a great day.  Praise God for what He’s doing in and through Iron City Church!

Yesterday afternoon we had a vision meeting for people who have been attending ICC and wanted to hear more about the vision.  It was also a good forum for them to ask questions that have been on their mind.

We held the meeting at the local library and had a total of 11 people there.  We enjoyed some lunch and then had what was probably my favorite part of the whole meeting — everyone got to tell who they are and what brought them to Iron City Church.  Awesome stuff — what a great reminder of why we do what we do!  Most people showed because of the “More Jesus, Less Crap” signs and have stayed because of the authenticity, based on their comments yesterday.

I got to share how we got here (the backstory), where we’re heading (the vision), and what we’re about (our values).  I just love connecting the dots for people.  The meeting went very well and I think most – if not all – of the people that were there are in it for the long haul.  We did have some good, spirited conversation about some of what we do and what we believe, but it was all in good taste and I think we all left on good standing and encouraged.

It is awesome to be so close while God does so much for so many! 

I shared yesterday that it’s my dream that in 5, 10, or 20 years if we were to mention something about closing the doors of Iron City Church, that members and leaders of all the communities of the Pittsburgh metro area would rise up in opposition because we have made and we are making such a difference in the lives of their people that they couldn’t bear to do without us.  Only God can do that — and that’s why I dream it!!!

Thank you God for all you have done, are doing, and are yet to do!

What a weird & nerve-wracking inspiring & awesome day we had yesterday at Iron City Church.  Some of the odd high points:

• In spite of setting our clocks BACK an hour, I was the first one on the scene for setup (hasn’t happened in a while)
• About 10-15 minutes after arriving I got a call that our worship leader was unreachable and he had missed his ride to church – no one had heard from him all morning…
• After much prayer and some brainstorming, by about 9:15 we had selected some songs on CD and I was warming up my voice (haha) to lead us in worship
• Thankfully (for everyone), our worship leader called about 9:25 and said he was on his way
• He showed at about 5 minutes ’til 10 (when we start), plugged in and started the service
• After a huge, thankful prayer that I didn’t have to lead singing, I walked up and realized that we had a solid crowd (still haven’t gotten the final count, but we were somewhere between 45 and 50)
• We had our highest number of children (12) ever in ICK - Iron City Kids
• God was definitely at work at ICC during the service.  I wrapped up the final message in our “Building Blocks” series, called “Sharing the Love,” from 2 Peter 1:7. 
• It was one of those days when I felt like I was kind of all over the place until right at the end when I let the Holy Spirit just take over and He landed the message in a big way.  Thank you God that I am not a “public speaker,” but just a vessel for you to speak through
• Our ICC folks are amazing.  We’ve got two couples that are the most dependable, hard working, and humble people I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving with.  Big huge thanks go out to Bob & Dena and James & Samara.  Without you guys this church wouldn’t be the same.
• So, all in all, after some crazy (scary) things looked like they may be happening, the day went great, God was honored, people were fired up, and we had six (6) more first time guests at our Sunday service

Thank you God for the revolution that You are bringing about in the hearts of people through Iron City Church!

Since we live on a street with no sidewalks, we decided to take up the offer of our friends Doug and Amy Daw to drive out to their neighborhood and join them for some trick or treating last night.  TJ gladly wore his monkey suit (literally) all night and was a trooper. 

He got to ride on my shoulders most of the night - again I was reminded of the joyful hilly terrain of southwestern PA as I climbed the flight of stairs up to a bunch of front doors.  No gym time for me this morning because I did my stairclimber training last night with the monkey on my back.  By the end of the night TJ was leaning off my head to make his own selection from people’s candy bowls.

I’ll post photos whenever I can track down our camera….