doxapgh.com

Hello!

We are gearing up for an exciting spring and summer here in Pittsburgh. Thank you for taking the time to pray for our ministry here.

The homeless family is no longer staying in our homes, but they still need much prayer. Pray that they will seek God’s guidance as they continue to look for a more permanent home.

We have been approved to rent the church fellowship hall in our neighborhood, so long as we purchase renters insurance. We are in the process of acquiring that insurance and hope to begin meeting at the church in June. Praise God for this answer to prayer.  Please pray for our transition to this facility and for God’s provision for the weekly rent. We plan to have weekly services at this church beginning in June.

We have many events planned for the summer and through them hope to reach many people in our community. With the help of out of state ministry teams we plan to host a free sports camp in June and our Deserving Design project in July. We are seeking nominations of children who need their room freshened with some paint and new bedding, etc  from the community by the end of May. Please pray for these two events and God’s leading as we prepare for them.

Continue to pray that the hearts and minds of the people in Crafton would be opened to the gospel.  That we would have opportunities to meet new people and that God would open doors for us to share the gospel with them.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

Hey everyone,

We are continuing to minister to a family that is homeless.  We have opened our homes to provide them with food, beds and friendship.  Please pray that we are able to help them find jobs and a home quickly.  They and their four kids really need to be together in their own place. Pray also that they would rely fully on God for all their needs.

We continue to look for a facility that would better meet our needs.  While the community center continues to allow us to meet there for free, it does not have adequate space for the children.   There is a possibility that we will be able to soon meet on Sunday evenings in a church in our neighborhood. The church building will provide some more space for the children, though still not ideal because they do not have a nursery or classrooms.  Please pray for God’s provision for a meeting space and for the rental fees associated with a new place.

This month we are meeting with a church from NC that wants to bring a mission team here to host a sports camp for our church. Pray for this opportunity to be fruitful in reaching our community. Another missions team will be joining with us this summer to facilitate our deserving design projects. We hope to “refresh” 4 bedrooms for deserving kids in our community. Pray for God’s leading and provision through both of these exciting events.

Continue to pray that the hearts and minds of the people in Crafton would be opened to the gospel.  That we would have opportunities to meet new people and that God would open doors for us to share the gospel with them.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

Hey everyone,

With the new year comes a new set of challenges that God has placed before us.

Currently we are ministering to a family that is homeless.  We have opened our homes to provide them with food and beds.  Please pray that we are able to help them find jobs and a home quickly.  They and their kids really need to be together in their own place.

We continue to look for a facility that would better meet our needs.  While the community center continues to allow us to meet there, it does not have adequate space for the children.  Please pray that we are able to find a new place to hold worship services.

Continue to pray that the hearts and minds of the people in Crafton would be opened to the gospel.  That we would have opportunities to meet new people and that God would open doors for us to share the gospel with them.

We appreciate your prayers…

Hey everyone,

We’ve been really busy, and really terrible at posting our needs here.  In an effort to try to keep our partners updated on prayer needs, we will be posting them here and linking to them via facebook.  So if you haven’t found us on facebook go to www.facebook.com/doxapgh.  That page is really going to be the best way to keep up with what is going on with Doxa.  We are getting ready for our first preview service on October 9.  As we do we would appreciate your prayers for the following items…

Worship service related
Services – that God would make the people in Crafton receptive to our invitations.
Preview services on 10/9, 11/13, 12/4
Small Group – that we would be able to get people to move from the large group gathering into a small group.
Helpers – we need God to raise up people in several different areas of ministry.
People Needs
Canvassing – we need people to hand out door knockers prior to services to invite people to visit Doxa.
Childcare – We need people to help with childcare during services.
Greeters – We need people to welcome and guide those who come to visit.

Monetary
Advertising – money to purchase ads in newspaper, online/ social media, radio. (approx. 1000)
Outreach – money for outreach projects such as handing out water bottles, mending fences, children’s craft days, etc. (approx. $1000)
Children’s ministry – money to buy supplies for Children’s ministry/ curriculum. (approx. $500)
Nursery items – preferably new 2 pack&play, toddler toys?, items need to be portable (approx. $500)

This weekend, DOXA church hosted our first missions team.  They came to help us bring the story of God to life in our community, and the outcome was one of great blessing for many.

When Steve and I first moved here we immediately began looking for for a restoration project…something that was not quite right in Crafton that we could have a hand in making right again. That project was found in our local park, which has a beautiful playground built by the people of the community, but has unfortunately fallen pray to a large amount of inappropriate graffiti.  Profanity, sexual references, suicide notes, and vitriol of all sorts were displayed in just about every little crevice of a park intended for 5 to 10 year olds.  We had one simple act of service planned…restore the park to its original beauty, just as Jesus does for us.

At first, it looked as if we would not be able to complete our project.  The day before the group arrived, the worst storm in 25 years hit Pittsburgh, with severe thunderstorms predicted for the entire weekend.  However, the rain held off, and our team worked so hard, they finished the two-day project in only one!.  During the process, several teenagers were loitering in the playground, some who became interested inwhat we were doing.  A few even volunteered to help – even one who was responsible for some of the graffiti.

The final stage of our plan was to have a community cookout to celebrate the restoration of the park, have a chance to meet people of the community who frequent the park with their kids, and share with them our vision and purpose in restoring the park.  About 50 hot dogs later, 6 pounds of kielbasa, and a HUGE bowl of pepperoni rolls compliments of Nannette, we were able to meet a whole host of people and hear their stories, and share with them ours.

We gathered, we journeyed, we restored, we celebrated.  We lived out the rhythms of the Kingdom.  As N.T. Wright says, we, “sketched out with pencil what Jesus will one day paint over in indelible ink.” The ultimate result…one of those families that stopped by for the cookout came to our community gathering last night.  We shared the story of God together.  They shared their story with us (and what a story).  We have already identified several ways that we can bless them, and treat them as part of the family, even if they are not a part yet.  In either case, they have stated that they will be joining us from now on, and DOXA church has gained a wonderful family thanks to the efforts of a small group of people from York, PA, and to the blessing of God upon an undeserving people whom he has chosen to love. It’s the story come to life before our eyes.

Amen.

Tonight, after a week off from our regular grouping, we came back with something slightly different that would move our group forward in understanding the importance, rhythms, and cohesiveness of the stories…we retold them.

First off, we spent some time just telling stories…stories of how we met our wives, stories of sports injuries, and stories that were both at the same time. We did the because stories are how we talk and communicate ALL the time…except inexplicably when we talk about Jesus or the Bible.  We convert to this entirely awkward way of speaking which tends to delineate a list of fact…like the Romans Road or the 4 Spiritual Laws.

the problem is that the gospel was not intended to be shared this way.  It is a story…the story of all stories that has significant and important features when re-told correctly.

It connects with us personally because we relate to the characters and arc. (Because good stories reveal human nature, of which the Bible has the most accurate depiction)

It conveys the rhythm of all good stories…summer, fall, winter, spring.  (This story just also happens to be true).

It shows that we are a part of the story, the chapters still being told through the 29th chapter of Acts.

For these reasons, after we told some of our stories, we encouraged our group members to each take a stab at retelling…not just the facts or a list of happenings in a story, but really telling a story that captivated our attention and connected with the deepest part of our person.  A few details were left out here and there, but the essence came through.  The rhythms were there, the trajectory was there, the POINT was there.  God is good and he is redeeming an unredeemable people because He is good.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Well, Doxa has been meeting for three weeks now.  As a community, we have been doing something very old, very unoriginal, but very life changing.  Chronological Bible Storying has been around for a long, long time.  This week we reached the story of Cain and Abel.  It is consistently amazing how quickly humans go from no sin to murder.  It is also amazing to see through story how consistently God is loving, merciful and caring even after our rebellion.  God is very good to us!  3 weeks into the story some patterns are starting to emerge.  Namely, God is very loving, but must punish sin; and humans are constantly disobeying God.  These patterns lay a wonderful groundwork for the gospel.  

Please pray for opportunities for us to lay the groundwork for the gospel in the lives of those attending through serving them.  We are trying to keep our eyes open for ways to serve the people in our group, and the community.  We’re in the beginning stages of planning for the two mission teams that our coming this summer.  We’re also trying to partner with some local churches to co-labor and expand the reach of the gospel.  

I got the opportunity this week to bless some of the folks over at Faithbridge community church with some free Pirates tickets.  It was a great opportunity to get know and learn from some folks who have been working here in Pittsburgh for longer than we have.  

We’re pretty sure our friends’ child is still having medical issues that are keeping them from joining us.  Please pray that those medical issues are resolved so that the child can go back to being a child, and so that they can join us.

It is official.  Doxa Church, as of April 19th, has initiated its first community gathering.  After several weeks of practice with just our core community (that is the Russell’s and the Heffner’s), and a few weeks of strategic planning, budgeting, and remodeling of one dining room, we have completed our first two gatherings with friends we have made in the area.  They have gone fantastically, with those in attendance truly appreciating what we are doing, and verbalizing their excitement to continue their involvement.

Although excitement and direction have been positive, our attendance has ben less than expected, due to some emergencies and people backing out out the last minute. These things are to be expected, as a lot of people are fearful or skeptical of the gospel, and those who aren’t will certainly find some obstacle to overcome in joining our community.  Please pray for our one family who has missed both fo our first two weeks due to emergency medical needs.  Also pray for Rebecca’s “bus buddy” who may come in the next week or two if she can find a friend to come along.  Finally pray for my friend and teaching mentor, Jamie.  She has expressed interest in coming before, but is flaking out at the last minute because of some serious internal resistance to religion.

Some other prayer requests as we continue to build our community:

(1) Pray that we wil find ways to make it mroe of a community instead of a once a week meeting.  Thom Ranier;s new book identifies community as one of the key aspects of churches that attract and keep younger generations.  One of our key identities is being family, which informs us that we wnat to be far more than a church group.  We wnat to share life on an intimate level.  Pray that we might know how to begin creating this atmoshpere outside of Sunday nights.

(2) Pray for  our budgetary needs. We have established a workable budget that is going to require some outside giving to help us get started.  Right now we have two giving families – the aforementioned Russells and Heffners.  We need about $150/month additional to meet ouf monetary needs for the year.

(3) Praye for the TWO missions trips that we have coming this summer, that we will have projects for them, that we will be able to cast our vision with them when they come, that the work will be fruitful, and no one will go crazy.

(4) Pray for me (Andrew) to find a teaching job that starts this fall and is not too far from home!

Grace to you,

Andrew

He are at Doxa, we believe that as Christians we are new creations and therefore we have a new identity in Christ.  These are not things we strive to become, but rather are part of our new nature in Christ.    We believe that there are four basic identites that sum up who we are in Christ. Here they are:

Learners:

We are to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  This simply means that we are followers of Jesus, and as such we take responsibility for our own development and the development of others.

Family:

In Christ we are made brothers and sisters.  As Christians we need to really learn what it means to love each other and treat each other as the family of God.

Missionaries:

Evey Christian is called to be a missionary.  Jesus gave everyone the mission of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  This is not a message for a chosen few to share, but rather for everyone to share.

Servants:

We are called to express the gospel not only verbally, but in tangible ways.  We are to look for what is broken, for that which is not the way God intended and we are to seek to bring restoration.

Welcome to Doxa.  We are glad you stopped by and hope that this site helps to inform you about the vision that God has placed on our hearts for Pittsburgh, and how you can join us.  Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to serve God in calling He has given us.