Help ClearView Impact People At Founder's Day (May 16)!

Dear Friend,
Thanks for your interest in helping in the development of ClearView Church. God has opened amazing doors for us to be involved in our community. The next opportunity for large-scale contact making is coming fast, New Albany's Founder's Day parade and festival on Saturday, May 16.

I'm looking for people that might be willing to walk in the parade with us, smile, and give out 1,500 logo frisbees and hundreds of invitations to our next key gathering (May 17). The parade runs from 10a-Noon. I'm also looking for people that can help us put a smile on people's faces with free face-painting, balloons, crafts, colored hair spray, etc. at the festival, which runs from 12-5p. Anyone that participates at any time gets a free ClearView t-shirt (it would help me to know sizes up front).

Thanks for your help in finding volunteers. We want to have a major presence on this key day...we want to reach people where they are already gathered and show Jesus' love in practical ways.

Can you help? Bring a friend! Feel free to bring your kids and walk in the parade together! Let me know and I'll be glad to get you more details (timing, locations, etc.). Thanks!

Blessings,
Andy Wirt
ClearView Church
PO Box 629
New Albany, OH 43054
http://www.clearviewgrace.com
614.578.0676

A Strong Sunday at ClearView

I was very thankful for our gathering yesterday. There is always such a good spirit among our ClearView family and I just enjoy being around everyone. There is a genuine care for one another and a willingness to love and serve that is contagious. Our worship, prayer time, and discussion around Colossians 1 moved me. We also had a strong attendance and several guests, three separate family units, which is always encouraging. I was particularly excited about a friend of mine from the community that came, enjoyed her time with us, and said she'd be back! I had an exciting conversation with her last week- the best kind of interaction- talking about who Jesus is and what He has done for us. I always find my own journey with Jesus is enriched when God gives an opportunity to talk with someone else about the complete love and hope we find in a relationship with Jesus.


Thanks for praying for the development of ClearView. Please pray that God would bring us like minded people to help us bring our vision to reality and allow us to love on spiritually sensitive/searching people. Good things are happening! Praise God!

Healthy Kids Day At The YMCA!

Last Saturday, April 18, God gave us another great opportunity to connect with people in our community and put smiles on peoples faces. For the second straight year, ClearView staffed a table at the Gahanna YMCA's (where we meet on Sunday mornings) Healthy Kids Day. The event featured a whole bunch of booths and activities for children- focusing on health and wellness. True to the theme, we gave out over 100 bottles of water and ClearView logo Frisbees to children and parents. Special thanks to Dan Davis and Jen Hart who manned our booth, made great connections with people, and gave out many invites to ClearView.

Please pray that God would use these connections to link us to spiritually sensitive or searching people. We want to love people to a clear view of Jesus and mission. Our vision finds footing at these sorts of events. Thanks for praying with us that God would use us to share His love and hope with people in Gahanna/New Albany.

A Typical Day At The Wirt House

Yesterday it happened again! A whole bunch of bizarre events that you almost have to laugh at to keep sane (after you get done screaming in frustration!). We had just gotten home from a great morning at ClearView and were getting lunch together. The boys were messing around on the bench we use for them to sit at our table. Somehow Seth was on the bench and Silas was climbing onto it and all of a sudden there was this loud crash. I was in the basement, heard it from there, and knew it wasn't good. The bench had fallen on Silas' (shoeless!) foot. Instantaneously, Silas was screaming and Trish, first to the scene, was calling for back up. I ran upstairs to find Silas' sock red with blood in the "great" toe area. When I took off his sock to run water over the affected area, I knew what I saw was not good. So, we, for the third time in about a year (with Silas!), grabbed Silas, ran to the van, and hurried to the Children's Hospital Urgent Care in Westerville. We thank God for this place and the help they have been to our family it times of great stress and concern for our kids. Fortunately, by God's grace, Katie was home and could stay with Seth and Sara. Long story short, after three hours in the Urgent Care, we brought Silas home with 9 stitches in this toe and a diagnosis that includes a fracture and a probable tendon tear. To add to the joy of the day, when we got home, I couldn't find my wallet for two hours and Silas, potty-training, had an accident and soaked the dressing on his toe/foot and the boot he has to wear with urine. We've heard that if you're lost in the wilderness and you have an open wound, the best thing to do is pee on it-- the acid helps in cleansing. However, we weren't in the wilderness and were successfully able to change the dressing and re-cleanse the wound.

What in the world! How can so many things to wrong in such a short span of time? All you can do is laugh...and be so thankful that the God we follow and serve and TRUST has a perfect plan. Thanks for your prayers for our family- please pray for Silas for pain management (which has been going well, so far) and complete healing. We have to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon later this week. Please pray for Trish also as I am scheduled to be out of town this week for 3 days. Pray God brings help for her and that the kids are extra good for mom. Thanks!

God Speaks Through Silas

Ever had an encounter with God while interacting with your kids? It is so bizarre, but there are times when God takes a conversation with one of my children and uses it to speak right to my heart. Monday was one of those times.

Monday's are my day off. I was processing our Easter weekend at ClearView. There was much to thank God for (see previous post). God worked in great ways through our community involvement and Easter worship gathering. Yet, as a leader and church starter, I had prayer goals for the day that were not met. I wanted to see more people present on Sunday and more response to the hard work and dollars our team put into inviting others (door hangers, newspaper, personal invites, prayer/fasting). Long story, short, I was disappointed with our numbers. Several of my prayers that morning consisted of something like this: "Lord, we worked hard. We invited. We invested. We were creative. We prayed. You promise in your word that if two or three agree, pray, you will do it. You promise that the smallest bit of faith can move mountains...why didn't more people respond to our invitations?"

In the course of the morning, Silas and I got in the van (it was raining) to drive to the bus stop to pick up Seth (returning from Kindergarten). Since it was just down the street and not on any main road (please don't turn me in!), I allowed Silas to sit in the front seat. When we stopped, he was messing around with buttons on the dashboard. One button he pushed was the rear window defrost button. If your car is like ours, when this button is activated, a light comes on. Silas pushed the button and the light came on, indicating the rear defroster was working. But...to Silas, things looked different. He said, "Dad, I pushed the button. It is not working. Nothing is happening." Of course, smart dad that I am, I said, "Silas, it is working, you just can't see it".

It was like a friend gently punched me in the gut. It wasn't a hard, mean, punch... but a soft reminder that something important had just taken place. I, almost literally, heard God say, "So am I working...You can't see it (or you can't see what you want to see)...but trust me, I am working!" AhhHahh... Just what I needed to be reminded of God's perfection and my limited perspective. Thanks God, for a timely reminder through this interaction with my precious boy!

Easter Weekend Report

Thanks for praying for Easter Weekend at ClearView! It was a busy few days and I'm excited about many good things that God accomplished!

On Saturday, ClearView assisted the New Albany Events Board with New Albany's Spring Egg Hunt. God gave us a beautiful, sunny (although brisk!), day and several thousand people enjoyed this free, family event. We gave out free Tim Horton's hot chocolate and coffee, hundreds of invite cards to our Easter Gathering, sponsored "Chulo" the clown, and helped to set up and tear down at the event. It was great to partner with our community events planners, interact with many people, and "Chulo" was the hit of the day (a long line for balloon animals the whole event). I was especially impressed with our team. Last year, I worked this event with a friend of mine from Cleveland...this year, there were almost 20 of us involved with helping in some way or another. Praise God for a great Saturday in the community! Pray that those that saw us there or got an invite card would be touched by Jesus and that any looking for a church or encouragement in their spiritual journey would check out ClearView!

On Sunday (Easter), we enjoyed a great worship gathering at ClearView. There were almost 50 people in attendance (a great number for us) and there was a strong, positive spirit among the group. Wins for the day were using our "new" sound system for the first time, expanding our set up (we can fit more in the YMCA room we are using than we originally thought), improving our guest welcome system, and seeing a good response from the personal invitations our team gave out (many personal friends and family were present). Our team worked together well, gave of themselves sacrificially, and I believe God was pleased with the morning.

Thanks for praying with us for God to work through ClearView and our Easter ministries. Please continue to pray that God would work through the many door hangers that were hung and the many invitations that were given out. We are praying that these repeat efforts to let people know about an exciting new church in town will pay off in people checking out ClearView and/or allowing us the privilege of assisting them in their spiritual journey. Thanks for seeking God's favor with us.

4 Awesome Days

This post is way overdue, but I wanted to take a moment and thank God for the opportunity Trish and I had to get away and rest in early March. Early on in Trish's treatment process for thyroid cancer, I wanted to give her something she could look forward to towards the end of the process. So, we made plans for what ended up being a short, but fabulous get away together. God made care for our kids available through grandparents and Trish and I spent 4 days on the beach and by the pool in the Dominican Republic. It was so wonderful to rest, be together, see new sights, experience a new culture, walk on the beach, and be refreshed spiritually. Praise God.

There were a few ways where God worked in my heart in particular ways:

• I read The Shack. I have heard reviews on this book from people that loved it and people that hated it. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. I'm in the camp of "loved it!" I would recommend you read it... no matter what you've heard. Keep in mind, I read this on vacation...I didn't read it critically or study every word and nuance. I'm not advocating every bit of theology portrayed and I recognize that the story line is troubling (although gripping). However, I will say that I was moved towards intimacy with Jesus. I felt the author's portrayal of what it means for a person of faith to suffer and what it means to commune with God (and each Person of the Trinity) was enlightening. Bottom line, I felt the book enriched my journey with Jesus.
• I read a portion of Undaunted Hope: The James Gribble Story. Gribble was a pioneer (first to a given people group) missionary in Africa in the early 1900s. I was so moved by this simple man's commitment to Jesus, absolute dedication to God's call on his life to share the Good News of Jesus, determination to go and work where no missionary had gone before, resilience in the face of insurmountable odds, and faith in God's goodness and perfect plan no matter what his circumstances were. In one of God's great ironies, this book, paired with reading The Shack, expanded my perspective of what it means to relate with Jesus intimately and follow Him wholeheartedly.
• I felt God, very clearly, saying "Your vision is not large enough." For over two years now, I've been laser focused on working to launch one church, ClearView Church. It seems kind of funny, because there is still a lot of work to do for ClearView to be ready for Grand Opening and be self-sustaining. Yet, I sensed God telling me that it isn't enough to pray and work towards the launch of one church...or even a church that starts other churches (as we pray ClearView will). What does that mean? I'm not sure. But, I believe God said, "Think bigger!" Only by His grace and provision...
• Trish and were moved by experiencing a bit of the Dominican culture. These are friendly people that, for the most part, live in poverty. Yet, many seemed happier than many Americans I know. Many shops we were in had Bibles in prominent places. We weren't there long enough to get an accurate feel for the spiritual climate there, but our hearts were burdened for the people of this country.

I'm not sure what God will do with any of these reflections. But, the trip was wonderful and I came home refreshed. One neat note...on our first Sunday back, I shared these same reflections with our ClearView family. Afterwards, one of our couple's approached me and we talked of their desire to return to their home country, Jamaica, upon retirement. They're dreaming of starting a church there. Perhaps ClearView could be a part of that! THAT would be a bigger vision! God is good! :)

A Great Saturday!

Things were hoppin' at the Wirt house this Saturday... it was exciting! Throughout the day, almost 30 people stopped in to grab some door hangers and went out for a few hours to various neighborhoods to invite people to our Easter Gathering. We're working hard to get 2,000 door hangers hung, give out 500 seperate invites, and will be running our first newspaper add in this week's local paper. It was such a joy for me to have so much help from friends and people from several different churches to get over 1300 door hangers hung!

We also set up our new (used...DONATED!) sound system for a dry run in our garage. A few weeks ago I sent an e-mail to some contacts I was hoping would be able to help us piece together some parts and come up with a quality system for our weekly gatherings. God works in great ways! A member of our sponsor church, Northwest Chapel, heard of our need and donated a system to us that had orginally been bought for a past church start! Praise God! One of our team members, Phil, set it up on Saturday and blasted the neighbors (not really... but it sounded great)! God is good!

Please keep praying that God would bring people out for Easter and that several new families would join us to celebrate the power of God displayed through Jesus' resurrection! Thanks!

5 Ways To Pray For ClearView This Easter

God has really done amazing things in ClearView Church in 13 months. Last Easter, March 23, we were praying for a worship leader, a children's team leader, and had 16 people in attendance at our gathering in our home. Fast forward to April of 2009 and God has brought a worship team leader, a KidView (our children's ministry) team leader (and staff for three age levels!), and we're averaging almost 40 on Sunday's in our gatherings in the Gahanna YMCA. Much has happened in our personal and ministry lives and God has answerd prayer in amazing ways. He's building ClearView with healthy, biblical, and missional DNA through bringing us quality people. We're poised for another vital season of outreach ministry into our community as festival and parade season sets in. We're looking forward to living out our mission: to love people to a clear view of Jesus and His mission.

A critical piece to our 2009 strategy is monthly rallying points we're calling "Sneak Peak" gatherings. In contrast to our regular weekly gatherings (which are more targeted towards prayer, team building, strategizing, and Bible study), these key monthly gatherings are pointed attempts to creatively and intentionally invite as many people as we can to check out a ClearView worship gathering. At these times, we'll work to put our best foot forward with atmosphere, guest relations, a relevant, biblical message, and a meaningful worship experience. We're hoping that people will get a taste of a fresh, exciting church that has a passion to love people to Jesus in our community and want to come back and be a part of something exciting that God is birthing.

Easter, April 12, is our next "Sneak Peak" gathering. We're going to push the limits for us... extra chairs, running a sound system (for the first time!), fuller worship team, new children's classes, etc. We've purchased 2,000 door hangers, 500 post-card invites, and a 1/4 page newspaper add (pic. above). We'll do our best to invite through social networking tools like e-mail and Facebook (our Friends of ClearView Facebook group is pushing 180 members, mostly Columbus people!). But, I know its all for naught if I, we, and you fail to pray. Would you be faithful to pray with us that God does something special, something Ephesians 3:20 like, on Easter at ClearView? Here are some ways I am praying... I'd love it if you would join me:

1. Pray that we would be able to get all 2500 invitations out (friends are coming on April 4 to hang door hangers and we're serving free Tim Horton's coffee and hot chocolate at New Albany's Spring Egg Hunt on April 11).
   
2. Pray that people would respond to our invitations and join us on Easter! Pray that 75 people would be in attendance (our previous high was 53 on March 8).
3. Pray that God would help me develop a message that is both pleasing to Him and a relevant communication of the blessings and challenge of Jesus' resurrection. I've chosen the title "Easternomics" because I believe there is a way to tie together the trouble in our economy/nation with the eternal hope and peace that Jesus offers.
4. Pray for our ClearView team- many are stretching themselves in new ways... sound system, worship team, children's team, guest relations team, set up team...all pushing the limits to stretch into what we believe God wants to do.
5. Most important- pray that several people would be loved to Jesus and begin a journey towards meaningful mission for Him.

Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Sara!

Yesterday we celebrated Sara's first year of life! What a year! It's hard to believe how much can happen in 365 days. Trials, victories, sickness, answered prayer... as we look back on the last year, we've experienced much. One constant and vibrant bright spot has been the beautiful and sweet-spirited little girl God gave us one year ago. Thanks for praying for our family...and especially our kids. Sara's now walking...might she learn to walk before God in the years ahead!