It’s 5 PM and I just got home. It’s been a whirlwind day.
After church today Renae, Gene, and I had lunch with the tech team (i.e, the sound and projection people) for some face time together. I really enjoyed the time we shared and a lot of the conversation revolved around how much each of us love our church and are glad to serve there.
After lunch Renae and I made two hospital visits; Sacred Heart & West FL. We bumped into Greg & Sidney G. at one hospital who were making the same rounds as we were. It was good to bump into them and especially made me feel good seeing how our church family (and members) respond to needs of others. Greg said it felt like “being in the ministry” visiting the hospitals like that.
During the first service today a lady suffered a stroke. It happened towards the end of the message. An ambulance was called. It created quite a stir because we were all very concerned for her. Her name is Carolyn (and she was one of the hospital calls we made today). She and her husband have been attending PCC since their earliest days of our church. She is doing better now, but still needs our prayers.
Today’s church services were good. Attendance was solid and giving was good. This is very encouraging. I am very hopeful about our future, and am confident that we will be back on trend-line very soon.
I started a new message series and the opening message (part 1) was a pretty strong word. Yes, it was a brief passage but it was loaded with all sorts of imagery that conveyed deep profound truths.
Jesus was such a master communicator.
The quote of the day for me was, “According to Jesus, for whatever reason, most people choose the wrong path in life and ultimately miss heaven.”
Oh God, don’t let that be me.
For the rest of the series, beginning next Sunday, we will be looking at Jesus’ encounter with certain individuals who came to Him asking for eternal life. We will discover that some received what they were searching for while others did not.
These messages will take on a “human” component as we look at real-life people making it very easy for us to relate.
I love teaching a narrative story line from the Bible. It’s easy to visualize ourselves as having the same experiences, or project ourselves into the story.
Maybe that’s why Jesus taught this way, instead of academically.
Facebook Comments…
Shelby P. said, Church was informative today. I got a lot of good mental images.
Shelby P. also said, I'm also enjoying my break from the Worship Team. I love it so much, but sometimes it's nice to sit back and watch other people enjoying serving!
Martha H. said, Fantastic singing (Singers hit it out of the ball park this morning) and excellent teaching from the book of Matthew. Thank you, Pastor Ron! PCC is the best, can I get an amen?
Christa C. said, Church = AWESOME!! The Worship was fantastic and Ron's message was challenging!!! Thanks PCC!!
Alyssa S. said, The path is straight and narrow but the rewards are so great! PCC was great today :) Wish you could have been there with me to hear the Word of God! I'll save you a seat next week!
Mike C. said, Church was really good today. I like when Ron teaches on the words of Jesus. All truth no fluff!
Jewel C. said, Awesome sermon this morning. Jesus didn't mince His words. He said there are 2 roads . One is the straight & narrow that leads to eternal life & the other is broad & wide & leads to destruction. He said only a few are on the narrow road but there are many on the wide road. The choice is ours.
Funny thing. More people made commitments to Christ LAST SUNDAY when I taught on our church's finances than they did today! Go figure.
The band nailed it today. Loved the new songs. Enjoyed the good singing too.
We received the offering at a different place today. It’s “placement” felt right for a lot of reasons. We got a lot of positive feedback too, affirming for us that this might be a good choice for now. It wasn’t perfect, but we’ll get better as we go. In time, we’ll gain our full stride.
We received only one negative comment about the offering. Hey, one out of 400 is not too bad. I can live with that.
Really enjoyed having the ushers come forward. It added a visual element that we have lacked in the past.
We’ll keep experimenting with creative elements for offering time. I would love to have a musical “offertory” or sing 1-2 stanzas from a hymn.
I love that we are a church that is brave enough to experiment. We only want to be more effective and God-honoring in all we do.
Since Christmas I have ramped up my workouts and exercise routines. I’m still in shape (after indulging during the holidays), but now I am striving to get smaller and more athletic.
I read a blog today by a medical doctor who attends the church of a pastor I know. He said that obesity and physical inactivity account for 30 percent of all major cancers.
Here is something else he said: The culprit is clear. Children increasingly consume large amounts of processed and refined food. In particular, nearly 1/3 of American children eat fast food daily (a fivefold consumption increase since 1980), potentially resulting in about six pounds of weight gain per year, per child. Activity levels have also dropped.
1 comment:
Ron,
Listen to the serman today on my way to work. Powerful preaching that was right on. I used those same scriptures a few years ago in Hawaii at kids camp to challenge the kids to get off the wide road and onto the narrow road. Used them in conjunction with my testimony and how I was one of the many on that wide road until I received Jesus and got on the narrow road with the few. Can't wait to hear more in this new series.
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