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Discipleship through Relationships
When Fred Rogers of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” fame accepted a lifetime achievement award in 1997, he used his time in the spotlight to redirect it onto the people in his life and in the lives of everyone in attendance who helped them become who they are. “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being,” Rogers said. “Would you just take along with me 10 seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are […]?” No person is an island — a universal truth, but one especially applicable when it comes to being a Christian. Join us as we resume our series on the PBCC Family Values with a reflection on our commitment to “Discipleship through Relationships”.
Blessings
(Ephesians 1:3-14) The Bible is full of blessings – blessings expressed towards God and God’s blessings expressed towards his people. In the Old Testament God’s blessings revolved around divine presence, prosperity, health, fruitfulness, and long life. However, when we come to the New Testament, blessings shift from tangible things to being “in Christ.” How do you think of blessing? What are your expectations, hopes, and dreams for blessing? This Sunday we will explore the idea of blessing from Paul’s opening sentence in his letter to the Ephesians.
Devotion to the Word
Having planted our feet in our mission of “Knowing Jesus & Making Him Known”, we turn now to the primary way we receive this knowledge: Devotion to the Word. Many churches claim to be devoted to the Word of God — our own middle (ish) name is ‘Bible’ — but what does this look like in practice? How do we bring our whole selves in devotion to the Word of God? Join us for the second installment of our series on our PBCC Family Values!
Knowing Jesus & Making Him Known
Sunday, January 7, 2024 Music: Kevin Patao and TeamHost: Becca SingleyMessage: Eugene Kwon “Knowing Jesus & Making Him Known”Selected Texts from Acts 2:1-41 Announcements Every Sunday: Sunday AM Prayer Meeting 8:30amEvery Sunday: Body Life in Mandarin 10:30amEvery 2nd/4th Sunday: Church-Wide Prayer 7amEvery Wednesday: Intercessory Prayer 6:30am (Zoom)Jan 7th: Life Together: “What is the Gospel?” Second ServiceJan 26th-Jan 28th: Women’s Retreat Call to Worship: Psalm 9:1-2, 13:5-6 (NIV) 9:1 I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I…
Yearnings
(Psalm 63) Imagine yourself living in Israel before Jesus, longing and waiting for the long-anticipated Messiah that God had promised to his people. Even though you did not know his name there were many other names you might have used to pray for his coming. Advent and Christmas remind us once again that God has come in the flesh. And yet we continue to pray “Come, Lord Jesus” because we have a deep yearning for the divine, a deep longing for Jesus to come today and in the future. This Sunday we are going to reflect and pray these yearnings for God by using the names for Jesus we find in the Old Testament, names that were used in some early Advent prayers called the O Antiphons.
“Waiting is Not Easy!”
(Luke 2:22-38) Lord, have mercy on those who make us wait! In a world where speed and efficiency are honored as cardinal virtues and the equation of time with money is undisputed, being made to wait borders on sin. Yet the Christian life is fundamentally defined by a willingness to wait for the coming of God and the fulfillment of His promises! How do we wait when we’ve been trained to do anything but? Join us this Sunday — both the final Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve — for our final installment of our Advent Series, “The Great Reversal”.
The Gloria: The Staggering Good News of Christmas
(Luke 2:1-20) Each year at this time, the tradition for world leaders from all over the world is to provide a Christmas message to their people, a Christmas proclamation. Some do it merely out of duty while others seem to have some conviction behind it. But, as thoughtful as those proclamations typically are, none of them will ever come close to the staggering proclamation made by the angels to the shepherds on that first Christmas. Join us this Sunday as we explore the staggering good news of Christmas.
When God Comes Down
(Luke 1:67-79)
“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,” cried Isaiah. Advent is a season of anticipating God’s coming; this is what advent means. In his song the Benedictus, Zechariah praises God that he has come down and visited his people and will again visit his people. How so? In the birth of two babies: John the Baptist and Jesus. Will the people be hospitable when God comes to visit? Are we hospitable to God’s visitation?
The Magnificat: The Refrain of the Revolution
Luke 1:26-55 Advent is the season of music. Music has incredible power to awaken dull minds, stir the emotions, and activate our wills with tremendous force. Consider the stirring sounds of a lone trumpet playing taps or the bagpiper’s penetrating notes of “Amazing Grace” at a funeral, or the heart-stopping beat of a massive drum roll of a marching band at a football game. Music can also be revolutionary, invading secular minds, breaking down hard hearts, and touching individuals with a dimension of what is holy. As the climax to Israel’s story, Luke gives us not one or two, but four songs of praise, announcing two miraculous births of sons to women who are childless. These boys will grow up to become the agents of God’s long-promised revolution, the victory over the powers of evil. “When the beating of your heart/ Echoes the beating of the drums/ There is a life about to start/ When tomorrow comes!” (“Do You Hear the People Sing?” – Les Miserables)
He Rewrites Our Past
John 21 (ESV) After 3.5 years, we’ve finally come to our last text in the Gospel of John. There is still one piece of unfinished business that John has to wrap up, and it involves Peter and a charcoal fire. As he wraps up Peter’s story, what does John want his readers to really know before they leave his book? Join us this Sunday as we explore this last great text from John’s Gospel.
Open Our Eyes, Lord
Luke 24:13-35 (ESV)
What Are You Hoping For?
Isaiah 54:1-3. What role does hope play in your life? Do you ever allow yourself to dream? Do you believe God has a glorious future for you? If you are honest, I’m sure many of us would admit that it didn’t take long for the idealistic dreams of youth to be dashed upon the unforgiving bedrock of reality. Perhaps you’ve lost your ability to dream. “What are you hoping for?” now strikes the cynical cord of despair –“why” hope at all? Who dares hope against hope? In chapter 54, the prophet Isaiah resurrects Israel’s hope in the darkest days of her history, when the land was devastated and desecrated and her children taken into exile. Come and see how God’s people, once battered and beaten break forth into resounding jubilation.