In my own time with the Lord each morning I just completed my walk through the Proverbs.  (All of you got the jump on me with that book this summer while I was writing.)  I decided to spend some time in the book of Isaiah and what is given above comes from Isaiah 2:3-5.  It is difficult to read those words, reflect on today’s situations, and not just yearn for a perfectly just God to take over.  Maybe even send him to Wall Street.

But that is actually possible and we have been talking about that for three weeks from Romans 12.  Imagining life the way it’s supposed to be is the first step to getting there.  This awesome God can speak directly to you.  He can work with you.  You can choose to allow him to.  And as we do that together, I begin to imagine where he will take us this year.

This weekend I will share God’s direction for our church with you. Imagine life at PAC in 2009… the way it’s supposed to be.  As I share this, it is so incredibly important to remember that the focus is not on what we do, but for whom we do it.  It is this incredible God of Isaiah 2 that we serve.

I hope you come to worship this weekend.  I will see you there.

We desire everyone to live life to the fullest.

This is why we exist.  And God is clear on how to do it.

We desire everyone to live life to the fullest by knowing God, developing community, and bringing hope to the world.

We believe we are not alone in this pursuit.

We desire everyone to live life to the fullest by knowing God, developing community, and bringing hope to the world; and we seek to partner with like-minded people in order to maximize results.

We know the core values God has instilled within us to equip us to accomplish the task.

We desire everyone to live life to the fullest by knowing God, developing community, and bringing hope to the world; and we seek to partner with like-minded people in order to maximize results.  In all we do, we promise to do it with authenticity, creativity, excellence, expectancy, and generosity.

One of the most exciting things that God has done is to bring the world through our doors – we have become a diverse congregation with a strong heart of compassion for our neighbors.

We are a multi-cultural, multi-generational community that believes in making a positive contribution in our neighborhoods, our country, and the world.  We desire everyone to live life to the fullest by knowing God, developing community, and bringing hope to the world; and we seek to partner with like-minded people in order to maximize results.  In all we do, we promise to do it with authenticity, creativity, excellence, expectancy, and generosity.

This is it. This is who we are.  See you twice this weekend – at the picnic and at the services.

Yep, I just sent all my kids off to school again.  It’s amazing how quickly the summer flies by…

Just as life in our communities kicks into high gear again, so we are kicking off a new season of ministry.  This weekend we start a new series, “Imagine – Life the way it’s supposed to be.” I will be taking five weeks to lay out the vision that God has for us during 2008 and 2009.  We will start with the foundation of who we are, and build upon this by looking where I believe God wants to take us.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back.  All the weekly youth programs resume this week, with new times for Pioneer Clubs and Revolution.  There are also four weekend services for you to choose between (but remember that 10:30am tends to be the most crowded).

This year, I know we will begin to see beyond ourselves more than we ever have.  We are part of a huge world that we can impact, and over the coming months I will be speaking more specifically about this.  From Trenton to Waveland, to Mexico and beyond, God has a plan for us to be part of.  What a privilege!

See you this weekend.

Last weekend we talked about Proverbs 3:5-6 and the simple process that it outlines for following God’s leadership.

This is what Steve shared during the last weekend service.  It’s the confidence we have when the path we are on is actually the one God chose for use, rather than the one we decided upon and asked Him to bless.  I hope you spent some time this week practicing this process.

This weekend will be our last in the book of Proverbs.  The topic will be laziness.  As you study Proverbs this week, look at how many verses speak to this issue.  So, how do we recognize and overcome it?  Find out this weekend.

Were you slower to anger than you were the week before?  Do you continue to struggle with anger?  No matter where you are, let me encourage you with a few key verses: Ephesians 4:26 and Proverbs 19:11.

I had a great first week back from my sabbatical.  One of many pleasant surprises was a visit by the president of our denomination, Dr. Gary Benedict, who spent Wednesday morning with our staff.  Dr. Benedict was excited to see the great ethnic diversity in our state, and very glad to hear that so many different backgrounds are represented in our church today.

But this diversity extends well beyond our building.  Did you know that as part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance we are among 2 000 diverse churches in the United States, and an even greater number in 51 countries?  I bet you didn’t know that our denomination supports more than 1 500 people working in various overseas missionary enterprises.  And I bet you didn’t realize that our denomination is the only Christian organization that continues to plant overseas churches who send their own missionaries to share God’s grace in other countries.  We are part of a pretty cool family…

This weekend we have the honor of welcoming Richard Herring to our services.  Richard oversees missionary work by the C&MA in several Asian countries, and he will tell you a little more about our work there during each of the worship services.  Steve Mayer will then continue our current series as he speaks from Proverbs 3.

See you this weekend!

Hey, I’m back!

Let me start off by saying thank you to so many. Thanks to the Governing Board for graciously allowing me a two-month sabbatical to work on my dissertation. Thanks to the staff for pulling off a great summer of ministry. Thanks to Josh Conn for taking the helm so well.  And thanks to all of you for understanding my need to do some dedicated writing.

Here is the good news – I finished the first draft!  It was just a few weeks into writing that I realized how necessary this sabbatical was.  With my involvement at the church, it would have been impossible to write and defend my dissertation by next May, the deadline set by Temple University.  But having the draft finished this early means that I have plenty of time for editing and for preparing my oral defense over the next few months.

You have had an exciting summer here: mission trips to Mexico and Trinidad, our always energetic Kids Klub Camp, and 16 baptisms!  God is good!

I am glad to be back, and look forward to seeing you this weekend.