We're into the season of Advent. This season starts the church’s new year, and it is a “a season to recollect the hope of the coming of Christ, and to look forward to the Lord’s coming again.”

 Throughout Advent we touch on themes of love, peace, joy and hope as we re-tell the story of God’s love for us while we wait for God’s promise in the Christ-child to breathe His first breath at Christmas.

As we enter Advent again, I’m thrilled to do so “clothed” with this lovely new stole made by the wonderful folks here at PPC.

One of the Bible writers – Paul – gives us an image of clothing ourselves in Christ and he leads into this image writing: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

In this Advent/new year the possibilities are tantalizing and include: how can we clothe ourselves in Christ for others?

Where in your life might you want to feel God’s pure and sweet baby-breath promise of love?

Or peace?

Or joy?

Or hope?

Or some combination of these?

Join us for the ‘new year.’ We gather every Sunday at 10AM. And on Christmas Eve we'll gather at 5PM.

Together We Serve,                                                                                                    

Pastor Mike  

Being kind of a word-smith, when I heard the word “plethora” it set me back for a couple of moments. Plethora is defined as a large or excessive amount of something. The word came as people were setting up for Autumnfest. Glenda Janssen walked into the office carrying our crock pot and explained that she was returning it because there was a plethora of crock pots.

In its own way, that plethora-moment has come to symbolize what continues to happen here at PPC. A quick count over the past year shows that we’ve welcomed 10 more people onto our church membership rolls, and another couple plans to join by the end of the year. This is in addition to the six members who were brought onto our rolls last year.

While I am deeply delighted to see this happen, I’m even more excited to see it take place in a balanced fashion. By that I mean this growth is coming as people are baptized into the Christian faith, and, as people new to our denomination yet with lots of church experience are making PPC their church home, and, as people with lots of denomination experience are relocating here and making PPC their church home too.

We’re also seeing this reflected as our elders’ and deacons’ positions are being filled with folks who re-enlisting as well first-timers.

I believe this will all continue leading to a terrific blend of us staying true to our traditions while perhaps tuning some of them up with fresh perspectives. This in turn will lead us to bettering and broadening our ministry as disciples of Jesus Christ.

And while we do celebrate this new vitality, please do not ever think for a moment that there is no room for your energy or ideas.

Regardless of whether or not you are on the ‘official’ rolls, regardless of whether you are an elder or deacon; regardless of whether you have a long history here or next Sunday might be your 1st Sunday with us; we value you simply because you are you - and you are God's beloved.

As we look ahead to 2017, if you have a thought or an idea, I hope that you’re comfortable in sharing it because we will all be that much better for it.

Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike

 

As Christians, we take our faith understandings from the New Testament. The New Testament begins with Jesus’ birth and covers the next several generations that followed His life, death, and resurrection. Our faith also shares a lot of history with our Jewish friends, history that comes from that time before Jesus.

If there is one word to know from our Jewish friends, it’s shalom. The short definition is peace. Quite often we think of peace as the absence of war. While this is a good place to start, shalom goes much further. It includes completeness, soundness, and welfare. The Anchor Bible Dictionary makes the point that “shalom is a positive idea;” it’s something to work toward.

Much like the work that went into getting our Peace Pole erected. The pole was offered to PPC as a gift and the Session accepted it. But then…what to do with it?

Realizing a 2^nd sidewalk would be very useful and also create a corner led to forming a patio in that newly created corner. That patio would be a terrific place for the Peace Pole. When we submitted the grant for this it all seemed pretty straightforward.

When we received the grant then came the reality that to actually make this happen involved even more thought, plus sweat and planning and re-considering (like sloping and benches and the hand-rail).

After all of this though, we do have something beautiful to behold. Imagine my delight following a Faith Based Network meeting here at PPC as 4 guests all stopped, commented on the beautiful brick patio, and took a couple of moments to look at the pole. It made an impression.

The work of shalom can be very involved. Perhaps this is why the prophet Isaiah, in foretelling the birth of Jesus, had so many ways to describe Jesus as our Prince of Peace. I like this from The Voice Bible translation:

“Hope of all hopes, dream of our dreams,
    a child is born, sweet-breathed; a son is given to us: a living gift.
And even now, with tiny features and dewy hair, He is great.
    The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders.
His name? His name we’ll know in many ways—
    He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Dear Father everlasting, ever-present never-failing,
    Master of Wholeness, Prince of Peace.”
The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders.
His name? His name we’ll know in many ways—
He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Dear Father everlasting, ever-present never-failing,
Master of Wholeness, Prince of Peace."
~Isaiah 9:6 The Voice

We are the only faith community in Crook County to erect a Peace Pole. It declares our intention to be people at one with God, one with neighbor, and one with ourselves – all because of Jesus Christ.

We’ll dedicate the Peace Pole at the close of worship Sunday October 30^th. I hope you join us.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

 

As Christians, we take our faith understandings from the New Testament. The New Testament begins with Jesus’ birth and covers the next several generations that followed His life, death, and resurrection. Our faith also shares a lot of history with our Jewish friends, history that comes from that time before Jesus.

If there is one word to know from our Jewish friends, it’s shalom. The short definition is peace. Quite often we think of peace as the absence of war. While this is a good place to start, shalom goes much further. It includes completeness, soundness, and welfare. The Anchor Bible Dictionary makes the point that “shalom is a positive idea;” it’s something to work toward.

Much like the work that went into getting our Peace Pole erected. The pole was offered to PPC as a gift and the Session accepted it. But then…what to do with it?

Realizing a 2^nd sidewalk would be very useful and also create a corner led to forming a patio in that newly created corner. That patio would be a terrific place for the Peace Pole. When we submitted the grant for this it all seemed pretty straightforward.

When we received the grant then came the reality that to actually make this happen involved even more thought, plus sweat and planning and re-considering (like sloping and benches and the hand-rail).

After all of this though, we do have something beautiful to behold. Imagine my delight following a Faith Based Network meeting here at PPC as 4 guests all stopped, commented on the beautiful brick patio, and took a couple of moments to look at the pole. It made an impression.

The work of shalom can be very involved. Perhaps this is why the prophet Isaiah, in foretelling the birth of Jesus, had so many ways to describe Jesus as our Prince of Peace. I like this from The Voice Bible translation:

“Hope of all hopes, dream of our dreams,
    a child is born, sweet-breathed; a son is given to us: a living gift.
And even now, with tiny features and dewy hair, He is great.
    The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders.
His name? His name we’ll know in many ways—
    He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Dear Father everlasting, ever-present never-failing,
    Master of Wholeness, Prince of Peace.”
The power of leadership, and the weight of authority, will rest on His shoulders.
His name? His name we’ll know in many ways—
He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Dear Father everlasting, ever-present never-failing,
Master of Wholeness, Prince of Peace."
~Isaiah 9:6 The Voice

We are the only faith community in Crook County to erect a Peace Pole. It declares our intention to be people at one with God, one with neighbor, and one with ourselves – all because of Jesus Christ.

We’ll dedicate the Peace Pole at the close of worship Sunday October 30^th. I hope you join us.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

The dad came into my office with his ‘hat in his hands’ – literally. He’d been laid off, couldn’t make rent and the family needed a place for their home; a 36 foot 5^th wheel RV. They were desperate. It was February and it was cold.

Acting on our faith as disciples of Jesus Christ, we offered sanctuary and let them park the RV on the church grounds. This offer came with ‘no strings attached’ other than be a good guest. They were. After several weeks it was time to move their RV so we provided a truck and a grant/loan for the RV storage.

Along the way we helped with job leads, resumes, mentoring, and lots of safe listening space. Both dad and mom found full time work, repaid the grant/loan and paid a bit forward too.

Now it was a matter of finding housing in an extremely tight rental market.

Imagine our tremendous delight as the dad shared during a recent worship time that he now has ‘keys in his hands’; keys to a house – and more importantly, keys to a decidedly brighter future.

From ‘hat in hands’ to ‘keys in hands’ took 6 months.

Our faith in Jesus Christ is defined as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

I’ll be the first to admit it can be rough trying to faithfully follow Jesus when the details are too slow in coming …or vague at best….when we’re not so sure about where God is taking us.

The good news is that God’s faith in us does not rely on our faith in God.

Throughout Bible, story after story makes it clear that God is watching over us. And God’s faith in us is because of God’s love for us which breaks down to: God’s love for us does not rely on our faith in God.

We invite you to join us for God’s timeless story of love in our day to day moments of faith. We meet Sundays at 10AM.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

As we started our worship time together, my heart was burdened -- again. This time it was after having learned of the murders of 3 police officers in Baton Rouge. This latest horror comes out of a stream of headlines that all involve stories with the word 'fear' in them.

Against this backdrop, during worship yesterday one of our members - a college student - shared about her recent mission/study trip to  Northern Ireland. This is an area that has known terrible violence for generations. The trip was run through the Corrymeela Community. PPC helped support this trip.

Her work included learning about the history behind the strife. It boils down to a taught hatred that's born out of generations-old habits of fear; and often people don't even know why they have those habits.

It's amazing to hear how quickly this fear evaporates once people get past the walls that separate them (these are actual walls 20 feet high).

As the fear is erased, so too is the hatred.

Our college student included this picture which we put on our bulletin. I like to imagine two people who are different from each other talking...about themselves...about their habits...about their fears...with no walls to divide them nor are there any to be seen.

Only a free wide open vastness ahead of them.

All of this done in the shadow of the Cross, in the shadow of God's love for all made real.

I invite you to sit with us. We talk about this love Sundays at 10AM.

Together We serve,

Pastor Mike

While the Bible has lots of accounts of people being amazed by Jesus, there’s one account of Jesus being amazed by a person. It’s a Roman centurion, a military commander who by all accounts was truly a nice guy (Luke 7:1-12).

A nice guy who had a ‘belief about’ God, but only when faced with a life or death situation did he put his ‘faith in’ Jesus Christ.

This change amazed Jesus.

Did Jesus find faith in somebody who didn’t know they were capable of that faith?

Lots of good people and nice people have a 'belief about' God. What happens when that ‘belief about' God leaves them needing more?

Rea Nolan Martin writes “Belief is a product of the mind, but faith is not. Faith is a product of the spirit. The mind interferes in the process of faith more than it contributes to it. To have faith in the worst of times will no doubt require us to silence, or at least quiet, the mind. Faith is what happens when our beliefs run aground.”

We need to stand ready to meet people wherever they are - and on their terms - to help them move from ‘belief about’ God to ‘faith in’ Jesus Christ.

While that might have us nurturing their faith by pointing out elements of faith they didn’t know they had...

 

…that could very well mean that to start with them...

...we need to begin by looking again at our own faith in Jesus Christ.

Join us Sundays at 10AM as we freshen up our faith.

Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike

 

The family showed up at our church early in February. They were living in a big 5^th wheel RV, but the dad had been laid off and they couldn’t make the rent for their RV space. They were desperate.

We offered sanctuary, agreeing to let them park their RV and use our facilities for a couple of weeks. This offer came with ‘no strings attached’ other than be a good guest. They were.

We passed along job leads, helped with resumes, readied a mentoring group and provided lots of safe listening space.

After several weeks we had to ask them to move their RV, they understood yet even here we helped with that and provided a grant/loan for its storage.

Through it all we worked to maintain our relationship with them.

And they started coming to church.

And on May 1st they were baptized.

As of today they are both working full time, they’ve repaid the grant/loan and paid a bit forward; also, they’re closer to finding secure housing for the entire family.

During their stay with us the dad gave the church this pencil sketch of the Cross. (The scan barely captures its beauty).

During their baptism we talked about Jesus’ work on the Cross and made the point: ‘Baptism marks the beginning of life in Christ, not its completion.’

I wonder how their new life in Christ will shape them?

I wonder how their new life in Christ will shape us?

Join us at 10AM as we wonder.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

Perhaps one of the benefits of an earlier than usual Easter is that now we get to spend more time than usual thinking about the resurrection; specifically how God through the resurrection empties the tomb in order to fill us and shape us and guide us as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Easter texts were written and told in order first to bring judgment on a hopeless world and then to save a faithless one. Such texts are prophetic, and those who preach them are called to be prophets.”

Too many times we confuse the word prophet with fortune-teller. The origins of the word ‘prophet’ traces back to a Hebrew word that also means ‘spokesman.’ So rather than think of a prophet as a fortune-teller, maybe a better way to understand ‘prophet’ is someone empowered by God (through the Holy Spirit) to speak on behalf of God. 

This means that lots and lots of people - not just preachers and pastors – can be prophets; and yes, this would include you. Admittedly though, this idea of speaking on behalf of our Almighty God can be quite intimidating.

May Easter be our starting point as the empty tomb of Christ’s resurrection fills us with the courage to speak value into the lives of those all around us. 

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

 

Things are starting to wake up as the rhythms of the New Year settle in and Spring approaches. The High Desert Food and Farm Alliance reached out to us again and we are planning to work with their Seed to Supper Program and Cooking Matters programs in conjunction with Redemption House homeless shelter.

Crook County Connect and Beyond is gearing up for another day of providing services to those living on the edges of society.

Something to add to this year? Minor construction to the church as we add a sidewalk straight out the doors and across the grass to the parking lot. We will also add a 12’ x 12’ Peace Pole patio. And the best part is we received a Barnabas Grant from the Presbytery of the Cascades to pay for this!

The Fund is named for Barnabas in the New Testament whose name means “son of encouragement.” He appears three times in the Acts of the Apostle, always in a supportive role.

 In our application we pointed to the need for the sidewalk (as evidenced by the scores of footprints making a path through the snow) as well as the need for the patio and peace pole. It will be the very first in all of Crook County. In talking with the presbytery’s administration they are very excited to partner with us as they support this peace pole.

In the Bible we find that peace is a common theme in Paul’s letters as he begins his writings by offering grace and peace to the reader. We talked about this “peace” a few weeks ago as a part of our Disciple Bible study series.

The lesson said “Peace is that vibrant shalom that rings with harmony – being one with God, with neighbor, and with self. The entire universe is groaning for the peace that characterized creation on the seventh day but desecrated by the disobedience of humankind. Peace through Christ and his indwelling Spirit gives assurance to every Christian that all is well. Love casts out fear and brings perfect peace.”

I hope this peace pole does more than just attract attention. I want it to be a spark that gets each of us talking to everybody else about this perfect peace we know in Jesus Christ.

Together We Serve,

           Pastor Mike

 

Have you ever wondered why the date for Easter varies from one year to the next?

As Christians we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on that first Easter Sunday. Our Easter Sunday is tied to the Jewish Passover and the Jewish Passover is determined by the Jewish calendar which is a complicated thing.

Nowadays there is a much simpler explanation: Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the start of spring (March 21).

The tie to spring is strong, which helps explain why the word “lent” comes from the word “lente” meaning springtime. Lent is a 40 day period that leads us to Easter and this year lent starts February 10th.

In early Christianity, lent was focused on baptism and making amends for sin. A little later it centered on strict fasting and depriving oneself of anything joyous. Today more and more people use Lent for intentional prayer, meditation and reflection on the meaning of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

If you’re looking for something to do for Lent I would invite you to join our  Ash Wednesday service. We partner with two other churches throughout Lent. This year Ash Wednesday is February 10th at Our Savior's Lutheran Church at 7PM (695 NW 3rd St, Prineville).

Other suggestions:

·         Know that Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sin and brokenness; let that guide us in making firm decisions to change our lives for the better.
·         Confess our need for God, and be very intentional about seeking and carrying out God’s will for us.
·         Commitment to God might begin with going to church, but it also includes us carrying out God’s will every day – regardless.
·         Know that Christianity includes times of testing which means calling upon God’s presence in overcoming temptation and despair.

Other ideas might be daily Bible readings, devotionals, journaling, some form a centering prayer…Let me know how I might help your Lenten journey.

Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike

 

 

Our Christmas season comes to an end with the day of Epiphany. In our denomination we define epiphany as “a day for commemorating God’s self-manifestation to all people.”

Okay…so…that’s a nice phrase filled with big words and powerful ideas.

But…what does it look like…how does it play out?

How will I know it when I see it?

A couple of years ago when our Squares and Prayers quilters group decided to make and raffle off a quilt to help folks struggling to pay power and rent, nobody thought it would inspire a $250 dollar donation from a state prison inmate.

Neither did anybody imagine that inmate’s generosity in turn would inspire a local person – who does not do church – to stop by this church and drop off another $100 to help.

Odds and ends of cloth combined with creative energy resonating in a state prison inmate and echoed by someone outside the church that points somebody else to God’s love made real in Jesus Christ.

This is how I see epiphany.

How about you?

A brand new year is directly in front of us; I invite you to join us Sundays at 10AM as we look together.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike