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

 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21).

We’re in the thick of the Christmas shopping season. This timeless quote from Jesus is particularly appropriate.

For the Jewish audience hearing this 2,000 years ago they knew the ‘heart’ as the seat of thought and intention and decision. This understanding is reflected in The Message Bible’s interpretation of this phrase: “It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”

While lots of us like to feel that it’s God’s Spirit that guides our hearts, if we’re being totally candid, more often than not this also includes the question lurking somewhere in the shadows of our souls: are able to fully trust in God’s Spirit?

For me to have this kind of full trust? When I really think about it, this kind of trust comes only after I know what I’m exchanging in order to get what? The habits born from our life experiences lead us to look at this as: “what’s in it for me?”

We come by this honestly – it’s in the big and small moments of life. Every day we come face to face with decisions that have us working out the angles and taking as much as we can into account before coming to a conclusion.

My wife and I bought a house, and while there was this “God moment” that led us to this particular house – we also considered the down payment and mortgage, in exchange for trusting that the neighborhood and the property values were solid.

We also find these decisions in the common place things; while standing at the fast food lunch counter – is the meal deal really is the better deal?

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, what do you suppose Christmas might do for you if you were to consider the quote from Jesus alongside this quote: “A man with money is no match against a man on a mission.” That’s from Doyle Brunson, a world championship poker player.

In weaving together thoughts from our High Priest Jesus and poker player Brunson, what life-giving understandings might the Christmas season hold for us if we dedicate ourselves to a heart-filled mission? A mission driven by thought and intention and decision as we follow Jesus who insists that God’s Kingdom - not the quest for stuff - is to shape the world.

What if we realized that Jesus gives us permission to not have to worry about buying gifts just to keep up with up with everybody else? I suspect that you would find great freedom from all of the anxieties that come with trying to keep up.

And beyond this; what if we were we set aside the question “what’s in it for me?” and instead replace that by sincerely asking “What’s in it for them?”

Perhaps this means re-directing some of your Christmas spending to homeless shelters, food pantries, veterans groups, or a church (our church is one of these) that works with the least, the last and the lost. 

How about as we shift our focus to "what's in it for them?" we think about the person receiving our aid…to imagine what life is like when it’s filled with tumult and always scrambling from hour to hour and day to day?

As our thoughts ripple outwards, we need to realize that this does have the power to get others to look at our actions, and it can cause them ponder: if this is not about themselves – then what and or who is it about?

And to realize that maybe this is what they ought to try to keep up with.

Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike

P.S. At a recent Presbytery meeting I got to talk about what excites us about our future . Check it our here: https://youtu.be/8EYMYORPGM0

Imagine my delight, I’ve been asked to share with representatives from nearly a hundred churches why I’m excited about Prineville Presbyterian. For openers we have 3 session members who will be at the meeting. This is a first!

New people are joining us for Sunday worship, and they’re getting plugged into other areas of our church life too. Over the past several months different people have separately offered conversations about beginning a 'new building' fund.

We have core group of youth forming through our 2^nd Sunday Youth Event Series. Some of these youth will be part of our 2^nd Sunday Advent worship service next month.

Our recent Autumn Fest raised over $2600 - the most ever! This comes after our earlier Spring Indoor Plant and Yard Sale, where - again for the first time ever - that sale alone generated enough for us to completely meet our mission budget.

Last year at this time my Pastor’s Corner ended with this:

“I’m excited more than ever for our future; I hope you are too. In our excitement we need to remember that we are servants, directed by God to come alongside all who feel hopeless – and this hopelessness shows up in new ways. We have to be ready to see something new, and always be willing to respond with God’s goodness.”

Looking back over the year we have been faithful to God’s goodness. Among other things: our monthly canned food collection helps St. Vincent DePaul feed the hungry; our Community Garden helped 8 Redemption House homeless shelter clients earn safe food handler cards as they seek employment; our very strong presence with Crook County Connect and Beyond provided lots of services to the poor; we offer real hope as well as cash aid to families struggling to pay power bills or rent; PPC is helping Young Life in their quest to get teenagers to know Jesus Christ.

When working with groups there’s a concept called critical mass. It’s a kind of self-sustaining energy that builds on its own as it brings about widespread action. There's good critical mass developing within the church and it is extending into the community too. I believe this is because:

#1 we're now doing more of the ministry things that people outside the church expect to see churches doing which makes them want to know what might be going on inside the church;

#2: When we weave these ministry actions together with faithfulness to the Word of God, it brings Jesus Christ to life and opens everybody to God’s Holy Spirit at work within them. 

In reflecting upon the past year and in preparing for the year ahead, I’m even more excited for our future. While I hope that you join in this excitement, first and foremost let us always remember that we are servants.

Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike