peace pods

we want to hear from you

2008-06-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

The weekend of July 12 & 13 we'll be starting a new worship series, Talking the Bible: Having Words with God. This series will be focused on the Bible and will look at things like what it is, why it is, and how we approach it? The worship design team enjoyed so much the interaction and dialogue generated with the Can U Hear Me Now? series, that we'd like to keep the conversation going. This time we want to know how you interact with the Bible and what questions you have about it. You can post your words here.

intrafaith dialog

2008-06-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. - Ephesians 4:11-13

The weekend of June 7 & 8 we had an opportunity to exchange letters of encouragement with our sisters and brothers in Christ at St. Mark Lutheran Church and Grace & Glory Lutheran Church.
- Peace to Grace & Glory
- Grace & Glory to Peace
- Peace to St. Mark
- St. Mark to Peace

As with our interfaith justice and charity work, this intrafaith dialog is important in building up the body of Christ.

Peace to St. Mark

2008-06-08T08:00:00.003-07:00

Grace and peace to you, brothers and sisters of St. Mark, from your sister congregation in Christ, Peace Lutheran Church.

We are thankful for the opportunity to participate in this exchange of letters between the three area ELCA congregations. We are thankful for the affirmation of our unity in Jesus Christ, and for the words of encouragement we can offer to one another as we faithfully journey along the paths of ministry that God has laid for us to follow. And, it is our joy to frequently see you along our journey—and to know that it is for God’s purpose that we journey together.

(We give thanks to God for the faithful people of this congregation, St Mark Church, who have gathered in times past to pray and worship, teach and learn, serve and share their gifts. We give thanks to God for the speaking and hearing of the Word in your midst. We give thanks for the people who show us the face of Christ, and for all the ways God has revealed and continues to reveal Himself to and through this congregation.)

Although our congregations have been involved in joint ministry over the years, we see this present time as a kairos moment, the Holy Spirit working to bring us together in God’s mission. And we are thankful for Pastor Bill Stewart’s role in our renewing relationships. (May we never fall into the thinking that we are in competition with each other but rather that we are in cooperation with each other in God’s mission, as God designs the Body of Christ to be interdependent, needing all of its gifts and members to function at its best.)

Fifty-four years ago, St Mark Lutheran Church was officially organized as a congregation of the Lutheran Church in America. From the very beginning you have been committed to ministry with college students, and have supported this ministry through the Lutheran Student Movement. Likewise from the beginning you have been a congregation that nurtures, develops and encourages leaders for the greater Lutheran church at the national and synod levels; in years past St Mark had even had 20-plus members in attendance at every Synod event.

You have also been known for your strong commitment to serve your community, through the preschool, serving dinners for the homeless through the Salvation Army, resettling refugees, supporting Habitat for Humanity and the foodbank, and more recently by your involvements in PACEM and IMPACT, even hosting the IMPACT office.

We give thanks to God for all the ways God has used your congregation for God’s mission in this community.

Along with these important ministries, there have been challenging times as well. Times of anxiety…times of conflict…and times of change. We are aware that over the last few years St Mark has been in a time of tension and transition. On the surface, one could look at the smaller membership numbers and conclude that the strength of the congregation has diminished. However, God does not look at the appearance of things, but at the heart. Through the eyes of God we can see how St. Mark has been sustained by God’s grace, and strengthened in faith and leadership for its future mission. (When we are weak, God’s power is most able to be demonstrated.)

In a way, you have been on a similar journey as the patriarch Abraham.

In the middle years of his life, Abraham was called by God to leave everything that is familiar, safe, and meaningful to him: his country, his people, his father’s household, and to trust God for the future.

It seems that in the Bible, whenever someone is invited to a life-changing experience with God, that person is confronted with the voice of God that says leave, leave it all, and follow me.

To Abraham, the voice speaks:

"Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

(To potential disciples, the voice of Jesus speaks: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. - Mark 8:34-35)

Abraham is called to obey the voice and to trust the voice.

(Abraham trusted enough to leave home, but not enough to put his survival in the hands of God. At times Abraham tried to secure his own future, to help God out in fulfilling his promises—to bring God’s promise about by his own means and according to his own timing.)

Through his journey with God, Abraham learned that God had a plan for him. That even in his old years, God wanted to bless him so that through him all the people of the earth might be blessed.

A congregation like St. Mark might be tempted to look back over its history and think that its glory days belong in the past. But God demonstrates that God is the God of the present and the future.

As God speaks through the prophet Isaiah,

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isa 43:18-19)

And so, in the midst of the people of St. Mark, a new vine is growing.

God is preparing for you new things to do. God will be leading you to new places.

God has been leading you on a journey to learn to rely on God and to trust in God in all things.

Over the last two years, you have begun refurbishing your building and grounds and have prepared to welcome a new pastor. These are the signs of the new things that God is stirring up for you. They represent that same renewed spirit of anticipation and hope that Abraham, Jesus and His disciples knew. The arrival of a new pastor will bring about a new time of discerning God’s call into God’s mission. What a joyful anticipation that is for you and for all of us as your co-laborers.

We celebrate this new adventure with you and we pray for you in the words with which the apostle Paul prayed for the Christians in Rome:

“May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6)

Peace to Grace & Glory

2008-06-08T08:00:00.002-07:00

Grace and Glory, June 8, 2008

Genesis 12:1-9

Grace and Peace to You Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I bring you greetings from your sister congregation, Peace.

We rejoice with you as you travel on this journey of faith, which God has set before you.

As our forefather Abraham was commanded to leave everything he knew and all that was comfortable; so you too have heard the call of the Lord to leave what you knew and all that you found comfortable. With the command to Abraham came a promise - a promise to “make of you a great nation” and a promise of blessing. With God’s command to Grace and Glory, He also brings a promise- a promise of love and of His redeeming grace.

Seeding, planting, nurturing and growing a new church brings with it much excitement, as well as concern and doubt. Maybe you are thinking to yourself:

“Look at all of the people coming to worship with us….but will they keep coming?”
“I love the design of our new church…but we will be able to afford it?”
“Look at all of the things we are doing…but look at all the things we have left to do”
“We’ve built the physical building… now what do we do?”

Excitement and doubt. These are emotions which have been with us for a long time. Look at Abraham. Do you think he was excited when God told him that he would “make of you a great nation”? How about later in the story of Abraham and Sarah, when God told them that they were going to be parents in their “advanced age”? Do you think that there was some excitement? Do you think Abraham and Sarah might also have had some doubts? I know I would have had a lot of doubts and a lot of anxiety. How one reacts to doubt and anxiety can lead us on a variety of journeys. Some of these journeys can be very unpleasant. Abraham’s and Sarah’s doubt put them on a journey filled with impatience. Abraham tried to take matters into his own hands, not trusting in the God of promise. His impatience backfired and Abraham learned a valuable lesson. This is a lesson which has withstood the passage of time. This is the lesson of faith. Once faith was accepted and relied upon, Abraham and Sarah were sustained and able to continue on God’s journey, not their own, and to go and to grow in their faith.

Today, our hope is that you continue the faith of Abraham and Sarah. We pray for your congregation to continue to be open to what God has in store for you - for you as individuals and for you as a community of faith. We also pray for you to continue to build upon the mission which God has begun here in Fluvanna.

We come here today as part of your faith community. We join with you at the Lord’s Table, a feast which unites us all. We come here today to offer ourselves as partners in your faith journey and to rejoice with you that God is with us always. We remain your sister congregation and as such we are near – spiritually and physically. We are happy to help you at any time and you remain in our prayers as you continue to grow.

In closing, as Paul writes in Romans 15:5-6:

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

Grace & Glory to Peace

2008-06-08T08:00:00.001-07:00

To all the members of Peace, I extend the peace and joy of Christian love and commitment from the members of Grace and Glory.

We feel a special kinship with Peace in a variety of ways. As you began worshipping in a Firehouse, we began in a fitness center. We were fortunate through God’s grace to grow and serve our respective communities. Both of our congregations have been served in their formative years by Pastor Stewart. Most importantly, our congregations share a common message – the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ and salvation.

As our congregations develop strategies to determine how we can most effectively bring that message to our communities, we struggle with questions to be answered and decisions to be made. We are faced with an increasingly diverse audience – young, old, a variety of races and ethnic groups, some with Lutheran background, others with non-Lutheran or no church background at all. All have needs, and we reach out as members of Christ’s body to meet those needs through the message of God’s grace.

In this regard, it is a positive sign to note the cooperative efforts among the three churches – St. Mark, Peace and Grace and Glory – to find ways in which we can join together in worship and ministry. The Easter Vigil service was an initial effort in that direction. Your participation, with the baptism of 4 new members of your congregation was certainly one of the high points of the service.

Your mission trips to Honduras and Togo have shown your strong faith in the Lord.

There are are also special situations in each of our congregations that present unique challenges to our members. Peace congregation is exploring the development of a new ministry in the in the Ruckersville area, and expanding facilities at the present location.

Grace and Glory has begun the process leading to the construction of its first church home. This is a major undertaking as we seek to balance needs with resources, hopes with realities.

Coming to grips with these issues can be a daunting task. At times doubts and uncertainties can erode confidence. But again, Peace and Grace and Glory have something in common with which to face the future – FAITH.

To put some clarity in what faith is, the Webster’s dictionary defines “faith” as the complete trust, confidence, or reliance in someone.

“Trust”, on the other hand, is a firm belief or confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability, and justice of another person or thing. The words are not interchangeable, but can be considered so when describing different situations or relationships that we encounter in our lives.

The lessons today, coincidently, offer us some powerful examples of people of FAITH. In Romans, St. Paul speaking about faith, cites the example of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham who in spite of his advanced age, believed in God’s promises. To quote Romans, “He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.

In Matthew, a tax collector, who, when called by Jesus to “follow me” simply got up and did just that. Later in the same reading, we hear the examples of the ruler whose daughter had died and the woman who suffered for years with a hemorrhage. They too had faith that Jesus could and would use his healing power.

Psalm 50 says “call on me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.”

In the world of the 21^st century nothing seems to stay the same for very long. Change is the order of the day. Our congregations too, must adjust or adapt to meet the realities presented by their mission fields. But while the methods or forms of our ministry may change, the message remains constant – God’s grace for all – buoyed by our own faith in God’s word, and by our example, we can boldly proclaim that message whatever the future holds.

Your congregation has been a blessing to this community for many years, and we share your faith in God’s plan to share the good news.

St. Mark to Peace

2008-06-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

LETTER OF ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE CONGREGATION OF ST. MARK TO PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as from your brothers and sisters in Christ here at St. Mark in Charlottesville. We are writing to encourage you and offer our support in your many good works in Charlottesville and beyond, from those who share both your goals and your struggles.

Our congregations share much in common. In addition to being Lutherans in Charlottesville, our congregations have shared similar experiences.

Our common faith and inspiration through the Holy Spirit has inspired both of our congregations to become missional in purpose, being Christ’s presence in the community and the world. We honor your affirmation that “We believe we have been blessed by God to be a blessing to others”, and commend the many ways that your mission is manifest. Like St. Mark, the congregation of Peace is involved and contributing to the work of IMPACT and PACEM in helping the poor and disadvantaged in the Charlottesville region, and we see your commitment extending to global missions as well, as does our own, through your work with the ELCA Hunger Appeal, Christmas Miracle International and with mission work in Honduras and Togo.

We at St. Mark are encouraged by these demonstrations of your commitment to live lives of active faith in the world; we find much in common with your mission work both locally and worldwide, and feel that these are very parallel to much of our own social ministry. We give thanks for these manifestations of faith in action, and the blessing to the community that Peace Lutheran is offering in these ministries. We also feel that these works, along with our common faith background, draw us close together as a joint Lutheran faith community.

We also share common struggles. Both of our congregations have endured upheavals, changes of pastoral leadership, and personal struggles which seem beyond our control and can seem discouraging and disheartening to the mood of the community. We write to encourage you that you are not alone in experiencing these issues, and especially encourage you, as St. Paul did, to endure the sufferings that these challenges can bring.

St. Mark has gone through its own similar struggles both as a congregation and on the individual level, and we are able to encourage you in this because we have gone through a long transition in pastoral leadership and feel blessed that we anticipate new pastoral leadership to come to St. Mark. We have truly come to understand what St. Paul meant when he wrote to the Romans that “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

We especially encourage you to have faith in each other as a congregation and as the body of Christ in the world, and to cherish the relationships, the worship and the ministry that you undertake together. Perhaps because of mutual suffering through challenging times, while you may feel discouraged at times, you can rejoice that together, you can bear each others burdens, and appreciate what each of you means and contributes to the whole of Peace Lutheran, and what your congregation can mean in the Charlottesville community and the world. Having endured similar challenges, while we have been tested and sometimes discouraged ourselves, we have found ourselves stronger in faith both individually and collectively, and know you can come to the same resolution, through prayer, mutual support and encouraging and supporting one another.

We therefore look forward to walking with you in the journey of faith, as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and as fellow Lutherans working in mutual ministry to the glory of God and the benefit of our neighbors and God’s children both near and far. We hope to hear of continuing good news from your good works and from the growth of your congregation, knowing that the grace of God can accomplish far more than our mere human efforts. How much may we expect God to bless our congregations, when we ask him to give us what we need, materially and spiritually, to do His will?

We praise God for your presence in the community, and we look forward to working with you in the vineyards of ministry in Charlottesville. Hopefully we will have more opportunity to meet and encourage one another face to face.

With love and encouragement of the Holy Spirit,

The congregation of St. Mark Lutheran Church, Charlottesville

signposts of God's love

2008-05-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

During worship a couple of weekends ago, we learned about two signposts of God's love, one going on locally at the Bridge Ministry and another going on globally with the Honduras Mission Center plans. A couple of folks have just come back from a Building Goodness project in Pearlington, MS. Soon others will be leaving for a medical mission trip to Haiti. By the fall, we're hoping to coordinate and staff a Reading Buddy program for a local school.

We are learning that there are so many paths that we can take to "go in Christ" and one of the ways that Peace can facilitate God's work out there is to help folks figure out:
- what's going on?
- who's doing what?
- how can I get hooked up?

Toward that end, I'd like to start collecting information about the signposts of God's love that you are involved with, what opportunities to serve are available and how you can be a link between Peace and the signpost.

Some of the information I'd like to start collecting includes:
- organization/mission name
- description of organization/mission
- what are the opportunities to serve?
- how can you help hook someone up?

Leave a comment or send this info to me and we'll see where the signposts lead us.

In or Out?

2008-04-26T08:12:00.001-07:00

Message recorded: 4/26/08 from the Can U Hear Me Now? series.

Speaker: David Hively
Scripture reference: Acts 10:1-22

more info @ plchurch.org

An Honest Message, an Honest Life

2008-04-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

Message recorded: 4/19/08 from the Can U Hear Me Now? series.

Speaker: David Hively
Scripture reference: Mark 5:1-20

more info @ plchurch.org

week 3 devotions - can U hear me now?

2008-04-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

An Honest Message, an Honest Life

Day 1: This week we are challenged to come before Christ and one another honestly and openly. What in the world does this look like you might ask yourself. A first step could be to pray to God and honestly tell Him who and what you really are. Tell God how sorry you are for all the times you turned your back on Him and thought you were in total control. This is an act of honesty before God is called repentance.

Several weeks ago we heard Pastor John tell us that the Holy Spirit had called him to personal repentance. But clearly it was to take place here, openly at Peace, so that others could have the opportunity to join the journey of coming before God honestly and openly as well. Wednesday evenings at 6:30 – 7:00pm is now the time of gathering honestly before God and before one another. Have you made this a priority item on your "to do" list?

Read Psalm 8: 1-9. Make a list of anything that you have done or said in the last few days that grieved God and receive His forgiveness.

Day 2: Practicing being real in front of God will help us to be honest in front of others. When people see us trading superiority for respect and certainty for acceptance and power for kindness they feel safe to approach us. This can lead to open and honest discussions about the struggles we've faced, the brokenness we’ve experienced and ultimately the trials we've come through. In sharing our vulnerability we will have a real impact.

Read Romans 15:7 & Philippians 2:4. Ask God to help you build bridges of relationships to those around you who need to know Him. Ask God today to help you become more caring, unselfish, and generous in your loving support of others and of their personal stories today.

Day 3: Why do we pretend? Why do we try to create an impression that we have it all together? Is it that we are afraid that when people learn who and what we really are that they will not accept us, not like us? Some of Jesus’ strongest words are for those who made a show of themselves, those who placed a lot of worth on power and position. Those who were more concerned with their own outer appearances and their own perceived superiority.

“When you stop being an imposter, only then can you become the person God created you to be.” Real Followers by Michael Slaughter.

Read Matthew 23: 23-28. After reading this passage turn to God in prayer. Dear Lord, remove my selfish desires. Remove hypocrisy and judgment from me. Fill me with understanding and compassion and show me how to see others as you see them.

Day 4: Sharing our failures with others just isn't natural. Or is it? How often have you caught a glimpse of yourself in other people's stories? Have you ever caught yourself thinking "well, so I’m not the only one that has suffered or been downtrodden"?

Consider that God has called us to live in community for a purpose. A portion of what we have experienced is for a reason that transcends our present affliction. Sometimes that reason is revealed much later through the interpersonal relationships with others who are in the midst of the thing we have already passed through. At that time God calls us (whether we recognize it or not) to share their journey by relaying a bit of our past brokenness, openly and transparently. As we are honest and real we invite others to do the same. We can be ourselves and allow others to do the same. This does not require us to share every detail of our past but to honestly admit that we are not perfect, that we are seeking to re-direct our lives to reflect God's word and his purpose for us.

Day 5: Another week is almost over. If you haven't had a chance to slow down and be still and know that he is God do so now. Take a deep breath and in that simple act of breathing thank God for who he is. The God of love and light.

God calls us to love in two directions – to love Him and to love others. How are you doing at each? What obvious, practical thing can you do to share God's love with people? What is right within your reach? You can't get around it: Love is part of your life as a Christian. Sometimes you might be blind to clear opportunities to show love. Ask God to open your eyes. Invite God to increase both love for God and love for people. Ask God for courage to obey Him and to love others unconditionally.

week 2 devotions - can U hear me now?

2008-04-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Good News or Bad News?

Day 1: Last week we considered God’s call to get the Gospel message out, in particular to the next generation. We touched on how we do church together, and how that is perceived by others outside the church. We talked about an old message for a new generation.

Read Acts 2:42-47 to examine how the first followers of Christ, the early church, engaged in fellowship together. Make a list of the ministry activities they did. Note how and where and when they did them. How does your experience of Christian community compare to this description? Do you see the life of the early church reflected in the life of Peace as a community of believers?

Day 2: The early church sets an example of how new believers are joined into a community growing in Christ through fellowship, prayer, and teaching. How does the church collectively speak to a challenging and skeptical world needful of God’s unconditional love? What picture do we paint through our attitudes and actions?

Read Galatians 5:22-26. Paul speaks to the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of Christ in us. The result of this fruit is to fulfill the intended purpose of the law – to love God and our neighbors. Which of these qualities do you want the Spirit to create in you?

Day 3: As Christians, we accept Christ as our Savior and our Redeemer. We are in the world, yet called to be different. Does that make us better than others?

Read Matthew 5:13-16. Jesus has left the crowds behind to focus his attention on teaching his closest disciples. He has just shard with them the Good News of what are called the Beatitudes, best known for their poetic form beginning "Blessed are…" -- the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted. Then Jesus teaches about Salt and Light. How might the Spirit act through you, to bring out the best in others? As a Christ-follower, how do we shine before others? Are you quiet, when you should speak? Do you go along with the crowd? Do you ignore the needs of others, tending to your own? When others see you, do they see the light? If they ask, do you reveal the source?

Day 4: We hear the undertone of judgment often associated with organized religion and look to guidance on how to avoid this trap. The 'J'-word most associated with Christianity would seem to be Judgment, not justice, not joy. Jesus speaks quite clearly to his followers about judging others.

Read Matthew 7:1-5 carefully. How does Jesus' admonition about judging resonate with you? Do you think that Jesus is teaching his disciples to abandon all critical thinking and discernment? Is there a more subtle message which we can apply to our lives?

Day 5: Reflect on the selected readings for this week. In what ways has reading this scripture changed how you view church? What might you do differently? We hear criticism that as a body, we sometimes come across to the unchurched and people seeking God's love as being both judgmental and hypocritical. The lyrics of a popular song, "If We Are The Body", by Casting Crowns, read: "A traveler is far away from home. He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row. The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances are better out on the road." How do you see opportunities at Peace to be salt, and light? The song concludes: "Jesus paid too high a price for us to pick and choose who should come. We are the body of Christ." Pray that through your attitudes and actions that you reflect the light of God’s unconditional love. Ask God for discernment, rather than judgment, that you bring out the best in yourself and others.

Good News or Bad News?

2008-04-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Message recorded: 4/12/08 from the Can U Hear Me Now? series.

Speaker: John Herman
Scripture reference: Matthew 5:13-16

more info @ plchurch.org

week 1 devotions - can U hear me now?

2008-04-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

An Old Message for a New Generation

Day 1
We just heard the Easter message of Christ's resurrection and we are filled with gratitude for God’s extravagant love for us. As we read in the scriptures, the last words Jesus spoke on earth were to his disciples, and they reflected the very heart of his mission. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations….teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28: 19-20) Today, as followers of Christ, we are called to pass on the good news of life in Christ to others as well.

Reflect on Matthew 28: 16-20, Luke 24: 36-53 and Acts 1: 3-9
Jesus' charge to go and make disciples is called the Great Commission, and it was directed to each of his followers. Prayerfully consider how you are fulfilling the Great Commission within your family, at work, or in your neighborhood.

Day 2
In worship this weekend we heard that "It's up to the current generation (older generation) to figure out how to pass on the faith to the next (younger) generation. It’s up to the insiders to learn how best to pass on the faith to the outsiders. To commit to do whatever needs to be done to help the next generation come to know God." And we also heard that we are living in a culture that is increasingly open to Jesus, yet people are increasingly suspicious and untrusting of Christians and the church. One of the ways we can change this trend is to ask ourselves if we are obeying Jesus' prayer to be in the world or whether we are living isolated lives in the Christian subculture. (Dan Kimball)

Read Matthew 9:36–38. What was Jesus’ response when he saw the crowds of people?
Read Luke 19:10. What does Jesus come to do?

Jesus described himself as coming to seek and save the lost, and he was confident that he had passed this passion on to his followers. The definition of seek demonstrates that this is an active word…to "look for" to "go toward" to "endeavor".

Who are you currently seeking?

Day 3
As missional people, we are not supposed to keep this abundance of life to ourselves. Like Jesus, we are to seek the lost. But this is so big. So, how do we do this?

1. With protection. Read John 17:15 What did Jesus pray for us?
2. With the power of the Holy Spirit. Read Luke 12: 8-11.
3. With reverence and respect. Read 1 Peter 3:13-16.

Day 4
We have read that we are to be missional people – to be "ambassadors" of Jesus in our communities, to serve, to build relationships in our culture. But what about our church, which is supposed to be the expression of Jesus and his body. What can we do here? What if we teach our church to be salt and light?

Read 2 Corinthians 5:11-20 and Colossians 4:5-6 and consider how our attitudes impact others, and how we could begin within these walls.

Day 5
We are called to go out, to pass on the story, to bridge the gap of generations, culture and communication. Pray this week that God will give you a heart for the Great Commission, and an open mind to walk in someone else’s shoes, to begin having these conversations. This week we learned that the Holy Spirit empowers us to tell others about Jesus and bring glory to God. We do this with our words and with our lives. Go back and read Acts 1:4-14 and John 17:1-11 and consider that in John 17, we have Jesus' prayer on the night before his crucifixion, and in Acts 1, we find Jesus’ followers in prayer before the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. Pray for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit on your life.

Dear Church Letters

2008-04-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Church,
"How the heck are you? Learned anything lately? Surviving all your international projects? On the brink of any crazy ideas? I hope, of course, that you and yours are well. Me? Well, I'm not exactly basking in the spiritual high life. I am not always fine these days. And unfortunately, it's not just me, Church. Many of my peers seem to be calling in sick as well." - Sarah Cunningham from Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation

In our next worship series, Can U Hear Me Now?, we'll explore how different generations are choosing to interact with the church and why. One of the resources we'll be using is Sarah Cunningham's book, Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation. She speaks from the twentysomething perspective and expresses her disillusionment with church stemming from things she's experienced at church like hypocrisy, exclusivity and lack of authenticity. She also admits that part of her disillusionment comes from her own preconceived ideas about what church should be and how that hasn't matched up with the reality that churches are communities of flawed individuals.

We invite you to share your Dear Church letter. What's your experience with church and how has that affected your relationship to the church? Do you have ideas about how the church can better communicate with and equip the next generation to live the faith? How can the church communicate more effectively across generations? What barriers does the church need to overcome? What's the church doing right?

We'll certainly use your letters as we plan this worship series and we may use excerpts in worship, adult education and/or devotional material. You can write your letter anonymously here by submitting a comment or you can e-mail your letter to kimxtom@yahoo.com or drop your letter off at the church office. Do you have friends or family disillusioned with church? Please ask them if they'd like to write a Dear Church letter.

Up To You Lord

2008-03-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

Song recorded: 3/15/08

Song: Up To You Lord
Performed by: Peace Praise Band

more info @ plchurch.org

Helping homeless feel at home in school

2008-03-15T04:53:00.001-07:00

Grumbling

2008-02-23T16:50:00.000-08:00

Message recorded: 2/23/08

Speaker: John Herman
Scripture reference: Numbers 11:1-15

more info @ plchurch.org

God Provides

2008-02-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

Message recorded: 2/16/08

Speaker: David Hively
Scripture reference: Exodus 16:11-21

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God's Grace

2008-01-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

Message recorded: 1/05/08

Speaker: David Hively
Scripture reference: Luke 15:11-32

more info @ plchurch.org

Christmas Miracle Offering 2007

2007-12-20T18:04:00.000-08:00

Peace on Earth?

2007-12-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

Message recorded: 12/01/07

Speaker: John Herman
Scripture reference: Isaiah 2:1-5

more info @ plchurch.org

Where Else Would We Go?

2007-11-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

Message recorded: 11/24/07

Speaker: John Herman
Scripture reference: Luke 23:33-43

more info @ plchurch.org

Limping Away

2007-11-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

Message recorded: 11/17/07

Speaker: David Hively
Scripture reference: Genesis 32:22-31

more info @ plchurch.org

Is Doubt Wrong?

2007-10-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Message recorded: 10/20/07

Speaker: John Herman
Scripture reference: Luke 7:18-23

more info @ plchurch.org

Searching for the one

2007-09-15T04:37:00.000-07:00

Message recorded: 9/15/07

Speaker: David Hively
Scripture reference: Luke 15:1-10

more info @ plchurch.org