First Sunday of Advent

Tomorrow evening bring your friends and family and we will look at how Advent can change your life and relationships for the best holiday season ever.  Come share in the communion table with us as we kick off the 2013 Christmas season.

Praise Community Fellowship, bringing the good news of the Gospel to you in a very personal way.

Come celebrate the season with us!

Love, pastor Kent

Jesus and the Truth

Jesus ran into the most trouble from people who thought they were good.  People who thought they already knew the truth!

It's hard to make a change when you already know the truth about something.
It's hard to teach someone something new who already knows the truth about the topic.

Jesus said,  "You shall know the truth and the true will set you free!"  John 8:32

Jesus' truth and our truth many times are very different. I wonder who is correct, us or Him?

Announcements

Tornado Relief for northern Illinois

Linda Cassens has asked for donations of warm clothing to be brought to church next Sunday. She has volunteered to fly her plane to the tornado devastated towns around Washington Il. and deliver the collected clothing.  Lets see if we can fill her plane. She said she can hall 400 lbs. of clothing.

Honoring Dennis DeToye

This Friday, November 29th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, the Edwardsville art center will dedicate and rename the student gallery to "The DETOYE STUDENT GALLERY."  I hope many of you will be able to come to this dedication honoring Dennis. Dennis has been very supportive of Praise Community Fellowship from the very first day we moved into the Esic church. We were blessed with his genuine and contagious enthusiasm when he was our weekly welcome and announcement person. Come on out this Friday and show your gratitude and support for all that Dennis has done for this community as an educator, an artist, and as a wonderful caring person.

By the way, the parable of the lost sheep found in Luke 15:1-7, it's about me and you in case you were wondering.

See you soon, Love pastor Kent

Monday Thoughts

Acts 3:19

19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

In the sermon last night Simon Bar-Jonah gets a new name from Jesus after He decides who Jesus really is. (reference text Matthew 16:13-20)  Here is what really amazes me about the love Jesus has for us. Peter goes on to deny Christ three times even after Jesus says to him, I will build my church on you Peter. (Matthew 16:18)  You know what that says to me?  When you accept Jesus, you are loved not just when you are perfect, because not one of us are, but you are loved unconditionally. We are loved and forgiven!  You are forgiven which means you are worthy to be called a child of God because of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

What an amazing God we have. This Thanksgiving we really have a great reason to be thankful.  We are forgiven and now belong to Gods family. A family that is give the promise of eternal life.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Love, pastor Kent

Tonight

I hope you will join us tonight at 6:30 we will be looking at a couple stories in the bible that when put together give you keys to the kingdom of peace and joy.

Tonight we will look at, "Two people who can radically change your life for the better!"

Anna Harris will sing a great song by U2 and Emily Ottwein will not only be singing but also participate in the message.  This is going to be a powerful evening of testimony, praise and worship.
Don't miss it!

I hope you will join us and be blessed.  Love, pastor Kent

Is your religion filling you with love?

When it comes right down to it, Christianity is about love.

Is your religion filling your life with love?  I mean, you have developed a belief system that you call your religion. Is your current belief system working?

"Love is God introducing Himself to us!"

I hope you will join us this Sunday. Come experience the love of God.

Love, Pastor Kent

This Coming Sunday

"There are Two People who can radically change your life for the better, if you really get to know who they are!"

Holidays are coming up quick and Praise Community Fellowship welcomes all who need love, compassion, and a word from God to join us Sunday evenings at 6:30pm. There is good news and there is a path for each and every person that seeks Gods will. 

I hope you will come and join us this Sunday as we look at the scriptures and find out who the two people are who can radically change your life for the better. I think you will be surprised at the answer.

I also want to thank all of you who have made this years Raise the Praise Concert a wonderful success. We touched hundreds of people last weekend with Praise and Worship. A special thanks to Troy United Methodist Church and Pastor Dennis Price for the thorough use of their wonderful facility. 

See you Sunday. Love, Pastor Kent

Reminder

No Praise Community Fellowship Service tonight. We will resume as normal next week.  See you then!

Love, Pastor Kent

Raise the Praise

Tonight 61 people will come together to do more than put on a concert, we will come together at Troy United Methodist Church to worship and bring the power of God to all who come to this wonderful presentation.

Music is a powerful way to experience the Spirit of God. I hope you will come and be a part of this years concert of Praise and Worship. This is our 13th concert for the benefit of Beverly Farm.

Invite your family and friends. No tickets needed.  Concert begins at 7:00pm tonight and tomorrow evening. Doors open tonight and tomorrow at 6:00pm.

We will also lead the worship this Sunday at Troy Methodist at the 10:30 am service.

See you soon, Love Pastor Kent

PCF Announcements

This Friday and Saturday is the 13th Raise the Praise Concert at Troy United Methodist Church on Route 162 as you go into Troy. Concert starts at 7:00pm.  No ticket required, open seating.

We are in need of a couple of volunteers for parking lot attendants and a couple of volunteers on Friday night for ushers. Volunteers will get preferred seating.  Call Bonni at 618-334-3800 if you can help.

Because of the concert and tear down after the concert there will be no evening church service this Sunday at Esic. You are invited to the 10:30am  Troy Methodist service on Sunday Morning where the RTP Choir will be leading worship.

Please keep the RTP choir and band in your prayers. We start tonight with dress rehearsal.

We hope that you can attend this years concert to kick off the Holiday season with your friends and family.

Praise Community Fellowship Family Dinner
We will be having our next family dinner on the evening of Sunday, December 15th, starting at 5:00pm. Brad Joiner will be heading up the kitchen and has a great meal planned. We would love to have some new people volunteer for this event. It is a great way to get to know one another better and make new friends. Contact Gary Daniel if you would like to help.

If you are planning on attending the dinner please respond to Gary Daniel (gary.daniel@sbcglobal.net) no later than December 13th with the number of friends and family that will be attending. We are looking forward to sharing another great meal and enjoying our friendships. This is a wonderful opportunity to invite new people to our church.

See you all soon. Love, Pastor Kent

Forgiven …..a little deeper

Last night I ended with the following text:

Matthew 18:21-35

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

What I want you to notice and underline in your heart about this text is this particular verse,

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. (Underline and italics mine)

Notice that the king did not set up a pay back plan, or offer to take other assets in collateral, he completely "canceled" the debt.  It was no longer owed, it was taken off the books, it was as if it was never owed to begin with. Now that is what Gods forgiveness is all about.

I hope you have a great week and I hope to see you at one of the Raise the Praise concerts this Friday and Saturday at 7:00pm, Troy United Methodist Church, Troy Il. No tickets needed. Free open seating.

See you soon, Love Pastor Kent.

Two Types of Forgiveness

This Sunday Praise Community Fellowship presents the RTP choir and band and we will be discussing
"The Two Types of Forgiveness Necessary for a Healthy Christian Experience"

Hope you will join us.

NOTE:  Sunday the 17th of November which is not this Sunday but the next Sunday there will be NO Praise Community Fellowship evening service.  We invite everyone to attend the Troy Methodist Church at 10:30 that Sunday where the Raise the Praise Choir will be leading the worship service.

This is an exhausting weekend for the band and choir and after we tear all the equipment down after Sundays service and get it put away, many of us are going to be ready for a long nap.

See you tomorrow evening 6:30!  Love, Pastor Kent

PCF, a very generous Church!

A couple of weeks ago we had a special offering request from our mission board and Esic church. They were involved in creating bulletin boards to send to the kids over in Zambia who attend the African Vision of Hope School. We wanted to try and raise $150.00 for postage to send the completed bulletins boards to Africa.

We raised $464.00!  The extra money will now be used to send 24 soccer balls and to help provide treats for a Christmas party. Way to go gang.

And for all those who follow us on the blog, Bonni and I want to thank everyone for all your love, support, food, and cards of sympathy on the passing of my Dad Norman Schuette. We feel blessed to have all of you as friends.

Love, Pastor Kent

One more thing about tonights service!

I forgot to mention on my post earlier today that there will be a desert social after the service tonight. Coffee, deserts, and talk.  That's what loving families do from time to time!

See you there, Sincerely, Pastor Kent

The Service Tonight

It's Sunday, It is a beautiful Day!

The Scripture I opened my Dad's memorial service with yesterday was from Psalm 118:24, "This is the day the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

Tonight Praise Community Fellowship invites anyone and everyone who needs some love and encouragement to join us at 6:30.  The Praise Choir and band will be providing music, there will be  communion and we share a word from scripture.

Tonight, "It's Good News!" That's why we should rejoice and be glad in it!

Love, Pastor Kent