Reminder

There is NO Praise Community Fellowship Service this evening!  We will resume next Sunday same time same channel.  Have a blessed Holiday.

Love, pastor kent

That's Ridiculous!

Imagine the following ridiculous scenario:

Yo are single and you hear about a beautiful (man or woman) that you would like to get to know. You do some detective work and find someone who knows them. You then approach this person and begin an inquiry. "How well do you know this (man or woman)?"  "What can you tell me about him/her?" "Are they dating anyone?" "Do you think he/she would be interested in me?" and on and on the questions continue until which time you are ready for a formal introduction. Alas, you hit it off, you begin dating and eventually decide to get married. Ah but marriage is such a huge commitment. What if this, and that… and what if he/she doesn't like my …. or my….. Would I be willing to compromise?  What if …… or ….. and I have to change this or that?  Oh I'm not sure about such a commitment. I mean I really like who this person is and we really enjoy each others company but marriage, man that's another thing.

Maybe I'll ask my friend to move in with him/her and they can then just tell me about what its like to be in a close relationship with him/her. So once a week from that moment on for about an hour you meet the friend who is living with the one you really liked and get the stories and the details about the relationship. Many times you come away from the weekly meeting smiling and imagining how wonderful that relationship must be. But you continue to have this emptiness and longing on the inside. You say to yourself over and over, "I wish I could experience the joy that my friend speaks about each week.   But committing your life to that special person just seems like too much.

 Eventually you stop meeting with your friend once a week. Your meetings become less and less frequent and the stories of the wonderful life of being in a committed relationship become less and less interesting. You remain empty and keep wondering why? You think to yourself, "If marriage is so wonderful, how come it never fulfills me?" " I really don't understand all these married people, what is so special about that?"

Welcome to CHURCH if you aren't willing to get up-close and personal and in a committed relationship with Jesus. The pastor is your safe go-between. You learn about the joys and challenges of commitment without ever committing.  Wonder why so many people have chosen to take church off their commitment calendar?

We are surrounded by our circumstances of life.  Our circumstances become our main focus. The trouble is, all of our circumstances whether good or bad are all temporary. None of them will last past this lifetime. There are only a couple of things that will continue after this life and committed relationship with Jesus is one of them.

We will continue our series on Prayer on September 7th!  There is no service this next Sunday due to the Labor Day weekend.

A "church" person will think that it is awful of me calling off church for a holiday.  A person who knows and loves Jesus will celebrate the holiday with me in full confidence that Jesus understands and approves of our time together as friends and family. It ain't about church!!!!!  It's about a committed relationship with the living Savior.  He's patiently for you.

Love all of you. See you soon. Love, pastor kent

News

Attention PCF Youth: 

Due to the conflict of schedules, the first youth group meeting for Wednesday August 27th is CANCELED.

SAVE THE DATE:  

Next youth group meeting - Thursday September 18th.  More information will be announce before the next meeting.

If you have not done so, PLEASE send your email contact to rburian1974@hotmail.com

Thank you,

Sheryl Burian  

The Walk to Hear God Talk

As I have told you before one of my favorite things in the whole world to do is to take what I a call a "prayer walk."  I focus on God, ask questions, and then try to listen.  I say try because my brain seems to always be busy.

Try to imagine yourself taking a person to person prayer walk with Jesus. What do you think He would tell you? When you come up with an answer thank Him, because you probably just heard from Him!

Good News  I had a short vista with Butch Peterson today at his home and he is doing much, much better than when I saw him  in the hospital. He is looking forward to coming back to church, he said he is planning on being there the next time we meet on September 7th.  That's right we are NOT meeting next week due to the Labor day weekend.  Butch asked for continued prayer for full recovery.

We are studying prayer and one way to learn more about prayer is to make a special effort to double down on your prayer time. I believe when we finish this series you are going to be hearing God like you never have before!

See you soon. Love, Pastor kent

Tonight…We begin the series on Prayer

Tonight at 6:30 at the Crystal Garden we will begin a series on prayer.  It is my prayer that this series will be the turning point in your Christian experience. When I was first trying to figure out this whole God thing back in my late teens and 20's I had no idea where my curiosity would lead me.

Now, 40 years later, I find myself as a pastor. What role did I play in this and what role did God play in this? I am still learning. I hope to continue to learn more about God until the day I die at which time I believe much more will be revealed.

What is available to us in this life? That is what most of us are interested in. Has there been a huge misunderstanding in Gods promises?  Why has the church become so ineffective? Have we been blind to what the bible is really teaching. My goal with this series for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to to the scriptures and what Jesus really taught about the power of prayer.

See you tonight! Love, pastor kent

Friday Thoughts

Your concept of God has no affect on God, but greatly affects who you are and the life you experience!

This Sunday I am going to start a series on prayer. If you have ever prayed or have questions about prayer this will be a good series to attend.

Hope to see you Sunday! Love, pastor kent

Stop Worrying, Second Guessing, and Keep Praying!

The most exciting thing about God that is confirmed over and over throughout the bible is, When He steps into a situation, the things He can and will do defy human logic. In other words He does what seems impossible! Just read the story of Gideon Judges 7:2-18.
Read Verse Here

When we wait on, and then follow Gods logic defying ways, is when we will see God work His great power in our lives and in our church.

Can God really do the miraculous, YES!  But you and I have a major role in allowing Him to do so. We must surrender our will, our wants, and our desires to His!  For us humans that ain't easy!

Last night Bonni and I stayed up till midnight watching the news coverage from Ferguson Mo.  While I was watching I got caught up in the coverage, which is so easy to do in this life. We get caught up in the things of the world INSTEAD of PRAYING!  About 11:00 it dawned on me to begin praying instead of just watching.
Watching  = No power
Praying = Power

So, can God really lead our humble little congregation Praise Community Fellowship to do amazing things for His Kingdom? Absolutely. But we must stay in prayer, and allow God to lead EVERYTHING we do! That will be my mantra as long as I remain pastor. God is the leader and the planner, and the developer, and has total authority over everything PCF does! Even when it may not make logical human sense! We worship a God who does the impossible! That is just how He works. But He only does that for those who are willing to follow and obey!

Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Let me end with a story I borrowed from Henry and Richard Blackaby from their book, "Hearing God's Voice"
" A friend was serving as a student director on a large university campus. He tells an amusing story about the day a concerned student came to see him in his office. She was deeply troubled about her financial situation. She explained, "I am in desperate need of a part time job if I am to stay in school. I have prayed and asked God to help me, but every place I have applied is not hiring." She asked, "Do you really believe God can help me find a job?"
Just then a fellow student passed by the open doorway and saw her meeting with the director. The friend apologized for interrupting , and said, "I've been looking for you! After your meeting we need to talk. My boss asked me today if I knew anyone who needed a part time job. I told him about you, and he wants to talk to you right away!" The anxious student thanked her friend, then turned back to the student director and continued where she had left off, "So do you think God can help me find a job?" It's a good thing there were no two-by-fours within reach! Unbelief can render a person stone deaf to God's voice."

Believe, trust, pray, expect.   God has amazingly great things for those who trust, listen, and obey!
See you soon. Love, pastor kent

Want God's Input?

How many "Christians" have faced major life decisions and have spent hours planning, researching, worrying, talking hours with friends and family, fretting, wondering, before making a decision? Not that there is anything wrong with researching, discussing, planning, all those are good things.  But! The Christian who leaves out prayer has cheated themselves of one of their greatest gifts in decision making.

Now I do not believe in magic formulas but here is something you should consider before you make your next major life decision. Make sure you put in at least as many hours in prayer as you do all other methods before making a decision. If you have spent 10 hours talking to friends and family, and 15 hours wondering and worrying, and 10 hours on the internet researching, that comes to a total of 35 hours.  Wouldn't it only make sense to give God 35 hours of time in prayer? I mean He is the Guy in control of EVERYTHING!  He made EVERYTHING!  He knows EVERYTHING!  And if I'm not mistaken I read somewhere where it says with Him "ALL" things are possible! Or how about this one?

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on you're own understanding;
in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Or

Philippians 4:6-7
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So, for all of you thinking about getting married, starting a business, changing jobs, going back to school, making a large purchase, any major decision, remember to keep track of the time you spend on your worldly efforts to arrive at a decision, and then give God at least the same amount of time.  All I can say is, "Life Changing!"

A huge thank-you to my amazing congregation for the very wonderful generous birthday gift. Greatly appreciated and I am humbled by your generosity!

See you soon. Love, pastor kent

Keep it Simple

As an observer to all that is taking place in St. Louis, I like everyone have emotions and feelings as the story unfolds. I have been praying and asking God for peace and for wisdom in this situation. Here is what He has placed in my heart.

"There are only two ways to react to anything that happens in this life, your way or Jesus' way, you choose!"

Hope to see you all tomorrow for worship at 6:30pm Crystal Garden.

Love, pastor kent

The Purpose

The purpose of nature, the beauty of the sunrises and sunsets, the mountains, the oceans the clouds, the flowers and the birds, all of nature is to lead us to the Creator so that we will worship Him.

The purpose of our feelings and emotions is to lead us to the Creator. As we have been discussing the past several weeks "Worship" is essential to a Christians life. And, "Worship" has a feeling. It is a feeling of complete gratefulness, humbleness,  love, and awe! Do we get there during our worship? Too often, no.  Why? Because we we are too accustomed to external worship meaning we are accustomed to a time, a place and a structure or routine. Too many people get caught in a trap about thinking that worship is about the place. True worship as Jesus taught, has absolutely nothing to do with a place!  What has happened to most all of us in this post modern world is we get caught up in the "externals" like, where, what church, what denomination, who goes there, it's too cold, too hot, I don't like the chairs, the music, and on and on. Now I do believe that externals such as all the things I just mentioned can definitely detract from real worship, but, true worship has nothing to do with any of the externals that our culture seems so hung up on. Now that being said, I'll be honest. Someday, I would love have a beautiful church building of our own, even though I know that having such has absolutely nothing to do with true worship. So, here is what my prayer is:

"God, lead us (PCF) into true worship no matter what that means. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and let us become a beacon of hope and light for your glory. Father keep us from temptation and do not let us fall into the "trap" of external worship. Let your Glory be the desire of our lives even if that means meeting in a field on a cold rainy day. Keep us from falling into the "external worship trap! In Jesus name, Amen!"

Last week I talked about the woman at the well when Jesus made the point to her "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks."
Spirit and truth is true worship. Worship really has nothing to do with a place. Your life is to become worship. 

You can listen to the last sermon on worship to get caught up on this series on the Praise Community Fellowship website. 

This Sunday we will be looking at how God uses circumstances and pain to lead us to our Greater Purpose. 

See you Sunday, 6:30pm at the Crystal Garden!  Love, pastor kent

Why I don't Worry

I have had people ask me if it is true that I no longer worry, and my answer is yes, that is true, I no longer worry.  I guess if I were smart  I would write a small book, "How to Stop Worrying about Everything!" and buy an infomercial and probably make a million dollars!

But you don't have to wait for that book to come out, it has already come out. It's called the bible. And here is how my worry level went from being above normal to below normal to practically nonexistent. It has everything to do with my belief level in the reality of God and who He is! As my belief level increased in God and who He is, my worry level continued to fall. The more I read, study and pray and talk with God, the more I feel totally safe and confident in this journey called life.

Do you want to find peace and reduce your worry? Then get to know God better!  But how do I do that you might ask?  Come to Praise Community Fellowship, that is our journey, getting to know God, learning to trust God, and learning to become like His son Jesus.

See you soon. Love, pastor kent

It's Monday, Now What?

First things first, "Dear God, please grant me the wisdom, the strength, the love, and the energy to complete what ever it is you give me to accomplish or deal with today!" Amen

I have to make a public apology because I had full intention of praying for  Butch Peterson last night at the service and it didn't happen. I am so sorry!  Let me tell you what Sandi sent me about his progress: "Butch is doing a lot better, the rehab has him raising is arm over his head and lifting his leg up to cross his legs and walking with a walker. Speech is much better, thank you of all your prayers" Sandi Peterson

Please continue to pray for Butches full recovery.

For those of you that listen to the sermons online we know that the last sermon was not recorded correctly. This problem has been corrected so you should be able to listen in again.

Begin to live your spiritual life expectantly. When you pray, expect an answer! When you ask for the Holy Spirit expect Him to fill you! Expect great things for our church and start worshipping right now wherever you are. As you have seen on the news this morning, we live in a world that desperately needs to know Jesus and have a real relationship with Him. "IF" the people involved in the rioting and looting last night were people who knew Jesus there would have been no news story this morning.

See you soon! love, pastor kent

Invitation

I am inviting all who receive this blog to come to Praise Community Fellowship worship service tonight at 6:30 at the Crystal Garden for a special blessing. If you are planning on attending this special service I ask you to please bring the following:

1.) A prayerful spirit!
2.) The expectation of a miracle!
3.) The expectation of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit!
4.) The expectation of receiving answer to a prayer!
5.) The expectation of leaving the service with a changed life!

All are welcome to attend this service. Bring a friend, but make sure they understand what the requirements are before entering the service.

See you tomorrow. Love, pastor kent

This Sunday and More!

Question: What does Suffering, Death, Illness, and Pain have in common with Blessings, Health, Wealth, and Success?

Answer: Satan can use either to destroy our faith in God and God can use either to strengthen our faith in Him. Kind of ironic isn't it. Same experience but two totally different motives.

Question: So where does that leave us when we are experiencing either? It comes down to your belief system. Your world view. When you build your relationship with God thru daily prayer and bible reading. Your mind will be changed and your faith will be strengthened so no matter what it is you are experiencing you can as Paul says in
1 Thessalonians 5:18 " give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."  
And in Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those are called according to His purpose."
And in Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."

I have received some excellent questions on the 3x5 note cards I requested a couple of weeks ago.  I will be addressing some of the questions I have received the Sunday. And, as expected, some of them are tough questions which is awesome because it makes me "Dig into" my bible and prayer.  As a reminder "Here is what I would like all of you to do for me for this Sunday. Get a 3 x 5 note card and write these three questions on it.

1.) What do you wonder about?

2.) What do you worry about?

3.) What do you wish for?

Think about these three questions this week and write down your answers and bring them to the service Sunday. Drop them in the offering box. Do not put your name on them. It is going to help me develop relevant sermons over the next month or so.

We, Praise Community Fellowship, are on a journey together. One of the great functions of the church is to be there for one another and to help one another on this journey called life. As your pastor, which I find to be an unbelievable honor to be called such, want our church to be different in the respect that each of us are to become pastors. We are all called to be acting pastors so that we can become more effective at reaching more people for Jesus. 

As you are all well aware, there is much suffering in this world. There is unhappiness all around, broken relationships, broken hearts, fear, worry, doubt, and on and on. If each one of us can make it a goal to bring a smile, or some kind of hope to one person each day, we begin to change the world one person at a time. And, as our church grows, we will have more and more pastors each equipped with unique skills and gifts that God plants in all of us to be used to expand His Kingdom. 

Remember our mission message. Write it on for hearts and share it often and apply it everyday. And as a reminder here it is:

1.) What's our Message?  "God has a plan for YOUR life!"  That is huge! Think about it, the creator of all things has a plan for YOU! Do you think you can open a door with someone with that truth?

2.) What's our MIssion? " Our mission is to open a conversation about the saving sacrifice and love of Jesus with as many people as possible!

3.) What's our method? In other words how are we going to effectively accomplish one and two? By living our life as a demonstration of the Jesus' Hope, Love, Forgiveness, Compassion and Healing with everyone who crosses our daily path and in all circumstances!

Let's become the light and the love that this world so desperately needs. 

Hope to se you this Sunday! Love, pastor kent

In This Moment

Butch Peterson update:  He is still  at Anderson and I noticed a slight improvement in his speech yesterday. His stroke affected his right side and he is going to have to go through a period of therapy to get back at it. Please continue to pray for Butch's healing, strength, patience and peace.

The Well: I ask all of you to continue to ask for Gods guidance and blessing on the members of the Well and the property as our possible and probable future home. Let Gods will be done!

Gods Will: Let our first desire in all things to have the will of God revealed in our life. God can reveal His will only to a heart that is humble and tender and quiet. Let us pray in confidence and then wait on the Lord. To wait on God is our most important work.
When you come into the fullness of your spiritual life, your life can become a series of impossibilities made possible! The one thing Jesus taught us about His Kingdom was that He always waited to know what God wanted Him to do. Christ understood obedience!

Father help me today in this moment to surrender all my desires to your desires. Help me to learn to trust you in all circumstances. And Father help me to live my life as a demonstration of Jesus' hope, Love, Forgiveness, Mercy and Healing to all who cross my path and in all circumstances.
In Jesus name Amen

Hope to see you all soon.  Love, pastor kent

Most used tool?

I guess it depends on who you are and what you do but it seems as if the cell phone is one of the worlds most used tools today. So let me ask you something, how often do you charge your cell phone?  Why?

Ever wonder why your prayer life may be unproductive?
Ever tried to call someone one on a cell phone that is out of juice?

I have to plug my cell phone in daily to get it recharged and there are times when I have to plug it in during the day if I have really been using it often. There seems to be a correlation between how long I use it and how often I plug it into the power source and its ability to be used as an effective communicative tool?

Need to to pray for someone?  Does your prayer power seem to be waning?

Just asking. Plugging into the power source just makes sense!

Ok that's it for now.

• Please Pray for Butch Peterson, He had a stroke right after our service Sunday evening. He is currently at Anderson Hospital. I'll keep you posted as soon s I find out more.

• From Bob Ahrens: America Red Cross Blood Drive Thursday April 14th, 10:00AM til 2:00PM 110 Cottonwood road Glen Carbon at Oohlala Spa.

See you soon. Love, pastor kent

Monday Morning Thoughts after a Wonderful Sunday Evening

I know I told you to bring a notebook and pen last night for notes and some of you asked after words why we didn't get to that.  Good question.  It's because i do not use notes or stick to a format when I preach because i want the Holy Spirit to guide the service. So, like last night, I did not get to everything I had planned on speaking about. So let me get back to some of the points I had planned on getting to last night so maybe your creative juices will start flowing and the notebooks can still be put to use.

Why church?  The way I see church, it is not a place or time to cram more and more historical biblical facts and knowledge down everyones throat every week like some college class, but to entice and develop a hunger for Gods word in those who show up for the worship service. It is also a place where the Holy Spirit working through the members of the congregation help create a desire for a relationship with the living God where all spiritual knowledge and peace and hope can be developed.
The goal is to bring people into a place of spiritual awareness so that they can become conscious and aware of the amazing infinite glory that can be enjoyed in everyday life! So that our life becomes filled with His "Kingdom Light" of pleasure and power which completely eradicates all fear, anger, frustration, disappointment, jealousy, and any other "anchor" which keeps us chained to the physical world and all it's aches and pains and cravings problems.

I guess the easiest way to put it would be to say it is the awakening and realization of the Holy Spirit within one self. And when this amazing awakening happens, your life will be filled with a love of souls, all souls! You will be filled with a desire to help unlock the chains of burdens which shackel so many people. It is coming to the realization that all life has a destiny! And that there really are are only two possible destiny's:

• One with God and 
• One without God,      and it really is our choice!

So here we are two and one half years into "Praise Community Fellowship."  As some of you know we have lost some along this two and a half year journey and we have gained others. That is just life. One thing I can assure you though, our door will "Always" be open and welcoming to everyone who is seeking God.

Now, because of Gods grace and guidance we find ourselves on the doorstep of a tremendous opportunity. To step into a promised land of five acres currently known as the Well property. The people of the Well are praying as each of us should be with the prayer that God will do what He wills so that He may have the Glory and many will be served.The Well may become our permanent home! The place where we will build what God wants. That is what the notebooks were for.  See, every person in our congregation, let me emphasize, every person including the children, God can use for His purpose. So here is your assignment.

First, continue to pray that if it be God's will, we will soon be moving to the Well.
And, if we move to the Well, what is God speaking to you as to what your ministry will be?
How does God want to use you?  My answer to all of you is this. We want to become all that God wants us to become!  Now at this time I have no idea what all that means but open your spirit to His guidance and begin dreaming.  Let Him plant the seeds of our future in your heart.

But please don't fall into this trap! Thinking that we are going to be like all other churches. My gut is, I doubt very much if we will be like other churches. Remember, as you begin dreaming, that people are bailing from traditional churches. Now that does not mean that all traditions are bad but something is not working in most churches. The other huge thing to remember as you start to pray and ask God to help you plan this new church is this, "IT IS NOT PRIMARILY ABOUT YOU!"

Now let me try and explain that. Of course our church cares about you however here is the important point, we are to be thinking about the people who we do not yet know. How will we design and plan a church that will bring them in? That is the question! Because we are seeking to fulfill what Jesus said, to bring the gospel to all the world. We are seeking this who need to hear and understand the gospel for the first time!

Bottom line, pray to God, wait on God, trust God, then follow through with what ever it it is He is showing you!  Ok that's it for now but man is there a while lot more to talk about!

See you soon. Love, pastor kent

This Sunday

This Sunday, "With God All Things Are Possible!" 

Those are just words until you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then those same words become a promise! And when Gods words become a promise, energy is released. Spiritual energy. And when a people get filled with God's spiritual energy, "All Things Become Possible!" 

 You are not going to believe what God has been doing behind the scenes the last couple of months! Come and find out this Sunday and see why we are worshipping a God who is alive and well. Come and find out what it is like to get spiritually excited. This Sunday we are going to begin dreaming of the possibilities for our future. And as we begin this dialogue we will write on our hearts, "With God, all things are possible!" My dear friends and family, things are getting real exciting!  I mean real exciting! And its because we have been faithful in waiting on the Lord. This is His church!  He is the leader! He is the designer! We have one duty, to seek Him and His ways and be obedient. That is our job. The rest is up to Him.  He will not disappoint! All I can say is, it's almost time to break out the champagne and sing Hallelujah. God is good.  Let all the Glory be His for evermore! Amen!

Earlier this week I posted the following on the blog: "Here is what I would like all of you to do for me for this Sunday. Get a 3 x 5 note card and write these three questions on it.

1.) What do you wonder about?

2.) What do you worry about?

3.) What do you wish for?

Think about these three questions this week and write down your answers and bring them to the service Sunday. Drop them in the offering box. Do not put your name on them. It is going to help me develop relevant sermons over the next month or so. "However,  because of some new developments, just bring a notebook and a pen and be ready to take some notes for now. There are some things that you will probably want to write down during this next service. We will get to the note cards later.

God has a plan for your life and for Praise Community Fellowship!  Hope to see you soon. We have a lot of work to do for Gods Kingdom! Love, pastor kent