This Sunday!

Praise Community Fellowship will be leading worship this Sunday Oct. 29th at 8:45am.  We will be walking in the circle of God's blessings as I look at more evidence from the Bible that shows us that God want's to open our spiritual eyes so that we can see clearly the path to the blessings He has for our life. 

Our New Website

Our new site is up and running. We will be adding more features and continue to modify and change things as we move forward. One of the points the new website stresses is that we are not a traditional church. We do not meet every Sunday and that we are a volunteer organization that meets to connect with God and help those in need. Our Website

True Story

For years now I have been walking in God's peace. Sometimes you don't realize how wonderful things are until you lose something. Last week I lost God's peace because of a mistake I made. It hit me like a ton of bricks. One moment life couldn't be more peaceful and the next moment I was in deep distress. I paced, I hurt, I worried, I walked, I prayed, and then realized that the only thing I could do was to go to the Bible and started reading the Psalms. As I read, I struggled to stay focused because of the stress but I continued to read and pray. I read for about 1/2 an hour and I will tell you it was a struggle to keep reading but I forced myself to continue. Now some may say what happened next was a coincidence or the result of other actions that were put into place over the situation but I will tell you the problem was completely resolved as I was reading and praying. Would the same result have appeared if I hadn't been reading the Bible or praying? We will never know, but my peace returned. There is nothing like walking in God's peace! Seek it like a fine treasure. God's peace is found in the circle of blessings. You must be walking toward God to enter His circle of Blessings!

More on this Sunday!

Your Prayers are Needed

Trevor Rallo, is a young man with a brain tumor who will be having brain surgery this Thursday at Barnes Hospital. Trevor is a good friend of Lydia Bertels. 

Faye Heuchert had her back surgery yesterday the 24th. She will be at Barnes for 3 or 4 days for recovery. Brad says she there were no surprises and surgery went well.

Pastor John Shear, Jackie's husband. healing grace for diabetes complications.

Cathy Watson  continued healing from cancer!

Emily Norris, continued healing and God's direction and peace!
Linda Cassens, continued prayers for healing!

Stan Rutkowski, blessings and healing
Brad Fultz,  cont. healing and God's direction and peace!

African Vision of Hope, God's blessing to open hearts for continued support and direction!

PCF and IUMC, God's direction and wisdom

Beverly Farm, prayers for God's blessings, protection and wisdom for the managers and staff

The Annual Hot Dog Giveaway
Once again we will be sponsoring the Free Hotdog Giveaway at the Edwardsville Halloween Parade on Oct. 31st. We meet at Barb Joiners Law Office around 5:30pm. We invite everyone to come and get in on the fun but it is advised that you come early with a lawn chair and find parking somewhere near Barbs office because parking at her office is extremely limited. The Joiner Law Office is located at 116 West Street across from the old High School Tennis courts. 

Praise Community Fellowship and Immanuel United Methodist. Two churches meeting together as one spiritual family. We meet on Sundays at 8:45am at 800 North Main Street, Edwardsville. 

See you Sunday! Love, pastor kent

Be careful What You Seek!

I started to talk this past Sunday about walking in the circle of God's Blessings and to give you a real quick re-cap I said there are two very important points you need to grasp about this teaching.

1.) No one is ever out side the circle of God's grace and love no matter how far you have strayed from God. This means that regardless of your current distance, God's grace is still available to you. 

2.) It is possible however to be outside the circle of God's blessing!   That means that even though God loves you and His Grace is available to you, it is up to you to begin the journey back to him so you can receive the blessings that are awaiting you. In my talk last Sunday I used the example of parents with teen age children who are not obeying the rules of the household. Maybe they are experimenting with underage drinking or staying out past curfew. You still love them, but most parents would probably say, until you can comply with our rules, I am not going to pay for your cell phone bill, or pay your car insurance etc. There are consequences in being outside the circle of Blessings. The Prodigal son teaches this in Luke. You can read that story here. The Prodigal Son

I also mentioned that the shortcut to Gods blessings is to stay close to Him by praying and reading your bible daily. There is a great way to make bible reading easy no matter what your schedule or where you travel. I use a daily plan from Bible Gateway. There are many different reading plans that they will send directly to your email so if you have a smart phone you will always have a daily scripture to read. You can find out more or sign up fro this free service here. Biblegateway reading plans

Your Prayers Matter!

Faye Heuchert will be having back surgery at Barnes Hospital on October 24th.

Pastor John Shear, Jackie's husband. healing grace for diabetes complications.

Cathy Watson  continued healing from cancer!

Emily Norris, continued healing and God's direction and peace!
Linda Cassens, continued prayers for healing!

Stan Rutkowski, blessings and healing
Brad Fultz,  cont. healing and God's direction and peace!

African Vision of Hope, God's blessing to open hearts for continued support and direction!

PCF and IUMC, God's direction and wisdom

Beverly Farm, prayers for God's blessings, protection and wisdom for the managers and staff

Pastor John Shear, Jackie husband. healing grace for diabetes complications.

Announcements

Our New website is up for it's "beta" review.. I think that means there is still some tweaking to do but you can see it here. New web site

KID’S NIGHT OUT

This Friday, October 20, beginning at 5:30 pm, children ages 3 through those in 5^th grade are invited to attend Kid’s Night Out until 8:30 pm.  The evening begins with a meal (tacos are on the menu for this month!) and then enjoy playing games, doing crafts and other activities, then end the evening watching a movie while munching on popcorn.  Please RSVP if you know your children are coming by return e-mail or by calling the church office (618) 656-4648.  Adult helpers are very much needed.  If you can come help with serving or cleaning up the meal, or come to sit with the children while they watch the movie, you would be most welcome.  For more information call Kiffon (618) 210-9628 or Jill (314) 422-6734.

SUDSY SUNDAYS IN OCTOBER

During the month of October we are asking for donations of dishwashing soap, laundry detergent, liquid soap and conditioner for the Glen-Ed Food Pantry.  This past Sunday you contributed 27 lbs for the Pantry, which included 6 conditioners, 8 toilet paper, 1 package sanitary napkins, 1 hand soap, 3 detergents, 1 toothpaste and 2 deodorants.  We appreciate your contributions!  Remember to bring contributions for our Sudsy Sundays for the remainder of October.

See you Sunday at 8:45am located at 800 North Main Street Edwardsville. Sincerely, pastor kent

This Coming Sunday. "Blessings Flow!"

This Sunday The PCF praise team will be back and we will be having a dedication, and a look into what happens when your spiritual eyes are opened. Blessings Flow!

When you are able to read the Bible with spiritual eyes and spiritual understanding, you realize that the entire bible was written to you, about you and for you! We have stifled the power of God and His word in our lives but that can be reversed. Learn how to start walking within the circle of God's blessings everyday. It is going to be an amazing Sunday!

PCF Board Activities

Last night we had a board meeting and the board will have some exciting news to present this coming Sunday. All I'll say now is, "There are going to be some very blessed people because of the generosity of of the PCF family!

We will be launching our new website later this week. I'll keep you posted.

Annual Halloween Parade Free Hot Dog Giveaway

Once again we will sponsor a free hotdog giveaway at the Glen Ed halloween parade on October 31st at 6:00pm. We meet at the Joiner Law office located at 116 West Street Edwardsville. There is very limited parking there so it is recommended if you are gong to join the fun to come early and park somewhere close and walk to the property. This is our 3rd or 4th year and it is a blast. Thanks to Barb Joiner who generously allows us to cook our hotdogs in her kitchen and use her parking lot for the giveaway!

Your Prayers Matter!

Cathy Watson Praises for good days, continued healing from cancer!

Emily Norris, continued healing and God's direction and peace!
Linda Cassens, continued prayers for healing!

Stan Rutkowski, blessings and healing

Brad Fultz,  cont. healing and God's direction and peace!

Jeff Wiles, direction and healing.

Cynthia Bastholm heart failure and other complications, God's peace!

Jack Butler, praises for feeling better, continued healing prayers!

Mary Knapp praises for good days and continued healing!

Mike Rodgers, continued healing and God's peace!

Gaye Kell, Krista's mom praises for good surgery results and cont, healing!

African Vision of Hope, God's blessing to open hearts for continued support and direction!

PCF and IUMC, God's direction and wisdom

Beverly Farm, prayers for God's blessings, protection and wisdom for the managers and staff

See you Sunday at 8:45am located at 800 North Main Street Edwardsville. It's going to be a great Sunday!
Love, pastor Kent

This Sunday

A reminder that this Sunday Immanuel United Methodist will be sponsoring a chicken dinner at the Edwardsville Moose located at 7371 Marine Road (RTE 143) from 11:00am until 3:00pm. Carryouts are available and the proceeds are being used for the Immanuel Property Maintenance projects. It's a win/win. Eat chicken, raise money for the building improvements.

Pastor Jackie will be leading worship this Sunday. Her Sermon topic is centered on living freely in God's mercy to do justice.

God has a plan for your life but you must get in contact with Him to get the details!

Hope to see you soon! Love, pastor kent

Is there a Short Cut?

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

As Jesus said to Martha, the brother of Lazarus, "Do you believe this?" Believers will never die. A great God given peace comes to those who can grasp the truth of this scripture, a great peace!

I know that the world is filled with tragedies. Monday's news of the Las Vegas shootings being another example of how fragile and unpredictable this life can be. Our physical existence in this physical world, as beautiful as it can be, is also a world of pain and suffering. Jesus is the answer. That is the short and long answer.

A true story about Short Cuts

Definition of a short cut: An accelerated way of doing or achieving something.

Recently Bonni and I were in in Maine where I visited an art gallery. I love looking at oil paintings of local artists. I was talking with the owner of this particular gallery who also had some of his own work on display. I asked him how he learned how to paint so well, and if he studied art. His answer was wonderful. He said he was a retired physicist and that he always wanted to learn how to paint but he knew he didn't have the time to spend years learning all the various techniques of oil painting so he began taking lessons directly from accomplished artists that he admired. He said this saved him years of trial and error as he learned the craft. In other words, he didn't spend years in a classroom talking about theory and technique, instead he watched and learned directly from established artists who he said greatly shortened the learning curve.

The point 

Be a short cutter when it comes to walking with Jesus. Go directly to His word (the Bible) and directly to Him (prayer) and learn from the master Himself. That is the fastest way to know what God want's for your life, and the fastest way to know His voice and His direction. Pastors and churches can be part of that plan, but the shortcut is to go direct to the source! The source wants to speak directly to you.

Our Prayer List

Cathy Watson Praises for good days, continued healing from cancer!

Emily Norris, continued healing and God's direction and peace!
Linda Cassens continued prayers for healing!

Stan Rutkowski continues to battle pressure wounds.

Brad Fultz,  cont. healing and God's direction and peace!
Jeff Wiles for back pain!
Cynthia Bastholm heart failure and other complications, God's peace!
Jack Butler, praises for feeling better, continued healing prayers!
Mary Knapp praises for good days and continued healing!
Mike Rodgers, continued healing from latest back surgery!
Gaye Kell, Krista's mom praises for good surgery results and cont, healing!
African Vision of Hope, God's blessing to open hearts for continued support and direction!
PCF and IUMC, God's direction and wisdom as we continue our relationship!

See you soon! Love, pastor kent