Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Chuck Weiss who fell last night and broke a bone in his neck. He is at Barnes Hospital. I will have updates later.
• The meeting our board will have with the members of the Well this evening at 7:00. I ask that God will allow the members of the Well and our church to come to terms regarding the future of the both our churches. 
• The startup of our youth group which will meet the first time Wednesday October 8th 6:30 pm  at Sheryl Burian's house  - 108 Michelle Drive, Glen Carbon, Ill.  Call or text Sheryl Burian if you need directions, or if you cannot attend at 618-806-4623.

Your prayers honor and acknowledge the fact that you are recognizing God's sovereignty.

Joshua 1:9

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Proverbs 16:4

4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
    even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Psalm 103:19

19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

Nehemiah 9:6

6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Isaiah 45:7

7 I form the light and create darkness,
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;
    I, the Lord, do all these things. (emphasis added)

God is in control of everything! So rejoice!  Love, pastor kent

Calendar of Events coming up!

This Sunday…Communion Sunday and we will also be collecting food for the Glen-Ed Pantry. Please  bring items to help stock the Pantry. We will have a collection box at the service.

Wednesday Mornings….Mens group meets at Breadco Edwardsville at 8:00am every Wednesday. All are invited.  And yes that means girls too! So why do we call it a mens group? Because it started with men. Anyone can join us!
So what is it about? Anything and everything. Like I tell people, we try to solve a few problems and usually end up creating a few more new ones.

October 31st  PCF will be hosting a food and music booth at Barb Joiners office at the Halloween Parade. We will be setting up a grill and serving Hotdogs and drinks to the public as well as having the band provide music a couple of hours before the parade begins. The Edwardsville Halloween Parade is one of the most well attended parades in Madison county. Thousands of people show up. This will be  a great way to let people know who we are. I will have much more information as to what we need and what you can do to be part soon.

Confirmation Class It was brought to my attention at the PCF picnic that there may be a need for us to have a confirmation class for our young people. I think this could be a wonderful way to get more young families involved in our church. I will be happy to do a class but we have to get a handful of children/ and young families into our church. And here is my thought on this class. It will only meet for about 5 weeks. As you are all well aware, I am not into tradition for traditions sake. I am into introducing the living God to people. Whether it is done traditionally, or radically, or ridiculously, I really don't care as long as it accomplishes the objective. And at the end of our confirmation class it won't be an automatic thing that you are now a member of the church. At the end of the class it will be an individual decision as to whether you are ready to become part of Gods family or not. Because that is the reality of Gods way. He gives us an individual choice!

Other Groups At our last Wednesday mens meeting a suggestion was made that maybe we should start other groups to get more people involved.  Some of the suggestions were a photography group, a fishing group, a golfing group, a wood working group, a bible study, etc….I'm all for it. Now here is the million dollar question. Who wants to start one and run with it?  Just let me know and I will get the information on the blog. Now remember, these groups don't have to be made up from just people in our church. May I suggest that before volunteering to start a group that you pray about it and make sure you feel called to see it through. Remember this bible verse as you go to God:

Luke 14:28-30

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish."  Wise words for all church projects!

Fill your life with Gods word, with Love, with Forgiveness and Compassion, and you will be able to enjoy the Kingdom of God here and now as well as in the life to come! Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Love, pastor kent

Wouldn't it be Great?

Have you ever thought about how great YOUR life would be if everyone else would just do what YOU want, when YOU want it and how YOU want it? In other words so YOU could be happier, and more joyful. I mean why do certain people have to rain on MY parade?  Why do certain people have to bring ME down? Why do certain people think they have a right to interfere with MY happiness? Why do certain people have to always be a roadblock to what "I" want to do? It isn't fair. Doesn't anyone see how unfair this is?

I think Isaiah said it well:

Isaiah 26:3  "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."

And when combined with Peters words: 

1 Peter 3:9-119 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For "whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him speak peace and pursue it." 

Stop worrying about what others are thinking and saying about you and focus on Jesus who can give you perfect peace. And then take it a step further and bless those who curse you. 

For "whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him speak peace and pursue it." 

This scripture was written to YOU! Do you desire to love your life and see good days? If the answer is yes, here are the instructions! Follow them. Do you want to make an outstanding chocolate cake that everyone loves and raves about? Follow the recipe that is proven to work!

Prayer request: Please pray for God to bless the people of the Well, The Illinois South Conference, and our future as a group of believers who want to follow and obey Gods leading in all that we do. If you are struggling with strife of any kind, let it go. Give it to God. Pray for the person who is causing you to have anger in your life. Pray that God will change your heart and give you the heart of a servant and a heart that is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Strife stifles the Holy Spirit. Strife prevents Holy Joy and Peace from filling your life. Ask and you shall receive, just ask!

Look inside!  Love, pastor kent

Messages Sent

Psalm 19

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Yesterdays PCF picnic at Township Park, the launch of balloons! Beautiful day and a fun time!

Pastor, kent

Picnic at the Park

Today 4:00PM PCF picnic at Edwardsville Township Park on Center Grove Road Edwardsville.

What to bring…Lawn chair if you have one or two. Side dish or desert if you choose. Bring a ball or ring toss or any other favorite outside activity.

See you there!

Love, pastor kent

Come be a Part of something Wonderful

Tomorrow at 4:00PM at the Edwardsville Township Park located on Center Grove Road,  Praise Community Fellowship family and friends will gather for our Fall Church Picnic. I have invited the members of the Well to join us. Bring a friend, all are welcome. This will be a great time to enjoy and to get to know one another better, to discuss our future, and to build relationships with one another.

Brad Joiner will be manning the grill and there will be others bringing side dishes and deserts. Bring a ball glove and ball, a frisbe, horse shoes…a real pony?  Ok just kidding. The main thing is, just come and enjoy.

See you tomorrow. If you can help bring balloons that I have purchased from ToDO's please let me know because I have 60 balloons filled with Helium ready to be picked up at 2:00.

See you tomorrow, and yes you can come early if you want. Just look for our church banner!

Love, pastor kent

But How Will They Know?

When do you feel loved? I guess there could be many different answers to that question since we are all unique. So let me make it a little more specific. When you go into a new group of people, what would make you feel accepted and cared for?

Recently, a cousin of mine who I have not seen in quite some time came back home from California for a visit. My cousin lived in the Collinsville area for years and he and his wife were involved in a couple of the areas main line Christian churches that you would all be very familiar with. But while visiting with them I was moved by something they said. They said they joined a small non-denominational church in California and for the very first time ever in more than 40 years of going to church together, they were actually asked by members of this church to join them at their table when they met before church at the social hour and then….drum roll please...were actually asked to come to dinner at some of the members homes!  Unheard of!   Outrageous!…Utter blasphemy!  Can you imagine!

40 years of attending large main line Christian churches and they have to go all the way to California to find fellowship and acceptance?  Don't pat yourself on the back yet. The story is not over. I have been having lunches and dinners with some new members and also with some people we haven't seen in a while.  Guess what? We too have missed the boat. Now I see this as an amazing opportunity!

Look at our home web page. Praise Community Fellowship A place where unconditional love changes lives! 

What does that mean to you?   This Sunday 4:00PM Airplane Park Center Grove Road, church fellowship picnic. Lets mean it!  Lets become it! Lets show it! Because we all want people to have their lives changed with God's unconditional love!  Lets never have any one ever say, "I left because I just didn't feel welcome!

Big things are coming for those who wait on the Lord!  See you Sunday, bring a friend, a neighbor, a stranger.  See you there. Bring a side dish or a desert if you would like.

Love, pastor kent