How Does Your Garden Grow?

                                                               

                              "With God all things are possible!"  

In 1958 a woman, Gene Bauer had a dream. She started planting daffodil bulbs one at a time on her property. She continued planting bulbs for 46 years! Today there are over one million flowers that come up in the spring. Through the years she opened her property free of charge to visitors who wanted to see the amazing display of beauty created over the many years of planting. Gene and her husband have retired and no longer open their property but thousands of people have enjoyed the springtime spectacle the she and her husband created over time.

What's possible? The quote above comes from Matthew. Here is the whole quote:

Matthew 19:26

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

One bulb at a time!  What are you planting daily in your life? You need to become selective and deliberate because God said that all things produce after their own kind! Is you day filled with anger, frustration, jealousy? Are you planting seeds of encouragement or discouragement?  Of love and peace or of anger and revenge? 

Let's create something beautiful and magnificent to reflect Gods beauty and love and grace! This Sunday we will continue our topic of Possibilities. 

See you soon! Love, pastor kent

And God said,"Let there be Light!"

                                                      

In the 12th chapter of Matthew, Jesus was brought a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.  All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

If you are living your life in spiritual darkness, it's hard to see the light! That was the problem for many of the religious people of Jesus' day. 

Here is the lesson to all of us, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”  Martin Luther King

When things are dark, adding more darkness is not going to make it light!

When things are miserable, adding more misery is not going to bring Joy!

When things are falling apart, bringing more destruction is not going to mend the situation!

When there is anger, bringing in more anger is not going to bring peace! 

When there is hate, bringing more hate is not going to create love!

Dream the dreams that God has placed in your heart. Plant them, water them, tend to them!

See you soon! Love, pastor kent

Monday Life Lesson "Do You Want to Play?"

An adult evening class about how to change ones life for the better was meeting for the very first time. In walked the teacher, who proceeded to ask this question, "How many here this evening have ever wanted to learn how to play the piano?" Numerous hands went up. The teacher then asked those who raised their hands, "How long have you wanted to learn how to play?" The answers varied but many said that they had a desire to want to play the piano since they were young?

She then asked those who had raised their hands to come to the front of the class. Looking at the dozen or so people standing before her she made this statement to them, "None of you here want to LEARN how to play the piano!" The class looked confused. She then added, "All of you want to PLAY the piano, but none of you want to take the time, effort, discipline or practice that it will take to LEARN how to play the piano!" 

You were created to create, to have dominion, to dream, to plan, to plant, to love, and to develop and build. What seed of possibility have you been carrying around in your pocket but have never taken the time to plant and nurture?

For those of you who were at our service yesterday here is a link that may motivate you as to what is possible.  Click here:  What One Small child with Cancer with a dream did!

Praise Community Fellowship, "What do you want your church to be?" Are you willing to commit your time, talent and resources to making that dream a reality?"

The month of Possibilities continues.

See you soon. Love, pastor kent

Move your Clocks Forward for Sunday and other stuff!

This Sunday I am going to begin a theme for the rest of March on Possibilities! One of the things I am going to need help with is the possibility of reaching the unchurched. What would a church look like that the unchurched would get excited about attending?

All things change. It is necessary for growth. There was a time in America when Buggy manufacturers did a booming business. Then came the automobile. The Buggy manufacturers had a choice, change or become obsolete. Most of them became obsolete. The Buggy manufacturors didn't know the business they were in.  They thought they were in the "Buggy" business, they were not. They were really in the transportation business.

Kodak went through the same demise. They thought they were in the photographic "film" business, they were not.  They were in the picture business. People wanted to preserve memories. Kodak went away like the buggy business.

Does the church know what business it is in?  We are in the Transformation business!  We want to introduce people to the living God so that HE can transform their lives!  Too often I think the church thinks it is in the "information business", the ritual business, the tradition keeper business. Sometimes I think we believe if we give people enough information, something good is going to happen. Information is definitely necessary in our business. We receive the Gospel by hearing the word of God. But we have to be very careful that we do not become information junkies that have stopped transforming ourselves and "others!"

When I was in High School in the early 70's everybody body wanted an 8 track tape player in their car.  Some of you know what I am talking about. There were actually songs on the 8 track tape that would be interrupted in the middle of the song because the tape had to change tracks. Oh but how cool it was to carry around those big bulky 8 track tapes.

Are we creating an environment that will draw the unchurched to want to become part of God's family?

To me one of the craziest things about the church today is that basically, it is a place where people who already know God, come to meet and get more information about Him. Now that is not a bad thing. It is a good thing, a very good thing. Where we fail is the commission that Jesus gave us. Go out into the world and bring the gospel to those who do not know God! That is where I think we, meaning most churches, are failing big time. Maybe every Sunday does not have to be the same. Maybe there should  several times a month where we become different to be more inclusive and inviting to those who we are called to reach?

I believe the church is in the "transformation" business. Maybe I'm wrong.  What do you think?

This Sunday, we will share communion, and we will begin dreaming about possibilities. Maybe we will be able to soon say, "PCF, a church willing to step out of the box to reach the unchurched for Jesus!"

See you Sunday! Love, pastor kent

March Possibilities

What is the meaning of Life? 
When you sit and kick this one around for awhile, as I'm sure most of us have, what have you come up with? I find that it depends on your perspective and what you believe in. According to King Solomon in the beginning chapter of Ecclesiastes, it is meaningless.  All is vanity. But after much contemplation Solomon ends the book of Ecclesiastes with these words:

"Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil."

Jesus tells us to Love God and to love others as we love ourselves. We learn in Genesis that God created us in His own image and He gave us dominion over all the things of this earth. 
Maybe the best way to find the meaning of this life is to "give our life meaning!"

Come dream with me this Sunday as we start a journey on possibilities for your life, for our church, for your family.

Have you ever thought about stepping way outside your comfort zone? African Vision of Hope is planning their 2015 summer mission trip to Zambia. They will leave on July 30th and return August 11th. If you would like more information about this trip contact African Vision of Hope office in Maryville, 288-7695.

See you Sunday at 12:00 noon.  Love, pastor kent

Beneath Lies a Promise

Beneath the snow lies a promise!

You and I are created in God's own image, come Sunday and discover the power we have all been given.

Romans 13:8-10

Love Your Neighbor

8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

No Garden Club tonight, we will resume next week!

See you soon! Love, pastor kent

Dylan's Corner

I have a 4 year old grand daughter, Dylan. She is at the age where she is coming up with some great questions for "PaPa Kent" about God and Jesus.  Her questions are so innocent and deep, I am going to start a "Dylan's Corner" where I attempt to answer some of her amazing questions. So here are the first two.

Question 1.) Why do we need builders if God made everything?
Well that is a great observation. PaPa Kent did say at one time, "God made everything!" So let me clarify. God made everything that builders use to make other things. That would be more accurate. It doesn't matter if we are talking about cars, rocket ships, houses, playground equipment, toys, everything builders use to make "things" was originally made by God. God makes all the raw materials we need to make all other things.  Dylan's response to that answer, "OOHHH!"

Question 2.) How does God make People? 
Oh this is such a good one!  Although I still haven't been able to explain it effectively to Dylan. So I will try my best with the rest of you. God the creator of all things, created a man and a woman a long time ago.  He called the man Adam, and the woman Eve. He gave this man and woman some of His creative powers. He gave each of them the ability to create people. He gave almost everyone of us the ability to create other people if we choose to. The bible says we are created in Gods own image which means he gave us many of the same attributes that God has. But with that ability to create, he also gave us instructions of how to create people so that we become loving, caring families. Just like you and your mom and your dad are a loving, caring family. God gave us the ability to create other people, and He also gave us the ability to create other things, like cars, and televisions, and phones, and airplanes. He gave us a mind that allows us to be creative. But we must be careful with this creative power because it can be used to create wonderful things or bad things. That is why it is so important for people to know God, our creator, and to learn His ways of doing things. He wants us to be happy, blessed, and to create things that will make other people happy and blessed. This is a responsibility that He has given to each of us. You and I have been given the ability to create just like our creator! What an awesome blessing and responsibility.

More of Dylan's corner will come in the future as she continues to "Think" about the things of God!

NEWS:  Brad Joiner is home safe. He is going to need time to recover but we are glad he is back home. I will have more on his epic adventure soon.

This Coming Sunday, God willing and the creek don't rise or some other thing, we will resume our worship and talk more about our creative powers. PCF, with the help of the Holy Spirit, has the "potential" to make a positive impact in many lives. "What will we create?"

See you soon! Love, pastor kent