Monday, July 11, 2011

Imagine

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

Last summer I was given the opportunity to lead a team of eight people from PCC on a missions trip to northern Serbia. Everything about the experience was amazing...right up until the morning we arrived at the airport to begin our journey home and discovered that our flight out of Belgrade had been canceled.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

105*15+10,000,000,000,000+2032-4,000,000=(computation error...unable to comprehend)

Contributed by:
Ron Klopfenstein
men's life director

This past weekend we had the privilege of having Dr. Richard Swenson speak to us regarding Science and the Sovereignty of God.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Fingerprints of God


Contributed by:
Tyler Ward
spiritual formation pastor

This past weekend we continued our Q series by exploring a variety of evidences for the existence of God.

Dr. Chad Meister talked with us about God as the creator and the grand designer of the universe. He pointed out that our faith in God should not be a belief in something irrational. Rather it is a belief that is bolstered by evidences and good reasons. He explained that the biblical word for faith is the Greek word – pistis. It implies a trust and confidence that is based on the evidence.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

A Stone In the Shoe

Contributed by:
Natalie Ward
care ministries director

A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”- Author Unknown

Be bold. Stand up. Be fearless. Be passionate. Speak truth. These are often terms that are taught as foundational when sharing the gospel with a non believer. Unfortunately, terms like aggressive, argumentative, pushy and persistent, though, are also associated with these kind of interactions. Many times Christians will engage in what ends up being a debate of theological positions, and then after silencing the non believer with a “blow to their position,” will wave the flag of victory after perceived or assumed defeat of their “opponent.” On the contrary, there has been no victory. Few, if any, individuals come to recognize the Lord as their Savior through an aggressive exchange of terminology and heated debate.

Monday, June 13, 2011

"W" #7: Branching Out

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

The previous post in this series was all about the exponential benefits of leaders who reproduce themselves. The reality is that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of groups just waiting to be formed. All we need are leaders who are willing to step up and take the lead. In fact, I have a theory that many of our groups are full of would-be-leaders who just need a word of affirmation, or a gentle kick in the pants, to stand up and take a step toward leading a group of their own. Leaders reproducing leaders, therefore, is a win that leads to another win, and that’s when these new leaders branch out to form a group of their own.

Monday, June 6, 2011

From Bitter to Sweet

Contributed by:
Staci Overbeck
ministry assistant

What if your blessings
come through raindrops?

What if your healing
comes through tears?

What if a 1000 sleepless nights
are what it takes
to know you’re near?

What if trials in this life
are your mercies in disguise?

Blessings
Laura Story

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Q: Faith and Science

Contributed by:
Tyler Ward
spiritual formation pastor

For many people, science and faith represent two opposite ends of a spectrum, and you can only choose one or the other. Is it possible that science and faith are not necessarily at odds, though? Rather than rejecting God -his existence and the truth that he's revealed to us - could science, instead, somehow support that he is real and is up to something absolutely amazing?

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Missing Piece

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

One summer I preached a sermon on community (something I should be apt to do, given my role at PCC). Following our Saturday service, I grilled Amanda with the usual questions, leading off with, "So how was it?" Her response was, "Well...I'm not sure." That's not a good sign. I protested, "How could you betray me like this!" (not really) Her response actually confirmed something I was already feeling: something was missing.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

You Are Important

Contributed by:
Staci Overbeck
ministry assistant

Have you ever taken a moment to wonder what a difference you make at PCC? When my family started attending Pathway, the average Sunday attendance was around 500, and we thought that was a large church. Now that the weekend attendance is around 3,000, it would be easy to fall into the mindset that one person really doesn’t make that much of a difference.

God Is In My Battle

Contributed by:
Becky Johnson
women's life director

In the last few weeks, we’ve been in the midst of a great series entitled “Unshakable”. We’ve learned that when we find ourselves in the middle of circumstances that leave us feeling shaken, God is Unshakable. In our world today, it’s easy to feel shaken.