THIS SUNDAY (5/20) IS LIKE NO OTHER AT PCC!!!  Imagine a ONE MAN ACT portraying an entire book of the Bible. Seems impossible doesn’t it?  However, Bruce Kuhn, Broadway actor, will do just that in his 60-minute riveting theatrical rendition of the Book of Luke.  So plan on coming on time at either  8:55am, 10:30am or 5:00pm so you don’t miss a moment.

While I am looking forward to this weekend, I don’t want any of us to forget the truths entrusted to us by Drs. Paul and Virginia Friesen last Sunday.  Below is a synopsis of the best of them:

• “The family is God’s best platform for discipling the next generation of disciples.”
• “Make a choice to pray for Godly offspring.”
• “Getting married is not an add-on to the single life, it is a paradigm shift.”
• “You entered into a covenant with your job, your hobbies, even your dreams, but if married, you have entered a covenant with your spouse.”
• “Kids don’t need to see a perfect marriage; they deserve to see a marriage being transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.”
• “We need to parent by faith.”
• “We are living in a dyslexic culture, parents are obeying their children.”
• “Kids will always be kids as long as parents never be parents.”
• “Rules without a relationship is a recipe for rebellion.”
• “Our children need to know that we are invested in them as children.”
• “I don’t know if there is any ingredient more lacking in parenting of adolescents today than hope.”
• “Do our kids see us in a vibrant relationship with Christ?”
• “Is my time in the Word of God changing my life?”

That’s what challenged me!  I thank God that all my kids have been raised within the community of PCC, where children, teens and parents are valued, challenged and equipped to be disciples who reflect God’s heart for the world.

This weekend is important as we turn our minds and hearts back into the book of Luke.  After the morning gatherings, we gather to discuss next year’s budget and celebrate the ministry of PCC and God’s faithfulness this past year.  I look forward to gathering together!

I love being your pastor!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT   Halle Bobbie-Lee, born to Patrick and Brandy Newton on April 3.

THANK YOU  Many thanks to all of my friends and supporters at PCC for your prayers, cards, words of encouragement for me and my family during the time of my surgery and recovery. Each day I am stronger. May God bless each one of you for your love.  Marcia McIntosh

GHANA BOUTIQUE Shop TODAY from 1:00-5:00pm in Room 20 and help our PCCers minister to and give love to vulnerable Ghanian children.  Money supports our missionaries as well as Ghanian moms.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION   Serve our community by handing out food to our low-income neighbors.  Come even if you can stay only one hour! Distribution is at Hawes School on Wednesday, May 22  (3-5:00pm) at  909 Roosevelt Avenue, Redwood City.  Contact Metta Gerber for more information.

CONCERT Guest pianist from Canada, Dr. Paul Thorlakson, will present a special concert on May 25, 7:00pm in the Worship Center.  Freewill Offering.  All are welcome.

CHIC  High Schoolers, it’s not too late to sign up for CHIC! Late registration is open until May 30. You don’t want to miss this amazing summer conference with incredible music and speakers. It only happens every 3 years, and it’s this
July 15-21 in Knoxville, TN. For more info, contact Cheryl Mejia.

THE DEEP  A gathering for anyone and everyone to experience prayer, music, and the Word.  Expect 2+ hours of contemplative time where we do a lot of singing, listening, reading of scripture, and praying for one another. All are welcome to participate and interact, but you can also make space to be quiet and take it all in. Thursday, May 31 at 7:30pm in Room 20. For more info, go to www.facebook.com/pccya/events/.

PLUS SERVICE COMMITTEE  We have a team of smiling volunteers with willing hearts ready to provide our PLUS community with individual one-day, one-time projects that they are unable to accomplish due to physical or other
restrictions.  The committee will supply the labor and the time.  Contact Bob and Patty Moorhead.

MISSION OPPORTUNITIES

STREET CHURCH  There are no walls necessary to be a church!  Street Life Ministries (Street Church) serves those who live on the streets in Menlo Park (Tues. and Thurs. evenings) and now in Redwood  City (Mondays).  They are preparing to add Wednesday evenings in RWC as well, so visit the mission table TODAY see how you can serve in this vital ministry.

FAMILY & FRIENDS MEXICO MISSION  Have you been thinking about how to bring missions into your children’s lives? Do you desire to serve together on an intergenerational team? Check out our mission trip this June 27–July 1 in Ejido El Porvenir, Mexico! We will be joining the work of Ventana Ministries for five days of service, fellowship and growth. All are welcome. Contact Dain Jepson for more information.

CHINESE STUDENTS COMING Do you have a home to share this summer for a week or two?  High school students from China will be with us July 13-22 and July 28-Aug. 3.  They come to us because they can get in-depth Bible training here and also improve their English.  Could you host one either or both weeks?  Give your family a new friend in China and give yourself a wonderful reward! Contact Lanette Topper.

SUNDAY BULLETIN ARCHIVES (recent)

Drs. Paul and Virginia Friesen were married in 1976 and are the parents of three young women, the eldest of which was married in February 2007. They have been involved in Family Ministries for over 30 years through family camps, church staff positions, speaking, consulting, and writing. In 2003, they founded Home Improvement Ministries (www.HIMweb.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping individuals and churches to better encourage marriages and families in living out God’s design for healthy relationships.

Guest Speakers: Drs. Paul and Virginia Friesen

What I miss the most…A tribute to my mom!

I miss her voice the most.  My mom’s voice was a constant in my life and was more valuable to me than any sacrifice she ever made and any gif she ever gave.

Mom was simple and would be considered today as old-school.  Growing up in San Franciscoas the daughter of Sicilian immigrants, she was raised with all the drama and dysfunction that comes from the southern Italian culture.  Being a middle daughter, she played life safe, I am told.  Her older sister married young and her younger sister pushed my grandparent’s limits, but Mom colored inside the lines, staying in the safe zone. Generationally, somehow Mom resolved to not let her family’s drama pass to her own four kids. We would never know or have to face the dysfunction she was raised in. My memories of my childhood are extremely pleasant, largely due to her coloring inside the lines.

As a mom she was there for me in so many ways.  She was there when I was a young child scared in the night; she would lay down with me until I fell asleep. She was there every weekday morning until I left for college, cooking me a hot breakfast and making my lunch. She was there in grammar school, volunteering most Thursdays, which were Hot Lunch Days. I was proud when my classmates told me my mom was pretty! She was there in the outfield, when I was in high school, shagging balls when Dad threw to me in batting practice. She was there in the stands at most every sporting event I competed in. She was there at the dinner table with food that was the envy of every friend I ever invited to dinner. My mom’s presence was the heart of our home, creating the warmth that existed in our family.

Fifteen years ago, when Anne and I started at PCC, we noticed things that caused concern.  Mom made multiple phone calls to us. In conversation, Mom would repeatinformation that she just mentioned as if it had not been said. Mom missed appointments.  Early onset Alzheimer’s was an unwelcomed diagnosis to her and to our family.  I vividly remember the night in 2000 we were together at a charity function when she pulled me aside and broke down crying, telling me of her diagnosis, forgetting that I already knew. She had to relive that diagnosis countless times in that phase of the disease.

Last Friday, prior to our all-church retreat, Isabella and I ventured up toNovatoto my parent’s home.  I walked into the room, and Mom was sitting in a chair, staring out into who-knows-where.  Bella would greet her first, and then I would cup her face into my hands, get really close and stare into her eyes, wondering what she was thinking as she stared blankly at me. I broke the silence: “Mom, it’s Bombo! (my childhood nickname). You look great!  I love you!” As has been the case for too long now, there was no response.

As Mother’s Day approaches, for some reason, this year I miss my mom more than usual. This has been way too long of a goodbye! I wish she understood my how thankful I am for her investment in my life; I wish she could see and interact with her grandchildren; I wish she could come and experience the ministry of PCC. I wish most I could hear her voice just one more time.

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THE GOSPEL OF LUKE Bach, Shakespeare, Rembrandt…. …What do a German composer, an English playwright, and a Dutch painter have in common? Their art (and the rest of western civilization) was profoundly influenced by the ancient stories of Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth.

The Accounts of Luke is a solo performance of these stories, memorized word for word from the New Testament and told with the same passion and surprise as at the first telling.

The words come alive with the urgency and humour of someone who was there. The show premiered at the acclaimed Actor’s Theatre of Louisville (one of America’s largest professional theatres) to enthusiastic reviews and an extended run.

Alone on stage, the actor weaves the tale of the Christ without props or sets, dressed in modern, casual clothing. The play is memorized in the Authorized (King James) Version, which takes to the spoken word like Shakespeare. After years of other acting work on Broadway and the repertory stage, Bruce Kuhn revived his Luke performance and now tours major universities and colleges throughout the world.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:1-2

Please note that this weekend while we host the All Church Family Camp at Mission Springs, we will gather at PCC on Sunday at 8:55am and 5:00pm only.  There is no 10:30am worship gathering this Sunday.

Intergenerational was God’s idea long before it was ours.  Craig Groeschel, a nationally known author, speaker and pastor of the largest Covenant church in the country, LifeChurch,  was speaking recently at a conference for next generation leaders, on the topic of “generational resentment.”  PCC’s Young Adult Pastor Tony Gapastione alerted me to the talk, thinking it would be relevant to PCC. He was right.

In the talk, Groeschel first addressed the older generation.  He acknowledged, as we all can, “Everything that I am able to do to make a difference for the glory of God and for the name of the risen son Jesus is the result of those who went before me and invested in me.” Groeschel implored the older generation of Christians to believe in the younger generation and set aside “a whole lot of resentment and misunderstanding.”  He then encouraged the older generation in the audience to “hear this as if it is from God: If you are not dead, you are not done. Your best days of ministry can be right now as you invest and give the ministry away to the next generation.”

To the younger generation, whom Groeschel called “the most cause-driven, mission-minded generation perhaps of all time” (I agree!) he admonished, “You really need those who go before you. You desperately need them. They can be the greatest assets in your ministry, in your life, and in your marriage. A dishonoring younger generation is limiting what the whole church of Jesus Christ could do and it’s time that we show honor. Honor builds up. Dishonor tears down. Honor believes the best. Dishonor believes the worst.”

As we embark in stewarding the seventh decade of PCC history, let me lay out two truths that are non- negotiable:

1. It is not negotiable whether or not we will be intergenerational.  We will be!  In the coming months, we will be communicating what this is and why it matters so much.
2. It is not negotiable whether or not we will leverage our intergenerational unity to achieve our God-given mission and vision.  We will!  Being intergenerational is not the goal, but the means with which we will best live into our calling and steward the mission of PCC.

Pray with me that God gives us grace to get it, and that we boldly move out as an intergenerational force into the world Jesus gave His life for.  Agree with me regarding these non-negotiable axioms and I dare you, I double-dog dare you to cross a PCC generational barrier this week and take the initiative with someone older or younger than you.  This Sunday, the All Church Retreat provides the perfect opportunity for you to go for it.

I Love Being Your Pastor!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.   Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.  Romans 12:1-2

We will have the morning worship gatherings only: 8:55am and 10:30am.  There will be no 5:00pm worship gathering.

The Friesens founded the Home Improvement Ministry (www.himweb.org) and both have doctorates in marriage and family therapy.  (see their bio here: http://www.himweb.org/Info/Staff.html)

We will be having ONLY the 8:55am Traditions and 5:00pm Alternative worship gatherings.

Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.       Acts 5:42

May 2012 Newsletter

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Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.       Acts 5:42

The definitive work on Church History is a two-volume set by Yale professor Kenneth Scott LaTourette. In chronicling the expanse of the early church from a seemingly fledgling group on the outskirts of theRoman Empireto a movement that ultimately was more prevailing than the Empire, he pointed to some distinct factors which I will summarize:

• It was faith in Jesus and His resurrection, which gave birth to the Christian fellowship and which continued to be its inspiration and its common tie.
• It was the love displayed in Christ, which was, ideally and to a marked extent in practice, the bond which held Christians together.
• Christian churches were the most inclusive and the strongest of all the various associations in the Roman world.
• They cared for the poor, the imprisoned, the aged and the infirmed.
• They were inclusive of all races and classes, both men and women.
• The constancy of the martyrs.
• Christians lived the moral transformation, which Christianity demanded.
• The early disciples were united in declaring that it was from the command of Jesus that the Gospel was proclaimed to all, regardless of sex, race or cultural background.

The Church has always grown through sacrificial love.  The annals of history are filled with beyond natural, heroic, loving acts of Christ followers that defy human explanation.  To the degree that we model Jesus’ sacrificial love and heart for the world will be the degree that we maintain our vibrancy and favor from God.

In that same spirit, we all need to sacrifice as we prepare to add a fourth service in the fall.  Part of that shift for this spring entails those who regularly attend the 10:30am gathering. We are asking 100 families to make a commitment this May to move off of 10:30 and commit to attending the 9:00am Traditions or the 5:00pm Alternative gatherings. Would you pray about this?

We can all follow the lead of our Adult Sunday classes, (except Lamplighters) who already moved off campus to Cañada College Campus to startPCCUniversity!  Because of their sacrifice, approximately 75 parking spaces have been freed up at 10:30 for guests and others.

While adjusting the time you gather as the church, or choosing to drive a mile up the street hardly compares to the suffering experienced in Jesus’ name throughout church history, it is in the small sacrificial acts that God takes notice, that character is formed and blessings flow.  It matters, PCC, that we continually keep our hearts and minds stayed on Christ and that we never see ourselves as the end of God’s blessing, but we see ourselves blessed to be a blessing.

This Sunday, we will continue celebrating our 60^th anniversary looking at this very passage in Acts 5, discovering together the thread that God has woven from 2000 years ago in the first followers of Jesus to PCC today.

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.  Acts 4:29-30