Saturday Nights

It’s been 1 year since we started a Saturday night service.  I had heard it going in, and everyone was right.  It takes work and time for Saturday night to become a viable service.

Saturday night’s have begun to really grow at Palm Valley.  People are realizing that going to worship on Saturday night leaves Sunday wide open, and it’s guilt free! 

1 month ago we bought a Chicago style hot dog cart.  We do dinner after the service for $1 (hot dog, chili, chips, soda).  It’s a great deal, and families are really enjoying it.  I love looking out over the patio and seeing people spending time together on a Saturday evening.  It’s fun!

It’s really helping our Saturday night attendance, which is up 35% over 1 month ago.  The bonus is that it’s freeing up much needed seats on Sunday morning.

Family Game Night

We try to create fun traditions for our kids, and two of those are “family movie night” and “family game night”.  I didn’t name them, actually our boys did. Usually Friday night is a great night for family time.

Last night we had a little game time. Lori had bought Clue and Scrabble, so those were those games of the night.  We had a blast!  We learned that Zach doesn’t know how to whisper very well, Jake forgets to cover his answer sheet so others won’t see it, and Josh likes to switch teams in the middle of the game.

In a daring move i went for the guess in the middle of the game…turns out it was Col. Mustard in the conservatory with the wrench!  Zach, Josh and I were the champs of the Clue board.  We celebrated appropriately

Next came Scrabble.  We were having fun, but Derek (our boys friend from across the street) came over, and the boys moved to the trampoline, killing the game.  They need to concentrate

You know, it doesn’t take much to have fun together as a family.  Usually just a little time and creativity.  I’m committed to giving my family both.  In the busy-ness of life, i think family game night should be required in every home.

Da Vinci Code

As you probably know, the DaVinci Code movie is coming out May 19th. Even though this book is FICTIONAL, many people (even Christians), seem to think that somehow it discredits the Bible. Hear this: the book is very well written, but is not factual.

We’re going to do a teaching series beginning May 20th/21st called “Unlocking The DaVinci Code”.  I can’t believe how quick people are to accept books like this as factual, and then discredit the Bible as false.  The Bible has overwhelming historical and archaelogical evidence; much greater than any of these books that seek to contradict it.  I can’t wait to teach this series!

“The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever” –Isaiah 40:8

This Week – Forgiveness (part deux)

I’ve recieved so many encouraging emails from last week’s message, “Gone For Good”.  It’s awesome for me to know that God used the message to help many people understand, receive, and apply God’s forgiveness to their lives!

This week we will continue with “Bitter Pill“.  We’ve all been hurt in life; it’s what we do with that hurt that determines the quality of our lives in the future.  So many people i meet are carrying the weight of hurts in their past that God doesn’t want them to carry.  The bitterness, unforgiveness, is ruining their lives!

This week we’ll talk about how to forgive those people who have hurt you.  We’ll also discuss how offering forgiveness is more for your health than those you forgive.  They may not ask for it or deserve it, but we must forgive so that we can move on into healthy relationships for the rest of our lives.

Make sure you’re at Palm Valley this weekend as we take a huge step by forgiving those who have hurt us.

I encourage you to invite others, you can even send them an e-invitation by clicking here…

Online Video

We’ve been getting a lot of views for the online video of each week’s message.  We decided this week to keep all the messages up from a series until that series is over.

So, the “Forgiveness – The Real F Word” videos & audio will be online until the series is completed!

You can view the video or listen to audio here

God still heals…

Three weeks ago i did a message titled “Jesus Heals“.  We looked at what the Bible says about healing, and how i believe (according to James 5) that God has given the healing ministry to the local church.

At the end of the service i asked people who needed healing to stand, signifying the faith that God could heal them, and asking Him to do that. I then asked people from our church to go and place a hand on those who were standing, and pray for them as i prayed out loud.  It was a very cool moment in each service to see the body of Christ caring and praying for each other!

Later that week i got this email from Peggy Combes, who serves at PVC.  She stood last Sunday, and also had her Home Team praying for her…

Because He first loved
us,

Working out

Last month we got all of our staff gym memberships.  I want to do ministry for the long haul, and i want our staff to be healthy doing it.  In the first years of the church i gained about 40 lbs.  Last year  i decided enough was enough, i needed to get healthy! Since then i’ve lost 35 of the lbs!

Some of the benefits are increased energy, better sleep (and don’t need as much), smaller pants, etc.  All in all i think i’m a better person, a better husband, a better dad, and a better pastor!

The other fun part of doing this together as a staff is working out together.  Tonight Lori and I worked out with Ryan and Adrienne.  We’ve been friends for  years.  Ryan was in my youth group years ago.  Lori actually led Adrienne to Christ, I baptized her, and did their wedding.   They came with us to start the church, and are incredible friends!

It was a blast to work out with them, even though Lori once again got pretty competitive on the ellyptical!  It’s so much fun to be in ministry with people I love to be with.  We spend a ton of time together, and i enjoy every minute. 

ouch, that looks painful :)

Saturday night we were overflowing (yeah!).  Dave, our Pastor of Connections was doing the welcome.  The guys in back were giving him the signal to have people “scoot in”.  Apparently, Dave doesn’t understand this signal. What happens next is hilarious, unless you’re Dave…

More Forgiveness (week 1)

It was awesome to watch people stream forward at the end of services this weekend to place their post-it note on the crosses. I pray it was a significant moment for you to release your sin and receive forgiveness from Jesus Christ!

I spoke briefly this weekend about the 4 ways God forgives.  Due to time limitations on the weekend, i could only mention them, but i believe they are significant enough to revisit.  Here they are again, with Scripture for you to meditate on.  Be blessed today!

God Forgives…

1)  Instantly – I’m so glad He doesn’t make us wait, the guilt would kill us.  When others hurt us, we often feel like we have the right to hold onto bitterness and anger; to make them earn our forgiveness over time.  Fortunately, God forgives us instantly!

Nehemiah 9:17 (NLT) 
“…But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and full of unfailing love and mercy…”

Isaiah 55:7 (NLT)
“Let the people turn from their wicked deeds. Let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

2)  Completely — The blood of Christ covers all our sin, everything!

Col. 2:13-14 (NLT) 
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. [14] He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.“

3)  Repeatedly – I don’t know about you, but I feel like i’m often repeating the same prayer of repentance to God.  I can’t believe He continues to forgive me, time after time.  Note, His forgiveness doesn’t give us license to sin, it should challenge us to walk in purity!

Romans 3:23-24 (NLT) 
“For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. [24] Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.”

4)  Freely – This doesn’t mean there isn’t a cost.  Christ paid the price we could not pay.  He did it because He loves us and desires us to be in relationship with our heavenly Father.  The cost to us is our sacrifice.  As followers of Christ, our life is not ours, it belongs to Him.  Therefore we should live our lives differently.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) 
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– [9] not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Wow, what a weekend

 Easter at Palm Valley was incredible.  I don’t have exact number’s yet, but we did have over 3,000 people in attendance.  This is the first time we’ve cracked 3,000.  Yeah God!

I thought the worship team was off the hook! I went out and listened to them during all four services just to worship for myself.  Their energy was incredible.  Huge thanks to Eddie, Fernando, Eileen, Mikhael, Michael, Chad, Denise, Jason, Pablo, and Tom, you guys rock!!

Great job also for the A/V/L guys, Paul, Adam, Alvin, Jessica S., Jessica L., Dan, Greg, Larry, Cody and Aaron.  Satan tried to disrupt, but you guys worked right through it and did an awesome job!

I’ll be writing later about some other heroes i saw around campus.  God was at work big time, and i met lots of people who gave their life to Christ this weekend.  God is good!