Our 2010 Christmas Opener

Christmas Weekend

I hope you enjoyed our services tonight or last night with your family and friends. We had great crowds at all six services, and it was great to have Pastor Luke from our Church / Orphanage in Haiti with us.

Remember we will have no services this weekend. I would like to encourage you to spend that time with your family or small group and worship together. I have recorded a special message to encourage you this weekend.

Little Drummer Boy like you’ve never seen it!

This weekend, our Creative Team pulled off an unbelievable rendition of “Little Drummer Boy”.  They had dueling drummers, one on stage and the other on a ledge in the back of the worship center, 20 feet above the crowd (nobody knew he was there until it started).  Sean Smith did a welcome and asked Gabe (worship leader) to start off “Little Drummer Boy”.  Gabe acted like he didn’t know the song, but would try anyway.  Chaos ensued, the crowd went crazy, and we worshipped Jesus in an unexpected way!!  Enjoy…

Help!!

In January, I’m doing a series called “I’ve Got Issues”.  I need your help!  Look at the messages below and tell me which ones (top 3) that you’d most like to hear.  If you have other issues you think I could teach on, feel free to send them also!  Send your top 3 to pastorgreg@palmvalley.org  Thanks!!

*I’ve messed up
*I’m in  debt
*I’m addicted
*I’m mad at God
*I’m stressed out
*I care what people think (too much)
*I get angry a lot

Rediscovering the Christmas Season Reading Plan

For those of you who are unable to create a YouVersion account, here is the reading plan for December.

November 30 – Luke 2:21-40
December 1 – Matthew 1
December 2 – Luke 2:1-20
December 3 – Mark 9:33-37
December 4 – Matthew 4:12-17; Isaiah 9:1-3; Matthew 5:14-16
December 5 – Acts 20:35; 1 John 4:10
December 6 – Exodus 25
December 7 – Matthew 25:31-46
December 8 – Isaiah 9:6-7; Revelation 19:1-16; 1 Timothy 6:11-16
December 9 – Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:10-15; John 1:14
December 10 – Genesis 1; Isaiah 1:18; Psalm 51:1-10
December 11 – Revelation 2:1-5; 1 John 3:1-3
December 12 – Psalm 150
December 13 – Acts 15:22-31
December 14 – Luke 1; Jeremiah 32:17
December 15 – Matthew 2:1-12
December 16 – Galatians 4:1-7
December 17 – Isaiah 58; Matthew 6:16-18
December 18 – Luke 11:1-3
December 19 – John 1
December 20 – John 21:25
December 21 – Psalm 100
December 22 – Matthew 25
December 23 – John 3:16
December 24 – Luke 1:26-56; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-40; Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 1 — My S.O.A.P.

I’m loving the “Rediscovering The Christmas Season” reading plan that we’re going through at Palm Valley Church; one more reason I’m anticipating this to be the greatest Christmas ever. If you want to join us, visit www.youversion.com and start today.

Scripture:  Matthew 1:18

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Observation:

The time has come for the prophecies to be fulfilled, for the Savior to be born.  As had been promised the baby would be born from a virgin.  How can this happen?  Only God!  While men were confused and questioning, even doubting, God knew all alone that He had the plan and the power to follow through on His promise.  It’s ironic that we, the created beings, try to outthink and plan out for the Creator.  The Holy Spirit places the baby, Jesus, inside of Mary’s womb and the prophecy is fulfilled.

Application:

Why do I ever doubt God’s promises to me?  He always has the plan, and always has the power to deliver beyond what I can expect or imagine.  This is a challenge to walk with greater faith, believing God for bigger things.   If He can deliver a baby through a virgin, He can do whatever He pleases through me, if I’m available.  So, I need to be available and open to whatever He calls me to. He’ll take care of the rest!

Prayer:

Lord, I want to see your power displayed in and through my life. Today, I make myself available to you. Give me greater faith, and display your power in greater ways, I pray!!  I want to be used by your greatly to impact great change in the world. Please use me.

Guest S.O.A.P – Jeremiah Hann, November 30

Scripture: Luke 2:33
Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him.

Observation:
Simeon had been promised that he would get to see the Messiah before he died. When the Spirit led him to meet Jesus, he knew that Jesus was the Messiah that he had been waiting for. After he praises God for who Jesus is, and would become, Mary and Joseph are “amazed” at what was being said about Jesus.

Application:
Mary and Joseph had been through so many ups and downs surrounding the birth of Jesus. They were told who he was going to be by an angel, but were still amazed when Simeon began to talk about him. They were his parents, they heard from an angel, they knew all about Jesus and were still amazed.

Too often, I don’t allow myself to be amazed with who Jesus is. He is literally God. He lived a sinless life, died on a cross and rose from the grave so I could have a free relationship with Him. He is alive and working in my life today. How can I not be amazed! I need to take time each day to remind myself that Jesus is amazing. That He is alive and at work all around me.

Prayer:
Hey God. Thanks for giving me this reminder today. I pray that I will not ever forget how amazing you are. Help me to continue to focus on you with every area of my life, so that I can constantly be amazed by You.

Rediscovering the Christmas Season – Week 1 Reading Plan

November 30 – Luke 2:21-40
December 1 – Matthew 1
December 2 – Luke 2:1-20
December 3 – Mark 9:33-37
December 4 – Matthew 4:12-17; Isaiah 9:1-3; Matthew 5:14-16
December 5 – Acts 20:35, 1 John 4:10

I Love Christmas

Dear Church family,

I trust you had a great Thanksgiving, spending time with family and reminding ourselves of all we have to be grateful for! I enjoyed reading through the book of Acts this past month, and it was encouraging to hear from so many who grew in their faith as PVC read through this book together.

As I woke up this morning, I have a great sense of excitement, because it’s now officially time to focus on Christmas. As a matter of fact, we’re only 6 days away from the start of “I Love Christmas” at Palm Valley Church. I believe this is going to be the greatest Christmas yet, both for my family and for our Church family.

To help us focus, I want to invite everybody in our Church (and others you may want to invite) to begin a Christmas Bible reading plan that will have us all read through the accounts of Christmas in the Bible. What a great way to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of Christ! To join this reading plan, simply go to YouVersion.com. You will need to register and then choose the “Rediscovering the Christmas Season” reading plan. Let’s all set the reading plan to begin tomorrow, November 30th, and end on December 24th. I will also post the daily reading on my blog/twitter/facebook accounts.

Together, I believe we’re going to see true Christmas miracles in people’s lives as we celebrate Christ this holiday season. Please join with me in the daily Bible reading, praying for our Church to reach more people this Christmas season, and invite, invite, invite others to join you at Church this weekend as we begin “I Love Christmas”. My message this weekend is titled, “I Love Christmas…It Encourages My Faith”.

I look forward to seeing you and your guests this weekend at one of our 4 services as we kick-off “I Love Christmas”! Remember, everybody in attendance this weekend receives a free “I Love Christmas” T-Shirt

Warmly,

Pastor Greg

P.S. Don’t forget to watch for all of our new outreach methods…

• Billboard on I-10 east just past the 101 loop.
• TV Commercial with Joel Osteen running through the month.
• Our TV show will debut on AZ13 on Sunday, December 12th at 7:00 pm. Cox channel 13, Direct TV channel 6.

New PVC Television Comercial

Below is a schedule of the next few days if you’d like to try and catch the commercial on TV!

November 29
9:28am   Food Network
3:10pm   TLC
3:15pm   ABC Family
3:45pm   ABC Family
5:42pm   Headline News

November 30
10:28am   Food Network
3:27pm   TLC
4:35pm   CNN

December 1
3:29pm   Headline News
4:15pm   ABC Family
5:10pm   TLC
6:55pm   CNN