Attendance was good today. Our average attendance is currently 10-15% higher this year than this same time last year. Not only have we made up the gap, we have filled the gap and gone above and beyond. It is likely to improve more as the year progresses.
Giving continues to remain strong at PCC – in spite of the economy. This too, is on an upward swing.
About 27 people are currently signed up for water baptism.
The teen ministry is off-the-chart in all areas right now. Let me state for the record – it has never been better in our eleven year history at PCC. There is a great team of people making it happen… all under the direction of great leadership. We’ve never had a better team of teachers, more adult & parental involvement, or more teen participation than right now. Most impressive of all? God is changing the lives of teens… and the teenagers love their youth group!
I enjoyed today’s message…. a lot more than last week’s message. In fact, at least one dozen people pinned me down after service telling me how it spoke to them and what areas of their life where they needed to make adjustments. I’m thinking to myself, “this is what is supposed to happen… becoming a ‘doer’ of the Word and not a hearer only.” This speaks well of the people in PCC – they have an internal motivation to live the kind of life that brings honor to God.
The sound system was at its best in a long time.
Today was just a regular day… but it was one of our best days. No special event. No bells and whistles. Just a regular meat-and-potatoes kind of day… but it felt like family. It felt good. I was uplifted.
I was talking with a couple in the atrium after first service who were telling me how much Sunday is the high point of their week.
Have you read my blog series (last week) about church growth? I hope so. At PCC we have an unmovable, unshakable conviction about church growth. Why? Because people need the Lord!
We received the letter from Gulf Power absolving us of any financial responsibility regarding the damage to the telephone pole. (Read my blog “A Letter from a Bill Collector” to know what I’m talking about). We are free and clear. Now Mr Williams of GREG WILLIAMS ELECTRIC CO. can deal with the collection agency!
“The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayers. But the Lord is against them that do evil” (I Peter 3:12)
An elderly man in our church, Robert Mauler, has been selected to take the Honor Flight to Washington DC for WWII veterans. We are delighted that he has been chosen and are rejoicing with him. Get this… Robert was involved in five invasions during WWII; Sicily, Anzio, Salerno, and Normandy on D-Day. I can’t recall the fifth landing. He has shrapnel in his back, shot down an enemy aircraft, and is one of the few remaining WWII veterans alive today. In many ways it is an honor to know this man. His flight is this Wednesday morning at 6:00 AM leaving out of Pensacola airport. A group of people (from the church) are going there to see him off. If you’d like to go too, just call the church and Renae will give you the details. I will take pictures that day and then later post them on my blog.
Our church grounds look fantabulous. (fantastic & fabulous, that is).
Somebody from Missouri read my blog last week… then contacted me through our church web site. I’m glad to say this was a favorable contact. (See, I’m not such a bad guy after all).
About two or three people stepped up today and decided to sponsor a teen each for Student Camp. Thank you very much!
Good things are happening at PCC. Better yet God is moving in a myriad of ways… and life-change is the end result. People are forever, and radically changed when they encounter the Almighty One.
PCC is known as the church where sinners go. I like it.
The reason we (often) experience pain is so that we can fully understand the provision of God.
I was talking to someone in the atrium after first service today who told me about an event that took place at another church in the area. I couldn’t believe it. It seems a young couple (boyfriend & girlfriend, or either engaged to be married, I’m not sure which) were attempting to join this particular church. The process to join involved sitting in a room in front of a panel of four deacons who interviewed (or grilled) them. (BTW, at PCC we teach a membership class in a seminar format). At any rate, this couple is sitting in front of the group of deacons answering their questions. The questions starting getting harder, and harder, and eventually personal – if not invasive. Finally one of the deacons asks the couple…. “Are you sexually active and sleeping together?” at which point the lady bursts into tears and in full humiliation runs from the room! I bet this couple never goes back to THAT church.
This Wednesday night at church is our UNITE PICNIC. This started out as a teen sponsored event but has evolved into an all-inclusive church-wide event. Anyone is welcome. But I must advise you – it is a BYOB event. (Bring Your Own Burgers).
Today when I was preaching I had a moment (in the middle of the sermon) when I thought, “I need to take a dose of this medicine myself.”
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