Celebrate the mystery of Advent by creating an Advent Calendar which can be passed on to generations... Join us on Friday, November 22, 10am-1pm for a time of prayer, creativity and fellowship... Please sign up so that we have enough supplies... For those who are unable to be there Pastor Banu will be leading a mini workshop on December 1 after worship to help with calendars. Let us bring back the mystery of Advent... Questions? Please message us...

A threshold is a crossover point — a transition—an entryway into something new. It can be a place, a moment, or a season in time. As we continue our journey in the footsteps of Jesus, Holy Week presents a unique opportunity as a threshold. We hear God declaring, “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” (Isaiah 42:9)

During a threshold time, we have a sense of anticipation as what lies ahead for us is significant: We are aware God is preparing us — a deep work may be taking place in our life. A threshold time is an opportunity to experience the call of God to greater intimacy as we look towards the future and the move of the Holy Spirit in our current circumstances. Holy Week brings us to the crossover point — Resurrection… At the threshold of Resurrection we leave behind all that separates us from life [Zoe life] and embrace redemption, reconciliation, grace, mercy, and God’s presence… We embrace a new anointing…

The Threshold is a Time to Pray… Let this Holy Week be a time of prayer as turn our hearts and life over to God, surrendering the weight of our souls and looking a ahead to the favor that is being released to us for what lies ahead.

The Threshold is a Time to Release the Past… Let this Holy Week be a time to receive God’s healing from grief over that which has been lost and shall never be recovered. Let us trust God to provide for us and take care of our future. Let us receive our fresh anointing and put on the garments of praise. Let us step humbly, but boldly into what God has ahead for us.

The Threshold is a Time to Consecrate Our Life to God… On the verge of the Promised Land, Joshua faced the biggest battle of his life to date. (Joshua 5) But there, right on that ground, the Lord of Hosts visited him. At the threshold, we may be facing the biggest battle of our life. But God is greater than the Enemy, and God has a plan. Now is the time to consecrate our life to God. This is a time to encounter God’s Presence and to listen, so we can hear and follow…

This Holy Week at the threshold, we take off our shoes and stand on holy ground.

YOU ARE INVITED TO CROSS THE THRESHOLD AND DISCOVER JOIN OUR COMMUNITY OF FAITH TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE, GROW IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS AND DISCOVER HOW WE CAN BE RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT... PLEASE CLICK ON "CROSSING THE THRESHOLD" THE SIDEBAR IMAGE TO VIEW ALL THE INFORMATION... FEEL FREE TO SHARE...

Morning Worship is at 10am with fellowship time afterwards. 

Evening Worship is 7pm with the Celebration of the Lord's Supper.

All are invited to come and be renewed in the joy of the Incarnate Lord.

 “The present form of this world is passing away.”  (1 Corinthians 7:31)

“Dust in the wind / All we are is dust in the wind.”  (Kansas)

Brad Cole, our resident artist at the PERC (and raker of pine needles), was the mind behind the Celtic cross splayed on the parking lot.

Where some might have simply cleared the pine needles over into the lawn, genius struck!

Of this creation from last Thursday, he acknowledged that it would be short-lived.

Banu and I expressed our assent.

By Friday afternoon, the wind had begun to assert the inevitable.

I was reminded of the Tibetan monks who produce elaborate images in sand.

They are filled with almost every color imaginable (and maybe some beyond imagining).

Afterward, the images are subjected to a ritual sweeping, a ritual destruction—displaying the ephemeral nature of all we see.

We await “the time of universal restoration.”  (Acts 3:21)

Rev. James Moore, OblSB, Moderator of Session

In worship yesterday, I noted a holiday that is not on the church calendar, which is Labor Day. Having said that, it is entirely appropriate to thank God for the good gift of work.

We give thanks for work that edifies the human spirit and does not crush it.
We give thanks for work that builds the earth and does not destroy it.
We give thanks for work that leads us to praise and does not become a curse.

Today I was reminded of how appropriate the Monday morning prayer is for Labor Day. This comes from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship:

We praise you, God our creator, for your handiwork in shaping and sustaining your wondrous creation. Especially we thank you for the miracle of life and the wonder of living…
particular blessings coming to us in this day…
the resources of the earth…
gifts of creative vision and skillful craft…
the treasure stored in every human life…

We dare to pray for others, God our Savior, claiming your love in Jesus Christ for the whole world, committing ourselves to care for those around us in his name. Especially we pray for
those who work for the benefit of others…
those who cannot work today…
those who teach and those who learn…
people who are poor…
the church in Europe…

I especially like the themes of giving thanks for “gifts of creative vision and skillful craft” and “the treasure stored in every human life.” How dramatically different we would be if we truly took that to heart.

And then there are prayers for “those who work for the benefit of others,” and “those who cannot work today.”

Indeed, the entire prayer is shot through with giving glory to God for the ability to serve creation, to serve the part of creation that is us, and to serve the Lord.

(The photo is posted with a nod to my wife's excellent work in the kitchen!)

And a special thanks to all who have labored for the PERC!

Rev. James Moore, Moderator of Session