PBPC Announcements

PBPC Family, Here's a poem by Madeleine L'Engle for this Christmas Season. After Annunciation This is the irrational season When love blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason There'd have been no room for the child. May God gift you with an irrational faith and love! Grace and Peace, Pastor Calvin Service of Thanksgiving January 1 @ 10am No communion or potluck. We will celebrate both on January 8. Click here to join Zoom Lectionary Readings for January 1 Christmas Offering The Christmas offering, in it's entirety, will go to The Door Ministry, which traditionally has been used to provide groceries, bus passes, hygiene products, and other resources to those who come to the Door of our church. If you would like to contribute to the Christmas Offering, please mark all donations with "Christmas Offering." No Kids Min As a reminder, there is no Kids Ministry this Sunday. We will resume on January 8. 2023 Greeter Schedule The moment you've all b...

PBPC Family, Here's an Advent sonnet by Malcolm Guite - may it bless and encourage you in these final days of Advent. O Emmanuel O come, O come, and be our God-with-us, O long-sought with-ness for a world without, O secret seed, O hidden spring of light. Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name, Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame, O quickened little wick so tightly curled, Be folded with us into time and place, Unfold for us the mystery of grace And make a womb of all this wounded world. O heart of heaven beating in the earth, O tiny hope within our hopelessness, Come to be born, to bear us to our birth, To touch a dying world with new-made hands And make these rags of time our swaddling bands. Grace and Peace, Pastor Calvin Christmas Eve Service December 24 @ 4pm Christmas Day Service December 25 @ 10am Click here to join Zoom Lectionary Readings for December 24 Lectionary Readings for December 25 Christmas Offering The Christmas offering, it it's entirety, will go to T...

PBPC Family, Every year during Advent, I experience a tension between the Christian and cultural celebrations of Christmas. In Christ, we receive the gift of God's presence in the baby Jesus. Culture emphasizes buying things for others. In Christ, joy is found in God's movement towards us, that God will overcome any barrier that stands between us. The cultural narrative of joy is rooted in the opening of presents, getting that "thing" we wanted, or in family time together. In Christ's birth, those you would least expect welcome him - dirty, stinky shepherds, and foreigners, outsiders. The cultural expectation is that you spend time with your family, which can sometimes leave those without immediate family isolated and alone. I don't write these things to say that the cultural celebration of Christmas is somehow wrong or bad. Rather, these tensions heighten for me my need for Jesus. I feel the pull between my current reality and the future in-breaking of God...

PBPC Family, One Advent practice I try to do each year is that of living by the light of the Christmas tree. When darkness falls and I'm tempted to turn on the lights in our living room, I choose to keep all the lights off and only keep the Christmas tree lit. As the Christmas tree radiates a warm glow, it's comforting to sit near the tree and rest after a long day. The Christmas tree is a reminder to me of the warmth, love, and comfort that is found in Jesus. But this practice also comes with its own challenges. To live by the Christmas tree means it is the only light on in the house. This can make navigating other rooms more challenging. When I have to venture to other parts of the house, stumbling through the darkness, my longing and desire for the light increases! I don't want to live in darkness, I want light! Living by the light of the Christmas tree both reminds me of the light that is found in Christ and my great need for God to shine into my darkness. Speaking of...