3.14.2023 PBPC Family Bulletin
PBPC Family,
Eugene Peterson, in his book "Working the Angles" gives a counter-intuitive word of advice when it comes to prayer: be slow to pray.
"Be slow to pray. This is not an enterprise to be entered into lightly. When we pray we are using words that bring us into proximity with words that break cedars, shake the wilderness, make the oaks whirl, and strip forests bare (Ps 29:5-9). When we pray we use words that may well leave us quavering, soul-shattered, on our faces: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am one of unclean lips...!" (Isa. 6:5). When we pray we have a more than average chance of ending up in a place that we quite definitely never wanted to be, angrily protesting, preferring death to the kind of life that God insists on recklessly throwing us into: "O Lord, take my life from me, I beseech thee, for it is better for me to die than to live" (Jon 4:3). We want life on our conditions, not on God's conditions. Praying puts us at risk of getting involved in God's conditions. Be slow to pray. Praying most often doesn't get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be in our best interests. And when we realize what is going on, it is often too late to go back. Be slow to pray."
May you take some time this week to slowly enter into prayer for there you will be taken beyond your limits into the place of God's work and transformation.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Calvin
"Don't Walk on Water"
Matthew 14:22-33
Pastor Calvin Sodestrom
Lectionary Readings for March 19
Lenten Book Study: Tuesdays from 7:30-8:30pm
Join us on Zoom for our Lenten Book Study on "Hope: A User's Manual," by MaryAnn McKibben Dana. Tonight we will discuss the second section - "Hope Lives in the Body" (pp. 61-88). HERE is the Zoom link for tonight's meeting.
Churches Have Left Their Buildings: March 15
Each Wednesday in March from 7-8pm, we will gather with other churches for a time of prayer, education, fellowship, and food. On March 8, we will meet at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Please park in their upper lot at 1 Estates Drive. There will be no meal served - just snacks and wine. The program will begin at 7pm.
On March 22, Montclair Presbyterian Church will be hosting (for the Presbyterians). It would be great if we could help them in providing food and drinks. If you are able to attend or donate food, please contact Shelley Kelly who is coordinating all food.
Love Offering for George + Richard
We are collecting a love offering for George and Richard and their years of faithful service at Park Boulevard. If you would like to contribute, use the link below for Giving. If writing a check, just write "Love Offering" - do not write any names on the check.
The Genesis Study - March 26 @ 7pm
Kristina Kvalnes is hosting "The Genesis Study," an ecumenical exploration of Genesis, which is a foundational text for all major monotheistic world religions. The evening will consist of dinner, a video lecture, and group discussion. If you plan to attend, please RSVP with Kristina.