Powell Butte Christian Church

Throughout this series, we have been examining some of the questions Jesus asked during His earthly ministry. That may seem a little unusual at first because we often think of Jesus as the One who provides answers. People came to Him with questions about God, life, eternity, forgiveness, marriage, money, and countless other subjects. Yet when you read the Gospels carefully, you discover that Jesus...

Billy Graham was arguably one of the most respected Christian leaders of the twentieth century. When he passed away, during his funeral service, his son, Franklin Graham shared something significant to those of us whose vocation and calling is to preach. He said one of the defining characteristics of his father's ministry was his absolute confidence in the Word of God. He recalled countless o...

This morning we are beginning a brand-new summer sermon series that we're calling "Questions Jesus Asked* (And We Must Answer)." When most people think about Jesus, they think about His answers. They think about His teaching, His miracles, His parables, and the incredible wisdom He shared with those around Him. And certainly, Jesus gave some remarkable answers. But what many people...

 Have you ever noticed that one of the very first words children learn is the word "mine"? Mine; my toy. Mine; my blanket. Mine; my cookie. Mine; my seat. Nobody has to teach a child to say "mine." In fact, my dad did NOT do me any favors when he himself taught my kids that word. (Thanks, Dad!) It seems to come naturally, our obsession of ME. What takes years to learn is anothe...

In football, they have the huddle. The whole purpose of the huddle is to give the team about thirty seconds to call the next play. That’s it. Now, here’s what’s funny—sixty thousand people might be watching that huddle. And they don’t mind. They understand. You’ve got to get organized. The quarterback needs to know where he’s going. The ends need to know their route. The backs need to know their a...

There are certain people in life who leave a lasting impression on you. Spend enough time around someone and eventually you begin to sound like them. You start using their phrases, picking up their habits, laughing at the same things they laugh at. Sometimes married couples do this so much that they can practically finish each other’s sentences. Children pick up expressions from their parents with...

Remember the old tv game show Name That Tune? Where you are given a certain number of notes and you have to figure out what song is being played? Well this morning I want to play a version of that game. We’ll call it Name That Person. I’m going to give you some clues, straight out of Scripture, and you keep track of the amount of clues it takes for you to guess the person “I am like one born at th...

Let me start with a confession. I like being independent. I really do. I like making decisions without asking for help. I like solving my own problems. And at times I see that tendency creeping into how I do ministry. I mean, I'm the pastor --- I should be able to do all these things on my own. It doesn't impose upon other people, it's just easier for me to do it by myself, me and G...

There are moments in history when everything seems to be falling apart, and yet at the very same time, God is quietly at work doing something that changes everything. You can see it in different places and different times. In the 1700s, both Britain and America were facing deep social and moral decline. Tensions were rising, and in France those tensions eventually erupted into violent revolution....

There’s something in all of us that drifts toward making things about us, even when they weren’t designed that way. Have you ever noticed that? You go somewhere beautiful—a sunset, the beach, the mountains—and instead of just taking it in, what do we do? We pull out our phones. We take a picture. And then we end up looking at the sunset through the screen. And without even realizing it, the moment...

You know, there are certain words in life that carry more weight than others. Not because they’re long. Not because they’re complicated. But because of what they settle. Just a single word - or a simple phrase for that matter - can change everything. A judge leans forward and says one word: “Guilty.” and everything changes. A doctor walks into the room and says: “All Clear.” And suddenly, a family...

There’s something about “last things” that just carry a different kind of weight.  If you’ve ever been with someone near the end of their life, you know what I mean. The conversations change. People don’t talk about trivial things anymore. They don’t waste time on surface-level stuff. They start saying what really matters. Sometimes it’s simple—“I love you.” Sometimes it’s clarifying—“Don’t forget...

 "The next time someone asks you 'What Would Jesus Do?' remember that flipping over tables and chasing people with a whip is within the realm of possibilities." It's funny because it shatters our image of Jesus. We like the gentle Jesus holding lambs. We like the compassionate Jesus healing lepers. But this Jesus—the one with a whip cord, overturning furniture, shouting in...

You know, there are moments in life when expectations collide with reality in ways that aren’t just disappointing, but heart-wrenching. Most of us have experienced that at some point. Maybe it’s something small, like ordering something online that looked incredible in the picture, only to open the box and discover it’s not quite what you imagined. Maybe it’s one of those moments when you finally m...

This past week, with the Olympics just behind us, Pastor Ethan brought up one of the greatest sports movies in history: Miracle, about the true story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team and their player-turned-coach, Herb Brooks, who led them to victory over the seemingly invincible Soviet squad. That truly is one of the best. I think that victory spawned the idea to make another pretty good hock...

One of the interesting things about human nature is that we don’t really struggle with obedience in general — we struggle with who we’re obeying. For instance, if a stranger in a parking lot tells you to move your car, your response will most likely be much different from if a police officer with lights flashing behind you signals to pull over. The action may look the same (you move your car), but...

When it comes to praising God, have you ever found yourself in an awkward position because the language of worship is a foreign language to you. I mean, even the word Hallelujah, someone asked me last week, they said they know it's some kind of praise for God - but what does it actually mean? And, I thought --- yeah, that would have probably been a good idea to define it for you... It's...

Hallelujah is a powerful word, a powerful concept. It brings in the power of God into the circumstances of our lives in a way that no other word truly can. If we turn it off, we could easily fall into the habit of forgetting what the Bible has to say about praise and adoration and worship and gratitude for what God has done, who He is, and what He is about. So for the weeks leading up to Easter, I...

 As a family drove home after church, the dad was complaining about everything. He said, “The music was too loud. The sermon was too long. The announcements were unclear. The building was hot. The people were unfriendly.” He went on and on, complaining about virtually everything. Finally, his observant son said, “But Dad, you’ve got to admit that it wasn’t a bad show for a dollar!” So let’s just i...

Discontentment is an American epidemic. Maybe we're susceptible to that epidemic because we live in the most affluent society in the history of the human race. And discontentment is fed by the advertising industry, as it promises us time and time again that our discontentment will disappear if we just buy what they're selling. And though, intellectually, we know those promises aren’t rea...

Last week, we dealt heavily with showing respect and honor to all people in the church, focusing MAINLY on the generation gap. But I hope you saw that the underlying principle Paul was trying to get across to Timothy was all about respect. It would have been difficult for some to be in Timothy's position... being a younger leader, but having the responsibility of leading those who were his el...

There are a number of different church leadership structures that exist today. For instance, you have top-down authoritative models similar to how a business is run where you have a CEO doing the wishes of the board and stockholders. Churches with this structure keep a distinction between the “clergy” (who basically run the church) and “laity” (those who are told what to do in the church). If you...

When we went through the series this Summer on Exodus, I mentioned towards the beginning how the Exodus story is really OUR story. The Bible isn't filled with perfect examples of perfect people - at all. I told you that it was messy. Because life is messy at times --- at MANY times, in fact. One of the places that those messes can happen is when one sinner comes into contact with another sinn...