Powell Butte Christian Church

Elder Larry Andrews

Youth Pastor Ethan Waud

Elder Steve Pitman

Associate Pastor Brian Hall

Mark 9 captures a story of a man who had a son possessed by a demon.. When the boy was brought to Jesus the spirit threw him to the ground and he began foaming at the mouth. And the father says to Jesus: (Mark 9:23-24) “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us! And Jesus said to him, ‘If You can? All things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father cried out and sa...

Some discoveries as a child… Mom and Dad have lives outside of my life (even a romantic life! - shiver!!) Certain mythical creatures are indeed mythical Boys and girls are different Where our burger really comes from The Submarines at Disneyland don’t really dive The answers are in the back of the book! Once they knew that WE knew, that’s when they assigned just the ODD numbers! Grrr. The Bible is...

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we don’t want to be in - situations we would never CHOOSE to be in. I remember in my 20’s, after a lifetime (albeit a SHORT lifetime) of wanting desperately to find someone to love and to be married to, I remember being hopelessly single. I’ve known couples who have tried and tried to conceive, desperately wanting a family, but to no avail. I know of...

This morning will be different from other Sundays - and that’s okay. It’s good to be jarred from the routine from time to time in order to catch something that you might have become numb to. And it’s good that we are messing with the order of WORSHIP - because really what I believe would be good for us to wake up to is our attitude towards worship; but not ONLY what is thought of by people when th...

Let me ask a philosophical question: is perfection the main thing God wants of His people? It’s an interesting question, if you think about it. God gave His people the law - so it would seem obvious that God wanted them to be obedient to the law, thereby desire perfection of His people, right? Here’s an issue that arises from that standpoint: and if you are acquainted with the history of God’s peo...

This morning, I'm going to talk to you about the theme of silence. What is the place that silence has in our lives and in a special way in our praying to God? Eugene Peterson once wrote that: “Language consists in equal parts of speaking and silence.” Equal parts…that’s significant. What does this mean then about prayer? If prayer is our language, our communication with God, then according to...

Have you ever seen the verse from Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.” ?  You can’t miss it, since we put it on posters and coffee mugs and t-shirts! It’s one of the Christian’s favorite Bible verses because it just makes us feel so good about what’s happening in our lives. It’s funny how we oft...

When I was growing up, back in 1978, my family moved to a home in South San Jose. Our family was growing with the impending birth of my little sister, and so we found a larger home that we would stay in until I graduated from college. It was a nice home, good neighborhood, some good friends. But for the first time in my life we lived by a pyracantha bush.  This bush was characterized by very small...

There are some memorable numbers. 1492, December 7, 1941, Y2K, 9-11.  9-11 is a number we won’t soon forget. But so is 23 - as in the 23rd Psalm. Most everyone has heard of Psalm 23. It’s been called the sweetest song ever sung. Abraham Lincoln read it when battling depression, we read it during memorial services, President Bush chose to quote part of it when bringing comfort and direction to a na...

Psalm 5 is an interesting psalm to study. The things of this world that the Psalmist brings up in prayer to God have a tendency to “stink” to many people. Injustice - the bad guys win and it doesn’t seem fair - in fact we even sometimes use the phrase “well, that stinks.” And yet as you proceed through the Psalm, as we will do, it becomes clear that there is an attitude and there is a course of ac...

I want to talk today about a Hebrew word that adds richness and depth to our faith - and it’s sad that far too many believers have no idea of the word because they don’t read Hebrew. It’s the word “chesed.” This word appears 250 times in the OT. You’d think it's kind of important, right? And what’s intriguing to me is that (talk about getting our attention!) 127 out of those 250 times, over h...

Sometimes I think we come into this place and we leave our stories outside. Sometimes I think we come in here and we try to separate ourselves from the things that have distracted us or overpowered us all week. And yet, that’s not being true to what it means to be fully devoted to following Jesus. Yes, there are times when following Jesus makes you feel on top of the world - and you experience a s...

My wife, Jenny, has just a few shows that she records and does not miss. One of these is the show “Survivor,”  a “reality” game show in which people are “marooned” on an island where they compete for a million dollars at the end of the season. It’s now in its 44th season. The show uses an elimination system, where contestants in teams compete in a variety of challenges,  and then are made to vote...

A book called Mission Drift  explores why organizations such as Harvard University or the YMCA that BEGAN as Christian organizations eventually wind up “drifting” from their original goal and even landing in direct opposition to the mission of Jesus.  The authors believe that, without making intentional choices, faith-based organizations can easily drift from their founding mission, never to retur...

To be honest, as I was trying to put together the message for today, it hit me how mundane, how routine, this story may be to some. For preachers, it’s hard to find a new angle, or an exciting new way to tell the story of the resurrection. I spoke with my dad, who is also preaching an Easter message today, and he confirmed how difficult it can be at times to go from the Yawn to the Yahoo!, or - as...

Last week I mentioned the most unfair, illegal trial you could ever imagine. And if you’re like me, when you begin to read what’s happening at this point of the story of Jesus’ life and ministry, you think, “This ain’t fair. This REALLY stinks!" In the movies we are accustomed to the guys in the black hats getting what’s coming to them, right? The guy in the white hat - the hero - we’re used...

March Madness. A defensive play in basketball - the Full Court Press. Things get tight, lots of intensity. A good chance of giving up possession and letting the other team score. This morning we will look at a place where you could say that Jesus was facing a full court press. It all happens in a place called the Garden of Gethsemane. This Garden of Gethsemane is significant to those who follow Je...

On Thursday of the final week of Jesus’ life, he and His disciples would share a special meal together. This meal was special because it celebrated the Jewish feast known as Passover. It was a very special time for the Jews - a time of remembrance, a time of celebration. It was a meal the disciples had celebrated with Jesus before - but this time it would be different.  There has been a suggestion...

Today we are going to look at a passage that has been quite possibly misinterpreted for some time. Many who read this passage automatically jump to a preconceived notion of what it means, namely, the end of the world. For the past century and a half, there has been teaching that Luke 21 and the parallel passages in Mark and Matthew’s Gospel account point to the last days. The word, BTW, is eschato...

 I have become increasingly fascinated by the response to Jesus by the religious leaders of his day. We speak often (and most times disparagingly) of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Scribes and the Teachers of the law that opposed Jesus at just about every step of His ministry life. And why I’m fascinated, I think, is two-fold. First of all, I’m fascinated because these were the men who had devot...