Powell Butte Christian Church

Elder Larry Andrews

Stories can teach us things in powerful ways. They allow us to let our guard down so that the principle to learn can be caught, rather than taught.. Parables were commonly used by Jesus. Why? For a couple of reasons, In Matthew 13:10-13 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heave...

Luke 18:15-17       Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Do you see something special...

In chapter 8, Jesus sent the disciples out to fly solo in doing ministry,  remember? And they had success! It was great! So naturally, they're pros now, right? They should be experts now and be able to run with thus authority and power without stumbling once… Yeah. How often does THAT happen? You try something and get lucky and have some success the first time you try it. “THAT’S EASY!” you s...

Who was your hero growing up? Your dad or mom; a baseball star; a teacher? For the Jewish community, Moses still is a great hero. In fact, you could say that for the Jew, Moses was all of those guys rolled into one. He freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt… He showed God’s power through miracles, providing miraculous food and water in the desolate places, he gave the law, creating the social...

Up until the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we have seen Jesus doing a LOT of things. Just last week we read how Jesus cast out a legion of demons, healed a woman who had been unclean and diseased for twelve years, and raised a little girl from the dead. By now, the disciples have known something significant about Jesus: he has power to do the impossible. The miracles have validated his mess...

We’re studying through the Gospel of Luke and today we’re in chapter 8. We have a lot of information to cover today - probably actually three sermons in one. But these three are together for a very specific reason. Three stories in the ministry of Jesus - but just ONE POINT. So this morning, sit back and listen. See if you can figure out what the thread is that ties these three stories together.

I’ve got a few things here this morning to show you. First of all, I have a toy boat. This reminds me that we are approaching Summer (starts officially Tuesday). In past summers, when the reservoirs were a little bit fuller, I know people who love to take their boats out there and have a great time. (I even remember a good friend from PBCC who had told me he wasn’t going to be at church - I believ...

Is it just me, or have you noticed that it's getting harder and harder to hear things correctly? There's lots of noise going on around us. Hard to hear - and to hear correctly. In the book of Revelation, as Jesus sends the various messages to the seven churches, he would end his message with the following: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now what does THAT mean? Of course we all h...

We are in Simon’s house. We are in Simon the Pharisee’s house. We are in Simon the Pharisee’s house in Galilee. Implication: the house of a wealthy, prestigious man living in the luscious, green, mountains land of Galilee. This guy is well-off in every aspect in that culture - financially, socially, even religiously. A man who definitely was living the blessed life. A man who seems to have it all...

We all have formed an image of God, or of another person, or ourselves after certain experiences. Perhaps your image of God was shaped by a particular preacher or book. Your image of yourself was most likely shaped by your peers, your parents, and the media. The image of others certainly is shaped by your interactions with people. I want to look particularly at the image you may have formed about...

If you're new with us we're going through the Gospel of Luke verse by verse and we're in what some call the Sermon on the Plain which essentially is chapter 6 of Luke’s gospel and it all began when Jesus went up on a mountain to pray and he pulled an all-nighter spending time with the Father and then selecting his apostles. He then descended from the mountain to a level place (a pla...

We all make judgments - what is safe, what is healthy, what is true… But often  - the judgments we make are off. Especially when it comes to dealing with people. As humans we are at a bit of a disadvantage because people tend to be mask-wearers. And what we see when we interact with others MAY NOT be who they really are… And this can go two ways, BTW… In one sense, you know as you are relating to...

Mother’s Day - yay! Proverbs 31 woman: her children will rise and call her blessed. Moms are blessed: gift of nourishment, understanding, protection, LOVE. Moms have been blessed:  why? Perfect example of being blessed to be a blessing… Just saw a video of a sermon: moms take what they are given and multiply it: give them a house, they make it a home; give them groceries, they make a meal; give th...

 I HATE when people don’t understand the word they are using. There are Christians who fall into this trap. They use words that they really have no idea what it truly means… Justification, Sanctification, Elect, GRACE… Today I want to challenge our thinking the way Jesus challenged the religious culture of his day. Last week we saw him challenge the Pharisees on their idea of traditions like fasti...

Happy Easter!  He is Risen!  Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Today is the Super Bowl of the Christian faith; we can rest on the promises made by God to us.  You get today, you get Christianity.  If you don’t get today, you don’t get Christianity.  A sign from high school: Three types of people – Make things happen, Watch things happe...

RESTORATION… Whychus Creek in Sisters - Government spending millions of dollars. First part of the restoration started back in 2016, and now they are starting on a new section called the Rimrock Ranch section. What’s going on? Why are we spending money on a restoration project? Well, because many years ago, WE sanitized it, we made it pretty. We made it flow “better” so that we could have more rec...

Don’t know if you’ve ever thought of this or not, but as disciples you and I have been branded in a sense; marked; called by Jesus to follow Him. And at times the process of branding seems pretty intense. The cinematic series “The Chosen'' does an amazing job at portraying the call of Jesus on the lives of his followers. Among those whom Jesus called to be His disciples was a tax collect...

Debt is nothing new, is it? Most of us, if not all of us, have had to deal with (or ARE dealing with) debt to some degree… Our nation in particular and much of the global community in general are in the midst of dealing with the effects of crippling debt, both corporate and government. There are many reasons for debt: unforeseen circumstances like emergency surgeries or loss of a job, out-of-contr...

So here’s a question: is there anyone here who has been tempted?  Here’s one of the things you can take to the bank: you will be tempted. It’s part of our humanity, it’s what we inherited in our sinful nature. But you can also bank on the fact that, for those who trust in and follow Jesus, God is in the business of changing us, chipping away at that sinful nature, re-creating us through His Spirit...

 Watching a video of Tony Evans, one of the pastors featured on RightNow Media, a thought came to me about preparing for something important… Imagine…if someone told you that the time has come… Jesus is returning this week...and he is going to start with you. He will come to your place….within days. Would you be concerned about how tidy your place is? Would you make sure that big family Bible is d...

Luke 2:8-15 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to y...

We are beginning a new Bible book series this week - the Gospel according to St. Luke. What is cool about Luke’s gospel is that Luke, a doctor (we learn that from his second volume entitled “The Acts of the Apostles”) has decided to do some investigative reporting about Jesus. Luke acknowledges he is NOT personally an eye-witness; BUT he has eye-witness accounts available to him and has put in a l...

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." “Make disciples” … When you look at what a church is supposed to be about, people can talk about a lot of things: preference in music st...