Powell Butte Christian Church

Youth Pastor Ethan Waud

This Advent season we have been looking at how we can have all we need for Christmas. The first week we heard that Christmas needs to be a time for reflection as we slow down the pace of the season and focus on God’s purpose in our lives. The second week we heard that this is a time for simplifying; the manger stood as God’s declaration that the plan of salvation shouldn’t be complicated; and that...

This year millions of people will open millions of gifts. Some won’t fit. Some will be the wrong color. Many will be returned or exchanged ‘cuz it wasn’t just right. Wouldn’t it be nice to find a gift that doesn’t need to be returned because it really is the perfect thing, the thing that is most needed? ‘Tis the season, really, of giving. And when it comes to the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth,...

The Christmas season has a way of suddenly taking off on us. Each year we think we have it under control, but that usually doesn’t happen. And when Christmas Day has come and gone, we wonder why we can’t ever just slow down and enjoy the season. It’s an uphill battle, you know. In America we rush everything, don’t we? Stores now have Christmas items up as early as October. For weeks now, we’ve bee...

Most of us know that gratitude doesn’t always flow like we know it should. As a kid, my mom trained me to say thank you. But there have been times when I have forgotten to acknowledge a gift, either by sending a card or expressing through my words how appreciative I was for what had been given. The tragic part of those times (gratefully, they have been few) is how my relationship with the person w...

It’s easy to say Praise the Lord and be thankful when things are going well, like when we ace the test, when the annual physical turns out well, when we get the raise, when our family is healthy and doing well. It’s not so easy to give thanks when we fail the exam, when the prognosis is not good, when we get fired, when there are struggles on the homefront, and when tragedy strikes. In sports — I...

Youth Pastor Ethan Waud

This Saturday is one of those rich traditions PBCC celebrates during the Harvest, the Lord's Acre, which has been around for 75 years. All of you have HEARD about Lord’s Acre - new people means you might not know WHAT/WHY... You can read about it - but you might be surprised to find its roots in the Old Testament. Love harvest festivals? The Israelites were given THREE! Beginning of the grain...

Making 77 Look Good involves many things - one of which is to make sure you have invested resources wisely. Especially if you have retired from your career, a lot depends on how wisely you invested the resources you earned throughout that career!! On top of that, you have to think about what you’re going to leave to the next generations… what kind of legacy - financial, relationally, spiritually -...

This morning, we are in the fourth sermon in this series entitled Making 77 Look Good - essentially a spiritual check-up series for a church that just turned 77 years old a couple months ago. And today, I want to share a story of another “seasoned citizen” whose story is found in the OT. We find this story in two OT books - the book of Numbers, chapter 13 (which we will refer to from time to time)...

Elder Gabe Bales

Stress is NOT good for our health. The date—750 B.C. The place—Jerusalem. The man—Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, a good king, the son of Asa. During his reign there was peace and prosperity because Jehoshaphat was a man of the Book. More than anything, he wanted to do what God said. God honored him for that commitment and made him great. The events of his kingship are found in 2 Chronicles 17-21. But...

Does the church matter anymore? Why study to be a courageous church, even? What’s the point? You look around and wonder if Christians just aren’t playing that stupid “victim” game anymore. “They don’t like us. They want to change the laws. Oh, poor us - we’re being persecuted.” Tell me - when other groups play “victim,” is that valid in your mind? Then why would it be okay for the Church to play t...

This is the last week of our series on the Courageous Church. We began by looking at several stories in the Book of Daniel to gain inspiration from four Hebrew young men who stood their ground in courage and as a result made a difference in their world. Then we began to break down the Mission Statement of PBCC to its four components: Connect, Grow, Serve, and Go, and learned how to do these things...

Daniel 6 So Nebuchadnezzar is gone, his successor Belshazzar has been judged and God has raised up the Persian emperor Cyrus to overthrow the Babylonians. The Medean ruler, Darius, is now overseeing the governance of Babylon, and Daniel has once again impressed the ruler with his wisdom and his integrity. And Daniel is lifted into a position of high authority through the blessing of God. But not e...

This morning we begin a brand-new series called The Courageous Church, and in this series we will look at the mission statement of PBCC: Connect, Grow, Serve, and Go. Now, this was just going to be a sermon series on the book of Daniel, but God has refocused my thoughts, and we will be studying several characters from scripture who demonstrate the kind of courage God has called His church into. Bu...

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the sepa...

I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. We are in graduation season, and that poem that I just read has been incorporated into many a graduation ceremony throughout the decades. Written by the American poet, Robert Frost, the poem is perfect for graduation because...

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks , the door will be opened."  Matthew 7:7-8 What if this verse read, “If you don’t ask you will get only what you can get on your own, if you don’t seek God you will never really find him and if you don’t kn...

No one likes to be judged—for their appearance, their taste in clothes, their hair, their tattoos...No one likes to be judged for making a mistake in the game, or for their driving.  Problem is, many people have taken the statement from Matthew, “Do not judge,” and latched on to that even when their behavior is stupid, destructive, or contrary to God’s law. They say, “Don’t judge me,” or “You have...

There’s a different slant I want to bring today. We’ve talked about how everything is the Lord’s; He is the owner of it all, and we get to serve as His managers. Then we talked about being ungrateful and discontent with what He has given us so much so that we put ourselves in a prison-type of reality where we cannot give as freely, we cannot be as generous as we would like. We are strapped because...