Invite.Me

This weekend we wrap up our series, Invite.Me with a practical and provocative look at the widely-known story in John 4. In his encounter with a Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus teaches us to witness His way. Service times this weekend are Sat. 5 and 6:30pm and Sunday 9:30, 11am, 2pm (Spanish).

Book Recommendation

My friend Nelson Searcy's new book, Ignite, is an excellent read on creating a culture of evangelism in your church. Nelson is a master at systematizing just about anything. In Ignite, he's done it again by presenting a full orbed evangelism system for your church.

Ignite is packed with practical insight on how to reach out with Christ's love through servant evangelism, big days to break growth barriers and much more.

Congrats again, Nelson, on your new book. I know its helping tons of pastors out there just like it helped me and PCC.

A True Friend

The Pharisees accused Jesus of being a "friend of sinners." Why? Because he was a friend of sinners. Duh! He hung with them all the time. He went to social gatherings and mixed and mingled with some of the most notorious sinners in his community. Jesus said, "For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mt. 9:13)

Pharisees still exist. They still criticize and complain about how growing churches water down the Gospel and are too accepting of those outside the church. D.L. Moody, the great evangelist was once criticized for his style and strategies of reaching people for Christ. In response, he said, "I like my way of doing evangelism better than the way you don't do it."

I've found that most people who criticize me and our church and what we do to reach the unsaved in our community are for the most part not doing a blessed thing to reach anyone for Christ. Andy Stanley says, "People who are nothing like Jesus, like Jesus." It's only the religious and superspiritual "Christians" (modern day Pharisees) that think they are so much like Jesus that don't get it. The more you are like Jesus, the more you are going to like people who aren't like him.

Amazing Week!

Last week was an amazing week at PCC. I want to personally thank each of the hundreds of volunteers that helped to make it so successful. Without each of you, my prayers would have gone unanswered.

We spent the week living out the 1 Cor. 9:19-27 scripture that states "... I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some ... I do it all for the sake of the gospel." We'll do anything short of sin to reach people for Jesus at PCC!

Here are some of the highlights:

• Over 5000 people heard the gospel at PCC in 9 services.
• Over 600 people made a decision for Christ.
• 2500 students were encouraged and inspired by The Strength Team in 9 local school assemblies.
• Only 1 broken bone - my pinky toe on my left foot : )

God is awesome. Thanks for inviting your friends and working together to reach this Mountain with the love of Jesus Christ. I'm so proud of you PCC and honored to be your pastor. I can't wait to see what God is going to do this coming Sunday. Yeah God!

Here are some more pics from last night. As a footnote (no pun intended) I was able to bend a 1/2 inch bar of steel and break a wall of concrete. Thanks for cheering me own!

Back To School Kick Off

Back To School Kick Off was awesome. Thanks so much PCC for making this such a high impact outreach to our community. We've received great reports on how this helped so many people.

Here's some highlights...

*Tons of energetic and positive volunteers willing to serve

*Over 1500 hundred people served

*1000 plus backpacks filled with school supplies

*160+ free hair cuts

*600 plus child identity kits

*200 plus dental care kits

*160 free eye exams

*Everyone feelin' the love of God

Backpack Outreach

Last week we handed out 1000 backpacks to the PCC church family who committed to fill them up with school supplies for needy children and families. We are going to give those backpacks away on Saturday, August 30^th, from 10am-2pm at the church. Also, we are providing

· free haircuts,

· free dental care kits,

· and lots of other helpful gifts to those in need.

If you would like to volunteer to give haircuts, manage a booth, give away the backpacks, etc … just call the church office or email Diedre at dcastle@poconocc.com.

Also, if you missed church last week but want to get a backpack and fill it up, just come to church this Sunday and we’ll have one waiting for you.

Oh, we are getting supplies for filling the backpacks at FiveBelow near the new Olive Garden in Stoudsburg. FiveBelow is giving back 10% of all proceeds to PCC. So use the enclosed gift certificate for your OWN school supplies and to fill up the backpacks!

Leonard's Story

Yesterday I ran into an old friend. His name is Leonard. One of my buddies at PCC met Leonard in a local pizza shop over a year ago and invited him to come to PCC. Well, Leonard came to church that next Sunday and I met him in the hallway of the school where we were holding services. In all honestly, he was a mess. He was hooked on heroine. He could hardly speak without breaking down. He had so much pain in his life and I really felt for the guy. He was desperate and needed God's love and grace in a profound way. Well, Leonard gave his heart to Jesus that day and started attending PCC. It wasn't too long that he moved back closer to his family some hours away and I had lost touch with him.

After the second service yesterday a distinguished looking gentlemen came up to say hi to me. I could tell the man genuinely loved the Lord, he had a sweet spirit and carried with him an undeniable joy and peace. We talked for a moment and I soon realized that I was speaking with Leonard! I didn't even recognize him. He had completely changed on both the inside and out. It was as if the Lord restored 20 years to his life.

Leonard brought me up to speed on how good God had been to him since he left Pocono. He had reunited him with family and was now attending engineering school and had already lined up a job. As teared rolled down his face, he thanked me and PCC for helping him find God and discover better way to live life.

I'm so glad to be part of a church that helps people like Leonard experience the life changing power of Jesus Christ.

A Man Fell In A Hole

Getting Ready For Easter - Pt. 2

Invest and Invite
At PCC we go to great lengths to reach those who are far from God with the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ. For many of us, that means purposefully building relationships with people who don't know God and inviting them to church so they can experience the life God really intended them to live.

We simply are willing to become a trusted friend for the sake of eternity.

Because of the power of the resurrection, people are more likely to be open to your invitation at Easter than at any other time of the year. Who of your relatives, neighbors, and co-workers do you want to see come to Christ this Easter?

For those PCC blog readers, let me encourage you to ask God to show you who to invite? Respond with boldness and hand out the invest/invite cards available at the kiosk in the lobby or in your program. Bring a friend to one of our three weekened services - 9am, 10:45am, and 12:30pm. Better yet, bring a different friend to each of our three services. And let's pray that hundres will commit their lives to Christ this Easter!

Elder Brother Spirit

I'm at a leadership seminar this week in Indianapolis and one of the speakers, Dary Northrop, of Timberline Church, spoke about the fact that it gets really messy when you are reaching people for Christ.

He told the story about this woman stripper who got saved in his church. He explained that on her first Sunday in church she was not exactly wearing "church clothes" and despite that fact, the Lord touched her heart and she gave her life to Jesus.

He reminded us of the story of the Prodigal son and the fact that if he would have ran into the elder brother first he would have never made it back into the father's house. Unfortunately, too many of our churches display the spirit of the elder brother. We want everyone to clean up their life before we welcome them in the church.

Our heavenly father calls us to love EVERYONE. Dary challenged us to love people before they change or clean up their life. That was worth the entire trip this week!