We are staring a new section in Romans this week, Chapters 9-11. This section seems to be an abrupt stop in Paul's pastoral flow from Romans 8. Therefore, we need to know and understand why this is happening. Have we been reading Romans 9-11 with the wrong contextual view? Have we missed Paul's heart and intention? Possibly. We will examine and exp…

If you’re a Sixers fan, you just groaned when you read that phrase. I apologize. This Sunday we’ll be taking a closer look at a promise that is often misused and misunderstood. God wants us to become more and more like Jesus so He is constantly at work in our lives. The good, the bad, and the ugly – God is taking it all and using it for our good an…

Christ is risen! The empty tomb is such a sweet symbol of ultimate victory! 2,000 years ago, Jesus suffered and died, was buried, but rose again three days later … why? Because He loves you just that much! He is the ultimate champion who is for you and with you! And there is absolutely nothing in this broken world that can separate us from His love…

Personal stories and testimonies are a big part of our culture here at PFC. We believe it is important to share and receive what God is doing in the lives of those in our church, as well as those in our community and around the world. This Sunday we will take a deeper dive into Romans 8:17-19 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth co…

Have you heard the kids use the phrase, “I’m just built different”? Basically, it’s a way of bragging that I, or someone else, is better at something than normal. For example, “Michael Jordan was built different.” But human competition is ultimately futile. Guess what happened to MJ? He got old. His 61 year old body wouldn’t make it 5 minutes in to…

Living in the Spirit starts with understanding “WHOSE we are,” which then leads to understanding “WHO we are” and where our identity should come from. Knowing our identity is the key to living in the Spirit.Bởi Parker Ford Church

For those who belong in Christ Jesus, the curse of sin has been broken by the cross! This is our present reality – no condemnation… now! Oh but how we often live so conditioned to our failures, shortcomings, and mistakes. Join us as we look at this amazing truth in Romans Chapter 8. We’ll also see how this reality played out in Peter’s life as Jesu…

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Sometimes, it's a little too easy to see the Law as the problem. As Paul continues his teaching in Romans 7, he wants to make it abundantly clear that the Law is not the enemy to overcome - sin is the problem. Unfortunately, sin is so pervasive and powerful, that it can even twist the Law (a gift given by God to Israel) into something evil. A hamme…

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This week are continuing our study in Romans. Chapter 7 is a continuation of answering the question Paul states in chapter 6:15: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!” He is telling us one of the ways we must live under God's grace is to walk by the Spirit and not the flesh. And being tied to the La…

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We will serve someone. In Paul's worldview, every human is a servant of a master - even earthly kings who seem to be 'on the top.' It may appear that Caesar is a servant of none, but actually every one of us is either an instrument of sin or an instrument of righteousness. We will be used. Thankfully, when we are used by God...we're not abused.…

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Do you have any patterns or cycles in your life that you'd like to break, but you feel completely stuck? Sometimes it feels like personal change or spiritual renewal is unreachable. Jesus came to break the cycle!Bởi Parker Ford Church

By Gil Vining from the Bros Bacon Breakfast.Bởi Parker Ford Church

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Have you been waiting for the day when someone finally told you that you didn't have to evangelize anymore? No more street preaching? No more awkward conversations with relatives? No more memorizing what to draw on a napkin just in case someone randomly asks you your thoughts on salvation? Since pastors *technically* aren't allowed to say any of th…

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This Sunday at PFC, we’ll discover that Jesus wants us dead & alive! It will make more sense as we look at our Biblical text – Romans 6:1-14. There are some things that we need to declare death to – R.I.P! These things no longer hold power over us because of Jesus’ death and resurrection! We’ll also see what (or Who) we need to be fully alive to. Y…

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At Christmas, we celebrated the gift of the incarnation - God becoming flesh, the birth of our Savior, Jesus! However, that’s just the beginning. There’s more! Oh yes, the gifts keep on coming! As we tear open these incredible gifts in Romans 5:1-11, we’ll see that these have been purchased by Jesus’ sacrificial, unconditional, and incomparable lov…

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A generation or two ago it would be common to hear people ask something along the lines of, "If you were to die today and met Jesus at the heavenly gates, if He asked you, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?' What would you say?" While that's definitely not my favorite question, I do understand the intention. The motivation of that or similarly s…

The Christian businessman and author Max De Pree wrote, "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality." Jesus, the ultimate leader, is the author and perfecter of our faith. This means that Jesus is the leader who defines the fulness of reality. As we bid farewell to 2023 and look forward to 2024, the key word as a church family is hop…

Today we wrap up our Advent series with the last of our four theories of atonement: the Moral Influence Atonement Theory. This theory emphasizes the atoning work of Christ by demonstrating Trinitarian humility and love towards each other (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and also towards humanity. This God-posture within the Trinity is an example of h…

As we've been studying the atonement we've seen that Christ died to make atonement for our sins. The death of Jesus made a way for fallen and broken humans to be made right with our holy God. But the cross is not only about our personal redemption. The cross is also the symbol of God's victory over Satan. This week we are examining Christ's victory…

This Sunday, we’ll look at another facet of what Jesus accomplished by coming to earth that first Christmas and sacrificing His life on the cross. In Romans 5:12-21, we’ll see that one man (Adam) messed everything up for humanity but one Man (Jesus) came and made everything right. We’ll see that in Jesus, grace overflows and we have renewed hope.…

In Romans 3:25 the Apostle Paul writes, "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood - to be received by faith." During the Advent season PFC will be exploring the meaning and mystery of the atonement. This Sunday we're kicking off this series by focusing on the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross…

Remember when the U.S. monetary system was based on the “gold standard?” Until 1933 the worth of each dollar was backed by actual gold held by the U.S. Treasury. Now each dollar’s worth is based on…faith. As followers of Christ our faith is backed by an even better standard than gold. The standard of our faith is Jesus. Paul has a lot to say about …

As we continue to walk though Romans 3, this week we will be looking at the word Goodness. What is goodness, and if God is the only one who is good, where does that leave me in my faith journey?Bởi Parker Ford Church

As we continue our study in Romans, we’ll explore what the righteousness of God and justification by faith is all about. Yes, they are BIG words that are rich in meaning. We’ll unpack them and see that God always does what is just and right and He is faithful to His promises. The story of Jesus shows how God has done both of these things.…

This week we take a one week pause from our Romans series to talk about some of the things going on in the life of our church family. We’ll hear updates regarding various ministries at PFC and talk about the mission, vision, and direction of PFC.Bởi Parker Ford Church

As we’ll discover this week, you can be born into the right family, read the Bible, disciple others, be marked for God but not be truly marked by God. The outside of your life may look fantastic, but the inside (your heart) tells another story. It doesn't matter what other people think—what matters is what God thinks of you because He knows the con…

Romans 1:21-32: This week we are continuing in our study of Romans 1. We were created to live as heart-soul-mind-strength beings. When our head and our heart are not connected, we fail to be who the Father has made us to be. Therefore, if we desire to be more like Jesus, we must understand and grow in the head-heart connection.…

Today, we’ll continue to unpack the lie from Romans 1:25 (idolatry). One of the areas where we’ve exchanged God’s truth for lies and turned our worship away from God is with our physical bodies. In this text, Paul specifically addresses our sexual impurity and humanity’s broken sexuality. We’ll take a solemn look at this reality but then turn our g…

Paul’s audience, the Roman house churches, were experiencing tension along several cultural and spiritual fault lines. There was the racial issue - Jews vs. Gentiles. There was also the “Strong” vs. “Weak” divide addressed in chapters 14-15. Romans 1 addresses issues that the “weak” could get behind (God’s wrath against pagan behavior). But then Pa…

Today we start reading Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. He builds his opening remarks to a bold declaration that he is not ashamed of the Gospel! We’ll unpack this statement and the reasons he gives for why we need not be ashamed of the good news of the story of Jesus.Bởi Parker Ford Church

As we jump into the book of Romans we'll tackle the "who, what, when, why, where" questions surrounding this magnificent text. To help find grounding and context, we begin our series in Romans at the end of the letter - chapter 16. Romans 16 will set the stage, introduce main characters, and help us orient ourselves in the foreign world of ancient …

Next week we are going to dive into a new series where we walk through the book of Romans. But before we dive into that, we just wanted to take a week to re-focus on our “Purpose.” As one of our kiddos asked this week, “Why did God make humans?” And it was so awesome to hear our other kiddos say “To know Him and show Him!” Today we are going to loo…

This weekend we celebrate the saving and redeeming work of Christ symbolized through baptism. Baptism is a picture of our death into the death of Christ, our burial with Him, and our hope in the future Resurrection. When a person goes down into the water it shows that they have been crucified and buried with Christ. When they emerge from the water …

This Sunday we’ll be wrapping up our summer series by eavesdropping on a conversation among Jesus and two other men who were all uttering their last words while hanging on crosses (Luke 23). We are all one of these two thieves. We are all guilty because of our sin but forgiveness has been extended to us through Jesus’ love and sacrifice. Which thie…

We all want to live at peace, or at the very least, have moments of peace. This week we are going to look at how our view/mindset around work and rest must be appropriately aligned for us to experience God’s peace. While work and rest seem like they do not go together… they do. From the beginning of time the Lord created both work and rest for the …

How many times have you exclaimed, “If I only had more time!” So how do we balance our schedules, priorities, commitments, and boundaries in a world that never sleeps? We’ll see Jesus’ unhurried example and teaching about prioritizing the important over the urgent. Sometimes we have to say no to good things so we can say yes to the best. Join us th…

When Jesus sent out the first apostles in Matthew 10, He told them that He was sending them out as "sheep among wolves." He follows this warning with a strange piece of advice. Jesus says, "Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." This statement by Jesus highlights a point of tension for Christians as we follow Jesus in a sometim…

The Bible was not written to us but it is for us. There are parts of God’s written Word that are real head-scratchers and difficult to understand. There are other parts that are clear and simple enough for even a child to read and comprehend. This Sunday, we’ll explore the various reasons for this as well as pick up some tools that will help us wre…

As we continue our Life in the Balance series, this week we will be looking at the tension between God’s sovereignty and our free will. What role do we play in God’s plans? Do the choices we make really matter? Is God trustworthy? And what should be our posture in the tension held within God’s sovereignty?…

What is a follower of Christ’s posture toward the powers that be? Whether it’s a boss, a teacher, a bus driver, a manager, a coach, a government official, a parent … we all have authority in our lives. What is a Christian’s default response toward authority? Are there any exceptions? Join us this Sunday as we dig into Scripture and seek to walk thi…

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Author Andy Crouch says, "The defining emotional challenge of our time is anxiety, the fear of what might be instead of the courageous pursuit of what could be." As we continue our teaching of living in the balance of joy and grief, we'll explore the idea that the anxiety we experience is an opportunity to step deeper into the peace and presence of…