January 30th, 2018

Office/Fellowship Hall Entrances Update

Our project to repair the office stairs and improve the fellowship hall entrance has finally started! With the work to tear down the crumbling steps underway, the entrances to the fellowship hall and office are not currently available for use. In the coming weeks, please use the sanctuary ramp entrance for the upstairs and office areas and the middle set of stairs to the storage room for entrance to the downstairs and fellowship hall. The kitchen door will be reserved for those who have trouble navigating the middle steps. During this project, we will be leaving the doors locked while in the office since we cannot keep an eye on who is coming and going. Please call before coming to the church during office hours, and we will let you in. We appreciate your support and patience as we work through these next few weeks to repair and improve the entrances to our building so that everyone can fully and safely participate in our ministries!

​Blessings on the journey, Jim

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Sunday's Sermon Snippet

To the Horizon: Facing the Storm (Matthew 14:22-33)
Following Jesus is no easy task. We follow by caring about what he cares about, taking the next faithful step, and remaining faithful in even the small ways. And we sometimes fail! As we admit in our prayer of confession before communion, we do not always hear the cry of the needy, we do not do God's will, and we do not hold true to even the small thing of loving our neighbors. What does it mean for us to fail in following Jesus? First of all, it means we are in good company. Peter, the leader of the disciples and the rock upon which Jesus would build the church, was no stranger to failure. In this story, Peter along with the other disciples were in a boat being buffeted by the wind and waves when Jesus walks out upon the water to them. In the dawn light, they grew afraid that his figure approaching them was a ghost. When Jesus identified himself, Peter asked him to call him out to him and he would walk on water. As Jesus called him, Peter stepped out and walked upon the water until he remembered the wind and grew afraid. Sinking, he called out to Jesus who lifted him up and back to the boat. Like a child learning to ride a bike, Peter had succeeded for a moment until the panic of having no training wheels or steadying hand upon his back set in. Like a parent helping that child, Jesus questions why Peter panicked when he was doing so well. Peter had tried and had failed, but Jesus was there to catch him and give him another chance another day in another way. Peter would fail time after time in following Jesus, but he was always willing to jump back in and try again. To his credit, Peter was often the only one who would try even if it meant he might fail. A pastor once said, "Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter." How often are we willing to do the easy thing and claim we have done our part than risk failing at something difficult? How often do we sit at the back of the boat watching as others jump in and try to walk on water? We may succeed at these things but we will not have tried to do what truly matters to Jesus. We follow Jesus by risking failure at things that really matter. What are we willing to risk failing at for Jesus?

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Living in Community

Thank you, Ralph, for your leadership in worship each week
and for leading our prayer this past Sunday!

This Week at Port Church

Wednesday, January 31
9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours 
6:00 pm - Wednesday at the Port

Thursday, February 1
9:00 - 11:45 am - Office Hours

​Sunday, February 4
9:30 am - Worship: "To the Horizon: Reaching the Horizon"
​11:00 am - Sunday School
12:00 noon - VBS Planning Meeting

Monday, February 5
9:30 am - Bible Study at Dianna's house

Tuesday, February 6
7:00 pm - Bible Study at Dianna's house

Looking Ahead

225th Anniversary Planning Meeting - February 11, 12 pm
Ash Wednesday Service, February 14, 7 pm
VBS tentatively scheduled for June 25-29