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Easter brings new hope and life every year. It's less complicated than the Christmas season and always reminds us that Jesus indeed conquered death and all that he said is true. The Bible says, "and if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless." (1 Cor 15:14) It's a big deal. Make it a big deal. Some churches have baptisms on Easter. Some celebrate Maudy Thursday and Good Friday, and even have a sunrise service! This year our church is trying something new. We will be having a sunrise service. I'm not an early morning guy, but on Easter it is worth the effort. Watching the sun come up as we celebrate the new life and hope Jesus gave to the world is indeed special. We will then have a great time with our family who will all join us to celebrate the day together.
Have a wonderful Easter and thank God that "He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:56).
Jim Smith President Pacific Church Network
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Once again, Pacific Church Network is taking a group to Israel, November 28 - December 8.
Millions of Christians have traveled to the land of the Bible and had their faith and biblical knowledge enhanced in transformative ways. There are so many different reasons why Christians are blessed and inspired by travel to Israel that it is an absolute must for anyone with the time and means to go there. Join us this year. Advertise it this EASTER. Cost covers airfare, hotel, most meals, travel, entrance fees, and tips. $3738.
Find out more here.
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On Wednesday, April 26, if you can get away for a free luncheon, we are encouraging all church secretaries and assistants to join us for this free event in their honor. We will have lunch at Maggiano's in Costa Mesa, near South Coast Plaza. Join us for lunch and perhaps shop a little. This will be a fun, enjoyable afternoon where church administrative professionals will have a chance to meet their counterparts from churches all over Southern California. Come together and enjoy a meal on us. We appreciate all you do! Pastors.....send your administrative professional!!! Sign up here to reserve your place.
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On Monday, May 8, see what you can learn from our most innovative churches about how to be more effective. Hear what three of our PCN church planters have learned from their church plants: Joel Webbon (San Diego), Thien Doan (Fountain Valley) and Joaquin Garcia (Whittier.) This free workshop will be held at San Antonio Heights Community Church in Upland. Lunch is included, but RSVP to reserve your meal. More information here.
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On Sunday, April 2, our PCN church in Manhattan Beach called Journey of Faith is adding a new venue for church on their campus. With already four service times on Sunday (8, 9:30, 11 and 6) they need more space. For their 9:30 and 11 services, they are adding live music and then a 5-minute delayed taped sermon in more of their larger rooms on campus. Pastor Jason Cusick is excited to see new people coming every week that have no understanding of the Bible at all. Who is Paul? What does turn to John mean? Is he sitting next to me?We are excited about the growth at Journey!
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Don't miss our PCN Women's Breakfast coming April 29, 9 a.m. to 12 noon at Iglesia Bautista de Bell in Cudahy (in Spanish). Tickets are $10 per person. Our special guest speaker is Dra. María Eugenia Martínez and the theme is: Retrato de una Mujer de Dios.
Last year this event was packed out, so buy your tickets now. We are thankful for the many great volunteers who work so hard on our Hispanic women's events all year including Patsy Mazariegos, Norma Bustos, and Mali Reguerin!
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Pastor Mark Ambrose is the lead pastor of Pacific Coast Church, a PCN church in San Clemente, California. They have developed a great way to share the gospel, because they feel that the majority of Christians, at times, feel intimidated, awkward, and uncomfortable in sharing their faith. Their solution? PromoteGrace.com!
Step 1 - Perform a random act of kindness towards people you don't know (i.e. act of Grace). Step 2 - Hand the person a PromoteGrace.com card. That's it! No further explanation or discussion needed. Result - Your act of grace will get the person's attention and the card will create intrigue motivating them to log on and check out the PromoteGrace.com website.
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At our PCN Generosity workshop, many had the
opportunity to hear the President of Generis, Brad Leeper, share some very practical ideas for talking about money in your church. Brad said it is one of the toughest topics to discuss in church. One church financial secretary said, "This was very helpful in so many ways...practical ideas that are simple to incorporate in our church. I'm glad I came!" One idea was to take 90 seconds and tell a story before the offering. For example: share about a teen who accepted Jesus as their Lord last week at a winter camp, who went because a scholarship was made possible through the generosity of this church. Another idea was to send out quarterly giving statements. Not only was the content wonderful, the food was fantastic! Thank you to Bill Nicoson and Cornerstone Pastors Network who helped sponsor this training event. Also thank you to our PCN host church, Armenian Evangelical Brethren Church of Glendale, and their pastor, Dikran Shanlian, for the delicious and plentiful lunch.
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Years of holding hundreds of faithful attenders of First Baptist Church took it's toll on the pews in our PCN church in Oceanside. In getting ready for Easter, this church ordered a dumpster and had some church work days to take apart the old pews and fill up the dumpster. It took about two weeks, but the new chairs looks great and are very comfortable. Congratulations to Pastor Adam Smith and those hard working volunteers.
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On Saturday, March 18, a group of Spanish-speaking church leaders met at Iglesia Bautista de Bell / Bell Baptist Church, our PCN church in Cudahy, to hear Pastor George Chakarji share about what it is like to be a bi-vocational pastor. Pastor George shared how he has learned to balance his time, delegate responsibilities and focus on what is important. The workshop proved to be very helpful, and the valuable information shared was easy to apply for the many who attended this workshop. Thank you Pastor George and Pastor Emilio Núñez (our PCN Spanish Ministries Director).
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