This year we had a Christmas Eve service for the whole family.

How should we respond when God seems silent?

Your greatest regret relationally, morally, or ethically -- whether in the past or yet to come -- could have been or can be avoided.

When getting on the same page with our spouse seems like an impossible task, the thought runs through our mind. During those moments when the bedroom feels more like a battlefield, we begin to wonder. As a single in today's culture where there are new rules to relationships, you think, "What's the big deal?" It's the question everyone is thinking, but is too afraid to ask. We invite you to join us over the course of the next few weeks as we examine the marriage relationship in a series titled "Marriage: Why Bother?"

At one time or another, we’ve all muttered the words, "what was I thinking?" Contrary to culture’s logic, trusting our gut and following our heart has only given us a bout of indigestion and heartburn. Looking back on the bad decisions we’ve made, we can see the different things we should’ve done in hindsight. What if we could see the wisdom in these choices BEFORE we make a wrong decision? We invite you to join us over the next few weeks as we process both how to make a good decision and more importantly, how to avoid making bad ones!

In our darkest hour we found unity. In our fear we found courage. In our grief we found perspective.

Join us as we spend two weeks discussing the vision for our body and how you can be involved in what God is doing in our community.

For many of us, we view spiritual disciplines as a sign of a mature Christian; we think of the scholarly person in their study surrounded by books with a roaring fire going, or the monk living a life of solitude somewhere in the mountains. The assumption is that maturity will produce behaviors that please God or make us better people. During this series we will challenge ourselves to instead approach spiritual disciplines as the path to maturity rather than viewing them as the result. Join us in allowing God do a work in our hearts as we learn "The Art of Practice."

When Jesus enters a story, He changes everything.

One begins to leverage their life when they begin to understand God has given them the power to influence others through the way they live their life. Leverage requires commitment, consistency and being laser focused on the mission before you. God has trusted you with the influence of His love and the integrity of His image. God desires for every follower of His to use everything they’ve been given for the sake of His Kingdom. We have to look at everything we have, as well as all that we experience, both the good and the bad, and ask, “what is this for?” We invite you to join us for “Reach” where we explore the concept of leverage and how it helps us fulfill the mission of reaching people and helping them walk with God.

A My One Word update from Mike Ashcraft

A recent survey revealed that only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work while only 51 percent find their jobs interesting. Let those findings sink in. This survey implies most people don’t enjoy what they do. Work is seen as a burden, a curse or a means to an end. This is a sobering thought when you consider the average person will spend over 1,800 hours this year at work. It goes deeper than just working for the weekend. Often as Christians we have a hard time thinking about our work in a way that matters to God. We tend to find ourselves living in the midst of the tension between our day job and our dream job. What we have to understand is that our work, regardless of our profession, matters to God and God matters to our work. All work has dignity and serves as an opportunity to reflect God’s character and heart to the world. Over the course of the next few weeks, we invite you to join us for Dream Job as we let God’s truth shape our work and rediscover our dream job through our identity in Christ.

After the initial moments of change that take place when you first accept Christ fade, many of us experience a sense of frustration when we encounter our old self all over again. Struggle begins to arise. Meeting resistance leaves us shell shocked and we don't know what to do. What we have to understand is that even though we might be surprised with our struggles, God is not. His agenda is making us holy and developing his character within us. No matter the struggle, the situation, or how stuck one has been, if they know Christ then there is hope. They must position themselves to believe the real challenge of Christian growth is the challenge of personal responsibility. This begins by creating a path out of their rut. Change is indeed possible. You can change and you are changing.

Seperation was caused through the actions of one person and restoration came at the hands of another. By the gift of God's grace, seen in the life of Christ, we have been made right with Him. Yet, the choice is ours on how we respond and what we ultimately do with this gift. We invite you to join us for Moved By One as we explore how the Gospel should move us towards action.

We were made to be great. The problem is that our view of greatness has been drastically skewed from God’s original intent. Instead, people are scrambling to make much of themselves. Yet, our desire to make a name for ourselves is not a new phenomenon. Roughly 4,000 years ago, ambition was alive and well as a tower was being built in the middle of a city. It stood as a symbol of pride and autonomy--rebellion against God hidden in bricks. We invite you to join us for a 5-week series called “The Tower” in which we explore ambition, our motives for greatness and what it looks like for God to be seen in our achievement.

What do you get when you take the timeless truths of the Bible and communicate them in a culturally relevant way? Join Brett Eddy as he discusses what it takes to have a relevant impact on the people we encounter in our daily lives.

The environment here at PC3 requires hundreds of volunteers to provide the ministries you see. But more than just “doing their job,” these volunteers own the mission of our church—to reach people and help them walk with God.

Everything we do at PC3 serves to reach out to our community and provide a place for them to consider their next (and and often times, first) steps towards Christ. Every environment here is critical to that process.

We believe that you are a crucial piece of making these environments possible. If you have been here for any length of time, and don’t volunteer, we invite you to simply “Jump In.” Everyone you see behind the cameras, in our Family Ministries, or greeting at the doors all started by simply jumping in. We encourage you to do the same—and our staff is here to help you find a great place to serve!

If you already serve on one of our teams, we say “Thank you.” You have made today possible. In fact, you make every week possible. But we don’t want you to stop there. We want you to own the mission and share the vision to impact our city. We want you to leverage your influence to help others find their place to serve and help them Jump In.

We are excited about what God is doing here and want to invite you to not only jump in, but to own it!

Our mission at PC3 is to Reach People and Help Them Walk With God. For many of us this church community has become home, but how does our church’s mission connect to this community? In our series “Planted” we will look at how small groups connect us all to the mission of the church and how each of us have an opportunity to reach people and help them walk with God right where we are!

Every New Year we hope this will finally be the year that things will change. We make promises about the new person we're going to become, pledging to get a grip on our finances, get in shape, become a better parent, spouse, even a nicer human being! But there’s one problem: our resolutions seldom work. The busy pace of life gets the better of us, and suddenly, the year is over with little to no personal growth having occurred in our lives.

“My One Word” is an experiment designed to move you beyond the past and look ahead. The challenge is simple: lose the long list of changes you want to make this year and instead pick ONE WORD. This process provides clarity by taking all of your big plans for life change and narrowing them down into a single thing. One word focuses on your character and creates a vision for your future. So, we invite you to join us and pick one word in 2011 (click here to learn how)!

This is the time of year that we celebrate. It is the time to reflect and to remember. We put up trees, decorate our houses, and exchange gifts as part of the celebration. Yet, all these things may be expressions of something deeper and much more meaningful. Join us as we explore how the birth of Christ was much more than an event to remember... more than the story of a baby in a manger. And this year we will celebrate not just a season, but “God With Us."

“Taste and See” is a four-week series specially prepared to help you learn the art of reading and understanding the Bible. Many of us have been inspired to pick up the Bible and read it only to find ourselves frustrated because we didn’t understand what we just read. During this series, we hope you’ll develop an appetite for the Scriptures and a better understanding of God’s Word. And if you’re a little unsure, well... just Taste and See!

Here at PC3, we assume that doing a regular quiet time is something that we all struggle with. Well, don't worry--it only took Mike about 15 years for it to become a regular part of his life... so keep working on it! In this message, Mike answers common misperceptions about what a quiet time is, and shares some helpful tips on how to read, reflect, and record your insights!

Sticky Notes are one of man’s greatest inventions. They allow you to capture thoughts and jot down important details. On a 3-inch by 3-inch yellow sheet of paper, you have a convenient, tangible, visible reminder of what needs to get done, but one of their greatest functions is the ability to remind us of things which often slip our mind.

“God’s” is a 6-week series designed to remind us of some very important principles regarding one of the most oppressive and stressful areas of our lives--our finances. The reasons we are enslaved to our way of life vary, but there is a common theme throughout: we have forgotten and lost sight of the fact that everything we own belongs to God.

*NOTE: For the first time at PC3, will be giving out a companion workbook that we are asking each person to follow along with while attending the series. It includes more information about the topics covered, discussion questions for deeper insight, and practical tools that will help you gain a clearer picture of your finances. You will be able to visit gods.portcitychurch.org to find out more about the series, invite someone to join you, watch the messages, and download the accompanying workbook in digital format.