Hey all!  Beautiful day outside today.  And a beautiful night for a parade!

We will again be participating in the My Waterloo Days parade this year.  If you're headed out to the parade tonite, and would like to walk alongside our float and do some waving, we'd love that.

So: meet us at our staging area on the corner of 4th and Washington (eastbound - right under the 218 bridge) at 6:00 p.m.  The parade will begin at 6:30.  Wear any of your PLC-branded tshirts if you've got one.  Otherwise, just give us a wave along the route.

See ya tonite!

Currently I'm walking through a YouVersion reading plan that's taking me through the first part of the Old Testament.  Today I was in Exodus 20 - the chapter that contains the Ten Commandments. Christian or not, it's one of the most familiar parts of the Bible to most of us.

I got to the 4th commandment, which reads like this in the NIV:

"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

If you are like me, you probably learned this commandment with some different language - maybe in King James language:

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

And also, if you are like me, you probably thought that "taking the name of the Lord thy God in vain" primarily meant that we weren't supposed to say "Oh my God" or "Jesus Christ" - you know, the proper names of God - in a pejorative manner: as a curse word, when we're angry or surprised, etc.

And while that certainly is a fine application from this passage, I don't think it really gets to the heart of what God was telling Moses and his people here for ages to come on Mount Sinai.

When God talks about his "name," he's referring to more than just what we call him or what we refer to him as when we pray or speak (or curse).  When God talks about his name, he's talking about his reputation: his standing, his stature, his renown in the world.

"Don't misuse my name.  Don't live in such a way that I get a bad reputation among the people you live alongside.  Don't bring dishonor to who I am and what I stand for in the minds and the hearts of those with you in this world.  When people think of you as one of mine, I want those thoughts to be good - because I am good."

And while this certainly encompasses what we say about God, it probably has a lot more to do with what we're doing and/or not doing as Christians - people who label ourselves with the name of his Son, Jesus the Christ.

Now, without a doubt, there certainly are things that we'll do and say as Christians that will earn us the ire and hatred of a few folks around us.  Some of our convictions and stances are unpopular to the culture around us, to say the least.

But if we're not living lives with people of love, blessing, mercy, help, forgiveness, patience, kindness, and presence, then I think we're guilty of breaking this 4th commandment.

Just want to encourage all of you today in the same way that God has encouraged me:

Make God more famous in the lives of those around you / by intentionally putting his life on display / through how you live yours / today.

If you attended our volunteer celebration a week ago, you heard from Ellen Vanderloo, Mentor Coordinator at Waterloo Community Schools, share some stories from students on how PLC Waterloo folks are making an impact in their lives through the Teammates mentoring program.

Then, you heard Ellen mention another program that she coordinates - a storage facility filled with furniture and other amenities for foster kids who are graduating with their high school diploma/equivalency degree and are now headed out on their own, and needing to figure out how to furnish their first apartment.

Well, we've got one of those foster kids who calls PLC Waterloo his home.  And here is your chance to bless him.

Alex Green graduated with his GED this spring in the top 10% in his class.  He worked as a cook at Chef Dan's Art House Cafe, and is currently living with Chef Dan and Joyce Ankrum for the summer.

Alex crossed the faith line at Waterloo.  Used to be an atheist.  Now is a follower of Jesus.

And we'd like to give you an opportunity to celebrate him.

And by "celebrate," I mean "drown him in blessing."

Alex and the Ankrums would like to invite ALL of you to attend Alex's graduation open house over at the Ankrum's place immediately following church this Sunday.  It's about 3 minutes from First Lutheran.  Food (cooked by Chef Dan and Alex!) provided.  Gifts would be appreciated.  We'll be partying until 4:00 p.m.

Alex will also take part in the Foster Care Graduation Party at Hawkeye Community College, 5:00-6:30 p.m. at the Brock Student Center on campus this Friday.  So, if you can't stop by the Ankrums' on Sunday, stop by the College Friday evening.

Choose to upend your life and schedule this Sunday.  Let's show this brand new follower of Jesus just how wide and deep and tangible the love of God really is.

See you there!

Hey everyone!  It's spring, it's planting season, and we're ready to start up work on our community garden.  Next Saturday, May 12, at 10:00 a.m., join Pastor Carl and a team of folks out at the garden, which is right across the street from the House of Hope.  We'll be creating and laying down 8 new beds, weeding our existing beds, and getting everything ready to plant.

You'll want to bring:

• gloves
• drill
• crescent wrench
• hammer

Pastor Carl will also be bringing his grill and is inviting you to bring some meat or a dish to share.  After we're done working, we'll be having a cookout and hanging out together.  There's a nice park just adjacent to the community garden, so it's pretty kid-friendly.  Hope you can make it!

Don't forget about our town hall meeting tonite.  We'll be talking numbers, facility, and discussing this question about our mission in Waterloo: "How do we move from 'we' to 'me'?"

Don't forget about changing some light bulbs.  Here are your times:

• This afternoon, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
• Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Don't forget about sharing volunteer stories.  We'd love to hear from you about who in your circle you think is worthy of some recognition for their volunteer service at PLC.  We'll tell their story at our Volunteer Celebration on the 8th, and have a nice gift for them.  Email your stories to Angela Payne at Angela.Payne@prairielakeschurch.org.

Don't forget about our Volunteer Celebration.  We have about 110 of you who have already RSVP'd.  Thanks!  If you haven't yet, just click here and RSVP online.  Otherwise, you'll have a chance to do it at the Connection Desk this weekend.

Don't forget about our FAQ series this weekend.  Pastor Carl and I will be answering your questions live at Waterloo this weekend.  If you'd like to submit a question, you can do so in advance by clicking here.  Otherwise, you'll be able to text or write them in this weekend.

Hey all!

Just wanted to let you know about kind of a cool opportunity we have to be good partners with our friends at First Lutheran, as well as brighten up our worship center a bit.

MidAmerican, our utilities company, performed an energy audit on our building, and concluded that we'd really benefit from some new, high efficiency bulbs in the worship center.  This would both save on energy costs AND provide much more light or lumens or however they measure that. 

In fact, they said that they'd provide the bulbs for free on one condition: we have to come up with the labor for their installation.

So, if you're not afraid of heights, and would be willing to come in and help out by climbing a ladder (or if you are afraid of heights, and would be willing to come in and hold a ladder!), we've got a few times for you in this next week to help out with the installation:

• Monday, April 30th from 4:00-6:00 PM
• Tuesday, May 1st 6:00-9:00 PM
• Thursday, May 3rd as an option 8:30-12:30 PM 

If you're able to make any of those times, please let us know by RSVP'ing via email to Angela Payne (Angela.Payne@prairielakeschurch.org).  Thanks in advance for your help!

Don't know if any of you caught this in the Sunday Courier, but we had a pretty cool article highlighting our partnership in education with East High.

Download Partner in Ed.

But it got me thinking.

Do you know what the best advertisment is for us?  The best marketing for Prairie Lakes Waterloo?  The best way to raise the level of awareness and attendance on the weekend?

You.

It's you.  It's you in conversation with the folks that you work with.  It's you on the deck with your neighbors.  It's you making life with God attractive by loving God with all your heart, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

It's you.

We're gonna keep on doing things like partnering with East High becuase we believe that's part of what God is calling us to do.  And we're gonna participate in things like My Waterloo Days and other community events because those are also good ways to let people know that we're here.

But all of those parades, booths, and articles can not replace a personal relationship that you and only you can have with those in your circle.  

In other words: there are plenty of people in our city, at your workplace, and on your block who don't yet know Jesus.  Most likely, they won't come to know him because they saw an ad, or a parade float, or a booth.

Most likely, they'll come to know him because they see him, feel him, and experience him in you.

I know that now more than a week has passed since we gathered together for Easter, but I wanted to take an opportunity to share with you what happened in the lives of more than a few of the folks in attendance.

For those of you who were out of town or serving in one of our children's ministry areas, let me do a brief recap.

The idea of the morning was this: "You can't have a resurrection without a death."  Just as Jesus modeled this for us in his life, death, and resurrection, so too can we rise with him if we lay down our lives before him.

During the service we invited all who wanted to to write something on a wooden chip - their cross -  that they needed to die to in order to be raised with Christ.  For those who really hadn't made the commitment yet to Christ, we invited them to simply write "Me" on their card.  Then, they were invited forward to come and bury their chip in planter filled with dirt, symbolizing this death.

And wouldn't you know it: 29 people wrote "Me."

Now, there's no way of knowing for sure how many of those folks were really entering into a relationship with Jesus for the first time, or the first time in a long time.

Nevertheless: we had 29  people desire to get right with Jesus at Easter in Waterloo.  Praise God.

Of course, scores of other people wrote other things that they needed to die to, from addictions, to alcohol, to smoking, to money, to broken relationships.  It was powerful to see almost everyone in a pew get up, come forward, and respond to what God was doing in their heart.

So, if you wrote something on that chip, remember: today it is as dead as Christ was in the grave.  And you have been made just as alive as He is today.

Hey all,

I know that a few of you and some of your small groups are planning on participating, but for the rest: Love Cedar Valley will again be taking place this Saturday, with an opportunity to sign up for "walk-up" serving opportunities at 10:45 a.m. over at the Five Sullian Brothers Convention Center.  Just a great opportunity to spend a few hours on a Saturday blessing our community and worshiping with others interested in doing the same.

Remember also on that same morning the Kick the Can Family Run/Walk 5k, with all proceeds going towards the Northeast Iowa Food Bank.  Online registration is now closed - but you can register by coming to Prairie Lakes Cedar Falls Campus from 4:30-7:00 on Friday night, or at 7:30 a.m. the morning of the race this Saturday at the CBE Group.

So: race early Saturday morning, and Love Cedar Valley later in the morning/early afternoon.  Couple of opportunities to serve your community this weekend.

It's hard to believe that it's already that time of year again, but our annual Volunteer Celebration is fast approaching!  I've noticed that some of you have already taken advantage of our online RSVP option, so thanks for letting us know that you'll be attending!  If not, hop on there and do so.

We got a couple of cool things that we'll be doing at our celebration this year that we want to let you in on:

First: we want to hear from you.  We're asking you to share some stories with us about another volunteer that you've served with and noticed.  Maybe it's their commitment.  Maybe it's their heart or their spirit.  Whatever it is, we want you to email us about who you've noticed for their service.  Send your story to Angela.Payne@prairielakeschurch.org.  We'll collect them, review them as a staff, and then select one to receive a special prize and recognition for their service.

Second: we'll be hearing from others about you.  We've invited staff from First Lutheran, the Boys and Girls Club, and Waterloo Community Schools to come, enjoy a meal with us, get loved on, and be given the opportunity to share some stories about how you are making a difference in their world.  That's gonna be awesome.

Third: we'll be hearing from some talented performance artists.  We've invited a few local Christian hip-hop artists to perform at various points in our program over the evening.  Should be great!

Finally: we'll be eating some amazing food together.  We've got Dan Ankrum and his Art House Cafe staff to cater the event.  If you've ever been to his restaurant or one of his pop-ups, you know that you'll be stuffed full of amazingly crafted and presented dishes by the time the evening is through.  

So:

RSVP.  Share your stories.  And we'll see you all on May 8.