June 6, 2024 We spent a few days at the beach right after school got out, and as I was watching the waves crash onto the shore, I remembered that the Bible mentioned waves in several places. When I clicked on the trusty concordance on my Blue Letter Bible app (if you have ever used a Strong's Concordance [named after a person, though when I first got one I thought it was named after the ability you needed to carry such a large book!], isn't is amazing to be able to carry a concordance in your pocket??), I saw that God speaks of waves in more place than I realized. If you're heading to the beac ..read more

May 30, 2024 Music to God's Ears: Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs  Taught by Madison Taylor & team  Location: Outback Room *Geared toward Young Adults, but anyone is welcome!* Music is evidence of God’s abundant goodness to us. In this class, we will explore what the Bible says about singing and how that shapes the role of music inside and outside of the church, and meditate on some of the songs we sing at POPC. And we may even sing a little...   Church History — Part 1: Early Church History Taught by John Kwasny Location: Cafeteria ..read more

Financial Update: Last week's POPC Weekly Update contained financial highlights through the end of April. As that report showed, the Lord has blessed POPC richly through your tithes and offerings so far in 2024. Through the end of April, actual general fund contributions exceeded what we had budgeted to receive by $37,640. We give thanks for your faithful giving and encourage you to continue to give generously to help the deacons fulfill their duty to care for POPC's campus and to enable the various ministries of POPC to complete their plans this year and to encourage and e ..read more

May 16, 2024 This past Sunday morning I mentioned that Romans 15:4 really needed its own sermon. I'm not going to write that sermon here. But I do want to break the verse down a little more for you. Here's what Paul said, right after quoting Psalm 69:9 about Jesus bearing the reproaches/insults that were aimed at God: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Note how similar this passage is to 1 Corinthians 10:11, "Now these things [the events of the Exodus and wildern ..read more

May 9, 2024 If you were at church last week, you noticed that we're using a new bulletin style now. Not every church uses a paper bulletin these days, but we have found it helpful for the purpose of our liturgy and to communicate important information about our church and our ministries. This new style will allow us to do some things we haven't been able to do heretofore: We can now include the music to songs that are not in the Trinity Hymnal. This is a help to visitors (and members!) for whom the songs are unfamiliar. Even those who cannot read music are able to see if the notes are going ..read more

May 2, 2024 Depending on what time you're reading this, there may still be saints praying in the Sanctuary on this National Day of Prayer. James tells us that "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16, NASB). God has ordained the ends as well as the means, and prayer is one of the means that He uses to bring to fulfillment His sovereign decree. One of the books I read as I was coming to embrace Reformed theology during college was Doug Kelly's If God Already Knows, Why Pray? It was an encouraging look at the sovereignty of God, the responsibility of believers, a ..read more

April 25, 2024 As you'll see in the pictures below, the Session has recently heard the professions of faith from 30 young men and women. Having gone through our communicants' class, they were received into communing membership by the elders, and were presented to the congregation last Sunday morning. This is a glorious and joyful time in the life of these covenant children, their families, and our church family. God has been at work through the preaching and teaching of His word Lord's Day by Lord's Day; through parents' instruction, example, and prayers; and through the encouragement and witn ..read more

April 19, 2024 Prior to moving here, we lived in Cookeville, Tennessee, where I pastored Grace Presbyterian Church. Cookeville is in the Upper Cumberland region of the state, so there are lots of waterfalls and lots of hiking trails. We did a lot of hiking, but our children were all ten years younger back then - which means we did a lot of carrying on our shoulders or in baby backpacks. I was reminded of those days as I was doing my daily Bible reading this week in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses' last book begins and ends with the powerful image of God carrying and bearing up His people throug ..read more

MARCH 22, 2024 Don't forget about the retirement celebration for Carl and Jeanie this Sunday evening! I encourage everyone to come out to evening worship at 6:00 and then to the Gym at 7:00 to honor the Kalberkamps for their long service among us. It is a rare privilege to have a pastor stay so long. Think about it: not only has POPC not had to form a senior pastor search committee since 1994 (thirty years and counting!), but Carl has poured himself into multiple generations of families over these years. The impact of that sort of generational ministry is ultimately known only by the Lord an ..read more

March 8, 2024 This week I have been in Greenville, South Carolina, attending and speaking at the Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Spring Theology Conference. The topic of the conference this year was Modern Missions in the Reformed World, and I spoke on the life and ministry of John Leighton Wilson (1809-1885).  Wilson, a South Carolinian, graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in Columbia, SC, and served as a pioneer missionary in Liberia and the Gabon from 1834-1852; as Assistant Secretary/Coordinator of the Presbyterian Church's Board of Foreign Missions (the MTW of ..read more