Greetings from sunny California!  I hope you and your family had a fun, relaxing, food-filled Thanksgiving.

This Sunday at 9:30am, Rediscovering Christmas kicks-off with week #1 of Advent.  I love this time of year...the church is decorated, our gatherings are praise-filled and people are expectant with thoughts of Hope, Peace, Love and Joy.  Join us on this first Sunday of Advent as Pastor Norm shares on the topic of Hope.

If you think about it, most of us run our lives on hope.  Hope gets us out of bed in the morning, it focuses our attention, brings us energy and helps us overcome our fears.  I like what Tim Keller says about hope, "Human beings are hope-shaped creatures.  The way you live now is completely controlled by what you believe about your future".  Hope is seeing our future as good--believing that things will be okay.  God's word has a lot to say about the future of His people.  Take time to read Revelation 21:1-5 and discover the hope we have as children of God. 

Believing in God for our future has the power to change everything! 

As we gather for our in-person service, Parkside church staff and leadership will be wearing masks and we are asking everyone to do the same.  Please consider joining us this weekend at 9:30am...and don't forget your mask!

It's not too late to join one of our Sunday discipleship classes.  We have two studies currently meeting each Sunday morning at 10:45am.  See Class details below:

Topic:  A Study in the book of James
Facilitator:  Mark Hester and Jonella Malinowski
10:45am to 11:45am
In-person ONLY

Senior Adult Discipleship Class
Topic:  A Study in the book of Mark
Facilitator:  Martha Bailey
10:45am to 11:45am
In-person ONLY

Thank you for continuing to pray for Parkside Fellowship.

See you Sunday.

Pastor Doug

As I type this email, I'm still recovering from a self-induced "Turkey, Ham, Corn on the Cob, homemade bread, lil' smokies, chocolate silk pie" coma.

Even in the midst of a global pandemic, we have so much to be thankful for and I hope each of you were able to celebrate this Thanksgiving with family and friends, even if it meant celebrating by phone, face-time or zoom.

This Sunday at 9:30am, we will continue our series, Surprised by Jesus.  We will also light the first candle of Advent, which represents Hope.  Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 33:18 and Jeremiah 29:11 are a few passages that speak of the hope we have because of our faith and trust in God and His son, Jesus.  Please join us this Sunday as we turn our attention to the upcoming celebration of Jesus willing leaving his throne in heaven in order to become human so that he could die for the sins of all mankind.

I love what J.I. Packer writes about the true message of Christmas...

The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross.

As we shift back to an online church service, I want to remind you how to access our livestream service.  You can access the livestream on our website, www.parksidefellowship.org.  Click on the "YouTube live" link located on the home page where it reads "Schedule".  Once you click on this link, you will be directed to our livestream service that begins at 9:30am.

After the service please consider joining us at 10:45am (note the time change) for our "after-church" gathering on zoom.  

"See" you Sunday.

Pastor Doug