Park Avenue Christian Church

08/05/2026

Sometimes the Conversation Is the Ministry

☕ A cup of coffee rarely changes someone's life.

💬 A conversation around that cup just might.

Hospitality isn't only about preparing refreshments. It's about creating space for stories to be shared, burdens to be lightened, friendships to begin, and hope to quietly take root.

❤️ Some of the most meaningful moments in ministry happen after worship has ended—around a table, over coffee, or in a simple conversation that reminds someone they are not alone.

✨ This week, we invite you to continue the journey through The Five Refusals.

🎥 Watch the next message.

💌 Then think of one person who might appreciate hearing it.

Sometimes hospitality begins long before someone walks through the church doors.

It begins with an invitation.

If you'd like to help create more moments like these, consider making a tax-deductible gift to our Hospitality Initiative.

Together, we're creating spaces where everyone has a place at the table.

👀 Watch with us.
📲 Share with someone.
☕ Help us welcome another.

🎥 Watch The Five Refusals:
https://parkavenuechristian.com/five-refusals-summer-series/

📤 Share this week's message with someone who may need it.

💛 Invest in the Hospitality Initiative:
https://tinyurl.com/PACC-Hospitality-Initiative

✨ Every tax-deductible gift helps create spaces where people encounter compassion, belonging, and authentic community.

08/02/2026

🌊 Not everything demanding your attention deserves your obedience.

Some pressures sound like purpose. 🌪️
Some urgency is just noise. 📣

But God is not the author of confusion. 🤍

So when everything around you roars...
don't chase the loudest voice.

✨ I refuse to mistake noise for instruction. ✨

Meet God at the river first. 🌿💧
Let peace—not pressure—tell you where to go. 🕊️

- "I refuse to mistake noise for instruction" by The Rev. Kaji Douša

08/01/2026

07/29/2026

☀️🌴 Summer looks a little different at Park Avenue Christian Church... and we're inviting you to take worship wherever you are. 💻🏡🌳

For August 2, 9, 16 & 23, we'll be ONLINE ONLY while we care for some much-needed sanctuary maintenance. Join us every Sunday at 11:00 AM as we continue our summer sermon series, The Five Refusals. These brief, thought-provoking messages are designed to serve as a devotional—something to reflect on and carry with you throughout the week. ✨📖

☕ Our virtual Bible Study continues every Sunday at 10:00 AM! Email Stephanie Wilson at [email protected] to receive the Zoom link and join the conversation. 💬

🎉 Then, on August 30, we'll joyfully return to in-person worship as we welcome Seminarian Khaleigh Laicher to share the morning's message. We can't wait to gather together again! 🙌

Until then... pour your favorite cup of coffee, gather with family or friends, settle into a favorite chair (or a shady spot outdoors 🌿), and journey with us through The Five Refusals. We look forward to worshiping with you—wherever you are. ❤️

07/28/2026

Some seasons bloom quietly. 🌿

In shared meals. 🍽️
In open doors. 🚪
In children's laughter echoing through the sanctuary. 🧸
In hands that keep showing up to serve. 🤲

This quarter, we've watched God weave together countless small acts of love into something beautiful. ✨

💛 New faces in worship.
🌈 A joyful Pride Sunday.
🥫 400+ meal kits shared with our neighbors.
🕊️ New spaces for children to belong.
🌱 Big dreams taking root for the future.

Momentum isn't always loud.

Sometimes it looks like faithfulness.
Sometimes it feels like hope.
And sometimes... it begins with simply saying, "There's room for you here." 🏡💒

Thank you for walking this journey with us. The Spirit is still moving—and we can't wait to see where God leads next. 💙

📖 Read the full Q2 Ministry Report by Vanessa A Lindley, Moderator— https://parkavenuechristian.com/q2-2026/

07/27/2026

“Baggage Claim” – a United Church of Christ by The Rev. Kaji Douša

[They asked him,] “In the resurrection, then, for which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her.” Jesus answered them, “You all are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God… God is God not of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching. – Matthew 22:28-29, 32-33 (as translated by Wilda C. Gafney in Year A)

Many Christians spend a lot of time thinking about how to get to heaven. My guess is: fewer think about what we need when we get there.

Still, in this life, we carry much that’s unhelpful. Why?

That tension frames this exchange between Jesus and some Sadducees. Their question reveals the hidden premise they’d already packed for heaven: if we need it here, surely we’d need it there.

They ask Jesus about resurrection, but their question treats a grieving woman—a woman who’s had to bury seven husbands—like a problem to solve. They don’t care about the hardship she faced. Instead, they shove her personhood into someone else’s claim.

Mercifully, Jesus will have nothing to do with erasure. Ever. He won’t let anyone flatten the resurrection into some continuation of earthly possession. It’s just not possible to drag ownership, control, anxiety, or erasure into Godly living.

Let’s be honest. We all have things we keep dragging along that we don’t need. Leave all that at the altar. Here’s how I sort things: whatever can be taken away isn’t yours to carry into eternity.

See, your ticket to heaven has no baggage allowance. There’s no baggage claim past the pearly gates! So if God doesn’t need it, why do you?

The life God intends for you is infinitely bigger. Freer. Holier. Than whatever has tried to claim you.

Lay down what you can. Let Jesus free you from what you can’t. And let God astonish you.

Prayer

Holy One, help me release what I don’t need. Free me from every heavy load I keep dragging along. Loosen every claim I have made, and every claim that has been made on me, that doesn’t belong in life with you. Make room in me for your freedom. I’m ready to be astonished, God. Amen.

The “StillSpeaking Daily Devotional” series is produced by The United Church of Christ: https://www.ucc.org/daily-devotional/

07/26/2026

🌾 There comes a moment when the soul grows tired of pretending.

Tired of carrying names that were never yours. 🪨
Tired of wearing armor that was only meant for survival. 🛡️
Tired of mistaking the mask for the mirror. 🪞

Then, in the stillness... 🤍

The God Hagar called El Roi whispers, "I have seen you all along." 👁️✨

The One who has searched you and known you...
The One who has never confused your wounds with your identity. ❤️

✨ I refuse to be a stranger to myself. ✨

Look again. 👀
Stay in God's gaze until you recognize the person God has always recognized:

Beloved. 💛

- "Refusal 1: I refuse to be a stranger to myself" by the Rev. Kaji Douša

07/26/2026

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

07/19/2026

Some places become holy not because we arrive there—but because we awaken to the God who has been there all along. ✨

Jacob discovers heaven leaning toward earth. Jesus reveals a field where wheat and weeds grow side by side. Between Bethel and the field, we find our own story.

Even in a world marked by uncertainty, suffering, and struggle, God is still moving. 🌾 The invitation is to open our eyes to God's presence, cultivate what brings life, and resist evil without surrendering love. ❤️

Where is God already at work around you... and how will you join in?

📖 Between Bethel and the Field by Minister Qadry Harris
Genesis 28:10–19a | Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43

07/19/2026

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost