Christian Church of Pacific Grove - Disciples of Christ

08/31/2026

“If today’s church lives at the end of an emotional cul-de-sac—circling the drive of our feelings again and again—it’s our own fault. We need worship that provides new highways leading beyond ourselves,” writes Matthew D. Love.

“Don’t hear me wrong: Experience and emotion matter. These are good gifts from God and have their place in worship. But what we do at church must be far more than emotion and experience.

I know this fails as an ‘attractional model’ of church growth.” But he says he’s learned that, “as the saying goes, what you win people *with* is often what you win people *to*.

Aiming at experience is a dangerous game to play. And putting the burden on ministry leaders to ‘make God happen’ for hundreds of people week after week is a sure-fire route to burnout and a fundamental misunderstanding of the responsibility of the pastor and the nature of worship itself.

Worship is fundamentally about giving God his due, the glory and honor he deserves. We worship because God is God, whether or not we get anything out of it.

In other words, even if I don’t feel anything, I’m here. Even if worship doesn’t regularly cheer me up, I’m here. And there is deep joy in that.”
https://chrst.today/3UCIF59

08/31/2026

In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman who had every reason to be overlooked. Cultural boundaries separated them. Her story had pushed her to the margins.

And Jesus moved toward her.

He saw her. He spoke with her. He listened. He treated her with dignity. Where others saw labels and reasons to keep their distance, Jesus saw a person made in the image of God.

This is the kind of welcome we want to practice.

For us, that includes moving toward immigrant and refugee neighbors who may feel overlooked, misunderstood, or pushed to the margins. Not as labels or issues to solve, but as people to know and love.

This week, consider: Who might God be inviting you to see differently? And what would it look like to move toward them?

08/29/2026

“We used to get death stares when my son would yell out in church. But we were lucky to have leadership who told us, ‘You’re doing nothing wrong; we want him here, just as he is.’ How I wish that would happen everywhere,” said Trent Broussard, the parent of an autistic son and a scholar studying the experiences of neurodivergent people in corporate worship.

“Most churches that don’t seem very open or accommodating just haven’t had the opportunity to see that things can be done differently,” Broussard told CT last year.

“We sing about a gospel that is available for all people, of all shapes, forms, and fashions. If our worship doesn’t include all people, that calls into question whether we believe the things we profess about God.”

From the CT archive: https://chrst.today/4tuQXZs

08/26/2026

Isn't this the Truth?

Your mind keeps moving before anything has enough time to become interesting, difficult, or meaningful

08/17/2026

Music leader and friend from a former congregation, Brent Foster, provided this worship break from the family farm. Thanks Brent!