“No matter who you are, no matter where you are, you are welcome here!”

April 28, 2023

Dear Pali Pres Family,

Believe it or not, my boys are still finding Easter eggs around the house. Yes, still. Now, some of that has to do with the Easter Bunny hiding the eggs really well this year. But the other reason Joshua and Luke are still finding eggs is because they keep asking me and Mary to hide them! Nearly every night they go through the same routine of sorting their Easter goodies, filling dozens of eggs on their own, and then pleading with their parents to hide the eggs so they can do one more Easter egg hunt. “Just one more time, we promise!” It’s very cute.

Mary and I oblige (most of the time) because of how happy it makes our children. And, honestly, we want our boys to savor the joy of Easter for as long as they can. Why not?!

To me these endless Easter egg hunts serve as a perfect metaphor for us as Christians. As I said in my sermon this past Sunday, Easter was not a one-day event. Yes, Easter Sunday was nearly three weeks ago but the good news of Easter is something to embrace every day! We gather to worship on Sundays because that is the day of Jesus’ resurrection. And each Sunday we hear the assurance that we are loved, forgiven, and provided for by the God who raised Jesus from the dead. As it says in 1 Peter 1:3, we have a “living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

So, as we move further away from Easter Sunday with each passing day, I encourage you to hold tight to the Good News. Do not forget the living hope you have been given through the resurrection. While I suspect you have little interest in doing your own Easter egg hunt, I do hope you find some way to keep the joy of Easter in your heart…some way to remind yourself, each day, of the assurances you have through Christ.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Matt

Contact Pastor Grace or the Church Office. RSVP preferred but not required.

Dr. Pierre Tang Lincoln Center Performance

Pierre, our Director of Music, conducted a symphony orchestra at the Lincoln Center on Palm Sunday and it was so vibrant we simply had to share it with our church family! Watch it HERE (scroll forward to appx the 58 minute mark).

Pali Pres Prodigals

Pali Pres Prodigals: 8

IKAR: 9

In what was by far their best performance since joining the Westside Interfaith League, our church softball team was barely edged out by IKAR Synagogue after a rousing, blow-for-blow battle that kept our one fan the edge of her seat. Down by two runs at the top of the last inning, as the visiting team, the Prodigals had one last chance to tie or pull ahead. With two outs, Will Saunders outran a grounder and advanced to second with some wily running after an overthrow. Then James Park drove Saunders home with a hot single to centerfield. The stars seemed to be aligning as Dave Vazquez - resident power hitter - came up to the plate as the run that would take lead. Alas, he was robbed by the third baseman and game over, Johnny.

We hope to see some fans in the seats at our next game versus our archrivals, Westwood Presbyterian!

Monday, May 1 - 7:30pm - Cheviot Hills Rec Center - Field 3

“When a pitcher's throwing a spitball, don't worry and don't complain, just hit the dry side like I do.” - Stan Musial

Pali Pres VBS - August 7th-11th

Click the picture above to register for Vacation Bible School!

Calling All Graduates!

The Children and Family Ministries committee will be honoring our high school graduates for the Class of 2023 on May 21st in our worship service. If you have a graduating senior, please let us know, as we would like to take a moment to celebrate this very important milestone in our young people’s lives.

Also, if you have any children that will be "stepping up" from preschool, elementary to middle school, or middle school to high school, we would like to acknowledge them in our newsletter.

Finally, please let us know of your children's college graduation so that we may congratulate them.

Please contact Ms. Lucy Garcia, Dir. of Children and Family Ministries.

National Day of Prayer

A public prayer meeting in celebration of the National Day of Prayer will be held in Santa Monica on Thursday, May 4 from 8am to 9am at Tongva Park (1615 Ocean Avenue). Let us all keep our nation in our prayers!

Join us for our Livestream Worship!

Join at 9:50am on Sunday Morning to enjoy the prelude, with worship beginning at 10am.

Sunday Refreshments

Bringing refreshments on Sunday mornings to share with our church is a loving and very important ministry. Thank you to all of you who have been doing this so faithfully. We need folks to sign up for spring. Please contact Refreshment Coordinator Jan Gong.

Thank you to the Deacons for last week's refreshments! This week's goodies are brought to us by Laura Iannaccone!

Thank you to our marvelous Deacons who serve so faithfully and provided us with snacks to celebrate Deacon Sunday last week!

Sunday Sanctuary Flowers

A BIG thank you to Evelyn & Geoff Moyer for donating flowers last week!

We invite all of our church members and friends to provide donations for flowers to adorn our sanctuary, along with a special dedication of your choosing. The cost is $75 per week.

Please contact Will at will@palipres.org and the church will order flowers from a local florist to be placed in the chancel on Sunday morning. The flowers will then be taken to one of our members/friends after the service.

Thank you for helping make our sanctuary even more beautiful!

Sunday Sermon Teaser

This Sunday we will install a new Elder and Deacon during worship and continue our reflection of what it means to be Easter people. But sure to join us!

Give to Pali Pres

Don't forget, you can easily give your tithes and offerings through our website!

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’

-Matthew 7: 21-23