Contact: Nicole Laubscher, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, 650-330-7550, nlaubscher@mppc.org 

MENLO PARK, Calif., Jan. 6, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- As a powerful way to leverage its Christmas Eve services for greater impact, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church gave away more than 4,000 copies of the bestselling book Unbroken at Christmas services across its four campuses. MPPC invited the 9,700 people at services to return in January for a sermon series in January around the life and faith story of Olympian and WWII POW survivor Louis Zamperini.

MPPC's weekend messages by Senior Pastor John Ortberg will draw upon themes from the bestseller Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, including questions of one-sided forgiveness, finding hope in desperate circumstances, and how sometimes our deepest struggles are those from within us.

On the weekend of January 21 and 22, 94-year old Louis Zamperini will speak live with Senior Pastor John Ortberg in Menlo Park. The message will be viewed by other congregants and guests via video at the church's campuses in Mountain View, San Mateo, and at the Menlo Park Cafe.

"Many people in our community have read this bestselling book but don't attend church," said Nicole Laubscher, Learning Team Leader. "This is an opportunity for us to invite them into conversation and to bring a Jesus perspective to issues people are talking about and struggling with in their everyday lives."

January 7-8 - Lessons from the Raft
January 14-15 - Lessons from Prison
January 21-22 - Lessons from Louis, with special guest Louis Zamperini.