March 3, 2020 Update
- Just A Reminder Sunday, March 8th Daylight Saving Time Begins. Be sure to set your clocks ahead 1-hour Saturday night, March 7th.
Everence Wednesday Webinars to Continue – Come join us for one or more of our upcoming webinars. We will meet in the sanctuary at 11 a.m. each Wednesday. See the flyer in the Sunday bulletin for more information about each week’s topic.
March 11th Enough-ness Finding contentment & learning to live in it
March 18th The ABCs & 123s of Donor Advised Funds
March 25th Master your student loans
April 1st Kingdom finances and you
Thank you to Charlie & Judy Swingle for taking time to make this information available for us.
Friends Women Fellowship Meeting – The ladies meet on Thursday, March 19th, 10:30 a.m. at MFC. All ladies are welcome. Lunch will follow the meeting.
All Church Potluck – Please join us Sunday, March 15th, for our all church potluck! We always have a great time of fellowship and good food. We’ll meet in the fellowship hall at noon. Bring a main dish and salad, vegetable or dessert to share.
Baby Shower for Emily, Jesse and their New Little One. Please join us Sunday, March 22nd after church for this celebration! We are suggesting Gift Cards or $$ as they are using special cloth diapers and also need to make some purchases of other items. (They are registered at Target and on Amazon.) If you have questions please contact Terrie Ziemann or Dawn DuLong.
We will hold an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday, Sunday, April 12th. Your donations of bags of individually wrapped candy that will fit in small plastic eggs are welcome and much appreciated for this fun event. There is a box in the main hallway to place your candy donations in on Sundays. Thank you!
Southern Oregon Area Spring Missions Rally sponsored by Friends Women will take place at Medford Friends Church on Saturday, April 25th at 10 a.m. Theme: “Beyond Fear…Be Strong and Courageous” Deuteronomy 31: 6 and 8 Speaker: Nancy Thomas, researcher and author of the recently published book “a Long Walk, a Gradual Ascent” the story of the Bolivian Friends Church in its Context of Conflict. See information on Nancy’s book posted on the bulletin board in the main hallway.
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Give it up for Jesus
As we head into the Lent season and look forward to Easter I want to share about the gift of Jesus’ death. Lent is a season where we acknowledge what Christ has given up for us by giving up something for Him. Typically, it is something costly. Many people change their diets for lent, or give up fast food, or some activity that is precious to them. Christ gave up the security of heaven for us. He came to live as a Human and suffer all the things that we do because of the curse of sin. He came to conquer sin by living a perfect life and dying a perfect death for us so that we can now be under His covering and have restored relationship with God. Lent is a reflection on this gift from Jesus. Those things that people give up are symbols and reminders of the selfless giving that Christ offer to us. He gave up everything for US: People broken by sin, opposed to His ways, and distant from Him in every way. He made a way for restored relationship by building a bridge to God through the Cross and the Empty Tomb. What a powerful gift.
As we head into this season, what might God be calling you to give up for this season? What powerful gift can you give to God? Is it devotion? Is it prayer? Is it worship? Is it a relationship that needs to be submitted to His will? Ask God what would be a good thing to give up and I am sure that He will answer you.
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February 05, 2020 Update
Friends Women Fellowship
It’s almost here! February 9th is the next opportunity presented by Friends Women Fellowship to enjoy fresh home baked goodies and sweet treats. Funds received (priced by donation) help support those who represent us through the joined work of NWYM Board of Global Outreach and EFM (evangelical friends Mission-North America), in taking the Good News around the world and at home.
Webinar Wednesdays from Everence
Everence will hold webinars on financial planning for your future, Each Wednesday at 11 a.m. these webinars will be made available to you at MFC, if you are interested please contact Charlie Swingle. There will be flyers in your Sunday bulletins with further information on each topic.
Mark Your Calendar! The annual So. Oregon Area Spring Missions Rally, sponsored by Friends Women is projected for Saturday April 25th, to be held at MFC. Volunteers to help with various program elements are encouraged, please contact Nadine Brood. Keep watch for further details.
FWF February meeting for business: Thursday, February 25th, 10:30 a.m., we will meet in the classroom behind the kitchen. Lunch fellowship at Wendy’s following the meeting. All ladies are welcome from the start or just for lunch.
All Church Potluck
Please join us Sunday, February 16th, 2020 for our all church potluck! We always have a great time of fellowship and good food. We’ll meet in the fellowship hall at noon. Bring a main dish and salad, vegetable or dessert to share.
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Forward Progress
There is a concept in American football called forward progress. When a ball carrier is stopped and forced back by their opponent the ball is marked at the furthest forward point. This is to make sure that people do not simply pick up and carry the ball carrier backwards. It is a nice idea that keeps the game from devolving into a mad sort of brawl with both teams trying to carry their opponents around the field. As I think about the way our world works and the rules we come up with to help keep it from devolving I find that there is no rule of forward progress. Your bank account does not maintain the highest balance it has ever had. Your cars gas tank does not obey this rule either. Nor does the human stomach stay full. In the game of football, it is easy to see how this rule is useful but in our daily lives there is no comparable rule. We have to keep adding money to the bank, gas to the car, and food to the stomach.
Here is something that may seem controversial but, following Jesus does not have a rule of forward progress either. God’s grace is a wonderful thing don’t get me wrong. That being said we can choose to walk away from Him and He does not have to honor our onetime relationship with Him. The Christian life is one of continuing relationship with Jesus. We get to keep going with Him every day. Forward progress for us is continuing that connection with Him day by day. Being close to Jesus is our goal line.
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