The Pastor’s Blog
Celebration of Life, Memorial Service for
Elvera "Vera" Wisely
Saturday, May 5th at MFC, 2 p.m.
Vera went to be with Jesus on December 7, 2017, at the age of 104. We will gather to celebrate her life on Saturday, May 5, 2018, at 2 p.m. at Medford Friends Church, 525 DeBarr Avenue, Medford, Oregon 97501.
The service will be followed by a time of fellowship with cookies, coffee and punch. Everyone is invited to join in this celebration of Vera's life.
Guest Worship Team: The River will be at MFC on May 6th Ron Davis, who has done such an amazing job for us with the upgrades to our sound system, most recently with the new speakers, has offered to give our hard-working worship teams a week off. He belongs to a Celtic worship band called The River, and they will lead our worship time on Sunday, May 6th. We are excited to have them bring a unique sound of bluegrass, country and contemporary intricate harmonies to the Celtic base that creates a freshness from song to song. All please come and be blessed by this group!
MFC’s Silent Camp Auction – Wednesday, May 16th
Join us for Dinner at 6:00 p.m. with Silent Auction starting at 6:30 p.m.
Dinner will be $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12 with the proceeds going towards the camp scholarship fund. Dinner will be a Chili Bar- chili dogs, baked potatoes or taco salad.
Sign-up sheets to list your auction items are in the fellowship hall & sanctuary foyer.
Items such as baked goods, handmade items, antiques, collectibles & company donations have sold well in the past. Don’t miss the fun! This is a chance to earn a scholarship that will help with the cost of camp!
Kids should participate & be present at auction to qualify!
Boys Camp-entering 4th-6th grades in fall – July 1-5 Register by June 25 cost $355
Girls Camp-entering 4th-6th grades in fall – July 6-10 Register by June 18 cost $355
Tween Camp-entering 7th-9th grades in fall – July 15-20 Register by June 27 cost $370
Surfside Camp-completing 8th-12th grades this spring – Aug 5-11 Register by July 30 cost $385
Register on line at www.twinrocks.org
Print your confirmation of registration form and bring it to the church office for the auction scholarship.
We need Drivers to & from camp. If this is something you’re interested in please let Drew Krupp or Patsy Burton know.
Friends Women Missionary Fellowship – We will meet on Thursday, May 17th, at 10:30 a.m. at MFC, in the fireside room. All ladies are welcome to join us.
May – All Church Potluck – We always have a great time of fellowship and good food! Please join us Sunday, May 20th, we’ll meet in the fellowship hall at noon. Please bring a main dish and salad, vegetable or dessert to share.
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Patches
As many of you know, I love video games. I spend a lot of my down time playing them, they help me clear my head and think about something else for a little while. Their stories take me to another world (or several, for sci-fi games) and give me an experience I never could have here in the real world. I love the escapism of video games, but sometimes they give me very real frustration. I find “bugs” that make the game not work or end up being something that costs me time because I have to redo things in the game and while you would think that this would just be an excuse to play more it is really frustrating to progress and end up having to start something over which you had accomplished already! These “bugs” are often fixed through a process called patching, someone who made the game continues to support it by adding the fixes that the various users bring to their attention. Some of these fixes are pretty major while others are just making sure a particular door is sitting right on its hinges. All of them are necessary for the game to be its best version.
I think that the Christian life is a little like those video games sometimes. I have a version of life that seems to be working well, when all of a sudden, I find a “bug” or glitch in the life I am living. I then need to assess the problem and see if it was user error (maybe I was just trying to use it in the wrong way!) or if the issue lies deeper in my code. If the issue is something wrong with my “code” (my heart is misaligned, or I haven’t slept enough, or I am not spending the time I need to with Jesus for our relationship to grow) I have to report this error to the developer of my life so He can fix it. Christ designed us to live a certain way, because of some bad code that got added by an early user (see Genesis chapter 3 for more details) we have to deal with some “bugs” that happen now and then. Christ is so gracious as the developer of our lives that He has continued to support this broken version even though it wasn’t His actions that caused the issues! He desires for us to have the best version of our lives and is willing to sit down with us and help us find the fixes for the “bugs” that pop up in life. He has offered us a way to restore what has been broken through His sacrifice and wants us to accept His offer for ongoing support and care as we figure out what living without the “bug” of sin in our lives can be like. Will you accept that help? Or do you want to continue to live with the “bugs”?
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Peacemakers
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
The word peace shows up over 370 times in the Bible. Jesus includes peacemakers in the beatitudes as those who will be seen as children of God. Jesus was a peacemaker himself. He came to bring an end to the enmity between us and God. He sought restoration and healing for this relationship through the Cross. His pain and suffering were caused by our sin. Seeking this peace between God and man cost Jesus everything.
Peacemakers are the ones who stand in the space between. They seek the points of conflict and look for resolutions. They put their wellbeing on the line for the sake of peace. They hold the tension of conflict in order to draw people together. They are often misunderstood and looked at as fools who hope beyond reason. Peacemakers are children of God who seek the image of God in others. The point to things that connect rather than things that divide.
In a culture that seems so intent on division it is hard to be a peacemaker. It is hard to work for restoration and reconciliation in a world where conflicts define us. When image is an amalgam of causes and responses we have a hard time getting people to look at the things that make them the same. When we are always looking for the thing that makes “us” different from “them” it is hard to function as a peacemaker. Christ sought peace for us before we even acknowledged our need for it: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (ESV, Romans 5:6-8)
In light of the resurrection of Jesus we have the chance to examine our lives and look for places in need of reconciliation. We can function as those who seek peace in our lives and the lives of those around us. We can invite people to accept the peace offered by Jesus. We can live as those who are blessed by Christ in the beatitude above, children of God and makers of peace.
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Easter Sunday Schedule, April 1, 2018 In Celebration of our Risen Savior we will begin Easter Sunday with a Continental Breakfast at 9 a.m.in the fellowship hall followed by worship at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary. There are no Bible studies or Sunday school classes scheduled that day. After the worship service there will be an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. EFM's 2018 Easter Offering focusing on Nepal will be taken that morning. Prayerfully consider what your part in this offering should be.
Brush the Dust off those White Bucks – Polish those Saddle Oxfords
Get Your 50’s Attire Together – We’re Having a 50’s Sock Hop Party
Friday, April 13th -_ 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
There will be Root Beer floats, silly games and more. Please bring your favorite 50’s finger food to share.
Help our kids go to Twin Rocks Friends Camp! MFC’s Silent Camp Auction – Wednesday, May 16th
Items such as baked goods, handmade items, antiques, collectibles and company donations have sold well in the past. There is plenty of time to get creative! We are looking forward to a great evening of fun, fellowship and raising funds for camp scholarships for our youth.
April – All Church Potluck
We always have a great time of fellowship and good food! Please join us Sunday, April 15th, we’ll meet in the fellowship hall at noon. Please bring a main dish and salad, vegetable or dessert to share.
Friends Women Missionary Fellowship – We will meet on Thursday, April 19th, at 10:30 a.m. at MFC, in the fireside room. All ladies are welcome to join us.
If you are in grades 1-6, plan on attending our movie night on Friday, April 20th at 6:30-8:30. We will have popcorn, root beer floats and a fun move to watch. More information soon!
The Annual Southern Oregon Fellowship & Spring Missions Rally
This year’s theme: “Remembering the Past – Looking to the Future”
Saturday April 28th, at MFC – Meeting Time: 10:30 a.m.
Lunch served at the conclusion of the program
This annual So. OR Area event is sponsored by NWYM Friends Women organization. Watch for event poster to come soon!
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