The Pastor’s Blog
Good Friday & Easter
In Celebration of our Risen Savior
Good Friday Service – March 30th, at 6:30 p.m.
The service will feature reflection, repentance, communion with the elements and a time of open worship.
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 – This year’s focus is Nepal.
Our library is in need of some tender loving care. The processing of the books will still be done. There are other needs to have the library continue to serve our congregation.
Needs: a person to file the cards from books checked out; shelve books, this would take 2-3 hours per month; a person to file cards in the card catalog; a person to send out overdue notices every two months.
Call the church office if you are interested.
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- Just A Reminder
Sunday, March 11th Daylight Savings Time Begins.
Be sure to set your clocks ahead 1-hour Saturday night, March 10th!
March – All Church Potluck
We always have a great time of fellowship and good food! Please join us Sunday, March 18th, we’ll meet in the fellowship hall at noon. Please bring a main dish and salad, vegetable or dessert to share.
1000 Pairs of Shoes
We are accepting donations of new shoes until Sunday, March 18, 2018
The give-away date will be Saturday, March 24th
from 2 to 4 p.m. at Medford Friends Church
Thank you for your participation in helping us reach our goal and to bless our community!
New Arrival Shoes may be placed on the pew up front on the platform in the sanctuary on Sunday or given to one of the ushers! We want to tally them before they are placed behind the pew.
From the Christian Ed Committee: We will hold an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday, April 1st
Your donations of bags of individually wrapped candy that will fit in small plastic eggs are welcome and much appreciated for this fun event and can be brought to the church any time. There is a box in the main hallway to place your candy donations in on Sundays.
Friends Women Missionary Fellowship We will meet on Thursday, March 15th, at 10:30 a.m. at the home of Phebe McManama. Following the meeting there will be a buffet luncheon. All ladies are welcome to join us.
The Annual Southern Oregon
Fellowship and 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 later this month when details are confirmed. Questions may be addressed to Nadine Brood, FW area representative.
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The Right Stuff
I just got back from being fitted for my required uniform to be an official Medford Fire-Rescue Chaplain. I am excited to take this step to serve our community and reach out to those in crisis situations. It is a great chance to connect more with our area and build relationships for God’s kingdom. To do this effectively I need to have the right stuff. I need to get a bag together with all the things I might need on a call. I need to get the uniform. I need to make sure people know who I am and what my heart is for this ministry opportunity.
As Christians we need to get similarly kitted out. We need to get the uniform (Christ’s Righteousness) and have the tools necessary (Holy Spirit as our guide) in order to serve effectively in the Kingdom. These things help people identify us and understand what our purpose is in this world: to know Christ and make Him known. We are representatives of a larger organization, we are in service to it, we are not in charge but are connected to those that are. We need the right stuff to do this well. This season of Lent leading up to Easter is about Jesus and the temptation, denial of self and connection to God. We take our old lives and lay them before Jesus and He provides us with new ones that identify us as part of His Kingdom. I hope that you take time to reflect on what Jesus calls you to and offers you.
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Hopeful Vision
I recently had the opportunity to participate in the mid-year meeting for our region. It was a good time of vision casting for our future together. As we talked together about who we wanted to be the focus on Christ and His mission of redemption for our world was at the forefront. We are a people that thirst for God’s righteousness and are creating a vision together of how we can live that out over the next 10 years. This is a hopeful vision of a vibrant community of believers working together to fulfill the great commission in our region and throughout the world. I am excited to see what it is that God does in our lives over the coming years as we seek to fulfill the vision we have been given.
Here is the report from the Clerks on our time together:
“Northwest Yearly Meeting's Vision Day was held Saturday, January 27th at Sherwood Friends Church with over 200 people in attendance!! All eight areas and 33 of the 44 churches remaining in NWYM were represented. A lot of brainstorming, sharing, and visioning was done throughout the day. Planning Day followed on January 28th when the Task Force met on the George Fox University Campus. This all-day meeting summarized vision statements from the previous day to draft a vision statement of NWYM. Based on the vision, the Task Force began discerning priorities for NWYM in the upcoming months and years.
Within the next week, the clerks will send a more detailed report on the areas of priority that emerged during Vision Day.”
Brad Holton, Presiding Clerk
Debbie Harrison, Assistant Presiding Clerk
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