The Pastor’s Blog
Party Like Cornelius
Party Like Cornelius
If you were expecting one of the greatest moments of your life to happen soon wouldn’t you want others to know about it? We send out announcements for High School or College graduations, we do the same for weddings and birth announcements, we share invitations for anniversaries and other special dates with people we care about. Why is it that we are more excited for graduation, weddings, children, and anniversaries than we are about sharing what Jesus has done in our lives?
Last week we looked at the story of Cornelius and his vision from God to send for Peter. While Peter was travelling from Joppa to Caesarea Cornelius sent invitations to all his friends and family to come and hear what Peter would share. Cornelius had the expectation of something wonderful happing and desire to share it with his friends and family. He knew there was a special thing coming and didn’t want anyone he cared about to miss out. Is that how we respond to what Jesus is doing in our lives? Are we a people who live in expectant joy for what God is going to do in our lives? Do our homes represent places where God’s work is expected and celebrated? We have received the greatest gift and news ever, God has forgiven us and wants to be in relationship with us. How are we not excited about this?! How come we don’t share this truth any time we get the chance? When something is special to us we’ll announce it and celebrate it. If it isn’t we’ll ignore it and move on.
My hope is that this month we can share what God has done, and is doing, in our lives with the same kind of joy and exuberance we would for any of the other special events we long to share with our friends and family. What would you want your family to know God has done or is doing in your life? Share that with them. Don’t wait. Let them know how much they mean to you by sharing the good news with them!
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Wednesday, July 6th
Small
Summer Group Light
From California Baptist University
In Concert at Medford Friends
The group of eight is traveling the West coast and will be at MFC on July 6th at 7 p.m. “Light is a vocal group from California Baptist University. Light’s music style is a genre that we dub “Worship Pop” – a fusion of contemporary worship, energetic and sharply executed performances, complex and engaging arrangements, heartfelt emotion and a sincere love for God shown through song, all packaged in a universally “pop” sound.” Come join us for an evening of Spirit-filled music.
YEARLY MEETING 2016
“Christ Plays in 10,000 Places”
Bringing all things in heaven and on earth together
under one head – Christ.
Ephesians 1:10
Join us for a family reunion of Friends
from around the Northwest!
All ages will gather Sunday, July 24 through Thursday, July 28, on the George Fox University campus in Newberg, OR. Whether you come for just a banquet, evening service, the closing celebration, or the whole week, plan now to make Friends and Yearly Meeting 2016 part of your summer activities! View details and register online at www.nwfriends.org/ym-sessions
Friends Women Missionary Fellowship
Meeting – Thursday, July 21st, at 10 a.m.
Our time together is spent in fellowship and learning about the work of our missionaries, their needs and the people to whom they minister. All ladies are welcome to join us at the home of Phebe McManama. A potluck picnic will follow the meeting.
The ladies do not meet in August. The next meeting will be
10 a.m. Thursday, September 15th in the fireside room at MFC.
Richard Anderson thanks everyone for their support of his Eagle Scout Project. The Little Free Library is installed and ready for use. The book drive has ended but everyone is free to take and/or leave books in the library now. The library will be registered and listed online at www.littlefreelibrary.org in the next few weeks.
Mark Your Calendars!
Kids day at Emigrant Lake Water Slides! Sunday, July 24, depart at 11 a.m. and return at 3 p.m. Grades 1-6
Cost is $7. See Drew Krupp or Patsy Burton for information.
Talent Friends Church Extends an Invitation for kids ages 5 to 12 to attend a Fun 5 Day Club, sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship July 25-29, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 50 Talent Ave. in Talent! If you have questions, contact Kathy at 541-531-5459.
Ladies Tea Event
All ladies are invited to participate in a tea on Saturday,
July 30th, at the Teeny Tiny Tea Cottage, 427 E. Pine St. in Central Point. Cost: $18 plus tip Time: 11:30 a.m.
RSVP: Terrie Ziemann (541) 664-3828. Please RSVP by 7/22.
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Open House Potluck Dinner at Ben & Janelle Ralph’s
Sunday, June 5th, everyone is invited to attend!
Dinner will be at 5 p.m. The main dish is a Taco/Burrito Bar. Please call Janelle for ideas of what to bring for dinner. The church van will be available for rides, please be at MFC a little before 4 p.m. to catch a ride. Check your directory for phone number and address.
Sunday, June 12th is Promotion Sunday!
All our kids will move up to the next class and we will recognize those who are changing departments and graduating from high school. Following worship that day, there will be a time of fellowship with refreshments to celebrate the occasion.
Congratulations to our 2016 Graduates!
Richard Anderson graduates from North Medford High School. Rosa Sanchez has graduated from Medford Central High School. We also recognize Sam Taylor Milam who graduates from Taft High School in Lincoln City. Sam has many family members in our church family and we celebrate his graduation with them.
Friends Women Missionary Fellowship Group
Ladies join us Thursday, June 16th; at 10 a.m. for our missions meeting in the fireside room at MFC. A buffet luncheon will follow the meeting.
FWMF will hold their “Sweet Treats Bake Sale” for Father’s Day, Sunday, June 19th!
Your special person gets the treat, and the money helps provide for some special felt needs of our Friends serving abroad. Cost will be by donation.
FaithFlix film “Providence” showing at MFC
Rogue Valley native and New York based actor Rich Swingle will be at MFC on Friday, June 24th, at 6:30 p.m. Rich will be sharing the film “Providence” which he has a role in! Following the movie there will be a Question and Answer session. Go to Medford Friends Facebook page for more information about the film, and be sure to watch the trailer for the film there! Invite family and friends to join you as we welcome Rich home again.
Engagement Party for Chris Garrett and Karla Perreira-Grow
Join us in congratulating the happy couple with light snacks and a celebratory cake!
Saturday, June 25, 2016, 6 p.m. – 10 p.m., 467 De Barr Ave, Medford, OR 97501, please RSVP to Brett or Cindi Garrett.
Wednesday, July 6th – Small Summer Group Light
From California Baptist University
The group of eight is traveling the West coast and will be at MFC on July 6th at 7 p.m. Come join us for an evening of Spirit-filled music.
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Trusted
As many of you know I coach soccer for a local club. Another coach and I share our practices because we have teams with the same age range and it just seems to work better doing practices together even though we have separate teams on game days. We have done this for the last three seasons and it works pretty well, especially since when I started I didn’t know anything about coaching that I didn’t pick up from observation. I had been on teams with good coaches and not so good coaches growing up but this time I was the coach (or not so good coach.) I have learned a lot about this process and it is such an honor to be trusted by the families of these young men. We get to pray together and play together and work hard to improve our game as a team and some days that is frustrating and others I am amazed at how much they have grown.
Being a pastor is a lot like being a coach. People come to you expecting some sort of expertise and ability that they can learn from. What is often not seen is how important it is to let the people you are coaching play. “Experience is the best teacher” it has been said and sometimes you just have to let people get out there and try something and fail a few times before they’ll learn how to do it. Trusting the players to learn from what they are experiencing is one of the harder things a coach has to do. Giving people space to learn and grow from their life is hard for those who want to help them succeed. We want to show them the “right” way and teach them what not to do from the start so they don’t have to experience failure. Sometimes though, failure is what they need to make the lesson stick. We are given the chance to see growth in the experiences of others, even (especially) their failures. Yes, heartbreak and pain often come through these things but trusting God with your life means trusting that the heartbreaking and painful things have a purpose.
Our heavenly Father is the greatest coach there is and it seems His favorite coaching method is experience. He calls us into many new, exciting, and scary experiences to give us the chance to grow our faith in Him; to learn something new about ourselves, to open the way for change in our lives, and to do what we were created to do, experience His love and joy at our existence as His beautiful children. I hope that you take the chance to “practice” this week. Learning from God through your experiences and the opportunities He places before you. These are the things that God put before you to challenge and grow you into the person that He sees you being tomorrow. He knows your limits and abilities and anything that seems too big for you is never too big for Him. Get out there and play, make mistakes, learn, and grow!
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