The Pastor’s Blog
FWMF April Meeting: Saturday, April 16th
Time: 10 a.m. Place: at the home of Billie Taylor, Lunch follows the meeting. All ladies are welcome!
Sunday, April 17, 2016 – All Church Potluck
Join us for a time of fellowship and good food! Please bring a main dish and salad, vegetable or dessert to share. We’ll meet in the fellowship hall at noon.
Medford Friends Community Garden
If you are at all interested in having a space in MFC’s Community Garden please see Nate Swift or email him at nateswift1132@gmail.com.
NWYM Southern Oregon Area Spring Rally 2016
at Medford Friends
Saturday, April 23, 10:30 a.m.
In years past our Spring Rallies have had a Men’s breakfast with a mission’s emphasis. Now we are encouraging the men to join us as we gather to share, encourage, and strengthen one another in the outreach endeavors of our area churches. Our speaker this year is Becky Ankeny. As a child she lived in Africa as a ”missionary kid” and before becoming the superintendent of our Yearly Meeting served many years on the facility of George Fox University.
MFC’s Annual Camp Auction!
Help our kids go to Twin Rocks Friends Camp!
The auction will be held on Wednesday May 18th
Doors will open at 6 p.m.
Dinner at 6:30 – Silent Auction will close at 7
Winners Announced at 7:30
Items to be auctioned that have sold well in the past include baked goods, handmade items, antiques, collectibles, and company donations. Come join the fun and help our youth with scholarships to camp! Remember, youth must participate to receive a scholarship!
- Brochures for this year’s camp are on the table in the foyer.
If you haven’t seen this poster on our main hall bulletin board, please take time to check it out! This is Richard Anderson’s senior project. Circle May 14th on your calendar and be sure to support Richard in this event!
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Rooted and Connected
Many of us have had a chance to get a break this past month. Taking time to get away with friends or family at the start of a new season. You may have taken a trip or decided that staying home and resting was what was most needed for you and your family. I had a friend from college come and spend two weeks with me and we got the chance to explore a bit of the natural beauty of God’s creation by getting down to the Redwoods and checking out the Stout Grove! Seeing the amazing Redwood trees was a wonderful reminder for me of the power of strong connections. The roots of these great trees don’t go very deep but their strength comes not from driving deep into the earth and standing on their own, it comes from reaching out and building strong connections to those around them.
My hope is that you have had time this month to rest and reflect and reconnect. That God has been working in your life in this time of renewal. That Jesus’ resurrection means more for you than candy and family. The longing that you feel for connection is fulfilled in Jesus. This coming month I hope that we are able to reach out to Him and reconnect. To find our strength renewed and multiplied in His presence and love so that we can join what Jesus is doing to connect with the people around us. Each of us has an important part to play in this interconnected system of heart roots that Jesus is the center of!
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Expectation
We are coming up on Easter! This is one of my favorite times of year. We are experiencing all sorts of lovely changes in weather and building our hope for Spring. We are looking forward to family trips and time to explore the natural world, we are looking for a break. The expectation we have with the change of seasons is that we would get a break to let us know the shift has happened. A lull or down period that lets us know something big is coming.
Over the next couple weeks we will be looking at the times that Jesus talks about His death on the cross. These passages build expectation for us in the same way that warmer days herald the coming of Spring. Something is going to be different soon and we need to be ready for it. This month we celebrate the close of Jesus’ time here on earth with the Disciples and mourn the crucifixion of our Savior. The time Christ was in the grave is like that interlude between seasons. We know something big is coming and have to be ready for it. We hope and pray that we can be ready for it: this thing that is so powerfully new and wonderfully beyond our wildest imaginings, the resurrection of our Messiah and invitation into the Kingdom of Heaven which is available forevermore.
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Celebration of our Risen Savior!
Good Friday Service – March 25th at 6:30 p.m.
The service will feature reflection, repentance, communion with the elements, and a time of open worship.
Easter Sunday Schedule, March 27
9 a.m. A time of fellowship with coffee, juice & breakfast goodies!
10 a.m. Worship in the Word, with no Bible Studies or Sunday School classes.
Following Worship Christian Ed will be hosting an Egg Hunt.
EFM's 2016 Easter Offering bulletin inserts will be coming soon! This year's theme is "To Ireland, With Love." Take time to check out the bulletin board in the fellowship hall. You will find letters and pictures from the Howell family, Kathy Perry & Molly Morton. Please be in prayer about this opportunity to share in this offering, to be taken Easter Sunday.
Richard Anderson’s Eagle Project
Thank You to everyone who has supported this project by donating books or funds for building materials for the “Little Free Library” that will be located on the side of the church near the community garden. Stay tuned for more information!
Daylight Savings Time Begins Sunday, March 13th – Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour Saturday night, before going to bed. It’s also a good time to check the batteries in your home smoke detectors!
- Sign-ups for in-home potluck dinners will be starting soon!
Volunteers are Needed! The Christian Education committee is seeking volunteers to work in the nursery – 5 year old classes during the 9:30 a.m. service. If you feel that God is calling you to help, there is a ew Sign-up Sheet for March, April, May on the table in the foyer.
Friends Women Meeting We will meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 17th, at the home of Lena Anderson. A buffet luncheon will follow the meeting. All ladies are always welcome.
Note: Our next meeting will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 16th, at the home of Billie Taylor.
Looking Ahead! Friends Women's tentative date for this year’s Spring Rally, to be held at Medford Friends will be Saturday, April 23, 2016.
Sunday, March 20, 2016 – All Church Potluck
Please join us for a time of fellowship and good food! Please bring a main dish and salad, vegetable or dessert to share. We’ll meet in the fellowship hall at noon.
From the Christian Ed Committee: We will hold an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday, March 27th. Your donations of bags of individually wrapped candy are welcome and much appreciated for this fun event and can be brought to the church any time.
Cans! Cans! Cans! for Candles.
Since mid-January to present, we have delivered 69 candles-in-a-can to St. Vincent. We can only do this with your help. If you have 14.5 oz. vegetable cans, we would appreciate it if you would put them in the blue tub in the hallway leading into the fellowship hall. We cannot use the lift-off cans or lined cans. Your help is deeply appreciated by those less fortunate.
Help our kids go to Twin Rocks Friends Camp!
Mark your calendars & start planning for Camp Auction 2016! The auction will be held on Wednesday May 18th. Popular items include baked goods, handmade items, antiques, collectibles, and company donations have sold well in the past. This year's event will be a dinner and "Silent Auction"! Looking forward to seeing you there!
Table Rock Fellowship is hosting the Watoto Children's Choir! The concert is Saturday, March 12th at 6 p.m. Come celebrate what the Lord has done and is doing through the ministry of Watoto. It is a blessing to experience the God given hearts, talents and testimonies of these precious and gifted kids from Uganda. Following the concert, you can meet and visit with the choir members, learn more about the ministry and even do a little shopping to support their endeavors.
The invitation has been extended to Ladies at MFC! Women’s Conference
“Fight Like a Girl” April 1-3, 2016
At Path Church, 310 N. 10th Street, Central Point
Fri. 3 to 6 p.m. Sat. 9:30 to 6 p.m. Sun. 9 or 11 a.m.
Women if you are tired of walking around with a frown on your face, then come laugh with us as we host two famous Christian comedians, Kerri Pomarolli and Lisa Mills. Lu Crenshaw, a local fitness enthusiast will also be there to share and inspire us! Tickets are $45 and are available at their web-site conference.pathchurch.com. Contact Terry Wilson during office hours at MFC If you are interested in attending.
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