The Pastor’s Blog
Jesus Loves Me Valentines Dessert – Everyone is Invited!
Friday, February 12th, 7 p.m. at MFC
Put on your best attire February 12th, and join us in the fellowship hall for a special evening of games, music and fun! If you haven’t signed up yet be sure to Circle “V” on the Information Sheet in Sunday’s bulletin and place it in the offering or drop box on the table in the foyer.
Sweet Treats for Everyone!
Friends Women Fellowship Group will hold their Valentine’s Day Baked Goods Event
on Sunday, February 14th!
The ladies will have tables set up in the fellowship hall during the fellowship time following worship and before Sunday School. One table will have Valentine’s Goodies for cost by donation. A 2nd special table with Other Goodies will be marked! The proceeds will help provide for some special felt needs of our Friends Serving Abroad.
FWMF Meeting We will meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 18th, at the home of Phebe McManama. A buffet luncheon will follow the meeting. All ladies are welcome.
Looking Ahead! FWMF tentative date for this year’s Spring Rally, to be held at Medford Friends will be Saturday, April 23, 2016.
Sunday, February 21, 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.
Did you know that Marlon Campos, has been volunteering at a summer camp, in Panama. He has been here since January 2nd and leaves the 8th of February. This is through the YMCA. We look forward to Marlon sharing about his experience there when he returns.
Richard Anderson’s Eagle Project – He will be building and installing a “Little Free Library” here at Medford Friends on the side of the church near the community garden.
A Big Thank You to Everyone who has so generously donated books for this project. More books are needed, to keep the library full until the books start to circulate. Please donate books for all ages in the donation box in the hallway. If you would like to donate funds for building materials and the library registration, please designate your gift “Eagle Project” and place it in the offering. For more information please contact Richard 541-646-5599.
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Life as Worship
What do you wake up for? Because the alarm clock went off, because you have that appointment today, because work, because family, because you don’t want to spend all day in bed (some of it will be spent in that favorite chair we all have), maybe it is something else. The reason we get out of bed in the morning (or evening for those night owls out there) is tied to what we see as our purpose in this life.
Our reason for being awake and alive is core to who we are. If you are like me, waking up in the morning is something you have just been doing. I haven’t been thinking about what being awake that day means. I have been hearing the alarm and thinking about the list of things that should probably be done that day. I have been staring at the ceiling and thinking about how many times I can snooze before I actually have to roll out of bed and get going. I haven’t been thinking about what my awakening means; it means I have been blessed with another day. It means that I have a chance that day to do something wonderful. I have a choice to make.
Each day we are alive on this Earth we have been blessed, we have a chance, and we have a choice. We have been blessed by God with the beautiful opportunity to impact this world for Him. We have been given the chance to be changed and renewed as we seek the places and people that God wants us to be engaging with that day. We have a choice to worship God or worship the world. When you wake up to worship your perspective on what each day means shifts dramatically. It isn’t about the list anymore. It is about the life God has granted you. A life of communion with the Holy Spirit; a life renewed and reconciled.
As we continue to discuss what Worship looks like I want to encourage you to pray for awakening. I want us to pray for this for ourselves, for our families, for our friends, for the strangers we meet on the streets and in the markets, for our brothers and sisters in other congregations all over this valley, and for our nation. Let’s pray for awakening. A Spirit led awakening in our hearts that alerts us to what is truly important and what life can be when lived in relationship with God.
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Exciting news! Richard Anderson is starting his Eagle project. He will be building and installing a “Little Free Library” here at Medford Friends on the side of the church near the community garden. He is raising funds for building materials and the library registration. Richard is also gathering books through a book drive to keep the library full until the books start to circulate. Please donate books for all ages in the donation box in the hallway.
JUST A REMINDER!
The Stewards and Elders will meet on Tuesday, January 6th and on Tuesday, January 26th at 6 p.m.
Wednesday Night Bible Study at MFC Will Resume, January 13th at 6 p.m.
If you haven’t been a part of this study time in the past, come and join us this year!
Mark Your Calendars! Sunday, January 17, 2016 All Church Potluck
Please join us for a time of fellowship and good food! We’ll meet in the fellowship hall at noon, Please bring a main dish and salad, vegetable or dessert to share.
FWMF (Friends Women Missionary Fellowship) We will meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 21st, at the church, in the fireside room. Following the meeting we will enjoy lunch at Wendy’s. FWMF is open to all ladies of the church. If you are interested in attending but need a ride, contact Lena Anderson.
Last Call! It’s time to update our MFC directory…
Thanks to those who have responded!
If you are new to MFC, have moved, or have new phone numbers or a new email address please fill out the top of the Information Sheet and place it in the box on the table in the foyer. Because we have had quite a few changes of addresses, etc. this past year there will be a new directory printed this month. To that end, there is a proofing copy of the MFC Directory on the table near the coffee window in the fellowship hall. If each family would mark “OK” or make corrections it would be helpful. Thank you.
In Home Potluck Dinners will Begin in the New Year!
More information to come!
Valentines Dessert, Friday, February 12th
Mark your calendars now! Put on your best attire February 12th and join us for a special evening of fun! Circle “V” on the Information Sheet in Sunday’s bulletin and place it in the offering or drop box on the table in the foyer.
Thank You from the Staff at MFC
Thank you from Jesse Davis, Brett & Cindi Garrett and the Wilson family for the cards, gifts and the cash gifts shared with us throughout this Christmas season. It is a blessing to worship and serve Jesus with our church family.
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Let Us Be New
As we finish up this year we naturally look back to what has happened over the last 12 months. For example, I have a new job, a new place to live, a new church family, a couple new roommates, and a lot of new friends! I have gone kayaking on the Rogue River, camping at Twin Rocks on the Oregon Coast, stayed in a cabin at Diamond Lake, seen Crater Lake, and enjoyed a few plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I have been a camp elder, a soccer coach, and a bible study leader. I have prayed with many new people and for many new friends. I have been blessed enormously over the last year!
Having looked back I am amazed at all of the new things God has given me to do and be a part of to progress His kingdom purpose in our area! I am so excited to be part of what God is doing here at Medford Friends Church and through our church to bless the community we are part of. I am looking forward to the new things that God is going to be doing next year! 2016!
Following Jesus daily is the heart of the Gospel for us. Each day we get to renew our commitment to Him and His ways. Every moment is a new one. Each experience is unique and we get to respond in new ways. As we head into the New Year I want us to consider the passage found in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
We get to be new. Just like there is a new year coming we have a new life offered to us every day. I hope that we can engage our community in a new way this year. I hope that God encourages you to find a new thing that He is doing and you join Him in it! I hope that you let yourself be new this year, and that by doing so you participate in the renewal of the world that begins with and finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ!
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