The Pastor’s Blog
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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Richard Anderson’s Senior Project
Car Show
100% of the money raised will go directly to Hearts With A Mission
May 14, 2016 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
at North Medford High School Parking Lot, 1900 N. Keene Way Drive
Donations will be accepted, no fee to attend the show
Let’s support Richard and Hearts With A Mission!
Sunday, May 15, 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.
We will take a break from the monthly potluck gatherings during the summer months and meet again in September.
Watch for fun events to be announced for this summer!
MFC’s Annual Camp Auction
Everyone is invited to join the fun and help our youth with scholarships to camp!
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!
Hurray – the camp auction will be here on Wed. May 18th 6:00 p.m. and the dinner for the evening will be coordinated by Terry DuLong. We will enjoy: Baked Chicken, Stuffing, Potatoes & Gravy, Roasted Vegetables, Dessert & Drinks
Suggested donation is $10/person – but mostly we want your participation. To help us know how much to prepare, please circle ‘C’ on your information receipt and indicate how many in your party can attend. We look forward to sharing this fun time with you!
Silent Auction will close at 7
Silent Auction Winners Announced at 7:30
Look for a sign-up sheet (near the coffee window or on the table in the foyer) to sign up your auction items! Items to be auctioned that have sold well in the past include baked goods, handmade items, antiques, collectibles, and company donations.
- Brochures for this year’s camp are on the table in the foyer.
Twin Rocks Friends Camp Schedules and Discounted Rate for 2016
Girls Camp, entering 4th – 6th grade in the fall, July 3-8, $295. Register by June 15
Tween Camp, entering 7th – 9th grade in the fall, July 10-16, $315. Register by June 22
Boys Camp, entering 4th – 6th grade in the fall, July 17-22, $295. Register by June 29
Surfside Camp, completing 8th – 12th grade this year, Aug 7-13, $315 Register by July 20
Friends Women Missionary Fellowship Group
All ladies are welcome to join us at MFC, Thursday, May 19th at 10 a.m. Following the meeting we will meet at Wendy’s for lunch.
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Looking Forward and Acting Out
May! May? May?! How is it already May? I feel like we skipped something. This year is going by too quickly. Soccer has been going for me again and it has been a ton of fun! The kids are learning well and playing better each game I think. One problem they have though is looking forward. They get the ball and they focus on it. They are dribbling around with the thing focused on it and not looking forward. Looking forward is not always as intuitive as we think it should be. The kids have their focus on what they want to have their focus on, the ball, and keep their eyes on it to the exclusion of the broader game. They have their piece and want to keep it for as long as possible.
This sense of control, focusing on their one piece and not thinking about the bigger game is not a very helpful thing though. We need them to have their piece but be aware of what is going on around them, too. During practice we are trying to help them learn that they can trust that the ball is going to be where they left it the last time they saw it, so they can look around every once in a while to see where they are going and what other people are up to on the field as well. Are we focusing on our piece to the point that we aren’t engaged with the bigger thing that is going around us?
In the coming months we will be looking at the book of Acts in a sermon series called “Acting Out.” Our purpose is to learn from the early church about how they engaged with the cultures they lived in and how we can do the same. If you are interested in getting a head start on what we are going to be studying as a church read the book of Acts!
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