The Pastor’s Blog
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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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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