Fresh News from Friendly Street Copy Copy

Week of  July 2nd, 2023

   Please join us this Sunday, as Jenny resumes her Series on Freedom.
        If you have any Prayer Requests, Praises, or Updates you'd like added to the newsletter, please send us an email atfriendlystreetchurch@gmail.comso we can get them added. This email and the church phone 541.345.6553 will continue to serve as the primary ways of contact for staff.     Thank you!

Exciting News!  The new Friendly Street Church app is now available.  You can find it on Google Play or iTunes.  and here is a link for easy access.  Please remember, it is still a work in progress so please be patient as we complete the set-up process and get everything situated.
Friendly Street Church of God app: https://subsplash.com/friendlystreetchurchofgo/app

Due to some technical difficulties and confusion about the process, our website is currently unavailable, but we hope to have that transitioned in the next week or so.  Again, thank you for your patience as we work out the bugs.

Topic: FSCOG Sunday Morning
Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lanecc.zoom.us/j/93890452996
Meeting ID: 938 9045 2996
We will continue to provide ZOOM each Sunday, record, and upload the services to our new App , and on the website, once we work out the new logistics

Preschool Ministry programming for ages 0-5 is available during the morning worship.
Grade school programming (K-5th) is also available as needed.
Activities Bags are available for all children if they choose to be in service instead.
Donations of prepackaged snacks and juice boxes would be welcome.

Exciting news: we are moving from Faithlife to Subsplash as our main communication platform!
This also means Giving on Faithlife will no longer be available after June 16. You can now give online at https://secure.subsplash.com/ui/access/GHMX5H/ 

It’s easy, fast, and secure, and a great way to designate gifts, such as to give for a camper to attend Camp White Branch or to give toward Project Hope Backpacks.
If you’re able, we also encourage you to set up recurring giving. 
Thank you for faithfully giving as the Gospel message is shared with our community.

Small Group: Weekly on Wednesdays at 10 am: At the Church Library. They are currently doing a study of Psalms.
Men's Breakfast: Men's Breakfast will be this Saturday, July 15th at 9 am. All are welcome this month, including ladies. If you are able to help with meal preparation, please let Richard Pruett know.
Game Night: Tuesday, July 18th. 5:30 - 7:30 pm. The theme is Spaghetti. Please plan to bring a dish to share, and invite a friend.
Friendly Street Prayer Walks: The next Prayer Walk is scheduled for Wednesday, July 26th at 11:30 am. We will meet at the Oakway Shopping - Center Court.
Coming up in August:
Preacher Swap Sundays:
Pastors from our local Church of God Congregations in Eugene, Springfield, and Cottage Grove will be rotating to share messages at all three churches. We will celebrate together with an evening Worship and Prayer Service in Cottage Grove.
Ladies' Dinner on the Deck:The next Dinner on the Deck on Tuesday, August 9th. We need to confirm a host. If you do not have a Deck, you can host at the Church. Please let Susan know if you would like to do so. If your last name starts with A-L, please bring a salad, M -Z please bring a Dessert. 
Afternoon Baptism and Dessert:
Sunday, Aug 13 - We will have a special afternoon baptism with dessert on the river. Location TBD. If you would like to have a conversation about baptism, please contact Pastor Jenny before Aug 6. Pam Rossetter will also be baptized at this time.  More details to come.
August 22nd: Project Hope Volunteer Training- Willamette Christian Center. 6:30 pm.
August 26th & 27th: Project Hope Backpack Set Up and Giveaway. ATA Middle School.

**If you have shared a prayer request, please remember to share any updates, so we can continue to support you**
New and Urgent Unspoken Requests: Please remember to pray for each other, even when we don't know the specific needs.
Wisdom for Friendly Street's Leadership, including the new members, Planning for our Summer Ministries and that God will lead us to the Lead Sunday School Teacher and Worship Pastor He has prepared to join our staff.
Patrick & Jamie Nachtigall-- The missionary couple we support
Unsaved Family members. We all have at least one
The homeless population in Eugene: Wisdom for city officials on how to handle this complex issue. Resources for nonprofits in designing programs to assist the unhoused. For all of us to look at them with God's eyes-- with love and compassion.
Adams Elementary
Our national and local leaders
War in Ukraine - Churches throughout the region. More information on how to help those in need in Ukraine through prayer and financial contributions can be found at:
https://www.jesusisthesubject.org/disaster-relief/

We are blessed to be in close proximity to other Church of God congregations. Last year we had volunteer help from Cottage Grove and Springfield congregations for our fall ministries. As we continue to collaborate with each other, we look forward to 3 special Sundays in August where the Lead Pastors will preach at each of the congregations, joining each other on the sermon series "Downtime: Practicing Sabbath, Solitude, and Simplicity." Each congregation will hear from each pastor within three Sundays. 
Here is the schedule:
Sunday, Aug 6: Jenny preaches "Simplicity" at Friendly Street
Sunday, Aug 13 Andrew Loyd - Lead Pastor for Riverside Church of God in Cottage Grove will preach at Friendly Street (Jenny will be preaching at Springfield)
Sunday, Aug 20 Jason Mitchell - Lead Pastor for Springfield Church of God will preach at Friendly Street (Jenny will be preaching at Cottage Grove) 
We are better together and building relationships with the congregations is encouraging and needed. We will celebrate greater connectivity with a special worship and prayer night at Riverside Community Church of God with all three churches together on Sunday, Aug 20th at 6 pm in Cottage Grove. More details to come!
Pastor Jenny

Well, it is Wednesday again, time to write something for the Newsletter. It has been an unexpectedly hectic day for me, creating numerous detailed reports and responding to email requests for explanations of documents and such. I’m also still working out how things should work with the new app and our website.
It makes it challenging to sit down and be calm. I tend to keep pushing myself to just get it all done. That doesn’t work out well for me.
Yesterday was our July Dinner on the Deck. I wanted to bring something special, so I decided to bake an apple pie. And then I was busy on Monday, and didn’t get it made, and I was really busy on Tuesday, too, and got distracted. So Tuesday afternoon, I put the pie in the oven with just enough time for it to bake before I had to leave.
I thought to myself, I should not be trying to do this. I don’t have enough time. But as usual, I pushed myself to do it. I didn’t want to show up to dinner with empty hands.
If you know me, you probably know where this is headed. I pulled the pie out, put it on a metal tray since it was still HOT! And wrapped it in tin foil and kitchen towels so I could carry it without burning myself.
I got about fifteen feet from my door, and the wind blew the foil off. I tried to grab it, and the pie I’d worked so hard to make shattered on the sidewalk, in a mess of hot apple filling pie plate shards.
I couldn’t even clean it up properly, because it was too hot to handle. So I scraped up as much as I could using the tray and larger pie plate pieces.
So I arrived at the dinner with nothing but the pie server, which I’d tucked in my purse.
And it was fine. No one was upset or angry with me. There was plenty of dessert to share, and everyone still loved me. The ladies were sympathetic, though I did get teased a little. It was all in good fun.
But it’s also a reminder for me to set more realistic goals for myself. I knew I was too busy and too tired to be making that pie, but I tried to do it anyway. And then I was in a rush, and it all went to waste anyway. I could just as easily have left a little early and picked up something quick from the grocery store on the way to the dinner.
So tonight, I ask myself the serious question, “Why?”
On Monday, I was stressing about the website, I told myself, “This is God’s website.”
That changed my perspective. Friendly Street is God’s church. Our website is His website. Our App is His App. And that apple pie was God’s apple pie.
When I think of it that way, I can relax and leave it all in God’s hands. The reason I was stressing was because I was focused on myself, not on God.
Colossians 3:2 says, “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” (MSG)
I like that translation or interpretation of that verse. Going forward, I will do my best, with the Lord’s help, to look at everything from His perspective. Perhaps if I think of those reports as His reports, I’ll feel more motivated to complete them.
As I said to my supervisor earlier today after making my third mistake on one report, “Thank you for being patient with me.” I am praying those same words to the Lord right now.
And the next time I bake an apple pie for the Lord, I’ll make sure to allow plenty of time for it to cool.
~susan~

UPDATE:  The webiste is now working, with a proper security cerficate.  Praise the Lord!