Fresh News from Friendly Street Copy Copy

Week of October 15th, 2023
Please join us this Sunday, as Pastor Jenny continues our sermon series: Criticism of Jesus: The Words of Jesus.This week, the big idea will be: Jesus shows us that the law should encourage us to treat others well. Text: Mark 2:23–3:6.

        If you have any Prayer Requests, Praises, or Updates you'd like added to the newsletter, please email us at officemanager@friendlystreetchurch.org
so we can add them. Or you can call the church phone 541.345.6553 to contact staff.  
  Thank you!

Here are the main plans we have for Fall and Advent activities. Other events may be added, as we continue planning.
1. Trunk-or-Treat
If you'd like to assist with the Trunk-or-Treat at Willamette Christian Center, you are welcome to do so. Volunteers and candy donations are always needed. This is a great way to provide a safe place for families to go on Halloween as well as partner with other area churches. Here is he link
https://willamettechristian.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/615/responses/new

1.  Meal Boxes
   The need for Thanksgiving meal boxes is expected to be greater at Adams Elementary. We will plan to collect offerings toward this and will give these to Adams Elementary families the week of Thanksgiving, on Tuesday, Nov 21 from 3-6 pm. You can designate your gift by writing "meal boxes" on your check or envelope, and  this is an option within our Online Giving.
2. Thanksgiving Dinner:
   Through much prayer and discernment, we have decided we will not hold our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner this year in the same way we have done in the past. We are currently looking at ways for people to volunteer from our congregation with a different community resource if they choose to do so, and looking at ministries we can support throughout the year for the unhoused instead.
   Note: There are tentative plans to hold a church potluck dinner at the church on Thanksgiving Day for those who don't have other plans. Stay tuned for more details on that. We don't want anyone to be alone on the holiday.
3. Giving Tree and Living Water:
   We will be doing the Giving Tree again this year. We will be partnering with Adams Elementary to meet the specific needs of some families at the school. This is yet another way we can have a lasting relational impact on the Adams community. Tags will be available in early December.  We will also be giving toward Living Water International.
4. Live Nativity:
   We will be doing Live Nativity again this year for two days, Saturday, Dec 16, and Sunday, Dec 17, partnering again with Springfield Church of God. Some of the scenes will be updated structurally and there will be work days both in November and December to fully prepare for it. We will also need help with other things: Costumes, Makeup, Actors, Kitchen, and Hospitality. Please let us know if you are interested in helping.

Small Group:  Weekly on Wednesdays at 10 am: At the Church Library. They are currently doing a study of Psalms.
Church Breakfast:  Saturday, October 7th, 9 am. All are welcome to attend.
One Church One Day: Sunday, October 9th. Our day to pray for 24 hours.
Game Night:  Tuesday, October 17th. Theme Ham.
Camp White Branch 65th Anniversary: Nov 4, 11am-5pm @ Camp White Branch.
FREE Karl Vater Small Church Conference: Nov 17-18 @ Oak Park Church of God in Salem
Fall Ministries: Stay tuned for details.
Service for Jo Bray:  There has been an illness in the family, so plans for the service are currently on hold.

Sometimes, it seems like the things I do don’t matter much.  I wash the dishes, they get dirty again.  I go to work, but I never seem to have any money.  I sleep, but I still get tired.  
I write, but I never seem to finish anything.  I pray, but it seems like my prayers never get answered.
I was pondering what to write about tonight, as usual, when I glanced over and saw my marble jar.  The marbles are a tradition started years ago for a writing group I am a part of.  It started as a joke that writing makes us lose our marbles, so whenever we attend a writer’s group meeting, we get a marble.  That way, we can replace the marbles we lost.
Over time, it’s become more than a joke.  It’s an incentive for people to come to the meetings, and it’s a way to track how many events we’ve attended.  
Now, a single marble is a small thing on its own.  But as I’ve attended these meetings, I’ve filled up my jar.  I’m not sure how many are in there now, but that’s a lot of marbles.  Plus, by attending those meetings, I learn from my fellow writers.  I get new perspectives, and I’ve become a better writer as a result.
It can be easy to look at my prayer life and feel like nothing’s happening, or that things I try to do for my faith aren’t working.  But really, it’s like the marbles.  God makes small changes in our lives, so gradual that we don’t really notice until it’s done.  Like the marbles in my jar, these things get bigger over time.
So maybe I should start awarding myself a marble or a sticker for every time I pray?  Or when I attend a church service?  I am picturing the old attendance charts we used to have when I was a kid.  The ones with the little star stickers.
Would people attend church more regularly if they got a sticker for doing so?  Maybe. It would be one way to know who was missing, so we can check on them.
But the real point is, big things are made up of little things.  So we shouldn’t be discouraged when all we can do are little things.  God can put all those little things together, and turn them into a miracle.
Matthew 17:20 says, “It was because you do not have enough faith,” answered Jesus.  “I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, ‘Go from here to there!’ and it will go.  You could do anything!” (GNT)
Let’s strive to have just a little bit of faith.  God can work with that.


~susan~