Fresh News from Friendly Street 3/20/2024

Week of March 17th, 2024

Please join us this Sunday

as Pastor Jenny begins our Easter sermon series, with a Lesson on Good Friday.
Text: 16:33; Colossians 1:13–14; 2:13–15

Topic(s): Good Friday, Overcome, Evil, Cosmos

As we continue our focus on prayer fasting, Pastor Jenny wanted to share the following as a focus prayer for the week:

WEEK FOUR:
"Lord, thank you for your constant presence in our lives. Thank you for giving us forgiveness through Jesus, and guidance through your Holy Spirit. We ask for a continued, deeper desire to say “no” to distractions in our lives so that we choose to say “yes” to you. Lead us to trust in you as we serve others in our lives. Place people in our paths that we can share the love of Jesus with by our words and by our humble actions. May we seek for ways to give, trusting that you will provide. Help us to not make up excuses when opportunities to serve arise. May you be seen in the way we serve. May you be given all glory in our hearts of service. Amen.”

        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!

Small Group: Weekly on Wednesdays at 10 am: in the Church Library. They will begin a 6-week study coordinated with Pastor Jenny's sermon series.
Bible Study at Kevin & Laurie King’s – Wed, Feb 21st, at 7 pm - Wed, March 27, This is a 6-week Bible Study that goes with Pastor Jenny's sermon series.
Church WorkDay: Saturday, March 23rd. We'll be working to get the Church ready for Easter, inside and out.l Please come if you are able. There will be snacks available.
Maundy Thursday: Special service with Communion and Footwashing for those to choose to participate.
Easter Sunday: March 31st. Free Breakfast, Egg Hunt and a Special Service.
Mother's Day Slide Show: Please send your favorite photo of your mother/grandmother/mother figure to Hannah. She'll be preparing a special slide show to commemorate our mothers.
Little Hoots Yard Sale April 13th: Little Hoots is planning a fundraiser Yard/ Garage Sale to raise funds for new playground equipment. Stay tuned for more information.
Preacher Swap Sundays: returning this August.

Last week, I was on my way to church, a little later than I’d meant to leave. Every traffic light I came to turned red— or so it seemed anyway. I started to get frustrated, but then I had a thought. This was God’s way of forcing me to slow down. If I’d hit all those lights green, I would have kept going faster, and getting a little more reckless with every intersection I went through.

Instead, I had time to think at every intersection I stopped at. And I reminded myself that the church will still be there, and the people there will either wait for me or start without me. And either way, things will go as God intends.

The past week or two I’ve found myself feeling very cranky. I’m not finding joy in life like I usually do. I have just finished a very busy time at work, and it feels like I’ve been working non-stop for weeks. Now I’m having to readjust my schedule to something more balanced. It should feel like a relief, but sometimes, I find it stressful. Some part of me keeps wondering what I’m forgetting to do. There is an adrenalin boost when I’m working under a deadline, and it’s so satisfying when I finish up the last of a big project. I get a big feeling of accomplishment.

But after that, there’s a bit of a let-down. So maybe that’s what I’m experiencing right now. I’ve gone from doing all the things all at once, to not wanting to do anything at all. Neither one is a healthy way to live. So I am now focusing on finding balance in the things I do.

One thing I haven’t been doing well at is the daily Bible readings. I know there’s a lot to be learned from that, but I just haven’t found the motivation. Which also means I haven’t been praying like I should, or I would feel motivated. And it’s hard to start again when I am behind. The guilt nags at me, and I want to ignore it—by also ignoring my Bible and prayer time. But Pastor Jenny has given us good advice. “If you are behind,” she reminds us, “Don’t try to catch up. Just start with today’s reading and go from there.”

I have read part of today’s Bible reading. But I also picked up my Bible and asked the Lord to give me a verse to combat my crabbiness. I let it fall open, closed my eyes, and pointed at a random verse: Isaiah 41:18 “I will open rivers on the bare heights, And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land fountains of water.” (NAS)

That is a verse taken out of context, but the words resonated with me. God will bring water to the dry and barren lands, and He will also bring back the joy and enthusiasm I am craving. All I have to do is open my heart, open my Bible, and pray.

~susan~