I know it's only Monday afternoon, but I wanted to take a minute, in the midst of chaos, and let you know about all the excitement that is taking place this week on our church campus.

Today kicked-off a combined VBS week with Anthem, New Creation and Global Community Church. They had almost 30 kids attend day #1 and the mission team from First Baptist in Sylacauga, Alabama, did an amazing job teaching the kids about Jesus! In addition to VBS, more than 30 kids showed-up for the first day of the PAL Kids Camp, that is meeting on our campus for the summer. Beaverton School District is providing breakfast and lunch and the volunteers come from both the police department and the school district. Finally, the kids from El Buen Pastor left this morning for their summer camp, with more than 50 kids in attendance.

In fact, if you had been at the church between 7:30am and 9:30am this morning, you would have been welcomed by about 120 kids.....plus parents! It's so fun to see our building being used to express the love of God.

Note: Young @ Heart WILL STILL meet this Thursday at Noon, for their monthly lunch. We will be using the portion of the Fireside Room where Norm's Sunday School class once met. I hope to see you there!

Have a great week!

Pastor Doug

Hi FBC Family,

\\nA couple of weeks ago, Michael Wong, who is the editor of the Beaverton Resource Guide called and asked if I would like to write a piece for the Community Message section of the paper. I was excited to have this opportunity to connect with our community and I agreed to write a short article that will appear in the July issue.

\\nI thought I would give you a "sneak peek" at the article, with some additional thoughts that I was not able to include in the original article. I hope you enjoy my thoughts on the importance of creating memories with those we love. Note: the words in italic do not appear in the original article.

Make Memories This Summer

\\nWhen you hear the word “Memories”, what song, trip, special event or image immediately pops into your head? For me, summer always takes me back to my childhood when our family would pile into my parent's Oldsmobile Cutlass 4 door sedan and drive to my grandparent’s house. There we would spend the week fishing, hunting, climbing trees and eating freshly baked cookies.
\\nWith the end of school, comes the opportunity for us to continue the one tradition that never grows old…..making memories. Whether it’s a family vacation, a 4th of July picnic, a family reunion, a neighborhood block party or just lounging by the pool, summer should be about creating a scrapbook of scattered pictures filled with smiling faces.
\\nUnfortunately, the enemy to making memories is the daily grind of life. Our jobs, traffic, much needed home and car repairs, relational and marital tension, all these can impact our ability and/or desire to create memory-making opportunities. When it comes to those things that get us down, it helps for us to remember that we are not in charge of our day......God is. While I'm sure God wants us to make the most of our time here on earth, I'm convinced He is more concerned with the development of our character and the cultivation of the qualities that make us more Christlike. James 1:2-4, speaks to the idea of God using life's irritations in our journey to become more like Jesus. Don’t let the chaos and tension of life get in the way of painting some watercolor memories together this summer; instead remember the words of James and allow God to build within you the same character qualities of His Son, Jesus....patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control.....just to name a few.
In addition to maintaining a healthy relationship with Jesus, building memories can actually help lift the load that tends to weigh us down. People who make memories are not just sentimental...….they're smart! So, what memories are you planning to make this summer?

\\nAs you prepare for Sunday, please pray for our "Grow Young" team, which will meet Saturday night to begin praying about and developing a plan for reaching the young families in our community. If you're wondering who is on this team, its members include: Mark and Nancy Hester, Greg and Jonella Malinowski, Charles Niggley, Doug and Rose Boyd, Tim and Bitsy Law, Brenda Rhine, Martha Bailey, Jim and Laura Small and Larry and Melanie Annes. I know each of them would appreciate your prayers during this season of change.


See you Sunday.

\\nPastor Doug

This Sunday, we will continue are series called Faith, Hope and Luck. The first week, we talked about the dangers of circumstantial faith and the importance of having our faith anchored to the resurrection of Jesus.  The reason for this is if God never does another thing in your life, never answers another prayer, never heals another illness, never performs another miracle, we can still maintain faith in our God.  Why?  Because our faith is not based on God showing up in our lives or in our circumstances, instead, our faith in God is based on the reality that 2,000 years ago He sent His only Son, Jesus, to walk on the earth, live a perfect life, die on a cross, predict his own resurrection, which he fulfills, and then appears to over 500 people.  Our faith is based on the simple truth that God loves us.

Then last week, I gave you this definition for faith…..
 
Faith is confidence that God is who he says he is and that he will do everything he has promised to do. 
 
This simply means that we can, with confidence, bring all of our requests, all of our hurts, our doubts, our fears to God, knowing with absolute certainty that he can overcome any obstacle we place in front of him, but having the type of faith that trusts God to do His will……not ours!

This Sunday, we will unpack the second half of our definition for faith…..that God will do everything he has promised to do. Our focus will be on answering the question, "What has God promised to do?"

Take some time over the next two days to read Romans 8:28-39.  As Paul wraps up chapter 8, he writes with full apostolic authority, "For I am sure (or convinced)".  The verb is a Greek perfect tense, indicating that something occurred in the past with ongoing results to the present time.  He was convinced that nothing in life, or even our archenemy, death, can keep the love of Christ from us.  His own death and resurrection reveal His power over anything and everything that threatens us in the natural realm.  Furthermore, nothing in the supernatural realm, including angels and spiritual forces, can harm us.  God created all things, including everything in the supernatural realm, and He continues to rule over His universe.

Because God rules over everything in time and space, nothing can subvert His will, which is to bring His people to Himself, cleanse us of sin inside and out, shape us into the image of Christ, restore us to life, and allow us to enjoy "peace with God" forever!  Can I get an "AMEN!"

 Don't forget that tomorrow, Saturday, June 2nd from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, is a time for you to drop by the Fireside room and ask questions regarding the selling of our rental properties and the future direction of our church.   Then on Sunday, you will have the opportunity to cast your ballot on whether or not to sell these properties.

See you Sunday.

Pastor Doug