As we continue in our desire to be an irresistible place where our neighbors and community can see the love of Jesus lived out, I want to encourage each of you to consider being a part of this year's Trunk O' Treat outreach. The date for this event is Saturday, October 27th from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. There are many ways for you to be involved. We need set-up and tear-down volunteers, individuals to donate candy, hot dogs, buns, etc., food runners, kitchen volunteers and a couple of people to help run the popcorn stand. However, the most important need is for people to commit to bring their cars, decorate their trunks, maybe have a game for kids to play, but most importantly, simply show the love of Jesus to each family who pays your trunk a visit! This Sunday, there will be sign-up sheets for candy donations, trunk volunteers, as well as some of the other areas I mentioned. Consider helping us love our neighbors through this fun event!
This coming week will be a busy one for our campus. This Sunday, Parkside Kids, the new name for our children's ministry, will be hosting a training/orientation meeting from 11:45am to 2:00pm. Lunch and childcare will be provided. This meeting is for anyone who is interested in loving the kids that God brings to our church each Sunday. On Wednesday, our monthly Adults on Mission group will be meeting from 10:30am to noon in the Fireside Room. We will be praying for both local and global missions, as well as hearing from Pastor Norm on how God has been using him to encourage missionaries who serve overseas. Join us as we thank God for his faithfulness! As I close this edition of TAB, I want to talk briefly about the concept of seasons. Just as nature recently transitioned from Summer to Fall and will soon make another transition to Winter, so too, our church has gone through multiple transitions over the last several years and we are preparing for another transition, as we move from being known as First Baptist Church Beaverton to Parkside Fellowship. With both seasonal and church transitions, changes are a part of the process. In the midst of the leaves changing color, a church member may too decide its time to make a change and leave his or her church. As the temperature outside gets cooler, things inside the church may be heating up as the need to add staff or ministries collide with finances. FBC is about to experience one of these "seasonal" changes. After 14 years serving as our church administrative assistant, I have asked Cheryle Douglas to step down from this role. My desire to make a change at this crucial time in the life of our church is my belief in the importance that those who serve on our church staff, be fully invested and active members of our church. Cheryle and her husband Marc are currently members of New Life Baptist Church in Hillsboro. While no one questions Cheryle's love for FBC, I believe it is important that she not be torn between her "job" at FBC and a desire to volunteer at her home church. I have seen her struggle to balance her commitment as a paid staff member of FBC and the needs of kids at New Life. This is why I have decided to make this change. I asked Cheryle to write down what she will miss most about serving on staff at FBC and I thought I would share it with you..... "Reflecting on my time spent serving the Lord, the staff, the church members and the Beaverton community as First Baptist Church Ministry Assistant, several blessings come to mind. I have been blessed to serve alongside staff as we shared Jesus through prayer, tears, sweat and laughter. I have been blessed by the membership as they rallied around Marc and I as we experienced health challenges, financial challenges and losses in our family. Also, I am blessed for the opportunities to serve the Lord with our Hispanic, Korean, Bhutanese, and Chinese brothers and sisters. My heart is overflowing in gratitude and praises for God’s faithfulness for these opportunities to get to know more of the family of God this side of heaven. I am excited to see what the Lord has for First Baptist, (Parkside Fellowship) for sharing Jesus in Beaverton. Please pray with me to stay focused on God as He leads me on the path He has for me. Psalms 92:12-15 sums up the desire of my heart. In the American Standard Version the verses read: 'The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Yes, I long to still yield fruit in old age being full of sap and very green so that I can declare that the Lord is upright, He is my rock and that there is no unrighteousness in Him'." Cheryle's last day with us will be Friday, November 2nd. Please take time between now and then to stop by the office and let her know how much she has meant to both you and our church family. I think I speak for all of us when I say, "Thanks Cheryle. I know God has an amazing opportunity just waiting for you to step-up and fill-in the gap!" In the interim, Laura Small has agreed to step-in and help fill this role on a temporary basis. I am confident that Laura is more than capable of keeping me in line during this transition. Thanks Laura for being willing to jump in during such a crucial time in the life of FBC.....soon to become Parkside Fellowship! See you Sunday. Pastor Doug
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This week, we will continue to "tag-along" with the nation of Israel on their trek to the Promised Land. Last week I shared by belief that their journey was less about the destination and more about the preparation. Like the Israelites, we too find ourselves in a season of preparation as God leads us into a future filled with hope and excitement.
As we prepare for the role God wants us to play in the future of His church, I want to share an excerpt from a book by author, Philip Yancey. The book is titled, Vanishing Grace, and addresses the need for the church to return to a Good News filled with grace AND truth. I shared this at our last church council meeting and thought I would share it with you as well. As you read, be thinking about what God might be asking you to do in building an irresistible church, with an irresistible message about Jesus Christ! "As I read accounts of the New Testament church, no characteristic stands out more sharply than diversity, the primary testing ground of grace. Beginning with Pentecost--a gathering of people from many countries--the Christian church dismantled the barriers of gender, race, and social class that had marked Jewish congregations. Even Paul marveled over the radical change. Diversity complicates life, and perhaps for this reason we tend to surround ourselves with people of similar age, economic class, and outlook. Church offers a place where infants and grandparents, unemployed and executives, immigrants and blue bloods can all come together. Where else can we go to find that mixture. Diversity, however, succeeds in a group of people who share a common vision. In John 17, Jesus stressed one request above all others: 'That they may be one.' Paul's letters repeatedly call for unity and to end divisions. The existence of so many denominations worldwide shows how poorly Christians have fulfilled that goal. Major church splits have occurred over such issues as what kind of bread to use in the Eucharist and whether to make the sign of the cross with two or three fingers. We have not, in fact, been faithful stewards of God's grace. Ideally, the church should be a place that reminds us of lasting truths: that God intends the best for us, that sin and failure are inevitable but forgiveness is guaranteed, that a supportive community bears burdens and comforts the needy. A pastor friend of mine did a series of sermons on the phrase 'one another.' He found twenty-nine uses of that phrase in the New Testament which, taken together, show what a true community would look like. They include the following: Love one another.....Forgive one another.....Pray for one another.....Bear one another's burdens.....Regard one another as more important than yourself.....Do not speak against one another.....Do not judge one another.....Show tolerance for one another.....Be kind to one another.....Speak truth to one another.....Build up one another.....Stimulate one another to love and good deeds. I wonder how different the church would look to a watching world, not to mention how different history would look, if Christians everywhere followed that model." See you Sunday. Pastor Doug |
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October 2018
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