Christmas 2012 is over. The presents are put away, the goodies have been eaten, thank you notes are written, the outside lights, decorations and tree have been taken down and everything has been packed away until next year. The one thing we don’t want to pack away until next year is the meaning of Christmas.

It never ceases to amaze me that during the Christmas season people become friendlier (except maybe in parking lots), are more open, more helpful, more giving and more caring. These are all attitudes and qualities that I hope we don’t pack away with our other Christmas decorations because they speak to the essence of what God desires for His people as we live for Him through faith in Jesus.

In Micah 6:8 we read, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” To live in justice, treating people fairly. To love mercy, and not just for ourselves, but to show mercy to others in the same measure, or even greater, than we have received ourselves. To walk humbly with God, living as God leads and directs in our lives, following the example of Jesus and putting the needs of others ahead of our own. Doesn’t that sound even better than our best Christmas behavior?

I may be a dreamer, but think about the impact that the church of Jesus Christ could have on the world if we chose to live like that 24/7, 12 months out of the year; showing people that being a Christian isn’t about following a religion but living in a personal relationship with the living God. Demonstrating to the world that Jesus loves them, died and rose from the dead so that they may experience forgiveness and life. Showing that life with Jesus isn’t missing out on the “fun” of the world but living in the joy of the Lord!

This year, let’s keep the Spirit of Christmas alive throughout the year and allow Jesus to work in and through us to show the world what it really means to live for Him.             

                                                                                Living in the Joy of the Lord,

                                                                                                            Mark

We just completed Black Friday, which really began on Thursday, and Cyber Monday, which really ran all weekend. If we had gone to stores on Black Friday or posted a survey online on Cyber Monday and asked people why they celebrated Christmas I suspect we would receive a variety of answers.

Some would say that Christmas is a time of giving while others would say it’s a time of receiving. Some would say it’s a time of love and others would say it’s all about family. And of course, many would say that it’s all about getting the best deal possible.

All of these answers speak to an element of the true meaning of Christmas, but which answer do you think comes the closest to God’s perspective about Christmas? You may be surprised, but it’s the one that says Christmas is a time of receiving.

Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And in Matthew 1:21, regarding Jesus’ impending birth we read, “She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

Because of His immeasurable love for us, God came to earth in human flesh as Jesus, what we call the Incarnation, to pay the price for our sin so that as we receive Jesus into our hearts we may also receive the incredible gifts of forgiveness and eternal life that He offers to all who accept Him.

As we celebrate this Christmas season, in all that we do let’s focus on the true reason for the joy and celebration of the season; God has given us the most wondrous gift of all, Jesus, who freely gives us eternal life through faith in Him. What better gift could we ever receive?

                                    With Thanksgiving,

                                                            Mark

The theme verse for November should be

I Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

If we ever find ourselves in a place where we don’t know God’s will for us, a good way to find our way into His will is by giving Him thanks. But how does this work if we aren’t feeling particularly thankful? If we are living for Jesus and we don’t know why we should give Him thanks we must be looking in the wrong places and at the wrong things.

Recently I was getting out of a drawer the stuff I use to clean my glasses. When I looked on the counter I couldn’t find the cloth I knew I had grabbed. Thinking it must have fallen back into the drawer I searched the drawer, picking up everything, but I still couldn’t find it.

Not finding that cloth, I grabbed another and after I was done I put everything back in the drawer. When I closed the drawer I had to laugh because it was then that I spotted the missing cloth lying on the floor directly under the open drawer. I couldn’t see it because I was looking in the wrong place and by looking in the wrong place I had kept the right place hidden from view.

Often times, when we can’t think of any reason to give God thanks it’s because we are looking in the wrong places. We are looking for what we want God to do and when we aren’t seeing that we miss out on everything else that He is doing.

Take time this month to remember who God is and all that He has done in your life. And challenge yourself take time to think beyond the obvious so you may discover even more reasons to give God thanks.

                                            With Thanksgiving,

                                                                      Mark

Happy Birthday Medford Friends Church!

On Sunday, October 14, 2012, we will celebrate our 70^th birthday as a church, worshipping and serving Jesus in our community. Medford Friends Church began out of a vision of Friends in Salem, Oregon, who recognized the value of planting a new Friends Church in Medford. Our founding pastor, Milo Ross, had that same vision as he moved his family to Medford to begin the work of starting a new church.

The church held its first worship service on October 18, 1942, in the Ross home on the eastside of Medford. When the church was told they couldn’t build a bigger facility on the land they owned they took out an ad in the newspaper announcing they were a church without a neighborhood and if there was a neighborhood without a church let’s talk.

In February 1945, worship services were moved to Howard Elementary until the brick chapel was completed on our present site. As the years progressed the classroom section of the building was added, followed by the current sanctuary and fellowship hall, with numerous remodeling projects to follow, including the total overhaul of the middle section on the building beginning in 2002.

Throughout our 70 years, Medford Friends Church has been a loving body of believers filled with amazing people, and that includes you, who have sought to share the love and truth of Jesus with our families, friends, neighborhood, community and the world. That is still true today and although times, methods and ministries have changed, one thing has remained the same; we exist to worship, serve and glorify Jesus. 

I am thankful for every person who has been and those who currently are part of the family of believers who are called Medford Friends Church. As we serve Jesus together, exercising the spiritual gifts and abilities the Holy Spirit has given us and sharing the resources God has entrusted to us, we grow in faith and in the knowledge of Jesus, enabling us to serve in love and bring glory to God.

As we celebrate our 70^th birthday, may we commit ourselves to another 70 years of loving, fruitful ministry in the love, truth and power of Jesus Christ!

                                               In Christ,

                                                         Mark