Join us this Sunday at 9:30am, as Pastor Norm completes our summer series, Postcards with a Punch.  Only 13 verses long, the tiny memo that is II John would have barely filled a single sheet of paper.  It's like a note we might write and drop in the mail to a close friend.  However, as I've shared throughout this series, short does not mean insignificant, and the letter of II John is no exception.  II John contains three principles we can spend the rest of our lives putting into practice.  These aren't complicated, but they are difficult, because navigating between unconditional love and discerning truth will always be a challenge for followers of Jesus.

First, loving others is a fundamental expression of authentic Christianity.  Nowhere does John dismiss the idea of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.  One of the greatest forms of witness we can have is to show love toward each other and those outside the church.

Second, embracing the truth is equally important.  The one who loves you the most is the one who tells you the truth.  It isn't loving to let a person engage in destructive, ungodly behavior just because we don't want to offend them.  This means we need to know the truth, grow in the truth, and study Scripture and sound theology.  If you don't know what you believe and why, you won't know where to stand on any doctrinal or moral issue--at least not with any solid conviction.   Take time to study and be strengthened in the truths of God's Word.

Third, love and truth are not mutually exclusive.  We must know the truth and take a stand for it without backtracking, compromising or downplaying its importance in the role of a follower of Jesus.  At the same time, we need to be gracious and winsome in our witness.  As I Peter 3:15-16 states:  "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect."  We must stand for the truth, but at the same time, we must extend love and walk in grace. We must love within the banks of love and discernment...and learn to live in the tension of grace and truth.

Note:  Good Neighbor Project is scheduled for Sunday, August 21st.  This will be our 5th year taking a Sunday morning to blanket our city with the love of Jesus.  We will accomplish this by rolling up our sleeves and helping get Beaverton High School ready for the upcoming school year, filling backpacks with school supplies and individually providing our neighbors with a gift bag.  The day will conclude at noon with an all-church bbq.  Make plans now to join us for this special Sunday of loving our neighbors.

Finally, John Crisan (wife Syliva, son Alex), went home to be with Jesus on Sunday, July 31st.  On behalf of Sylvia and family, I want to invite you to attend a Celebration of Life service for John.  This special time of remembrance will take place tomorrow, Saturday, August 13th at 10:00am in the Fireside Room of Parkside Fellowship.

Please join us for this special time of remembering the life God gave John and the love and laughter he shared with his family and all who knew him.  Also, please pass this information along to those who would be interested in attending.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Doug

Too often, Christians believe that just because we follow God, that somehow we should be immune to life's challenges.  But if you've followed Jesus for any length of time, you know that's not always the case.  During the rough seasons of life, it can be easy to turn our back on God, believing that He has turned his back on us.  The book of Habakkuk shows us that there is another option for dealing with our struggles, fears and doubts.

Habakkuk saw God unleash His wrath on the world.  Confused and upset, he asked God the question we all want to ask:  "Why?"  Like Habakkuk, one of the best things we can do with our doubt is to present our questions to God and spend time with Him in prayer.  In Habakkuk 3, the prophet is finishing a long conversation with God.  He reflects on who God is, remembers the past faithfulness of God and ultimately cries out:

"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation."  Habakkuk 3:18

Remembering who God is, His faithfulness in the past, and His promises for the future gives us confidence to trust God with what's happening right now.  Even though we live in a sin-filled world with loss, hardships, doubt, stress and fear, we can choose how we respond.  The difference when we face each day with Jesus is that we have the ability to experience joy, peace, love and security even in hard times.

Take time today to read the book of Habakkuk, and then ask yourself: "Is there anything about my response to doubt that needs to change?".

Join us Sunday at 9:30am, as we take a deep dive into the postcard book of Habakkuk.

Note:  Good Neighbor Project is scheduled for Sunday, August 21st.  This will be our 5th year taking a Sunday morning to blanket our city with the love of Jesus.  We will accomplish this by rolling up our sleeves and helping get Beaverton High School ready for the upcoming school year, filling backpacks with school supplies and individually providing our neighbors with a gift bag.  The day will conclude at noon with an all-church bbq.  Make plans now to join us for this special Sunday of loving our neighbors.

See you Sunday.

Pastor Doug

First of all, thanks to everyone who participated in our Good Neighbor Project this past Sunday.  We had over 50 people from both Parkside Fellowship and Bedrock Community Church, who came together to love our community through serving.  Many of you gathered at the high school, where you cleaned out a ceramics room and picked up trash around the campus.  Others of you met at the church in order to sort and fill 72 backpacks with much-needed school supplies.  Thanks to all those who donated school supplies, we could not have completed this project without your generosity.  Great job everyone!

Has it ever occurred to you that Jesus launched the church, not while people were singing or while someone was preaching, but while people were praying?  In the first two chapters of Acts, the disciples were doing nothing but waiting on God to move.  As the late expositor Harry Ironside once stated, "When God is going to do some great thing He moves the hearts of people to pray.  He stirs them up to pray in view of that which He is about to do so that they might be prepared for it."  Just like these early disciples, I want to invite you to set aside time this next week for self-examination through prayer and supplication, so that we might be ready for the tremendous thing that God is going to do in our church.

To help facilitate your time of prayer, beginning Tuesday, September 7th through Friday, September 10th, the Fireside Room will be open  from 9:00am to 6:00pm each day for individuals/couples/families to come and pray.  Each day will have a different prayer focus.  These include: love, humility, courage/strength, wisdom/discernment and hope.  There will be a communion table, kneeling options, chairs, a table with Bibles labeled with specific scripture based on the days focus and other elements to help guide you during your prayer time.

As you consider joining others in our church family for a week of focused prayer, I want to share with you James 5:13-14,16

"Are any of you suffering hardships?  You should pray.  Are any of you happy?  You should sing praises.  Are any of you sick?  You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you...Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."

Please join us this Sunday at 9:30am, as we take a deep dive into the prayer of Nehemiah found in Nehemiah 1:5-11.  Prior to our 9:30am service, consider joining us at 8:45am in Pastor Doug's office, for a special time of praying for Parkside and the other churches that meet on our campus.

As we gather for our in-person service, Parkside church staff and leadership will be wearing masks and we are asking everyone to do the same.  Please consider joining us this weekend.  We were created by God to worship and praise Him together, in community, so plan on being at Parkside this Sunday at 9:30am and don't forget your mask!

Also, for those that are not able to join us in-person, you can still join us online

After the service, at 10:45am, we invite you to join our "after-church" discipleship class on the book of Revelation.  The book of Revelation unveils the glory of Jesus Christ.  Written by the Apostle John, Revelation is a reminder to remain faithful and trust God, even when things around us don't make sense. 

See class details below: 

Discipleship Study:  Revelation (The Christian's Ultimate Victory)
10:45am to 11:45am
In-person ONLY

See you Sunday.

Pastor Doug

​This Sunday, August 29th, Parkside Fellowship will partner with Bedrock Community Church for our 4th Annual Good Neighbor Project.

This year will look a little bit different than past years.

NOTE:  Please join us in the Worship Center at 9:30am for a brief time of singing (led by the Bedrock worship team), scripture reading and prayer.  DO NOT go directly to Beaverton High School.

Also new this year is an on-campus option for those who are not able to work at the high school.  Over the past 3 weeks, we have been collecting school supplies.  On Sunday, you will have the opportunity to help pack 72 backpacks, that have been donated by the North American Mission Board, with these essential school supplies.  Once completed, these backpacks will be delivered directly to Beaverton High School, where they will be distributed to students in need.

For those of you that are planning to serve at BHS, we will plan to leave immediately following our worship time.  The goal is to be at the high school around 10:00am.  Our project for the day includes cleaning the ceramics room and picking up trash around campus. 

For the ceramics room clean-up, we will be doing the following:  cleaning plastic tubs, wiping down tables and chairs, cleaning ceramic tiles and supplies, cleaning-out cabinets, etc.  Please come ready to possibly get a little dirty and wet, as we will be using hoses and sponges to clean the clay off of the plastic bins and the other ceramic supplies.  If you can, please bring a sponge and rag.  I will have extra available for those who are not able to bring these items.  We could also use a power-washer if anyone has one and would like to bring it.  We will also need volunteers to walk the campus and pick-up trash. 

If you have any questions, please email Pastor Doug at doug.boyd@parksidefellowship.org. 

Please consider joining us in our Worship Center this Sunday, August 29th at 9:30am, as we strive to bring love and hope to our community.

Don't forget to wear a mask.  I will have plenty of hand sanitizer and water. 

Serving Together,

Pastor Doug

Hi Parkside Family.

This Sunday, August 30th, Parkside Fellowship will join 5 other churches in our community for the 3rd Annual Good Neighbor Project.

I am excited to see that we already have 17 people signed up to serve at Beaverton High School (BHS). If you haven't yet signed-up, it's not too late! You can still join us by emailing me at doug.boyd@parksidefellowship.org and letting me know how many from your family will be coming.

For those of you that are planning to join us at BHS, we will be meeting near the front entrance to the school at 9:30am. From there, we will walk over to the football stadium, where we will be repairing and painting benches and weeding. The day will conclude at noon with a prayer walk around the campus as we pray for the administration, teachers and students. Don't forget to wear a mask. I will have plenty of hand sanitizer and water.

Because we understand some of you may not feel comfortable gathering together in a group, Roger and I have developed some ideas on how you could still join us this Sunday for our Good Neighbor Project; but instead of driving to BHS, we encourage you to simply walk across the street and serve those in your immediate neighborhood. Some things you could do include: pick up trash, write an encouraging note to your neighbor, do a prayer walk around your neighborhood, drop off some baked goodies on someone's porch with a note of encouragement or simply get out a lawn chair, sit in your driveway and say "Hi" to people as they walk by. You might even ask if you can pray for them. The point is for you to share the love of Jesus through simple random acts of kindness.

To help you reach your neighborhood, Roger and I are offering to drop off encouragement cards to anyone who would like some. These cards could be used to write notes to your friends and neighbors, letting them know that you are thinking about and praying for them during this crazy season. If you would like us to drop off some cards to you, simply reply to this email with how many cards you might want and either Roger or myself will contact you and schedule a time to drop them off at your house.

For those who would like to do a prayerwalk around your neighborhood, Pastor Roger has put together some resources to help you pray for your neighborhood. If you are interested in receiving these resources, email Pastor Roger at roger.sharp@parksidefellowship.org.

Even though this year's Good Neighbor Project may look a little different, our goal is still the same..."to love your neighbor as yourself".

Please consider joining us this Sunday, August 30th, as we seek to bring love and hope to our community.

Serving Together,

Pastor Doug