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Hi Parkside Family.
Well...I must admit I never imagined that I would be inviting you to our "online only" Palm Sunday service. What an unprecedented time we find ourselves living in. I trust that you and your family are staying safe and healthy during this time. As always, please don't hesitate to contact either myself or Roger, should you need anything. As I mentioned, this Sunday begins our journey together as we take a peek into the final week of Jesus' life on earth. As Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem, his triumphal entry is a culmination of a long road that began, not in Jericho. It didn't begin in Galilee. It didn't begin in Nazareth. It didn't even begin in Bethlehem. The final week in the life of Jesus here on earth began long before. As Adam strolled the orchards of the garden, Jesus was on his way to Calvary. Jesus took his first step toward Jerusalem with God in his heart. Today, I feel a little bit like Jesus must have felt as he rode through the East Gate, knowing what painful encounters were on the horizon. As health experts continue to predict that things will continue to get worse before they get better, what lesson can we learn from how Jesus handled his final week. As Jesus rode into the heart of the lion's den, he did so claiming the promises of his Heavenly Father. Let me share a few of these with you.
Tomorrow, when you find yourself marching toward your own Jerusalem, filled with worry, fear and anxiety, put the promises of God on your lips. Remember to join us on Sunday morning at 10:00am for Parkside Fellowship Online. We will be focusing our time on the story of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus from Luke 19:28-42. The easiest way to view the sermon each Sunday is to go to our website, parksidefellowship.org. On our home, about halfway down the page is a link to either youtube or facebook. Simply click on one of the links and you will be automatically directed to the sermon. Hope to "see" you tomorrow. Pastor Doug I hope you are having a great week and have made time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!
It's hard to believe the month of February is over, as it has been a busy month around the Parkside Campus. Here are some quick highlights:
In addition, you will have the opportunity to hear about and ask questions regarding the 2020 budget. Ballots to approve the 2020 budget will be available after the meeting and must be submitted by noon on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, at our 9:15am service, we will continue our year-long series titled, RENEW, as we focus on the subject of worship. Looking toward Pastor's Avery's message, I want to invite you to come a little bit early on Sunday. As you enter the lobby, you will see some chairs scattered about with sheets of paper on them. These pieces of paper will have Bible verse printed on them that are designed to focus your attention on the glory of God. Feel free to spend a few moments in prayer and reflection, as you prepare to respond in worship for who God is and what He has done in your life. Finally, as you enter the sanctuary, our church council members will be available to anyone who would like to pray with them. As you prepare your hearts to worship our God on Sunday, I want to leave you with an excerpt from "The Church Awakening" by Charles Swindoll: "The essence of worship does not refer to external, localized actions we perform. Worship is inward. It has to do with the mind, the heart. Worship is the personal contemplation and adoration of God. It is the natural response of those who recognize who God is and what He has done on our behalf. The essence of worship has to do with our internalizing our adoration. When we worship we affirm a deep, personal commitment." I hope to see you at our annual meeting tomorrow (Saturday) at 3:00pm. Have a great weekend and as always.....see you Sunday! Pastor Doug When you think of a church, what do you think of; worship, prayer, Bible study, fellowship, ministry, mission, discipleship? At Parkside Fellowship, we believe a church exists to fulfill the Great Commission, which says:
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:16-20 We are SO EXCITED to announce that we have begun the Bible study, “Why Do You Believe That?” with our middle & high school students! The students began meeting in the student building last month from 10:30-11:30 on Sundays and have enjoyed wonderful leadership. The study seeks to equip students to have confident conversations when it comes to matters of faith. Please make it a point of prayer as these students tackle difficult questions in today’s climate. Who do you know that would enjoy growing in their faith? Invite them to attend any of our classes, which meet on Sundays at 10:30. Our teachers do a great job of facilitating discussion and making the lesson relevant to our lives. See you Sunday, Roger Sharp This Sunday, the city of Beaverton will be hosting a half-marathon race. Those driving to Parkside from Central and South Beaverton should expect minor delays near the race route. Closures will begin at 6:30am and will be most restrictive from 8:00am to 11:00am. Please give yourself a little extra time as you make your way to church this Sunday.
Below is a list of street closures and times:
Pastor Doug I hope you enjoyed our Summer Shuffle Sundays. I want to extend a huge "THANK YOU" to the congregations of Colossae Beaverton, Common Ground, El Buen Pastor and Global Community Church for sharing their pastor, and in some cases, their worship teams and hospitality teams, with our Parkside family. Personally, I loved hearing from the different pastors.
As we prepare to return to a "normal" Sunday schedule, I want to let you know that, moving forward, we will be discontinuing our 10:30am service option. The reason for this change is to give our new Associate Pastor, Roger Sharp, a blank slate, with which to craft a service that will be appealing to young adults and families who are either occasional or non-church attenders. We also want to spend the fall praying for, seeking out and building-up a core team to help launch this service. Our hope is to relaunch in January of 2020. In the meantime, please be in prayer for Roger and his wife, Mary Jo as they relocate to Beaverton, get settled into their new home and begin their new ministry here at Parkside! For those of you who have been attending the 10:30am service, I want to let you know that for the month of August, we will have various options for you to choose from during the 10:30am hour. This Sunday, August 4th, I will be leading a Concert of Prayer at 10:30am. We will begin with a time of praising God through song, led by Pastor Avery. After this time of musical worship, we will spend some time in God's word and conclude our time together with an extended time of prayer focused on the future of Parkside Fellowship. Consider joining us for this special time of praise and prayer. Also, this Sunday at 9:15am, we will officially kick-off our brand new series titled, "Words to Live By". Each week, we will focus on a new commandment from either the Old or New Testament. The purpose behind this series is to help us understand that the commandments found throughout Scripture are not meant to regulate our behavior, but rather, are designed to shape our hearts, so that we can be a better reflection of God's character. This Sunday, we will be looking at the first 2 commandments found in Exodus 20:3-6. With these two commandments, God is saying, "I am your God and I need you to recognize the fact that I have always been your God and that my relationship with you is not based on a set of rules. In fact, my rules are not a condition of my love, rather, they are a confirmation of my love for you." Hope to see you on Sunday for both our 9:15am service, followed by our Concert of Prayer at 10:30am. Pastor Doug From distant Rome--in the midst of a busy ministry of his own--Peter felt the need to write to beleaguered believers in a region two seas away. He easily could have left them in the care of another. Instead, he took the time to write them a letter. That compassionate expression made all the difference in their lives. Perhaps you know of individuals who are struggling through tough times who could use your encouragement......or maybe that person is you.
Peter, probably better than anyone during his lifetime, understood discouragement. When I consider how that rough-hewn Galilean went from failure to faithfulness through God's transforming grace, it gives me hope! This is the message of I Peter. Peter had a heart for the hurting and broken. He had a ministry to the suffering. Sincerity and truth, encouragement and exhortation--these things go hand in hand. So we shouldn't be surprised that Peter wrote his first letter to hurting people on the brink of hopelessness. Join us this Sunday at 9:15am as we begin a 5 week journey through I Peter. A letter written to remind us of our hope in Jesus. Designed to exhort us to hopeful living despite today's chaotic culture and crafted to provide us comfort in the midst of difficult circumstances. At our 10:30am service we will continue to discuss what it looks like to live as a Christian in this Age of Outrage. This week, we will be reminded of our role as ambassadors of the King. When we take our eyes of the Gospel-mission of the local church, we risk fostering disunity, division, disagreement and ultimately outrage. Finally, let me leave you with two important truths that I was reminded of this week..... "When we begin to pray for the lost, we will begin to see the lost." "Evangelism is simply joining a conversation the Holy Spirit is already having with someone." See you Sunday! Pastor Doug I know it's been awhile since you've received my weekly TAB email. The last few weeks have been busy ones, both in the Boyd house and here at church. The chaos started three weeks ago when Rose and I made a quick trip to Utah in order to move Cassie out of her campus dorm room and into an apartment in downtown Salt Lake. Cassie will not be coming home this summer, as she will be taking summer classes and establishing residency in order to reduce her tuition cost. Pray for Rose and I as we enter this new season of being "short" one kid at home.
Once we got back, our church began a two week partnership with Beaverton High School, as we hosted their Advance Placement Testing in our sanctuary. In all, around 350 different students spent 3 to 4 hours on our campus taking tests. As the first week progressed, I heard comments from both parents and students as they were surprised that we would open up our church campus to the community, but grateful to be spending such a stressful time, in such a nice, comfortable, welcoming environment. I also had the opportunity to invite various students and parents to visit us on a Sunday. Be praying that God would use these conversations to point people to Himself. From there, the busyness only increased, as our number #1 candidate for the Associate Pastor position, Roger Sharp and his wife Mary Jo, spent 5 days getting to know us as a church and the ministry opportunities that exist in our community. During their time with us, they had several meetings with the Church Council, as well as individual meals with some of our council members and their spouses. On Saturday, we hosted a bbq at our house, where members of our Grow Young Team were able to get to know them better. During this evening, we also had a time of Q&A so the team could ask more in-depth questions. The next day, we invited our church congregation to join us for a time of Q&A during our 10:30am service and many of you took advantage of this opportunity to further acquaint yourself with Roger and Mary Jo. I want to thank those of you who attended the Sunday morning Q&A. I appreciated your questions and have heard only positive comments from this meeting. After taking a week to process all the information from their visit, both our personnel committee and church council met separately to debrief their time with the Sharps and to make a recommendation as to whether they felt God leading us to hire Roger as our Associate Pastor. There have been some questions as to the hiring process and whether or not this type of hire requires a church vote by our congregation. To ensure clarity with regards to the hiring of church staff, below are the hiring guidelines as written in Article 5 of our church bylaws: Paid staff positions shall be created, filled, vacated, or discontinued as needed in order to establish and execute the various and essential functions of the church. The Lead Pastor, advised by the Personnel Committee and accountable to the Church Council, shall be responsible for hiring, managing and removing all staff. So, based on my time spent with Roger and Mary Jo, and at the recommendation of the personnel committee and church council, I asked Roger to consider filling the role of Associate Pastor at Parkside Fellowship and he enthusiastically accepted the position. While I am excited to have Roger join me on staff, having moved multiple times over the last 10 years, I also know how stressful this process can be. Please pray for Roger and Mary Jo as they wrap-up their individual ministries in Houston, sell their home, say "goodbye" to family and friends and make the move to the Pacific Northwest. I want to personally thank our personnel committee, Church Council and everyone who took the time to speak with me, as my desire, throughout this process, has been to make the best hire possible for the future of Parkside Fellowship. Should you have additional questions about the process we went through to hire Roger or about what his duties might be, please don't hesitate to ask. I am more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Thanks again for your commitment to the future of Parkside Fellowship. I firmly believe that our best days are yet to come! See you Sunday Pastor Doug Nobody is a whole team. Each one is a player. But take away one player and the game is forfeited.
Nobody is a whole orchestra. Each one is a musician. But take away one musician and the symphony is incomplete. Nobody is a whole play. Each one is an actor. But take away one actor and the performance suffers. Nobody is a whole hospital. Each one is part of the staff. But take away one person and it isn't long before the patient can tell. Cars are comprised of numerous parts. Each one is connected to and dependent upon the other. Even a tiny screw, if it comes loose and falls out of the carburetor, can bring the whole vehicle to a stop. You guessed it. We need one another. You need someone and someone needs you. To make this thing called life work, we gotta lean and support. And relate and respond. And give and take. And confess and forgive. And reach out and embrace. And release and rely. Especially in God's family.....where the "One Another" of the New Testament should be a part of every church's standard operating procedures manual. For the church, love and acceptance are not optional luxuries. Neither is tolerance. Or understanding. Or patience. You know, all those things you need from others when your humanity crowds out your divinity. Since none of us is a whole, independent, self-sufficient, super-capable, all-powerful human, let's quit acting like we are. Join us this Sunday as we kick-off a brand-new series at 9:15am titled, "One Another". Each week we will focus our attention on one of the key characteristics that not only sets us apart from the world, but is vital if we desire to have a "Jesus" influence in our community. During our 10:30am service, we will be looking at the essentials of a healthy marriage and how trusting Jesus is vital to married life. Finally, our Room 4 Hope ministry is one way we come together to provide hope to those who have been affected by homelessness. Starting Sunday, Parkside Fellowship will become a safe, temporary “home” for families in our community. To learn more or to volunteer, simply write “HOPE” on your connection card or reply to this email and we will contact you. Hope to see you Sunday! Pastor Doug Jesus knew it. He knew before the war was over, he would be taken captive. He knew that before victory would come defeat. Jesus knew that before the light of Sunday would come the darkness of Friday.
Never had Jesus felt so alone. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," Jesus confesses. His humanity begged to be delivered from what his divinity could see. Jesus, the human, peers into the dark pit and begs, "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me." Did he know the answer before he asked the question? Did his human side hope his heavenly Father had found another way? Regardless, Jesus asked God for an escape plan. He begged for an exit strategy that involved something other than suffering a horrific death on a cross. There's an old hymn titled, "He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels" that speaks to the ability of Jesus to forgo the cross and return to his throne in heaven. But he couldn't He couldn't because, as he knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane, begging his father for another way, out of the corner of his spiritual eyes, he saw you and he saw me. He saw you living in a world that isn't fair. He saw you betrayed by those you love. He saw you with a body that gets sick and a heart that grows weak. He saw you staring into the mouth of your own pain and suffering and he didn't want you to be alone. He wanted you to know that he understands, for he too has lived in a messy, broken world. He too has been plotted against and betrayed by those who claimed to love him. He knows what it's like to smell the stench of Satan. And, perhaps most of all, he knows what it's like to beg God to change his mind and to hear God say, "No." For that is what God says to Jesus and Jesus accepts the answer. You may have thought the battle was won on Golgotha. It wasn't. You may have thought the sign of victory is the empty tomb. It isn't. The final battle was won on a dark, lonely night in Gethsemane. And the sign of conquest is our Savior, at peace with what lies before him. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus proclaimed, "I would rather go to hell for you than to go to heaven without you." Join us tonight as we reflect on this unbelievable act of compassion and love by Jesus. Our Good Friday service begins at 7:00pm. There will be times of reflection around the Lord's Supper, special music by members of Parkside Fellowship and El Buen Pastor and a Good Friday message by Pastor Daniel from El Buen Pastor. Finally, plan to stick around after our service and join with El Buen Pastor, Anthem Church, Global Community Church and members of Common Ground as we gather in the Fireside room for a time of fellowship. See you tonight. Pastor Doug You might be wondering what happened the last few weeks, as I have not been consistent in sending out my weekly TAB update. It's really very simple.....3 kids, 2 spring breaks, separated by 1 week, equals chaos in the Boyd household! Hopefully with spring breaks behind us, our family can get back to "normal" which really isn't all that normal.
There is a lot going on this month, so hopefully this edition of TAB will serve as a reminder to pray for and consider being a part of what God is doing at Parkside Fellowship. Below is a list of upcoming events: Tomorrow, April 6th. Spring Cleaning Day at Parkside Fellowship. We will gather rain or shine at 9:00am and clean-up the church campus, in preparation for our Good Friday and Easter Services. Due to the rainy forecast for tomorrow, we will spend the majority of our time inside. With this in mind, please bring any cleaning supplies that you would like (cleaning rags, window cleaner, disinfecting wipes, etc.). We will focus our efforts on windows, classroom floors, tables, etc. I hope to see you there. Good Friday Service will take place at 7:00pm on April 19th. We will be joining with El Buen Pastor for a English/Spanish service. Songs will be sung in both English and Spanish. Pastor Daniel will preach a Good Friday message in Spanish and it will be translated into English. I will officiate the Lord's Supper in English and it will be translated into Spanish. I'm excited to see two cultures coming together to remember the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. In addition to our combined service, the Korean church, Chinese church and Anthem church will also hold services on our campus at 7:00pm. Needless to say, it will be a busy Good Friday at Parkside! Be praying for each church as they remember in there own way, the death of Jesus. Easter at Parkside. This Easter, we will offer our two regular service times at 9:15am and 10:30am. At our 9:15am service, the goal will be to create a service that allows believers to gather together and celebrate our risen Savior. There will be congregational singing, special music, a special Easter video and a brief message on the importance of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. At 10:30am, Paul Metzger, Professor of Theology at Multnomah Seminary, will lead us in a conversation focused on the claim that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. Dr. Metzger will focus his discussion on the disciples of Jesus, answering the question, "Were the disciples liars, lunatics or sane and sound in presenting Jesus as Lord". Begin praying now and asking God to show you who is your one that needs to hear the message about a Savior who died and rose from dead so they can experience eternity with God in Heaven. Room 4 Hope. Beginning Sunday night, April 28th, we will once again provide a week-long "home" to families who are currently experiencing homelessness. Please consider being a part of this amazing opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Stay tuned for more details on how you can volunteer. Finally, join us on Sunday at 9:15am, as we continue our journey through the book of John. This Sunday's message will be from John 11 and will begin a transition from the ministry of Jesus to his final week here on earth. At 10:15am, we will wrap-up our series on navigating the multi-faith maze. During this hour, we will discuss the fear that many believers struggle with.....the fear that God is not real. Take some time over the next day or so and read Luke 24:13-35, then come ready to discover how the chasm between doubt and faith can be filled with scripture and fellowship. See you Sunday. Pastor Doug |
Doug Boyd - Sr. Pastor Archives
April 2020
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