Thursday’s Thoughts
Fairview Community Church
Worshiping God and Welcoming All Every Sunday at 10am
Hiya Fairview,
I recently had a conversation with a few of you about Facebook and the new realities of social networking and how that expands our previous notions of community. As those of you who were at our Annual Church Retreat last month will remember, I used the illustration of Facebook as a tool to “check in” with yourself identify your “status.” The point of Facebook is to identify changes in yourself so that you can share them with your friends. Your friends then, have the opportunity to comment on your status. So, it requires that you be aware of what you are thinking or feeling or being at each moment you update your status. It encourages community because your friends then respond to you –often offering words of support, humorous observations, inquiry into your thoughts, or congratulations.
I have one friend, who happens to be songwriter, Paul Svenson (he wrote the song “One Spirit of Love” we often sing on Sunday mornings) who uses Facebook as a tool to intentionally identify joy in his life. I love to read his updates because he manages to find joy in whatever is going on in his life. I think that using Facebook as a spiritual exercise in this way is a wonderful reminder to him and the rest of us (his friends and now you) that we can find joy in all aspects of our lives. I’m sure he’s not always joyful –but the act of updating his status forces him to find joy in life –and as he searches for it –he finds what he’s looking for! Isn’t that amazing? When we look for something –we usually find it. So, Paul looks for joy and identifies it in his life –in his thoughts and feelings. If we’re looking to find things wrong…we find that too. Editors have that ability. The rest of us can often read through things and not find errors –but editors are looking for things that are wrong. If we’re negative –and we’re looking for negative results –we will come up with negativity and exclaim “Ah Ha! I knew there was something wrong here!” But if we changed our perspective and started looking for the positive –the good in people, or the joy in our lives –I think we’d be forced to exclaim joyfully, “What a beautiful day!” or “What a sweet person!” or “I feel joy, joy, joy in my soul!”
Lately on Facebook my friends have been posting things that they are grateful for in honor of Thanksgiving’s imminent arrival. Every day there are people who have committed to finding gratitude in their lives –and they post something different each time they update their status. They are using Facebook as a tool to take stock of their lives, and recognize what gifts they’ve been given. Each day it gets a little more difficult to name a gratitude, but I imagine that after the initial challenge it actually will become easier. Once we begin to name our gratitude, gratitude, thanksgiving flow forth! So…whether you’re on Facebook or not, I invite you to consider joy in your life ! I want you to look for it –search it out if you have to—but I feel certain that, even on your worst days, if you seek out joy you’ll find it! As we approach this time of Thanksgiving –why not share what you’re thankful for – hit reply and tell me –or post it as your status update! We all can benefit by checking our status right now and observing the joy in our lives and the gratitude in our hearts.
As I contemplate joy, I realize that I can feel it even in sad situations. On Monday, Ann Boddie, wife of Richard Boddie, mother of Roxanne Smith, grandmother to K.J. and Charlie died embraced in love surrounded by her daughters and her sisters. She brought joy to the lives of everyone who knew her! We will be celebrating her life, honoring and remembering her on Saturday, November 28 at noon here at Fairview Community Church.
Hope to see you this Sunday! We’ll be receiving new members into our community! So –please join us as we celebrate their decision to join our church!
*********
The Wide, Wide World of Theology!
Reflection on Hannah's Prayer
A prayer for life to fill the void.
A prayer that reverberates throughout time
for a child
for a partner
for a friend
for a child
for a partner
for a friend
A prayer that is at once lost
and found
A grief exposed
for the healing balm
and found
A grief exposed
for the healing balm
A prayer that grows in the crevice of despair
pushing
past the boundaries
bursting forth in new life
pushing
past the boundaries
bursting forth in new life
A prayer for life to fill the void
Based on 1 Samuel 1. Katherine Hawker 2003.
Please take a moment to read through the prayers of our community,
the prayers that matter to us, and lift them up in your hearts this moment.
If you have an a prayer request you would like to add to our list, please email or call the office714 545-4610.
PRAYER MATTERS
We are grateful for the well-being and many blessings among our church family. Yet keep in your prayers and heart . . .
Kyle Cathey, still experiencing excruciating health difficulties. Prayers for his improvement.
Jeff Johnston, and his family as they mourn the death of his uncle in Florida.
Pam Kamps, who will have ACL reconstruction/knee surgery on November 16th.
Gina Notrica’s mother Alice Neibarger, who had a terrible fall, cracking her head open, and ended up with numerous bruises. Prayers that the neurological tests come back with more information on why she is falling so frequently.
Jane Philipp, who continues to struggle with back problems and other health issues. She is going to be moving from her home but is not sure where she will live. Prayers for her during this difficult time of transition.
Our new friend Michele Pittman's mother Kathy Krech, dealing with liver cancer, and Michelle's stepfather Paul Krech, trying to recover from a disabling stroke.
Frenacee Schuck who is challenged with caring for her ill father, and continues to recover from her foot surgery and an infection that followed.
Roxanne Smith and her entire family, particularly her father Richard, as they mourn the death of her mother Ann Boddie, who died Monday evening encircled in love surrounded by her daughters and sisters.
Carol Thicksten’s nephew who is still recovering from his tragic car accident. Continued prayers for all involved.
All those affected by the shooting at Fort Hood military center. We pray for those whose lives were lost, for those struggling with the impact of this terrible tragedy, and for the perpetrator who could not seek help for the pathological fear which animated such destructiveness.
Those seeking new employment, in this time of severe job losses and economic hardship.
Those suffering and recovering from deadly addictions and crippling obsession and those who help them.
Our Troops, as they perform their duties, wherever they are in the world.
All who feel the burdens of life that the burden might be lifted and God’s grace felt and accepted.
Fairview Community Church was in the news! Read what our pastor wrote in last Saturday’s Daily Pilot:
Announcements
Missed a Sunday? Catch up on your sermons by listening at home!
Just click here to listen or download now:
Did you miss out on last week’s sermon? Listen to “Running on Empty” simply by clicking here!
Divine on the Vine
Wednesdays at 7pm here at Fairview Community Church
Adult Study Group
NOTE THE CHANGE IN DATE!Congregational Meeting: November 22 following the Church Service
To Elect Members to the New Church Boards
All Members are requested to be present to vote!
Breaking Bread and Raising Dough!
A BIG FAT GREEK FUNDRAISER
Join us at Daphnes on Harbor in Costa Mesa
11am-9pm on Tuesday Nov 24th
This is an inexpensive restaurant with delicious food perfect for lunch or dinner!
Print out the attached flyer or forward it to your friends!
Interested in Becoming a Member? Wonder what it means to Join the Church?
Being a member of the church is easy!
All you have to do is come to a membership class and learn more about the church.
if you’re interested please contact Marge Salmassy, Wayne Rashor hit reply.
Checking in Joyfully,
Sarah
Reverend Sarah Halverson
Fairview Community Church
2525 Fairview Road
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 545-4610
No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!
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