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online - everettfamilychurch.org | mail - 15317 73rd AVE SE #2, Snohomish, WA, 98296 | phone - 425 387-1975

Bees are About One Thing by Pastor Mike

This past month I welcomed my newest family members -about 10,000 honeybees - who live in my backyard. They are my newest hobby and the only livestock that my wife and I can agree on. I have been preparing for their arrival for the past year and have even found myself dreaming about them. The day I shook them out of their cramped crate and into their wooden hive was thrilling. I was so nervous. Would they like me or would they fly away? One angry little gal decided to take one for the team and when I came to visit she bee-lined for me (excuse the pun!) and stung me between the eyes. She was my first casualty.

Some things I have learned and noticed about my bees. They are about one thing - the queen. In their transport crate they gathered as a snowball around the queen. After she was put into the hive the rest of bees followed because she was there. Where the queen goes the hive goes. If my hive swarms I need to only find the queen and the rest of the bees will come. The hive’s activities are all about supporting her as she creates life - baby bees. The health of the hive is dependent on the queen’s health. She actually emits a distinct odor that tells her hive that she is present and helps them recognize her. There are many reasons she is called the queen.

Just as the bees seek the queen as the first act of their day and the utmost importance to their every activity, Jesus implores us to do the same in our seeking and ordering of our day. I have held Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33 near and dear in recent months. They have been a matter of life and death as I’ve considered the one thing I am about in my thoughts and hobbies and work and relationships. If Jesus is in the queen bee position of my life the rest of my relationships and responsibilities will fall into their correct place. I’ve discovered that if I’m struggling or working too hard on these other things it is usually because of a lack of alignment in the queen bee position of my life. Bees instinctively are about one thing. What’s the one thing we Christ-ians will be about this month?

E F C F O C U S M A Y 2 0 1 4

EFC FAMILY GATHERING S A T U R D A Y S @ 5 P M Our Family Gathering is a worship concert built upon the truth of God’s Word empowered by the Holy Spirit. Music typically opens our time with an interactive time of worship and a creative presentation of God’s

Word. There is an age-graded breakout for elementary and youth

while adults are challenged in a sermon based on the day’s Biblical text. The evening concludes with a

simple dinner. All who desire to grow in Jesus and the Bible are invited! Our current teaching series is helping

us understand Jesus through John’s gospel…

Jesus according to John

SCHEDULE:4:30pm, prayer time 5pm, family worship

6pm, breakouts 7pm, dinner

EFC Community Groups F R I DAY, M AY 2 4 t h

We meet in homes on the 4th weekend of the month for our Community Groups. We will not be having our Family Gathering at the Hope Church building this weekend. This provides us a special time for personal sharing and fellowship in a smaller more intimate setting. More information to come from the Community Pastors.

A N N U A L E F C

Women’s Retreat Friday-Saturday, May 23-24

Everett Family Church invites you to an overnight retreat. This will be an all-day Friday and overnight experience concluding after breakfast on Saturday morning. There will be sharing, study of the Scriptures, activities, games,

laughter and a special place of friendship building.

All women, ages 18 and older, are invited to attend wherever they might be in their personal or spiritual

journey.

Bring what you need to enjoy twenty-four hours of refreshment, friendship, and personal growth. In

addition, bring a Bible and journal. The cost is $25 per person and the retreat will be happen at a local

bed and breakfast. Contact Pascale for more information (pascale@everettfamilychurch.org).

You’re Invited to the… EFC Picnic in the Park Saturday, May 31 at 5pm !

We will be meeting at Hauge Homestead Park on the SE corner of Silver Lake

(121st and Bothell-Everett Highway) where we have rented the picnic shelter. We will enjoy a picnic with games in the park. There is no cost for this event - bring lawn chairs, games and a large side dish to

share. All are welcome to attend!  

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online - everettfamilychurch.org | mail - 15317 73rd AVE SE #2, Snohomish, WA, 98296 | phone - 425 387-1975

Taco Tuesday. Boy do we love serving the precious folks at the Family Tree Apartments. We prepare and serve the monthly meal and then enjoy our time eating with the many people who are not just familiar, but family! We are grateful for the opportunity to serve in this way.

Seder Dinner. The weekend before Easter we changed our regular Family Gathering schedule and concluded our evening with a Seder service. This is the traditional Passover celebration observed by Jewish Christians much like the final supper Jesus observed with his disciples the night he was betrayed and crucified. Nathalie led the meal as the families sat around tables arranged on the ground. During the meal we enjoyed a kosher meal and Mark’s matzo ball soup.

Community Groups. The two EFC groups met the final weekend of April (during the Father Son Retreat) and were hosted at the Wright and Bell home. These times continue to be intentional times of fellowship and discipleship.

Community Pastors. The Bells, Ripleys and Wrights welcomed the Edwards into the Community Pastor team this month. We enjoyed our monthly meeting at the Edwards’ home and feasted on Amanda’s seafood linguine - wow! The EFC Community Pastors are charged with the task of leading, teaching, and caring for the families who consider EFC their church home.

Easter Celebration. It was a full night - in every way possible! It was a joy to gather the whole church family together and then worship Jesus and celebrate his resurrection together. We experienced John’s Easter Rewind with the help of Jenn, Rob, Isaac and Phoebe. Luke, Phoebe, Mark and Mike led the music and the evening concluded with a potluck dinner. He is risen - He is risen indeed!

Moving Party. Paul, Casey and Mike headed to the Family Tree Apartments to be Jesus with skin - hauling furniture and boxes for Wendy. It is a joy to serve in the name of Jesus!

Father Son Retreat. Five dads and their sons headed to Lakeside Bible Camp for the annual Father Son Retreat. It is truly a boys’ paradise with bb guns, archery, canoes, rockets, grass fields, carpet ball, and fun. Built into the fun activities are opportunities for dads to sit and talk with their sons during the meals, devotions and chapel times. This year Paul, Dan, Mark, Steve and Mike attended.

APRIL REWIND

E F C M a n a g e m e n t T e a m Dan Bell, Janine Ripley, & Mike Wright

This team oversees the financial and business aspects of EFC. We usually meet every month to review the joy box gifts and church expenses and enjoy front row seats to what God is doing through EFC. EFC currently supports

four missionary families and Pastor Mike’s family in addition to our monthly expenses. We are thankful for

your sacrificial and joyful giving! Please join us in prayer for God’s wisdom and provision concerning a church van that we could use to pick up the

many children and parents currently needing a ride throughout the week. We are also needing a new laptop computer for Pastor Mike to keep up with the developing

technology we use.

Monthly operating budget $5,200 ...............Total Joy Box gifts in April $7,673 ................................Total EFC spending in April $7,177 ............................... Community Ministry & Missions Abroad $468 ............! !

Everett Family Church is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization. Tax Identification # 71-1025722

Visit the EFC online for a current calendar of all events, times, and locations.

Midweek Youth iGroups Tuesday & Thursday, 6:30-8pm

We partner with Northview Church in Mill Creek in the discipleship of our youth. Northview’s middle school is

led by Wilson McSwain (wilsonm@nview.org) and meets for iGroups on Tuesday. The high school is led by Brookes August (brookesa@nview.org) and meets

for iGroups on Thursday.

Family Dinner @ Family Tree Tu e s d a y , M a y 13 t h

All are invited to help us prep and serve a meal to the folks who live at the Family Tree Apartments. We will meet at Hope Church at 5pm to prepare the meal

and serve the meal at the Family Tree Apartments at 6pm. We will clean-up and head home around 7pm.

MENU:

Spaghetti & meatballs (sign-up online to bring food or help)

E F C B I R T H D A Y S !No May birthdays that we know of!