PASTOR’S WEEKLY UPDATE OCTOBER 21, 2022
PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY
SOME ANNOUNCEMENTS WRITTEN HERE ARE NOT IN THE VIDEO
SOME ANNOUNCEMENTS WRITTEN HERE ARE NOT IN THE VIDEO
Happy, Friendship,
The year continues to dwindle away on us. Before we know it, we will be at Watch Night Service. As we stare the end of the year in our faces, I want to encourage you to consider redeeming the time. I often bring up this topic at the end of each year. Or in the last quarter of each year to give us the opportunity for consideration.
In Ephesians 5:16 & Colossians 4:5, Paul uses this phrase “REDEEMING THE TIME!”When Paul wrote “redeeming the time,” he spoke of redeeming opportunities. He tells us that God can help us recoup, recover, regain, and retrieve lost time and opportunities! We’ve all missed opportunities along our journeys in life in various ways and for various reasons. Some of it was due to our stupidity or inexperience. Some of it was due to hardships or difficulties in life that prevented us from doing what we wanted.
Regardless of the reason, Paul tells us that if we’re willing to go the distance to do whatever is necessary to “redeem the time,” we can turn things around and end up with a lot of brand-new, wonderful opportunities that make up for any lost or wasted time in our past. This week, I ask that you pray about areas you feel you need to redeem the time. AMEN
Thank you all for your encouragement and support concerning our Spiritual Disciplines Series. I appreciate that so many of you are leaning into this Spiritual Discipline series! This past Sunday, we covered two Outward Disciplines: Simplicity and Solitude.
I pray that you have had the opportunity to:
Also, don’t forget to go back and look at OVERTIME to see our discussion on these disciplines of Simplicity & Solitude!
Things to consider this week…
WOMEN’S WEEKEND
Ladies, join us for our “Virtual” Women Of Radiant Design (W.O.R.D.) Conference on Saturday, October 22nd at 10a. It’s our 30th Anniversary! The theme for this year’s conference is Kingdom Women: Rooted, Growing and Flourishing in Faith – Believing the Best is Yet to Come. We are excited and waiting with tip-toe anticipation as our special guests and beloved Pastor Janae Pitts-Murdock, Rev. Dr. MarQuerita Story, and Rev. Dr. Karen Stewart join us with a timely Word about Women of Faith in the Bible. It’s not too late to register and participate in this God-glorifying event! Also, we encourage you to Invite A Friend! Once you register, you will receive the link to join the conference. Ladies, since this is a virtual event, we invite you to consider hosting a Watch party with other ladies to foster community and camaraderie. Register HERE.
WOMEN’S DAY
Be sure to join us on Sunday, October 23rd, as we celebrate Women’s Day - Praise In Pink at Friendship. We invite Friendship members and our guests to wear something pink to honor breast cancer survivors and to honor the memory of those we lost to the disease. Service times are 8:00a and 11:30a. Our Speaker will be the Rev. April Hawkins, who serves as the Family Life Pastor at First Institutional Baptist Church of Phoenix, AZ. More information and updates can be found on the church website at www.wearefriendship.church.
VOTERS REGISTRATION
A Friendship Voter Registration table will be in the quad on Sundays, October 9th, 16th, and 23rd. The table will b available ½ hour before the 1st service, between the first and 2nd service, and ½ hour after the 2nd service. Please call, email, or text Mark Saunders at 714-914-1411 [email protected] if you have any questions, concerns, or recommendations.
FRIENDSHIP HARVEST FESTIVAL PARTY
Friendship Families! Come out on Saturday evening, October 29th, at 5:00pm for a great time of fun, games, and candy at our Harvest Festival Party. This is a free event for all. This year we will host the party in the quad and Multipurpose Room. We will have a variety of games, prizes, and activities. In addition, complimentary snacks and refreshments will be served. And did we mention CANDY? Big THANKS to our Girl Scout ministry for planning this year’s event.
If you want to donate individually wrapped bags of candy, please drop donations off this week at the CYYA office in the Carrington Building.
SOCAL HARVEST CRUSADE
The 2022 So Harvest Crusade will occur at the Angels Stadium of Anaheim on November 5th & 6th. This evangelistic hope-filled event encourages those anxious about what the future holds for this crazy mixed-up world. It is two days of music, community, and hearing a life-changing message from Pastor Greg Laurie about getting right with God. Please go HERE to understand the event and see how you can attend, spread the word, invite others, and serve. There are volunteer opportunities available. Please check the volunteer page HERE.
FOURTH QUARTER PUSH
As we enter the last quarter, it is our custom to participate in our FOURTH QUARTER PUSH! Just as a football team might experience intense focus and renewed momentum in the fourth quarter to FINISH STRONG and win the game, our FOURTH QUARTER PUSH is our way of encouraging the Friendship Family to FINISH STRONG.
PASTOR’S OUTING SCHEDULE:
⚫ Sunday, October 23rd ~ New Mount Calvary MBC ~ Pastor Sonja R. Dawson ~ Ministry Leaders Appreciation Sunday @ 11:00am. Church Address: 402 E. El Segundo Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90061.
BEWARE OF EMAIL SCAMMERS
Beware of email scammers! There are individuals out there who send emails impersonating people you know to rob you of your money. I will never send you an email asking you to wire me money or purchase a gift card for me personally or the ministry. All funds for ministry run through our church finance department and our secure church giving app. Call the church office or me to verify a request or email when in doubt. I suggest you do the same with your family and friends if you get a suspicious email from a family member, do not wait your time emailing back and forth. Call the individuals. We are living in crazy times, and people are crooked!
General Church things to remember:
Friendship, let’s REDEEM TIME AND FINISH STRONG!
I love you, Friendship, But God Loves you BEST!
Continue to Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, and Stay Connected!
In His Service,
Rev. Kenneth C. Curry, Jr.
Your Pastor
The year continues to dwindle away on us. Before we know it, we will be at Watch Night Service. As we stare the end of the year in our faces, I want to encourage you to consider redeeming the time. I often bring up this topic at the end of each year. Or in the last quarter of each year to give us the opportunity for consideration.
In Ephesians 5:16 & Colossians 4:5, Paul uses this phrase “REDEEMING THE TIME!”When Paul wrote “redeeming the time,” he spoke of redeeming opportunities. He tells us that God can help us recoup, recover, regain, and retrieve lost time and opportunities! We’ve all missed opportunities along our journeys in life in various ways and for various reasons. Some of it was due to our stupidity or inexperience. Some of it was due to hardships or difficulties in life that prevented us from doing what we wanted.
Regardless of the reason, Paul tells us that if we’re willing to go the distance to do whatever is necessary to “redeem the time,” we can turn things around and end up with a lot of brand-new, wonderful opportunities that make up for any lost or wasted time in our past. This week, I ask that you pray about areas you feel you need to redeem the time. AMEN
Thank you all for your encouragement and support concerning our Spiritual Disciplines Series. I appreciate that so many of you are leaning into this Spiritual Discipline series! This past Sunday, we covered two Outward Disciplines: Simplicity and Solitude.
I pray that you have had the opportunity to:
- Find something that needs simplifying. It could be going through your house and decluttering or limiting your time-consuming TV, radio, or gaming. Basically, whatever you feel is getting in the way of making the kingdom of God your priority. Or,
- Find a quiet place to seek silence and solitude. Find a space in your home where you can withdraw to be alone and silent. It could be a room or even a special chair. Also, find quiet places to go outside your home to seek silence and solitude, connecting with yourself and God.
Also, don’t forget to go back and look at OVERTIME to see our discussion on these disciplines of Simplicity & Solitude!
Things to consider this week…
WOMEN’S WEEKEND
Ladies, join us for our “Virtual” Women Of Radiant Design (W.O.R.D.) Conference on Saturday, October 22nd at 10a. It’s our 30th Anniversary! The theme for this year’s conference is Kingdom Women: Rooted, Growing and Flourishing in Faith – Believing the Best is Yet to Come. We are excited and waiting with tip-toe anticipation as our special guests and beloved Pastor Janae Pitts-Murdock, Rev. Dr. MarQuerita Story, and Rev. Dr. Karen Stewart join us with a timely Word about Women of Faith in the Bible. It’s not too late to register and participate in this God-glorifying event! Also, we encourage you to Invite A Friend! Once you register, you will receive the link to join the conference. Ladies, since this is a virtual event, we invite you to consider hosting a Watch party with other ladies to foster community and camaraderie. Register HERE.
WOMEN’S DAY
Be sure to join us on Sunday, October 23rd, as we celebrate Women’s Day - Praise In Pink at Friendship. We invite Friendship members and our guests to wear something pink to honor breast cancer survivors and to honor the memory of those we lost to the disease. Service times are 8:00a and 11:30a. Our Speaker will be the Rev. April Hawkins, who serves as the Family Life Pastor at First Institutional Baptist Church of Phoenix, AZ. More information and updates can be found on the church website at www.wearefriendship.church.
VOTERS REGISTRATION
A Friendship Voter Registration table will be in the quad on Sundays, October 9th, 16th, and 23rd. The table will b available ½ hour before the 1st service, between the first and 2nd service, and ½ hour after the 2nd service. Please call, email, or text Mark Saunders at 714-914-1411 [email protected] if you have any questions, concerns, or recommendations.
FRIENDSHIP HARVEST FESTIVAL PARTY
Friendship Families! Come out on Saturday evening, October 29th, at 5:00pm for a great time of fun, games, and candy at our Harvest Festival Party. This is a free event for all. This year we will host the party in the quad and Multipurpose Room. We will have a variety of games, prizes, and activities. In addition, complimentary snacks and refreshments will be served. And did we mention CANDY? Big THANKS to our Girl Scout ministry for planning this year’s event.
If you want to donate individually wrapped bags of candy, please drop donations off this week at the CYYA office in the Carrington Building.
SOCAL HARVEST CRUSADE
The 2022 So Harvest Crusade will occur at the Angels Stadium of Anaheim on November 5th & 6th. This evangelistic hope-filled event encourages those anxious about what the future holds for this crazy mixed-up world. It is two days of music, community, and hearing a life-changing message from Pastor Greg Laurie about getting right with God. Please go HERE to understand the event and see how you can attend, spread the word, invite others, and serve. There are volunteer opportunities available. Please check the volunteer page HERE.
FOURTH QUARTER PUSH
As we enter the last quarter, it is our custom to participate in our FOURTH QUARTER PUSH! Just as a football team might experience intense focus and renewed momentum in the fourth quarter to FINISH STRONG and win the game, our FOURTH QUARTER PUSH is our way of encouraging the Friendship Family to FINISH STRONG.
✔️ Finish Strong in Biblical Stewardship ~ returning a whole tithe and giving generously. Then, let’s Bring the Whole Tithe faithfully to God. Beloved, we need your help to meet our 2022 BUDGET. We have just 10 SUNDAYS to do this. We need to raise $700,000 to FINISH STRONG! That’s an average of $70K each week. It’s a BIG push, but it is a DOABLE PUSH! I appreciate ALL you have given and continue giving, and we seek to do KINGDOM work.
✔️ Finish Strong in Bible Reading. We have approximately 70 days to read the Bible using one of the six Bible reading plans we promote here at Friendship. You can do this!
✔️ Finish Strong in Bible Study ~ we have several Bible Study opportunities that begin next week. Will you consider joining one? Go to the website HERE to learn more.
✔️ Finish Strong in adopting Spiritual Disciplines. Consider reading the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster and taking the personal challenge I give each week at the end of each message.
PASTOR’S OUTING SCHEDULE:
⚫ Sunday, October 23rd ~ New Mount Calvary MBC ~ Pastor Sonja R. Dawson ~ Ministry Leaders Appreciation Sunday @ 11:00am. Church Address: 402 E. El Segundo Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90061.
BEWARE OF EMAIL SCAMMERS
Beware of email scammers! There are individuals out there who send emails impersonating people you know to rob you of your money. I will never send you an email asking you to wire me money or purchase a gift card for me personally or the ministry. All funds for ministry run through our church finance department and our secure church giving app. Call the church office or me to verify a request or email when in doubt. I suggest you do the same with your family and friends if you get a suspicious email from a family member, do not wait your time emailing back and forth. Call the individuals. We are living in crazy times, and people are crooked!
General Church things to remember:
⚫ 2022 CHURCH THEME:
United & Unashamed: God’s People United in Mission, Ministry, & Mandate
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 ESV; Romans 1:16-17 ESV
⚫ OCTOBER PRAYER FOCUS:
DEPENDENCE ON GOD
Matt. 11;28; 1 Cor. 15:58; 2 Cor. 9:8; Col. 3:23-24.
⚫ SOCIAL MEDIA Make sure to follow us on our social media pages for upcoming content. For Facebook, that’s @FriendshipBaptistChurch. For Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, it’s @wearefriendshipchurch.
⚫ IN-PERSON EX-HOUR: In-person Ex-Hour meets each Sunday from 10am to 11am. We now have two adult classes meeting in person on campus, along with a Young Adult Class. They meet as follows:
◯ Adult Class One (Sanctuary): The team teaching in the sanctuary includes Lady Karima Curry, Pamela Jones, Deacon Demetrius Linebarger, Melanie Porter, Vivian Randolph, & Deacon James Shelby
◯ Adult Class Two (Carrington Building Room 217): The team teaching in the Carrington Building Room 217 includes Le Shon Archer, Deacon Rick Archer, Karen Ammons, Gwen Matthews, and Rev. Phil Yoder.
◯ Young Adults Class (Carrington Building Rooms 207-208): This class is designed for those aged 18-35.
⚫ NEW MEMBERS CLASS:
If you’ve recently become a member of Friendship or are a member who has never attended the New Members Class, we invite you to attend a new session starting on Sunday, October 2nd. Over eight weeks, this class teaches what we believe about fundamental Christian doctrines, including Salvation, the Trinity, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. In addition, this class provides a good foundation on key doctrines in the Bible. Join us at 10 a.m. on Sundays; we meet on the 2nd floor of the Carrington Building, Room 209.
We invite you to stay after the first service or come earlier for the second service to attend Ex Hour in person.
⚫ EX HOUR: Virtual Ex-Hour meets weekly on Sundays via ZOOM. Join us for class at 10am via this link HERE.
⚫ YOUTH EX HOUR: Our youth Ex Hour takes place during our designated EX Hour time via Google Meet and in person. Yes, it’s a hybrid approach! Parents, please encourage your students to join youth teachers for this biblically fun opportunity to learn God’s Word, connect with others, and grow. To join Youth Ex-Hour, follow the link HERE.
⚫ CHILDREN’S MINISTRY VIDEO: A weekly Children’s Ministry Worship Video is provided to keep our children connected, encouraged, and worshipping! It is available through our website HERE or the Friendship YouTube Channel HERE.
⚫ WEDNESDAY Prayer Day: Join us each Wednesday for Prayer. We pray at 6:30am, 12pm, and 6:30pm. To connect with our prayer services, please follow this link HERE or dial +1 (413) 418-4274 and use the PIN 287683504#.
⚫ FBC FOOD BANK OPEN: The FBC Food Bank is OPEN with a new drive-thru system where our clients will receive a pre-packaged food box and a bag of groceries. The Food Bank’s hours of operation are Tuesday - Thursday, 2:30pm-4:30pm.
⚫ COVID Recovery Kits:
We still have Covid Recovery Kits through Providence Health and the Yorba Linda Rotary Club. These kits help individuals who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and are recovering at home. Each kit includes a pulse oximeter to monitor breathing, a thermometer, a box of masks, and a package of sanitizing wipes in a small canvas bag. If you or someone in your family could benefit from one of these kits, please call the church office and arrange to get one.
⚫ COVID Membership Assistance Fund:
We are STILL accepting COVID Membership Assistance Grant applications. If you are experiencing financial distress due to COVID-19, we invite you to apply for one of our $500 assistance grants. The guidelines are available HERE, and the application is available HERE.
⚫ LOST & FOUND
Have you lost your favorite Bible, glasses, or a personal item while here at the church? If so, please get in touch with the church office at 714-528-0990 or stop by on the 1st floor of the Carrington Building Monday-Friday between 9:00am-5:30pm or Sunday between 10:00am-2:00pm. There is a collection on the blue counter under the TV monitor.
Friendship, let’s REDEEM TIME AND FINISH STRONG!
I love you, Friendship, But God Loves you BEST!
Continue to Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, and Stay Connected!
In His Service,
Rev. Kenneth C. Curry, Jr.
Your Pastor