SERVICE: SUNDAYS AT 8:00AM & 11:30AM

PASTOR’S WEEKLY UPDATE JANUARY 6, 2023

Happy New Year, Friendship Family! 

I pray this update finds you well! I greet you in the marvelous name of Jesus, and I thank God for you! Beloved, God has allowed us to see a New Year, and it is purely by His Grace. I encourage you not to be afraid to face life in this New Year. Remember what I preached this past Sunday, and let’s Make the Transition as inspired by Joshua 1:1-9. How do we do this? Here’s how:

  1. Let go of the Past 
  2. Remember God’s Presence in the Present, and
  3. Follow God’s Prescription (or Directions/Commands)

This New Year has many promises for us. We must simply trust God, and everything will be fine. Remember, we are people of Resilient Faith! Yes, that’s our theme for 2023, Resilient Faith. This theme is inspired by Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV. The big idea is this; we are resilient people (able to bounce back and keep going) and built on the unshakable foundation of Christ’s unchanging character. Therefore this year, we must remember that we are a solid and steady people refusing to give in to the weight of affliction, worries, or changing culture. AMEN! 
2023 Church Theme:
Resilient Faith

Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV

January Prayer Focus
Surrender to the Sovereignty of Christ 

Romans 12:1; James 4:7-8: Rom 12:2; James 4:10; 2 Cor 5:17
Again, Happy New Year!

Thank you to everyone for joining us for our Christmas Service, Watch Night Service, and New Year’s Day Worship Service. I trust and pray you were inspired, encouraged, and blessed!  

Here are several announcements as we start 2023…

Please note most Bible Studies start back next week. Check out the church website or check in with your Bible Study Teacher for more information.

CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT
If you need to request your 2022 CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT, you may do so HERE.

KINGDOM WIVES BIBLE STUDY
The Kingdom Wives Bible study resumes tomorrow, Saturday, January 7th,  at 9:00 am.  The wives will kick off the year and continue their study entitled Now You’re Speaking my Language: Honest Communication and Deeper Intimacy for a Stronger Marriage by Gary Chapman. Join Lady Karima and her team of committed wives as they discuss chapter four on Contract Marriage. You don't want to miss this time of community and growth.

21- DAY CORPORATE FAST
Please note that our time of prayer and fasting for 2023 begins Monday, January 9th, and goes through Sunday, January 29th. This fast is a 21 Day Fast of your choosing. As with the last two years or so, I am only giving you the dates of the fast and access to a daily prayer line. You must decide through prayer and commitment what type of fast you will do. Again, this is a fast of your choosing. You can choose a complete fast, selective fast, or partial fast. 

Remember, you must govern your own fast and grow closer to God. We provide a fasting guide designed by Pastor Miles McPherson and The Rock Church HERE to assist you. 

We also have about 250 devotional books from the year we did the Daniels Fast and the Financial Fast. If you would like to utilize that devotional/journal, you can. These will be available with the ushers and greeters this Sunday, January 8th. 

Also, we invite you to join us each day for prayer at 12p. To connect with our prayer services, please follow this link HERE or dial in at +1 (413) 418-4274 and use the PIN 287683504#. We have prayer leaders for each day as follows:
 
  • Monday: Pastor Kenneth C. Curry, Jr. 
  • Tuesday: Pastor Rodney Friend
  • Wednesday: Rev. Jaron Singley
  • Thursday: Deacon Charles Owens
  • Friday: Deacon James Shelby
  • Saturday: Rev. Terry Abercrombie
  • Sunday: Sister Melanie Porter

CONVOCATION 2023
Please note that I am planning Convocation 2023, and I am excited to announce that our guests will be Rev. Stephen Thurston and the Rev. Dr. MarQuerita Story. Rev. Thurston will serve as our lecturer for two nights and our preacher for one night, and  Dr. Story will serve as our preacher for two nights and our lecturer for one night. Additionally, Rev. Thurston will be with us on Sunday, January 15th. Convocation will take place Tuesday, January 17th  through Thursday, January 19th, live here at Friendship! Our choirs and praise teams will provide music, and there will be other surprise ministry happenings. So plan now to have your face in the place!

STATE OF THE CHURCH ADDRESS:
The State of the Church Address will take place on Sunday, January 22nd, at both the 8am and 11:30a service. Also, this past Sunday, I stated that we would have the State of the Church Address on Sunday, January 15th. I made a mistake. This is an important Sunday, and we invite you to join us!

NEW MEMBERS CLASS:
On January 29th, we will begin a new eight-week New Members Class session.  If you have joined Friendship, but have not completed the New Members Class we invite you to complete this eight-week course that will introduce you to Friendship’s foundational beliefs, biblical doctrine, and operations.  This course takes place in person on Sunday mornings at 10:00 am.

HEALTH SURVEY:
I am excited to announce that our church is a part of a Health Equity and Advocacy Collective known as HEAAL (Health Equity for African Americans League). Our goal at HEAAL is to identify the social determinants of health outcomes within the Black American community in Orange County. Here is a like to the HEAAL website.

The Orange County Heath Offices has granted HEAAL, a collective of churches and community organizations, $200K to do this work. Additionally, several of our collective members have received $10K in participation grants. Yes, Friendship has received a participation grant. 

To do this, we aim to survey 3500 Black American Orange County residents and individuals who work or worship in Orange County. We aim to hit our goal of 3500 participants by the end of February 2023. Beloved, we want to equip the black community in OC with information, services, and tools to remove adverse effects on our health which sets us up for poor outcomes when significant illnesses/pandemics (like COVID-19) occur.

Here is the LINK to the survey. Please complete the survey ASAP.  

In addition to the survey, which we will deliver in various ways (electronic/digital) and pen and paper surveys, we will also seek to have forums, town halls, and other community events designed to gain the most complete and comprehensive picture possible. Thanks in advance for your participation! Don’t delay taking the survey TODAY.

TRANSFORMATION MINISTRIES CONFERENCE 2023
We will host the 2023 Transformation Ministries Conference on February 2nd and 3rd, and I am happy to serve as a speaker again this year. The 2023 Transformation Ministries Conference is built around the theme: PRESENCE. So, of course, we are talking about God’s presence.

We will need volunteers to serve. If you are available, please contact Sharon Preston in the church office HERE. If you would like to attend, it is FREE to attend. We need you to register, however. To register, go to tmchurches.org/tmc-2023 and select “I need to add my name to my church’s registration,” then follow the prompts. Then enter Friendship Baptist Church for the church name and enter our church address which is 17145 Bastanchury Road, Yorba Linda, CA 92886. Then enter your contact information under Attendee Information. Let me know if you have a problem by emailing me HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow us on our social media pages for upcoming content. For Facebook, that’s Friendship Baptist Church. For Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, it’s @wearefriendshipchurch.

General Church things to remember:

  • 2023 CHURCH THEME:
      Resilient Faith
      Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV

  • JANUARY PRAYER FOCUS:
     Surrender to the Sovereignty of Christ
     Romans 12:1; James 4:7-8: Rom 12:2; James 4:10; 2 Cor 5:17

  • BIBLE READING
It is with joy that we will celebrate those who read the Word of God in 2022 on Sunday, January 22nd! We invite everyone to consider reading God’s Word this year! As of today, you have  360 days to complete a Bible reading plan, including today. At Friendship, we encourage every member to read one of six Bible reading plans in the year. These plans include;

✔️ The entire Bible,
✔️ The Pentateuch (or the first five books of the Old Testament),
✔️ The entire Old Testament,
✔️ The Gospels (or the first four books of the New Testament),
✔️ The entire New Testament, and
✔️ Psalms and Proverbs (3 times)

  • IN-PERSON EX-HOUR: In-person Ex-Hour resumes this Sunday, January 8th from 10am to 11am. We invite you to stay after the first service or come earlier for the second service to attend Ex Hour in person. Remember, we have two adult classes meeting in person on campus and 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.

  • 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 in-person youth Ex Hour takes place during our designated EX Hour time in the Multipurpose Building. Parents, please encourage your students to join youth teachers for this biblically fun opportunity to learn God’s Word, connect with others, and grow.

  • CHILDREN’S EX-HOUR: As stated in previous weeks, our Children’s ExHour is back and meets on Sundays at 10am in the Multipurpose Building. Parents, please note you must sign your children in weekly for Ex-hour.  

  • MOMMIES WITH BABIES: Also we have our Mommies with Babies class simultaneously in the Multi-Purpose building. Mommies with two years old and younger children are invited to this EX-HOUR class and are encouraged to bring their children with them! Come for encouragement, community, and growth! Amen!

  • 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 in at +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.

Well, that’s all I have this week. Continue to Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected!

God loves you, and so do I!

Happy New Year!!!


In His Service,
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/lK6ri-mjKfB2sIhmcqg2Hi5NyudCSRNzgARr3Mf2K6eUJbquKsJKTjRH8bwIsoC_hqMxDcBGgvz_iM-bLMT8GRoG7ZyW8HAgJwXEgcNgXaSzgCXTwPnItGvBjZf7eqWKVIIalN7w
Rev. Kenneth C. Curry, Jr.
Your Pastor
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