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

PASTOR’S WEEKLY UPDATE FEBRUARY 11, 2022

Happy Friday, Friendship Family! 

I pray today and this week has been great for you! But, remember, God is still good to us! 

This Sunday is Friendship Day, and we will not have Ex Hour, so I want to encourage you from the EX Hour Lesson we will miss. This week’s lesson comes from Daniel 6:10-24. The lesson is entitled Trust Exhibited. The lesson aims to remind us that we can trust God in all circumstances as believers. This lesson centers on Daniel’s determination to trust God even in the Lion’s Den. I invite you to read Daniel 6:10-24 for yourself. So often when we think we know a story, we often breeze right over certain truths. 

I do not have time to teach the lesson here, but I want to remind you of this, others may try to limit our worship or discourage us from taking our faith too seriously, but we must remain true to our faith. Additionally, our circumstances may seem to limit our worship and challenge our faith, but we can and should persevere. We must not allow our circumstances nor other people to sway us in our faith and trust in God. We must trust in the faithfulness of God! Remember, we can trust that God knows our situation and will act in our situation to bring honor to Himself as we remain faithful to Him. That’s a fact! To access this EX Hour Lesson go HERE.

FRIENDSHIP DAY
Speaking of Friendship Day! This Sunday, February 13th, is Friendship Day. This is our first Friendship Day since 2020! We will have one service at 10am and an outdoor reception immediately following that service. But, don’t worry, we will be done in time for you to get to your Super Bowl Events! Friendship Day celebrates who we are as a church. We will feature a special, look-back video along with our Friendship Day festivities. We invite you to wear your favorite team jersey from any sport or your favorite service organization shirt. 

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
Also, on Sundays, our Girl Scouts are selling Girl Scout Cookies. Please help support our scouts! They are in the quad on Sundays, and all of your favorites are back!

BLACK HISTORY PRESENTATION CONTEST
Young People, your Black History presentations are due this Sunday! Remember, the Silver Eagles’ are sponsoring a Black History Presentation Contest. This year’s theme is “Incite Hope, Not Violence.”  Students are encouraged to submit a two-minute or less video presentation on an African American or other person of color from the past or present who inspires them because the individual has made or is making their life count to incite hope, not violence. The contest is open to all children and youth from 1st through 12th grade. Again, submissions are to be video presentations that are 2 minutes or less and submitted by February 13th.  Participants should email their submissions to [email protected] by Sunday, February 13th.  For more info, go to wearefriendship.church/silvereagles. There, you can also see the video from last year’s winners.

SIDE BY SIDE COUPLES MINISTRY
The next Side by Side Couples Ministry is tonight, Friday, February 11th, at 7:00pm via Zoom. They are studying the book The Art of Marriage, Growing Together in Christ. The topic for the session is Growing Together through the Holy Spirit. You can join the meeting tonight via Zoom HERE. Should you have any questions, please contact Deacon Hilton McDaniel (949) 652-1489 or email Sheila McDaniel at [email protected]. We look forward to you joining the class.

BIBLE CLASSES
Don’t forget we have several Bible Studies available for your spiritual growth, including Ex-Hour on Sundays, both in-person and virtual, and classes throughout the week. Please stop by our church website to get more information on classes we offer and classes scheduled to start soon.


⚫ Mommies to Mommies
Did you know that FBC offers a Bible class for mothers with young children? If you’re a mother parenting children between the infant age to the age of 12, we welcome and invite you to join us! This class meets twice monthly on the 2nd  and 4th Sunday at 10 a.m. via Zoom. Mothers, this class is designed to offer you Biblical encouragement. It is a wonderful opportunity to connect with a community of mothers who understand where you are, share your experiences,  and support you in your current season of motherhood. Deaconess Celeste Wall and Pamala Ellens facilitate this class. To join the class, please click HERE. We look forward to welcoming new mothers of young children to our community soon.

⚫ BIBLE READING SMALL GROUPS
We are excited to announce that we have Bible Reading Small Groups coming! If you desire to read God’s Word in 2022 and/or were among those who recently stood up, expressing a willingness to read the Bible in one of 5 ways this year, we want to help and encourage you! Again, we are offering five small groups. Each group will read a different Bible reading plan: OT, NT, Gospels, Pentateuch, and Psalms/Proverbs 3 times. So, for example, if you want to read the OT, you can join a group where others have selected the same reading plan. The same applies to the other four reading options. Each group will complete its reading plan in 90 days! That’s right! You can complete reading at least one plan before summer! 

We apologize for the confusion in previous communication regarding signing up for these Bible Reading Small Groups. When posting these, we inadvertently listed them as closed, so this prevented you from signing up! Again, we apologize for the mix-up and confusion. The issue is now resolved, and we invite you to sign up ASAP!

Groups will meet starting the week of March 6th and will meet twice monthly for no longer than an hour. Please note that the group time is intended for participants to connect time, not teaching what was read. Group time is an opportunity for discussion, for readers to share insights on the reading, and encourage one another on their progress. So let’s read God’s Word together in 2022 Friendship! To join a group, please select the appropriate link below.

Small-Group Meeting Dates & Leaders:
⚫ Monday (1st and 3rd): Pentateuch, 7pm (Karen Ammons): Enroll Here
⚫ Monday (1st and 3rd): New Testament, 7pm (Keah Talley & Le Shon Archer): Enroll Here
⚫ Tuesday (2nd and 4th): Old Testament, 6pm (Bill Jenkins): Enroll Here
⚫ Wednesday (2nd and 4th): Psalms/Proverbs 3x, 7 pm (Shawna Chambers): Enroll Here
⚫ Thursday (Every other): The Gospels, 6pm (James Shelby): Enroll Here

TEACHER’S MEETING
Please join us for our first Teacher’s Meeting of 2022 on Saturday, February 19th at 10 a.m. We will meet virtually on Zoom. Discussion topics will include a recap of Christian Education highlights from 2021 and the Christian Education calendar for 2022. As a follow-up to our last meeting, we’d also love for you to share any actions you’ve implemented or experienced that have encouraged FBC members or guests to engage in Christian Education/Bible Study. We look forward to seeing you teachers on the 19th!

SINGLES EVENT @ THE VIEW CHURCH
Attention all singles, The View Church presents Love Is..., a conference for Singles and Couples; tomorrow, February 12th, from 9:00am until 12pm. It is a FREE event, and Rev. Terry Abercrombie will be one of the conference speakers. We have previously sent out information regarding this event, but we also provide a link today to encourage you to register and attend. To register, go HERE.

WOMEN’S PRAYER CONFERENCE
Ladies, it is with excitement and joy that the Friendship Women’s Ministry invites you to join them for the 2022 “Virtual” Prayer Conference! If there ever was a time when we needed to pray, that time is NOW! The conference takes place on Saturday, February 26th at 10:00 a.m., so mark your calendars and save the date to join the community of ladies for a time of Prayer & Praise. The speaker for this event will be the Rev. R. Janae Pitts-Murdock, Senior Pastor of the Light of the World Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. To register, please go HERE.

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

⚫ FEBRUARY PRAYER FOCUS:
Praying for Friendship’s Faithful Walk in the Love of Christ
Ephesians 5:2, 2 John 1:6, John 13:34, Colossians 3:14

⚫ BIBLE READING
You have  323 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)

⚫ 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 each Sunday in the Multipurpose Building. We invite you to stay after the first service or come earlier for the second service to attend Ex Hour in person. (No Ex Hour this Sunday, February 13th, due to Friendship Day).

⚫ EX HOUR: Virtual Ex-Hour meets weekly on Sundays via ZOOM. Join us for class at 10am via this link HERE. (No Ex Hour this Sunday, February 13th, due to Friendship Day).

⚫ 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. (No Ex Hour this Sunday, February 13th, due to Friendship Day).

⚫ CHILDREN’S MINISTRY VIDEO: Remember there’s a weekly Children’s Ministry Worship Video designed to keep our children connected, encouraged, and worshipping! Rev. Jaron Singley works hard weekly to produce a Children’s worship video. 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 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 COVID19, 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.

Remember, we pray, don’t panic, take precautions, and remain patient. Precautions include wearing a GOOD mask, washing our hands, and watching our distance. Continue to Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected! God loves you, and so do I! 

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