Pastor's Weekly Update October 15, 2021
Greetings, Friendship Family!
Today is Friday, October 15th, and we are basically halfway through the month! Yes, time is slipping away from us. That is why I keep pushing us back to this topic of REDEEMING THE TIME!
Remember, Paul utilizes this phrase in Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5. Again, the word REDEEM in Greek means to “buy out of the marketplace.” As I told you last week, the picture is of a merchant who diligently seeks to buy up the best bargains in the marketplace, taking care not to miss the fleeting opportunities!
Other Bible translations render the phrase this way:
When a second, a minute, or an hour passes, it is gone forever. It cannot be retrieved. Science fiction loves the idea of time travel, which is delightful to think about because we would all like to go back in time and change some things in our own lives. But we can’t do that! We can’t revive even a single solitary second that is already past.
Many of us try to make good use of our time. However, time can be squandered, or time can be used productively. So why not benefit from the proper use of our time?
Here are three simple things we can do to “redeem the time” are:
Time does fly. But, we can redeem it by taking the opportunity to use it wisely.
Remember, you can redeem time reading the WORD of God!
BIBLE READING
At Friendship, we encourage every member to read one of six Bible reading plans in the year. These plans include;
If you have not completed a reading plan, there is still time. To help you, we will load a 90-day plan to complete the Gospels in the Church App. Simply open the “Bible” tab from the bottom menu of the church app and select “plan.” Each day will include a reading of ONE chapter per day... just one chapter a day to complete the Gospels in 90 days!
If you would like to complete a different plan, I have attached some other 90-day plans HERE for you to download and follow. So let’s finish strong and read our Bible before the end of 2021.
Here are additional updates for you!
PRAYER POSSE MEETING
Attention all Prayer Posse Members, our new prayer leader, Sister Melanie Porter, is calling a meeting for us on Monday, October 18th at 6pm via Zoom. HERE is a link to the meeting. We know that the Deacons and Deaconness meet at 7pm, so we want to be brief, but we want to get us all on the same page with a change in leadership and the new year quickly approaching. Please join us! If you would like to become a member of the prayer ministry, we invite you to attend the meeting as well. You can also send an email to prayerministry@wearefriendship.church to directly to Sister Melanie at melanie@wearefriendship.church.
REMEMBERING OUR LOST LOVED ONES:
Don’t forget our 2021 Remembering Our Lost loved One’s Service takes place Tuesday, October 19th, at 7:30pm at Friendship in the Sanctuary. This event will be an in-person service. In addition, it will stream via our website, church app, and youtube page. This event honors those who we have lost and serves as an opportunity to remember the memorable moments of their lives and share the impact of those moments with other grieving people. Sister Vanessa Hunter will be our speaker, and we will have other impactful moments of remembrance.
VIRTUAL WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
Saturday, October 23rd, our Women’s Ministry will host their 2021 Women’s Conference Virtually via YouTube. The conference is from 9:00a-1p and will feature Pastor MarQuerita Story, Rev. Dr. Debra Haggins, and Sister Pat Ashley. Of course, Radiance will be in the house, and there will be many other exciting surprises. This Virtual Conference is a free event, but you must register. To register, please go HERE. Ladies, consider inviting your family and friends to be blessed by this event. I believe we can get 500 participants. What do you think?
WOMEN’S DAY
Also, Ladies, we hope that many of you will feel comfortable and join us Sunday, October 24th, in person for Women’s Day here at the Ship! Our speaker will be the Rev. Dr. MarQuerita Story for both services, and we will have SPECIAL Women’s Day Masks available for FREE for those who attend! Our Women’s Day theme is The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith. We hope to see you there!
SATURDAY SCIENCE FUN DAY
Our Academic & Career Enrichment Department is planning an exciting opportunity for fun and learning for children in 3rd grade and up at the upcoming Saturday Science Fun Day on Saturday, November 6. This Event is called “Speedometry.” We will use HotWheels cars and tracks to conduct experiments. So bring the kids out and join us. They will discover that they don’t have to be experts on complicated scientific concepts to do the most basic and most important steps of being a scientist: ask questions, observe, explore, and gather evidence. Please CLICK for more INFO & to REGISTER as soon as possible.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
OK, So I am making ONE more appeal! We really NEED VOLUNTEERS! I really need volunteers in our Media Ministry and our Audio Ministry. I need MEMBERS who are willing to serve at least one Sunday a month with either ministry. Media and Sound are critical to both our in-person worship and our online worship! We need individuals, and we need you! Would you prayerfully consider joining the team? If you want to volunteer, complete the CHANGEMAKER form by clicking HERE, and we will get you connected to the right ministry opportunity. We look forward to hearing from you!
2022 CHURCH CALENDAR
Attention ALL! Dates/events for the 2022 Church Calendar are due by Monday, November 15th. Please send your calendar additions to Leigha Carrington in Membership Services by then. Also, if you need a calendar guide, please get in touch with Leigha for that as well. You may reach her HERE.
FOURTH-QUARTER PUSH
As stated last week, we are in our FOURTH QUARTER PUSH! As Always, I thank you all for your generous financial support of Friendship. You are amazingly faithful and generous. The last quarter is generally our time to make about 35% of our yearly budget. So, as the year comes to an end, I want to encourage us to FINISH 2021 STRONG!
Please remain faithful to your church and continue your financial support. Your generous contributions have assisted us in maintaining a high level of ministry here at Friendship. To God be the Glory! Finishing strong will not only help us this year, but it will also position us greatly for next year as we anticipate greater in-person ministry opportunities!
We are constantly investing in the MINISTRY here at Friendship! Ultimately, because of you, we can help spread the word of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you again for your support.
General Church things to remember:
Well, that’s all I have this week!
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your pastor. Again, I am grateful to you!
Thank you for your prayers and support!
Continue to Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected God loves you, and so do I!
In His Service,
Rev. Kenneth C. Curry, Jr.
Your Pastor
Today is Friday, October 15th, and we are basically halfway through the month! Yes, time is slipping away from us. That is why I keep pushing us back to this topic of REDEEMING THE TIME!
Remember, Paul utilizes this phrase in Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5. Again, the word REDEEM in Greek means to “buy out of the marketplace.” As I told you last week, the picture is of a merchant who diligently seeks to buy up the best bargains in the marketplace, taking care not to miss the fleeting opportunities!
Other Bible translations render the phrase this way:
- The English Standard Version says, “making the best use of the time.”
- The Revised Standard Version states, “making the most of the time.”
- The Common English Bible says, “take advantage of every opportunity”
- The International Standard Version states, “making the best use of your time,” and
- The Contemporary English Version says, “make every minute count.”
When a second, a minute, or an hour passes, it is gone forever. It cannot be retrieved. Science fiction loves the idea of time travel, which is delightful to think about because we would all like to go back in time and change some things in our own lives. But we can’t do that! We can’t revive even a single solitary second that is already past.
Many of us try to make good use of our time. However, time can be squandered, or time can be used productively. So why not benefit from the proper use of our time?
Here are three simple things we can do to “redeem the time” are:
- Analyze where our time is being spent.
- Reduce or eliminate time not well spent!
- Redeem the time by wisely taking the opportunity to use the time you have to do the most beneficial things.
Time does fly. But, we can redeem it by taking the opportunity to use it wisely.
Remember, you can redeem time reading the WORD of God!
BIBLE READING
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)
If you have not completed a reading plan, there is still time. To help you, we will load a 90-day plan to complete the Gospels in the Church App. Simply open the “Bible” tab from the bottom menu of the church app and select “plan.” Each day will include a reading of ONE chapter per day... just one chapter a day to complete the Gospels in 90 days!
If you would like to complete a different plan, I have attached some other 90-day plans HERE for you to download and follow. So let’s finish strong and read our Bible before the end of 2021.
Here are additional updates for you!
PRAYER POSSE MEETING
Attention all Prayer Posse Members, our new prayer leader, Sister Melanie Porter, is calling a meeting for us on Monday, October 18th at 6pm via Zoom. HERE is a link to the meeting. We know that the Deacons and Deaconness meet at 7pm, so we want to be brief, but we want to get us all on the same page with a change in leadership and the new year quickly approaching. Please join us! If you would like to become a member of the prayer ministry, we invite you to attend the meeting as well. You can also send an email to prayerministry@wearefriendship.church to directly to Sister Melanie at melanie@wearefriendship.church.
REMEMBERING OUR LOST LOVED ONES:
Don’t forget our 2021 Remembering Our Lost loved One’s Service takes place Tuesday, October 19th, at 7:30pm at Friendship in the Sanctuary. This event will be an in-person service. In addition, it will stream via our website, church app, and youtube page. This event honors those who we have lost and serves as an opportunity to remember the memorable moments of their lives and share the impact of those moments with other grieving people. Sister Vanessa Hunter will be our speaker, and we will have other impactful moments of remembrance.
VIRTUAL WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
Saturday, October 23rd, our Women’s Ministry will host their 2021 Women’s Conference Virtually via YouTube. The conference is from 9:00a-1p and will feature Pastor MarQuerita Story, Rev. Dr. Debra Haggins, and Sister Pat Ashley. Of course, Radiance will be in the house, and there will be many other exciting surprises. This Virtual Conference is a free event, but you must register. To register, please go HERE. Ladies, consider inviting your family and friends to be blessed by this event. I believe we can get 500 participants. What do you think?
WOMEN’S DAY
Also, Ladies, we hope that many of you will feel comfortable and join us Sunday, October 24th, in person for Women’s Day here at the Ship! Our speaker will be the Rev. Dr. MarQuerita Story for both services, and we will have SPECIAL Women’s Day Masks available for FREE for those who attend! Our Women’s Day theme is The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith. We hope to see you there!
SATURDAY SCIENCE FUN DAY
Our Academic & Career Enrichment Department is planning an exciting opportunity for fun and learning for children in 3rd grade and up at the upcoming Saturday Science Fun Day on Saturday, November 6. This Event is called “Speedometry.” We will use HotWheels cars and tracks to conduct experiments. So bring the kids out and join us. They will discover that they don’t have to be experts on complicated scientific concepts to do the most basic and most important steps of being a scientist: ask questions, observe, explore, and gather evidence. Please CLICK for more INFO & to REGISTER as soon as possible.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
OK, So I am making ONE more appeal! We really NEED VOLUNTEERS! I really need volunteers in our Media Ministry and our Audio Ministry. I need MEMBERS who are willing to serve at least one Sunday a month with either ministry. Media and Sound are critical to both our in-person worship and our online worship! We need individuals, and we need you! Would you prayerfully consider joining the team? If you want to volunteer, complete the CHANGEMAKER form by clicking HERE, and we will get you connected to the right ministry opportunity. We look forward to hearing from you!
2022 CHURCH CALENDAR
Attention ALL! Dates/events for the 2022 Church Calendar are due by Monday, November 15th. Please send your calendar additions to Leigha Carrington in Membership Services by then. Also, if you need a calendar guide, please get in touch with Leigha for that as well. You may reach her HERE.
FOURTH-QUARTER PUSH
As stated last week, we are in our FOURTH QUARTER PUSH! As Always, I thank you all for your generous financial support of Friendship. You are amazingly faithful and generous. The last quarter is generally our time to make about 35% of our yearly budget. So, as the year comes to an end, I want to encourage us to FINISH 2021 STRONG!
Please remain faithful to your church and continue your financial support. Your generous contributions have assisted us in maintaining a high level of ministry here at Friendship. To God be the Glory! Finishing strong will not only help us this year, but it will also position us greatly for next year as we anticipate greater in-person ministry opportunities!
We are constantly investing in the MINISTRY here at Friendship! Ultimately, because of you, we can help spread the word of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you again for your support.
General Church things to remember:
- 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.
- EX HOUR: Virtual Ex-Hour meets weekly on Sundays via ZOOM. Join us for class at 10a 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: 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 via the Friendship Youtube Channel HERE.
- WEDNESDAY Prayer Day: Join us each Wednesday for Prayer. We pray at 6:30a, 12p, and 6:30p. 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 2:30p-4:30p.
- 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 applications for the COVID Membership Assistance Grant. 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!
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your pastor. Again, I am grateful to you!
Thank you for your prayers and support!
Continue to Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected God loves you, and so do I!
In His Service,
Rev. Kenneth C. Curry, Jr.
Your Pastor