It’s week #9
First Sunday in March and the fifth Sunday of our new sermon series, The Seven Deadly Sins. Read to the end, or skip there if you want to see a snapshot of our upcoming events.
Sunday Worship
This first Sunday of the month is full of goodness. Communion, a family dedication, a teaching on gluttony, singing, high fives, prayer…all the stuff. Worship is at 10:30 am.
Lent
On Wednesday we gathered in the Chapel for our Ash Wednesday worship service. This service marks the beginning of the season of Lent in the church calendar. This 40 days is meant to focus our hearts on the work of the Cross and the shock of resurrection. Many of you will take up practices like fasting to better hone your attention. We have a booklet of activities and reflections to do with friends and family, and you can pick that up on Sunday. The last week of Lent is Holy Week, and we will be sharing a special immersive experience during the Thursday and Friday before Easter. More details next week so stay tuned.
FBCP Holy Land
Exciting news! We are in the very early stages of planning a 10-14 day trip to the Holy Land in 2022 for FBCP members and friends. Please email Holly Earle if you are interested in learning more about this excursion. We will be gathering in March to begin to iron out the details.
Becoming Benedictions
Expect to see more happening in this space about how we are trying to becoming blessings to the world for the sake of Heaven. A couple of weeks back we gathered a group of people to continue exploring the work of Becoming Benedictions. This last Tuesday Pastor Gretchen joined an interfaith group of folks to visit the Adelanto Detention Center (more precisely, this is a prison facility). Friends of ours in the area have been visiting people caught in our broken immigration system and looking for ways to partner with these men and women in scary and dangerous situations. We are exploring meaningful ways to get involved in this work.
You will also be seeing information about ways to help the upcoming national Census. We are partnering with LA Voice to help our church family get to 100% census participation within our congregation. Some of you might wonder why this work is crucial for churches like ours. Because the census data affects how resources are dispersed for things like affordable housing and public education, it is important that everyone is seen and accounted for. However, there are increased efforts to undermine the accuracy of the census, particularly for Immigrants and communities of color. At FBCP we believe in the foundational dignity of every person and encourage everyone to risk being seen and known in that dignity. We pray that each of you carries your sacred worth into the world with confidence. We will be providing education and guidance for the process. If you or someone you know is afraid of participating in the Census for whatever reason, find one of your pastors and let us help you with the process in a safe and secure way.
