Friends at FBCP,
Here are the updates and announcements you need for the week.
This Sunday
Join us for worship in the sanctuary at 10:30 am! Heating in the sanctuary is currently under repair so you’ll want to bring a warm coat and/or blanket this Sunday. Come early to hang out with folks in the lobby and prepare for worship. The nursery will be open as usual for our toddlers and babies. Our kids four years old and up can join us in the park, and youth are invited to join us for worship. Please note there is no youth gathering after service this Sunday. As a reminder, here are our community guidelines for being together in the sanctuary.
We’ll begin our service with an open time of sharing gratitudes, so we invite you to consider this prompt as we head into Sunday: What’s bringing you joy?
You can also prepare for worship by listening to this week’s scripture recording. You’ll hear a combination of sounds and scripture in this meditation on Matthew 2:1-12.
This year’s Advent devotional uses Mary Oliver’s poetry from her book Devotions. Feel free to pick up a printed copy at the Connections desk in the lobby or click here for a digital copy.
Click here to listen to FBCP’s The Advent Album. You can also pick up a CD copy on Sunday at the Connections desk in the lobby. Any and all proceeds will go directly to support our local partners, Friends In Deed.
Join Rene and John Jay from 9-10 am for our Advent Sunday School class that explores the season and all of its power and promise. The class meets in the parlor Sunday mornings during Advent until December 19th, and childcare will be available so parents can attend. The curriculum uses the exquisite poetry of Mary Oliver as a lens to focus our hearts uniquely on Advent themes and practices. Copies of the poems will be provided, and no experience or expertise is required! Click here if you still want to sign up.
This week we are asking you to bring canned chicken/tuna for the Friends In Deed Food Pantry if you are able. Right now this will help meet a major need in their supply. Thanks for contributing!
Gifts for the Friends In Deed Christmas for the Kids gift drive are due this Sunday, December 12th! All gifts need to be unwrapped and labeled with the child’s name and family number. You can drop the gifts off at the Connections Desk in the lobby. If you forgot your child’s name and/or family number, you can check the sign up sheet here.
Calling all bakers and/or cookie lovers…we need cookies for our Candlelight Carol Service cookie reception this Sunday! Whether you do the baking yourself or someone else does it for you, we’re asking, if possible, for you to bring 2-3 dozen cookies to share with family and friends. Cookies can be dropped off Sunday morning, December 12th, at the Connections Desk before morning worship service so we can prepare them later in the evening for the Carol Service.
Come and bring your friends this Sunday, December 12th, at 6 pm to join in our 78th Annual Candlelight Carol Service in the sanctuary! Help us celebrate the Christmas season as we sing together and are reminded of hope made real in the birth of Jesus. Childcare for toddlers and infants (4 years and under) will be provided, and there will be a cookie reception after the service.
Future Happenings & Other News
You’re invited to our Thursday noon Bible study! Join us on campus for a lively discussion about the upcoming Sunday teaching text. Please note that next week’s study on Thursday, December 16th, will be our last study for 2021. We will take a break for the rest of December and resume our noon study in the new year on Thursday, January 6th. Email Pastor Chip for more details.
Celebrate Christ’s birth at our Christmas Eve Communion Service on Friday evening, December 24th, at 6 pm in the chapel. We’ll be giving our childcare workers the night off to be with their families, but Pastor Mary will send out more information about the evening’s accommodations for our families with small children. Please note that we will not have any service on Christmas day itself, but will meet for our regular worship service the day after on Sunday, December 26th.
Planning on checking out the Rose Bowl Parade this year? We have up to ten free parking passes for our garage available for the Rose Bowl Parade. If you’d like one of the passes, please email our office for more details.
Grace and peace to you as we head into the weekend. We can’t wait to worship with you in our sanctuary on Sunday!
Less without you,
The FBCP Community
