Friends at FBCP,
Here are the updates and announcements you need for the week.
This Sunday we are worshipping in the sanctuary at 10:30AM, and this week we will partake in communion together. 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 and then will gather afterwards in the lobby. 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 is a new beginning or fresh start for which you are grateful?
Hearing Scripture in a new way: Pastor John Jay here. I want to share something fun, a little weird, and hopefully helpful. I am always looking for new ways to hear Scripture. Sometimes I will take the weekly text to an unexpected location to read it, like the top of a mountain hike or the roof of my house. Other times I will illuminate the words by hand as a way to slow down my own listening. Lately I have been putting all of my new music and sound skills to use in my weekly Scripture study. This week I am sharing my study track with you so you can hear what I am using to prepare for Sunday. This particular track is a combination of several interesting sound textures. The most obvious sound you hear is the reading from Matthew 3:1-12. This is both looping like a Lectio Divina reading and also sampled on top of itself like a glitchy artifact. If you listen with earphones (you really should), you will notice the spoken word audio keeps leaping toward you and falling away. Sometimes this emphasizes sections that will surprise you. Parts of it are hard to discern the specific words, as they crash together into a sonic jumble. This will force deep listening, which is kind of the point. The main musical melody is a short cello sample from last Sunday. I recorded the rehearsal on my field recorder and was able to create a melody sample from a few cello bars played by Nat.
This is my latest mad process for Scripture study. It makes use of the unique tools I have learned and the way I process ideas and content through the week. I encourage you to find your own practice around Bible reading and study. Too often we engage the Bible as a dry academic textbook. This is a tragedy. Give that much of the Bible is poetry, we would be better served reading it like a love letter or a songbook, not for how we can master its knowledge, but how we can be awakened by its call. Click here to listen to the track. Happy listening/reading.
This week we are asking you to bring canned soup or chili 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!
You’re invited to our Thursday noon Bible study! Join us each week on campus for a lively discussion about the upcoming Sunday teaching text. Email Pastor Chip for more details.
We are super excited to once again host a Women’s Brunch on Saturday, September 18th, at 10AM! Join us in the park for a delicious meal and the chance to get to know one another. We’ll also hear a personal story of faith from one of the women in our community. All women and girls are welcome, and feel free to bring a friend who could use an encouraging time of food and fellowship. Register here so we can prepare enough chairs and food.
You’re invited to attend the annual gathering for American Baptist Churches in our region! This year’s meeting takes place September 30-October 2 at Gardena Valley Baptist Church. You can also choose to attend virtually if you are not able to join in person. You can click here for the Annual Meeting Brochure, which has information about the sessions and speakers for each day. Click here to register online, or you can click here for the mail-in registration form. If you have questions or would like to attend as a delegate, please contact Pastor Lindsay. Let us know if you have any questions or need help registering.
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