Sunday Special | EP 14
Good morning, Friends!
The liturgy this morning is all about joy and gratitude, and we have a special video exploring those, too. Best of all, we had a bunch of special guests join us, which only increased our joy!
After you watch the video, you and your family members can use the following discussion prompts and activities to apply the lesson.
Talk It Out
Recap: What is the connection between joy and gratitude?
Check In With Yourself: How much joy have you been experiencing lately?
Wonder: What are you wondering right now as you think about joy even when we are facing hard circumstances?
Apply It
Rock out to this song which is all about choosing joy. It's one of Cynthia's and Mary's favorite songs! (Dancing is totally allowed.)
Post a list where everyone can write or draw the things that bring them joy and a sense of deep gratitude. Consider adding to it at the same time each day or also using a journal to write a bit more about what you are grateful for. We promise this is not just a silly practice; it's a powerful one that God calls us to do!
Share some joy with those who don't have a home right now by making a card and dropping it off at FBCP! In the coming weeks, The Giving Spirit is committed to serving 10,000 homeless lives by building and delivering new Health and Safety Kits to help protect 10,000 of our most vulnerable neighbors during this dangerous time. And just as with their traditional Survival Kits, each Health and Safety Kit will include a homemade “Friendship Card” – it’s often the first item that the recipients pull from the bag because it tells them just how much we care and gives them hope that they are not forgotten! This is where you come in. We would love your compassion and creativity to help create these cards and make sure they get to those in need. It’s totally safe and easier than you might think. Here's a video and here are some written instructions.
We are praying for you! Please remember to email/call/text with any prayer requests you have.
Much love,
Pastors Lindsay and Mary
Leslie
FBCP Families | Weekday Wonders 13
Hi, Friends!
I pray you feel connected to your church and loved on this Friday! Mary and I continue to think about you and our FBCP family everyday, and we are here to talk and pray with you anytime you need it. We know that summer is here, it's hot, and most of the typical kid-friendly options are not available. We have some plans in the works that we will share next week regarding some kid "camp" options in July. Stay tuned!
I know many of you have been asking good questions and doing some reading and processing about racial justice. If you are interested in being part of a group to do some learning with other folks, click the button below and we will keep you updated on opportunities to engage with each other. You could also check out this page to get a free ebook from a large list of titles—but the offer ends today!
Weekday Wonders
Today's Weekday Wonders are a little different. Because this Sunday's liturgy is going to focus on joy and gratitude, today we want to share some related resources.
Dan's Gratitude Exercise
Our own Dan Linscott shared a really helpful and practical exercise on gratitude and a little background on why gratitude has been proven to be such a healthy practice for us. If you missed that daily encouragement (or even if you heard it!), then check it out and try it this week!
Some More Gratitude Practices For Kids
This article has some more practical tips for cultivating gratitude in families. Some of them don't take long at all; others could become a regular habit at the dinner table.
Space for Songs and Silliness
It's been a long and tough season—no doubt about it. But joy is something God invites us into even in the midst of suffering. Simple things like singing, dancing, or allowing ourselves to be silly can help foster joy and connection. Get creative, even if it's just a five minute dance party break for the house or making up silly lyrics to a song the family loves. If you want more help, then this ridiculous blog post has tons of ideas. We'd love to know how you are finding moments of joy with your families!
An Opportunity to Spread Joy (and stop by FBCP!)
Here's an opportunity we have to partner with The Giving Spirit! We have a yellow box set up right outside of First Baptist Church Pasadena for you to drop off a card. Read on for the details!
In the coming weeks, The Giving Spirit is committed to serving 10,000 homeless lives by building and delivering new Health and Safety Kits to help protect 10,000 of our most vulnerable neighbors during this dangerous time. And just as with their traditional Survival Kits, each Health and Safety Kit will include a homemade “Friendship Card” – it’s often the first item that the recipients pull from the bag because it tells them just how much we care and gives them hope that they are not forgotten! This is where you come in. We would love your compassion and creativity to help create these cards and make sure they get to those in need. It’s totally safe and easier than you might think. Here's a video and here are some written instructions.
Sunday Specials
Sunday Video
In addition to our regular video (which featured our very own Engry!), last week we had fun sending some individual videos to our kids, too! This Sunday Pastor Mary and I will be hosting some guests on our church video, and we are going to be focusing on—yep—joy and gratitude!
Youth Hangout!
We are on for our regular noon call this Sunday, and here is the meeting link that you can use each week to hop on the hangout. This week we are also going to send food (because food brings us so much joy!), so you can respond with the button below to place your youth’s order. We love our youth!
Sending you so much love and virtual hugs!
With gratitude for you,
Pastor Lindsay & Pastor Mary
Phenomenal Friday #24
Welcome to this week’s Phenomenal Friday post! Today we are sharing some of our favorite things: books and a song. Much love from your FBCP community.
Books to Bless You
a song to bless you
This Week’s Posts
Featured
Regina, Victoria, and Zach
Share the love
When Pastor Mary and I delivered Pentecost Party Packs to some of our FBCP kids, Regina wanted us to pass on a video message to her friend Victoria, which we were thrilled to do. Below you will find the video exchange between these two precious members of our church family. They are simple words but full of all the love and care and friendship that we are called to share with one another. Today I invite you to follow the example of these young friends and send a message of love to someone you miss in our church family.
-Pastor Lindsay
An Invitation from Zach
Playlist for a Crisis
Some of you may not know that we have a list of songs from our liturgies that you can play in your home or wherever you have access to the internet. So, today we want to share that playlist with you. Music is an important companion for us in this season, and we hope that as you listen to the voices of your church family, you are reminded that you are not alone.
Lindsay
John Jay and Gretchen
Sunday Special | EP 13
Good morning, Friends
The liturgy this morning celebrates Trinity Sunday, but we decided to take a different focus in our lesson with the kids. You can find the Bible lesson in Acts 2:42 and 4:32-35. It's all about sharing in love and being the body of Christ, so it felt like a timely message! We also have a special guest on our video, and we hope that seeing her face will bring you some joy.
After you watch the video, you and your family members can use the following discussion prompts and activities to apply the lesson.
Talk It Out
Recap: What were the followers of Jesus all doing?
Check In With Yourself: How does it feel to share with other people?
Wonder: What are you wondering right now as you think about how to share with people during these unusual circumstances of being at home so much?
Apply It
Here are two ways you can share love and encouragement with people in our community and city by making cards!
Share some love with those who don't have a home right now by making a card and dropping it off at FBCP! In the coming weeks, The Giving Spirit is committed to serving 10,000 homeless lives by building and delivering new Health and Safety Kits to help protect 10,000 of our most vulnerable neighbors during this dangerous time. And just as with their traditional Survival Kits, each Health and Safety Kit will include a homemade “Friendship Card” – it’s often the first item that the recipients pull from the bag because it tells them just how much we care and gives them hope that they are not forgotten! This is where you come in. We would love your compassion and creativity to help create these cards and make sure they get to those in need. It’s totally safe and easier than you might think. Here's a video and here are some written instructions.
Right now there are still lots of healthcare workers who are on the front lines of caring for our sick community during this COVID-19 crisis. In an effort to support the heroes at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center (where a friend of Pastor Lindsay works as a chaplain), we are collecting digital notes of encouragement to display on the TVs around the hospital. If you would like to send a note of encouragement to the many healthcare workers, please follow these guidelines: Use only one side of the paper and write a short note or draw a picture thanking our healthcare workers. You could also consider adding your age. Due to fire safety laws, your notes of encouragement will be displayed digitally. You can create a digital photograph using a program like Photoshop or take a photo of your letter/note/picture. Please send your note to Pastor Lindsay over email.. The next deadlines are every Friday in June: Friday June 12, Friday June 19, and Friday June 26.
Write a card to someone in our church who needs some extra love. Just email Pastor Mary, and she will get you all the information!
We are praying for you! Please remember to email/call/text with any prayer requests you have.
Much love,
Pastors Lindsay and Mary
Leslie
Phenomenal Friday #23
mixtape of this week’s posts
FBCP Families | Weekday Wonders 12
Hi, Friends!
I’m sending you so much love and gratitude today. I’m honored to call you our church family and to be connected to you even though we are physically apart. Your children in particular are such precious gifts to our church, and we are praying for them and the future we are called to create for them. (And if you missed the behind-the-scenes photos of the Pentecost delivery, you can see some here!)
I imagine that you, too, may be receiving and finding a lot of excellent resources out there regarding anti racism and, in particular, the need to educate our children on issues of injustice. This email will share some I have found most helpful. If you have a resource you want to share, please send it on over!
Resource Hub for Parents
This resource hub (created by the baby food company Yumi) has books for kids by age, podcasts to listen to, videos to watch, and social media accounts to follow regarding how to teach kids about racism.
National Geographic's Article
This is another article about talking to kids about race. It has good tips and resources to facilitate conversations about race with young people.
And here are some weekday wonders we are excited to share!
New Wonders
An Opportunity to Spread Love (and Stop by FBCP!)
Here's an opportunity we have to partner with The Giving Spirit! We have a yellow box set up right outside of First Baptist Church Pasadena for you to drop off a card. Read on for details!
In the coming weeks, The Giving Spirit is committed to serving 10,000 homeless lives by building and delivering new Health and Safety Kits to help protect 10,000 of our most vulnerable neighbors during this dangerous time. And just as with their traditional Survival Kits, each Health and Safety Kit will include a homemade “Friendship Card” – it’s often the first item that the recipients pull from the bag because it tells them just how much we care and gives them hope that they are not forgotten! This is where you come in. We would love your compassion and creativity to help create these cards and make sure they get to those in need. It’s totally safe and easier than you might think. Here's a video on how to make one and here are some written instructions.
Highlights @Home Kindness Ideas
Carolyn, one of our longtime church members, shared this resource that is full of meaningful ways your kids can practice kindness at home. Let us know if you find ways to be nice and kind!
Sunday Specials
All-Church Zoom
This Sunday at 7pm, you are invited to gather on Zoom. Pastor John Jay will be available to hear your questions and concerns and to make space for us to share what we are feeling in this moment. The other pastoral staff will be there, too. The goal of this time is to ground ourselves in community and to open the dialogue in our church family in the midst of our pain and in our calling to be people who manifest God's Kingdom. We know we can't possibly answer or hold all the questions and thoughts of our community in one hour, so consider this is the beginning of an ongoing dialogue that we will continue to make space for in whatever means are available. Those who want to join can keep an eye out for a Zoom link we will send to everyone Sunday afternoon. Mary and I are also planning a time for parents to connect next week over zoom, so stay tuned for details.
Sunday Video
This week’s video may be short because we are working on some other ways to share love with our kids on Sunday. So, kids, there might be something in your parent’s email or text messages for you to see this week or next—make sure you ask them to keep an eye out!
Youth Hangout!
Thank you to our youth who were willing to engage in really meaningful conversation last week regarding their own feelings and thoughts about everything going on. We are on for our regular noon call this Sunday, and here is the meeting link that you can use to hop on the hangout. We are working out the details for future in-person gatherings for youth (with safe protocols), so stay tuned for that.
Sending you so much love and virtual hugs!
With gratitude for you,
Pastor Lindsay & Pastor Mary
Mary
pentecost delivery dream team:
tariq | kathy | rene | rebekah | chrissy | chip | tasha | john | mady | bri
pentecost, one more time
Today I want to ask you to revisit the Sunday liturgy. The last week has been a lot to take in. It has been for me. I have felt full and joyful watching Barbara and other church friends leading a powerful prayer and protest gathering. I felt pain and indictment at the outpouring of grief from our black brothers and sisters. I have felt my sinfulness, and I have felt our promise. So when I was having a hard time setting down these burdens to rest, I slowed down and listened to our voices in the liturgy. I was again feeling grateful for our staff and their generosity. I needed Pastor Lindsay’s expansive imagination and David’s gentle soundscape. I was reminded of how Corrie’s voice carries her honesty and kindness. I heard the members of our scattered choir as one voice, one body singing. Angel thanked my wife and kids for their labors, which takes someone with keen attention to notice and acknowledge. I needed to hear Lisa invite me to see creation again in all its beauty. Atherton and Ruth’s neighbors still need prayer for safety, so I stopped to do that. Scripture read in the fullness of our diverse languages—how great a blessing is this! Pastor Gretchen teaching me, and her final words were like water. Our friend John whose arrangement of Holy Spirit, that felt like praise and prayer all at once. Paul’s hymn reminded me of how the precious few minutes we spoke each Sunday always lifted my spirits. Warren basically says in the credits what I am trying to say here, only better. So go listen again, or for the first time. You need it. I know I did.
Less without you,
Pastor John Jay
P.S. In our Sunday morning scramble, we missed an important element. We need your help blessing Temna.
SHARE A BLESSING WITH TEMNA
Use the form below and we will send your notes his way. And thank you for blessing our friend Temna.
John Jay
Barbara and John Jay
Sunday Special | EP 12
Dearest Friends,
Today is Pentecost, when we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. Normally this is a day of celebration—like a birthday party. Today, celebration doesn't really feel right. There is much to grieve and bear and cry out together. There is also much work to be done in the church. In a way, then, Pentecost comes at a fitting time—a reminder that we are called to live by the power of the Holy Spirit, not in our own strength, and that we are called to love all people. We are praying for the pain and suffering, and we pray for our children and youth who deserve a Kingdom vision for the world.
Today’s video is meant to be one of hope for our young church family members. It also has some special guests whom we were honored to have join us! We send you love and are with you in these moments. And, of course, we pray for a fresh dose of the Spirit.
After you watch the video, you and your family members can use the following discussion prompts and activities to apply the lesson.
Talk It Out
Recap: What was the gift given to all of the followers of Jesus?
Check In With Yourself: How does it feel to know that we can have the Holy Spirit to help us, too?
Wonder: What are you wondering right now as you think about the first Pentecost?
Apply It
To remember the Holy Spirit, you could cut out this flame dove and color it with reds and yellows or any color you want.
Make a wind twirl to remember how the Spirit came like a wind. Cut a piece of paper or craft foam in a circle then cut around in a spiral until you get to the middle of the circle. Decorate the spiral with anything you like. Then hang it up with a piece of yarn, and as it twirls in the wind, it will remind you that the Holy Spirit is present even though we can't see it.
Try learning how to say "I love you" or "hello" in another language! There are lots of resources online, or better yet, you could ask a friend who speaks another language. Then thank God that we have so many different languages and cultures in our world!
We are praying for you! Please remember to email/call/text with any prayer requests you have.
Much love,
Pastors Lindsay and Mary
A Call to Action
details of this event are still unfolding.
TEXT the word “PROTEST” TO 626-727-9498 TO RECEIVE UPDATES AND JOIN.
CANDLELIGHT PROTEST REMEMBERING GEORGE FLOYD and racial injustice
SUNDAY, MAY 31st @ 7PM
PASADENA CITY HALL (Meet near the Mack and Jackie Robinson statue)
Parking with validation is available at the Holly Street Parking Garage located directly behind FBCP. For families with young children, please see information at the end of this post.
As followers of Christ, we believe that we are all created in the image of God and worthy of love and dignity. We also believe we are all connected as the body of Christ. When one part of the body is in pain or is being abused, therefore, the entire body feels the injustice.
Across our nation many people are in pain for the unconscionable killing of George Floyd and so many others. We are in pain, too. Our leadership, in partnership with other local churches, has decided to take action to stand up against the injustice and racial violence that continues to be deeply entrenched in our country.
We invite you to join us Sunday evening for a night of nonviolent action at Pasadena City Hall. We will be wearing masks and observing physical distancing because this action is about the protection of life as sacred. We invite you to bring a candle (real or electric) to light.
Part of this action will be eight minutes of sustained noise to represent the eight minutes officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on George Floyd's neck, lynching him while his cries were ignored. Please bring something (bells, noisemakers, pots to bang, your voice to wail) to fill the air with sound during that time.
Will you join us and be counted as one who stood in nonviolent action against the brutality that continues to take the lives of our brothers and sisters of color and bind us to systems that are inherently racist and unjust? We believe this is our calling as people of God and followers of Christ. We hope you will join with us and say no more.
-Barbara Walker, FBCP Board Moderator
This event is now closed to youth and children because we would not be able to guarantee their safety in such a large crowd.
This event is sponsored by First Baptist Church of Pasadena, All Saints Church, Community Bible Church of Pasadena, Fellowship Church, First AME Church, First Congregational Church, First United Methodist Church of Pasadena, Lake Avenue Church, Knox, Missio Church, Missiongathering, Neighborhood Church, Pasadena Church, First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena, Pasadena Covenant Church, Pasadena Foursquare Church, Pasadena Mennonite Church, Rose City Church, Throop Unitarian Universalist Church, Unite Church, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Greater Pasadena, the Clergy Community Coalition, and LA Voice.