Pastor's Blog

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Colossians 3:12-15 (NASB)

The church office will be open today from 8:00AM until 3:00PM.  It will remain open even during the lunch hour (noon until 1:00PM) when it is normally closed.  I am asking folks to not come by just to chat but I do encourage folks to feel free to stop by with their offering if they so desire.  You can bring a check or cash by the church office.  (By the way, the bigger your offering the more time we will give you to chat!  Just kidding!  LOL!)

Also, you may place a check made payable to Friendship Baptist Church in Lisa’s drop box or mail a check to P.O. Box 756 Grand Bay, AL 36541.  Obviously, you can give online 24/7 at friendshipfamily.net.  We will also have the auditorium open for prayer tomorrow from 10:00AM until 11:00AM and then again from 6:30PM until 7:30PM and, once again, the offering plates will be on the platform on either side of the pulpit to receive checks or cash.

We are going to have an online interactive Bible study tomorrow night beginning at 6:30PM.  We will be using Zoom and I will share the details of how to log on and join the meeting in tomorrow’s blog entry.  She does not know it yet but Deidra will be hosting the meeting and I will be teaching from our house.  (Bro. Jerry Hovel will be in the auditorium for those who would rather just go by and pray during that hour)  We can host up to one hundred devices using this means.

Our schedule for this Sunday, April 5, will be music & preaching live streamed at 8:00AM, Sunday School with Bro. Jerry at 9:00AM and Power Up at 9:30AM.  My hope is to have some folks being “testers’ this Sunday but I have to wait to see if we get the proper equipment in hand by this Friday.  A “tester” will actually come to our campus.

What are we going to do on Easter Sunday which is April 12?  As it stands right now, we plan to have a sunrise service beginning at 6:00AM, another service on our campus at 8:00AM and then the live stream at 10:30AM.  There will be no Sunday School lesson or Power Up on Easter Sunday.  Remember, this is a fluid situation and could change at any time based on several factors.

I did not realize that Jerry & Gloria Whitmore were a part of our live stream for the past two Sundays so we can add Virginia to the list of states represented.  The governor of Virginia just put a stay at home order in place effective until June 10 – wow!  I sure hope he is able to lift that order before that date.

Jay Oakwood sent me a text yesterday saying that he got a “no cancer” report from his latest test.  Praise the Lord!

Keep praying for Andy Hamil, Myrtle Bowden, Eddie Albritton, Sr and for the person having the scan this week.

My dad has been placed on a type of hospice care.  The focus now is on “quality” and not “quantity” of life.  I am not even sure what all of that means but I know that my mama and my siblings are making the very best decisions they can and they have my unwavering support.  I have not given input even though they have asked simply because I am not there day by day and they are so I do not feel I have the right to have a say so.

Our goal is to go paperless within our church office.  Bro. Jerry & Bro. Abel have begun the implementation of this process.  Our plan is to communicate with the Friendship family via text messages, e-mails, a phone tree and our website which includes the church calendar.  We need your help.  Would you send your name, your cell phone number if you receive text messages and a valid e-mail address to me at pastor@friendshipfamily.net?  This data will then be entered into our office computer and we will be on our way to being paperless.  Stop right now and do this while you are thinking about it even if you think we already have this information on you.  Obviously, we would like the cell phone and e-mail address of each member of your family who is involved in the Friendship family.  Please pass the word!

I pray that you will have a great Tuesday with the Lord.  We are seeing March 2020 end today and it will definitely be a March to remember!