News
January 26th update from Bobby Kirkpatrick
Good morning, Friends! One of the devotional passages I’ve been dwelling on lately has been Matthew 20:20-28. In this passage, the mother of James and John comes to Jesus while he is travelling through Jericho toward Jerusalem, where he will eventually be put to death. He actually predicts this, in the passage right before this one. Likely getting a sense that something is about to happen, and full of faith in Jesus and care for her sons, their mother approaches…
Color of Compromise Study begins on February 14
Beginning on Sunday, February 14th, we will be offering another session of The Color of Compromise. This video study, based on the book by Jemar Tisby, explores the history of the American church’s role in the oppression of Black people and ends by calling us to anti-racist work. For this session we will meet by Zoom only, with 8 weekly sessions led by Brian Coughlin, Patti Velky, Peter Van Nifterik and David Bridges. Each week, the class will view a video and then discuss the video’s…
December 29th update from David Bridges
Greetings in Christ’s name! The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told. – Luke 2.20 I’ve sometimes wondered what it was like for the shepherds to return home after they’d heard the angels sing and seen Jesus in the manger. It seems likely that they would have had difficulty returning to the same old patterns, schedules, and discussions in which they had participated before they’d…
Family Promise Hosting January 10-17
Volunteers are needed for our next hosting week for the Family Promise ministry, from January 10th-17th. Since some of our regular volunteers are at higher risk for COVID, we hope that some of you who are lower risk will consider taking part in this important ministry. Here are some of the ways that you could help: Working with others to set up Friends Center before our guests arrive, helping to provide one of the evening meals or Saturday breakfast, spending…
December 22 update from David Bridges
“Happy is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises he made to her.” According to Luke’s gospel, those are the words Elizabeth spoke to Mary, the mother of Jesus. And in many ways, trusting what the Lord has promised is the very foundation of our faith. But it’s not always easy. In fact, at times it is quite difficult to believe the promise that God is with us, for us, and within us. It’s not always easy…
December 15 update from David Bridges
Greetings in Christ’s name! Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” –Luke 2:13-14 Luke’s story about the birth of Jesus contains a few digs at Caesar and Rome. One of these can be found in the verses above. The word Luke uses to describe the group that comes alongside the angel is the Greek word for “army.” But in contrast to what Caesar’s armies…
Silent auction for missions – mesquite bench crafted by Roy Skeeter
This beautiful mesquite bench was handcrafted by Roy Skeeter, and is being auctioned off to benefit our missions fund. You can place a bid online from now through Sunday, December 20th at 1 pm. This is a great opportunity to get something beautiful for your own home or as a gift to a loved one while also blessing a great cause. If you would like to see the bench before bidding, you can stop by the Coffee Cafe following our…
December 8th update from Bobby Kirkpatrick
Dear Friends, As Daniel De La Cerda shared his Advent testimony on Sunday morning, I was reminded of how good it is to hear from one another and to get to know one another more. Sharing stories about God’s advent into our lives—especially His incarnation in Jesus—is my favorite Christmas tradition that we continue to hold at the Friends Church here in Friendswood. It’s important to me to get to hear from one another and know each other more deeply,…
December 1st update from David Bridges
Greetings in Christ’s name! I grew up thinking that when Jesus returned, he was going to take all his faithful ones off to heaven and leave all the unfaithful ones here on earth to suffer some kind of doom. But throughout my adolescence, I didn’t want Jesus to return because I wanted to get married and have a family before that happened—after all, Jesus had once said that at the resurrection people wouldn’t be getting married. I wasn’t astute enough…
November 24th update from David Bridges
Greetings in Christ’s name! 1st Chronicles 16:8 implores us to “Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name make known his deeds upon the peoples.” Some of you have heard that on Sunday evening I was hospitalized with Covid-like symptoms. The good news is that I am negative for Covid, but we are still unsure what was causing my illness. I believe I’ll be discharged this morning and look forward to returning home. Thank you for your prayers. In…