Chico First Baptist Church

Sunday, March 17

Isaiah 43:18-19
Mark 2:1-12

For this Sunday’s worship, we return to Mark’s gospel to find Jesus in the midst of teaching when an important disruption breaks open the church by four compassionate souls who call upon Jesus to heal their friend. We remind ourselves of the difference between “doing church” and “being church.”

Scripture reading, March 3, 2024
Hebrew Reading - Exodus 20:1-8
Gospel Reading - John 2:13-22

For this third Sunday in Lent, March 3, we open the book of Exodus to look at the first four of ten commandments together with the gospel of John’s witness on Jesus overturning tables in the temple. We will also have Communion.

This week I learned a lesson about white privilege. I posted a sign that read: All Lives Matter, Love One Another. I heard from a couple of neighbors who shared, “yes, in the eyes of God and from the perspective of source energy, all lives do matter. However, to use this specific term at this specific time glosses over the extreme inequality and injustices that are unintentionally and, unfortunately, intentionally happening to one specific type of people, Black people. Hence the term “Black Lives Matter.” All lives do not matter in this country, until Black lives matter.”

Another shared an article written by Director John Powell, entitled, “When we fully claim Black Lives Matter, then we move closer to All Lives Matter.”

https://belonging.berkeley.edu/when-we-fully-claim-black-lives-matter-we-move-closer-all-lives-matter

Please forgive me. Hearing a quote from Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel who wrote, “Wherever people are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.”

It’s time for me to do the hard work of examining my whiteness. It’s time I choose to focus on the injustice and inequality that people of color endure and my complicit part in it. It’s time I close my mouth and listen to others. And pray. And do what Jesus asked me to do, so I can lovingly serve others.

As a member of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, (BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz) we are posting anti-racist resources here to continue to help us live into God’s invitation to “Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

https://www.bpfna.org/antiracism-contaelracismo?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Anti-racism%20resources&utm_campaign=The%20Right%20Time

Thank you again neighbors. Ever learning,
Gail Hill

One of our church family members, Cindy, recently got a chance to share her feelings about not being able to see her husband Ed during this time on Action News Now. Take a look at her interview below!

'Cynthia Robinson knows the feeling all too well. Her husband, Ed, is also in facility care. A husband, father and retired CHP officer, he suffers from Dementia. The daily visits by Robinson to spend time with her husband, have stopped.
“You feel guilty, because they’re there and you’re home and you can’t get there, and the only way you can talk to them is by phone or Skype with them,” explains Robinson.
Robinson says now, not only does she worry about the daily care and well-being of her husband but she also now has a more emotional fear.
“They have memory problems and you don’t want them to forget who you are by not seeing you on a daily basis,” says Robinson. “I’m afraid he’s going to lose more of his memory and forget who I am.”

Full video: Senior Isolation During Coronavirus Emotionally Impacts Families (Time 0:36-1:10) https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/news/Senior-isolation-during-coronavirus-emotionally-impacts-families-569507921.html

Thank you for sharing Cindy. We are praying for you and your family during this challenging time.