Dear Church Family,
We have just experienced one of our most glorious Easter weekends ever! Every Sunday to the believer is Easter Sunday – it’s resurrection Sunday! But the actual Easter Sunday is always very special. To have people stir the waters of baptism was such a blessing. To have people make decisions for Christ in our service was a blessing. This year we did a Good Friday service which was new to us. What a blessing that was as well! I would like to thank our worship and media team for all their help with the Easter weekend events. We have the best team of staff and volunteers ever! The music was Christ-centered and the videos that we watched were amazing. To hear John 3:16 read in 16 different languages was incredible! It moved my heart. Let me encourage all of our North Central family to continue inviting and bringing friends with you for special events in the month of April. We call these C4 events: Connecting our Community to Christ and His Church. We have the following special services and outreach events planned for April:
April 7 is our One Week Later service. During the service we attempt to answer the question, “Based upon the resurrection, how are we now to live?” Don’t miss the scripture reading, music, and testimonies. All that will be a part of this Sunday service. We will also participate in the Lord’s Supper as well.
April 14 we’re having a big breakfast fellowship for adults at 9:30 in the main auditorium. This will be for college age and up. There will be special snacks and refreshments for our preschool, children, and youth departments as well. If you are just a Sunday morning worship attender, come early and be a part of this breakfast! We are asking our people to bring their favorite specialty breakfast foods to share with the whole adult group. Hot coffee and all these delicious dishes will make our fellowship very special that morning!
April 21 is Orange Bucket Sunday. This past week we gave out over a hundred orange buckets to be filled with non-perishable items that will ultimately go to the Food4Kids organization who will then distribute to our Alachua County Public School children in need. This is a highlight opportunity for us to make a difference in our community. The weekend of April 28 we have some special events planned under the banner “Love Loud.” This is a weekend where we desire our church to love our community in a loud way. Some of the events include:
- First Responders. We will be taking a meal to our first responders at the Fort Clarke Boulevard fire station on Sunday afternoon.
- Santa Fe Oaks Block Party. Sign up to minister to children and enjoy hot dogs and refreshments as we reach out to families in that community.
- One More Child Single Parent Home Landscaping. We have worked for several years on this property and will return again on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. to work to beautify this special property where single moms are encouraged and ministered to.
- Missionary Letters. Come and be a part of a team of people who will write personal notes of encouragement to our North Central members who serve the Lord in other places.
There may be other Love Loud opportunities to come, but these are the ones we have for sure.
Our Men’s Breakfast will meet on Saturday morning, April 27 from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. If you’re working on the single parent home with our Love Loud group, you can come to the breakfast and then meet them at 9:30. This breakfast has been very special for our men. We look forward to it.
What a joy it is to see God moving in the life of our church! Our entryway expansion continues to become more and more visible. The construction is exciting! We can’t wait to fellowship in there together and to have the restroom facilities that we need for our expanding congregation. These are great days. God is moving amongst our preschool, children, youth, college students, and adult ministries. This is what happens when we focus on the word of God and reaching others. Let’s continue to reach out to everyone in our sphere of influence who needs the Lord.
Love in Jesus,
Pastor Calvin