Dear Church Family,
We have had our most fabulous summer in recent history. We’re so grateful and thankful for hundreds of young people and students that have gathered each Wednesday night. It has been a tremendous blessing to see all that God has done in our children, our youth, and our families this summer. August is going to launch us into a great fall!
We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper on August 10. We will also have Promotion Sunday where our children and youth promote to new classes. It is going to be a fun and wonderful day.
Wednesday, August 13 we will resume our Wednesday night activities. 4:00 PM is our Bible Study and Prayer Meeting. 5:00 is our Family Supper. And at 6:00, we will have Bounce Back to Awana. We’re looking forward to our greatest group of Awana participants that we’ve ever had. Please help us on our leadership team as God leads. We will need the best leaders ever ministering to our precious children and young people as we begin a new fall with them on August 13.
On Sunday, August 17, we’ll welcome back our college students for the fall semester! We will have a series of four special lunches beginning on that day to welcome them back on Sundays after our worship service. We’re so grateful and thankful for the outreach our church has had with college students over the years.
I would like for you to mark four other very special dates on your calendar. September 19 Andrew Peterson will be in concert. You can get your tickets on our website. Andrew Peterson is a very accomplished and award-winning composer, musician, and author. His music is wonderful and exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. I want every North Central Member to try to come on this special day, if at all possible. It’s going to be very, very special.
The next special date is October 17. Our Men’s Ministry will have a special Friday night event. We’ll be having a fish fry and welcome Mr. Tim Connor to be our speaker. Tim and his family were a part of our church when Tim was a youth. His mom and dad made a great impact here. Tim is a sportsman and outdoorsman. He will be talking about the influence of men in his life and how that we can encourage our men and boys to stand for Christ. You don’t want to miss this evening on October 17.
On October 28, Will Graham, the grandson of Dr. Billy Graham, will be preaching in Gainesville at Depot Park. This is an outreach event sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Our church is vitally involved in this. Church family, please mark your calendars and begin inviting people to be a part of this wonderful event. There will be great music and great preaching from Will Graham.
Don’t miss our 90th anniversary which we will celebrate on Sunday, November 16. That’s right, North Central Baptist Church celebrates 90 years of gospel ministry in Gainesville! We’re so grateful and thankful for the impact of our fellowship. On Sunday morning, the 16th, we will worship together and hear Dr. Stephen Rummage the Executive Director of our Florida Baptist State Convention. We will have lunch together and celebrate our own birthday as a church. What a blessing! 9 decades of ministry to Gainesville and the world!
We have loved our summer studying evangelism under the title You Can Be a Witness. It has been a joy to preach these messages. I’m excited about Kurt Shiver sharing this coming Sunday, August 3 as we continue to understand how we can cultivate the gospel in people’s lives. Don’t miss this Sunday and next as we wrap up this series. Beginning August 17, we will begin back in 2 Corinthians. This is a great book where we’ve entitled this series, God’s Grace of the Church. It’ll be a special fall!
It is a joy to serve as your Pastor. God’s hand is upon this precious fellowship of believers.
Love in Jesus,
Pastor Calvin