Dear Church Family,
Happy New Year! 2024 gives us new opportunities to serve our Lord and to know Him even more closely. We discussed an End of the Year Journal on Sunday morning as well as a Bible reading plan for this year. Please find the link for those attached in this Lifeline. You can also find hard copies of these in the back of our worship center. I would encourage us all to read God’s Word every day and to learn from the lessons of this past year. This is a great week to set new priorities and to challenge yourself in a spiritual way.
Our young people are going to be busy in the next few weeks. The Chili Bowl is coming up on January 20. This is a great outreach and fellowship event for all students. You can go to the youth page on our website and sign up under the “Connect with Us” section. This is an 8-man football tournament. Students are encouraged to bring their friends and enjoy lunch and prizes to the winners. It’s a great day of outreach and fellowship.
The date for our Youth DNow is scheduled for February 9-11. This has proven to be a launching event for our students spiritually. Whatever level a student is at spiritually there’s always something to challenge them to go forward. You also can sign up for this on the youth webpage. Parents, please make sure your teenagers are involved in these two incredible youth events.
We have been talking about an entryway enhancement for at least a year. We have gone through every phase of the planning design, enlisting of a contractor, and communication with the church family. Thank you to Mike Weldon and our wonderful Entryway Enhancement Committee. They have done a great job! Now I want you to be praying because it looks as if we will break ground in the next month or two. Our contractor, Foresight Construction, is securing their hard bids and procuring materials that will enable them to work fast. They are saying that once they begin and acquire all materials, they believe they can do the entire job in about six months’ time period. This will be a blessing.
We need to pray that this our entryway enhancement will help us in reaching new people for Christ.Everything we do in our buildings and our programming is all to make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching God’s Word so that people will share Christ with those around them. This is our task: to make disciples.
Our college students are away this week at the Life Impact Conference. Each January they take time to retreat together, to challenge one another in principles of evangelism, prayer, and spiritual disciplines. There will be other churches and other students from the University of Florida that will be involved in this retreat. Please pray for God’s power to come upon this group.
We’ll be offering a class on multiplying disciples and reaching the nations called “Multiply” beginning January 21 at 5:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall. This is our second year of having this class. If you’re interested in being a multiplying disciple maker and want to see the gospel to the ends of the earth, this is a class for you. We will study topics such as the Great Commission found in the Old Testament, the New Testament, what is an unreached people group, the history of missions, and your place in God’s mission. I am thankful for brother Craig Olive who helps oversee this class along with many others who will be a part of it. Mark your calendar for January the 21st at 5:00 PM for “Multiply.”
We’re looking forward to the relaunching of our Men’s Breakfast for 2024 on the 27th of January.We meet from 8:00 to 9:00 and this includes a wonderful bacon and egg breakfast. Come to be encouraged and bring someone with you.
What a joy it is to serve Jesus Christ with this precious fellowship of believers we call North Central Baptist Church! May God’s richest blessings rest upon each and every one of you in 2024.
Love in Jesus,
Pastor Calvin