I can’t believe June is here already! The year is flying by! What a blessing! We just had the joy of baptizing eight new believers at our Beach Baptism. The Lord opened up the skies so that we could baptize, and then the rain came. This is always a wonderful highlight for our church.
We honor our graduating high school seniors this coming Sunday morning, June 1. We have had a senior recognition banquet at the church, and this Sunday is the day we recognize them in our morning worship. Be praying for these special seniors as we focus our attention upon their great accomplishment!
We have a wonderful summer program planned by Jenna Rich, our Children’s Director, and our wonderful children’s leadership. These are going to be some incredible events for our families on Wednesday nights. In addition, we will have our prayer meeting and Bible Study at 4:00, our family supper at 5:00 as usual. Don’t miss these wonderful Wednesday nights in the middle of the week during our summer time. It is going to be special!
Speaking of our children’s ministry, our Vacation Bible School is scheduled for June 30 through July 3. This year we are doing a four-day Vacation Bible School. Our leaders are excited, the material is fantastic, and our kids will have a blast! I think this will be the largest Vacation Bible School that we’ve had in many years.
We celebrate Father’s Day on June 15. Oh, how we thank God for godly Fathers who love their wives and love their children. I received a gift from my father-in-law years ago. It’s a little plaque on a piece of wood that says, “The best thing a father can do for his children is love their mother.” We thank God for the men of our church.
We will be baptizing on June 22 and we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper on June 29. These are the two ordinances of a New Testament church. Make your plans to be here on those special days and be prayed up as we participate in these two special services.
Andrew Peterson, the Dove award-winning musician/composer will be with us on Friday night, September 19 in our auditorium. Andrew Peterson is one of the most thoughtful and theologically solid musicians you will ever meet. His music is moving and powerful. This is a ticketed event, and I promise you it will be well worth the investment of your money and time. Go to our church website and get your tickets early. We are expecting it to be completely sold out because of his incredible abilities and popularity. I’m looking forward to this special event in our church.
November 16 is the date we have set aside to celebrate our 90th anniversary as a church. The precious fellowship of believers called North Central Baptist Church has ministered for nearly nine decades in the Gainesville area. Our ministry has stretched not only through Gainesville and Florida but literally to the ends of the earth as our church has been a sending church to the nations. How thankful we are! Even as I write this article there are members of our church that are serving the Lord overseas for the summer as well as others who are in career positions of ministry leadership in their mission fields.
On our 90th, Dr. Steven Rummage, the Executive Director Treasurer of our Florida Baptist State Convention, will be our special speaker. Dr. Rummage is a fabulous preacher and a wonderful leader of our Florida Baptist Convention. We will recognize and celebrate so many who have come before us as well as look to the future of how God will use this fellowship in an even greater way.
It is such a joy to be your Pastor. I look forward to seeing you every week as we open God’s Word together and worship our Lord Jesus Christ.
Love in Jesus,
Pastor Calvin