We’re so thankful for a wonderful start the Lord has given us to a new school year. As we minister to new families and new students, we are so thankful for the blessings of God. I am excited about our new Bible Study in Titus. We are entitling it Stay the Course. Make sure and participate and read through the book of Titus as we study it together.
The Men’s Fish Fry is a tremendous outreach event for men in our community. Every man in our church should make it their effort to get another man to come. Justin Thomas, who directs our Men’s Ministry, has put together a quality invitation card that you can give out. Make sure and use these to invite your friends. The Fish Fry will take place at 6:30 PM on Friday night, October 16. Billy Young, the pastor at Hopeful Baptist Church in Lake City, FL, will be our speaker. Billy is a personal friend of our church and is a UF grad. He was a backup quarterback during the Danny Wuerffel years. He will share a great testimony that night to our men.
On Thursday, October 1, our church is hosting the annual Sira Fundraising Banquet. Our church has a long history of supporting the mission of Sira in our community. Years and years ago when this ministry began, North Central made it a priority to be supportive. We’re so thankful for the work that they do, and we are grateful that we can be a part of it. Many of our people volunteer, and I encourage you to be a part of this effort in our community.
We kick off Operation Christmas Child in the month of October so that we can collect the shoe boxes in November to be distributed at Christmas time around the world. This is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse and is an effort to get the gospel and the joy of Christmas into the hearts of children all around the world. Let’s set a new record this year with each family participating!
I’m so thankful for our College Ministry and how we have responded to the influx of new students. We are reaching international students; we are reaching new freshmen. Several of these have already joined and united with our church. We’re so grateful for them. And we’re thankful for Craig Olive, who is overseeing our College Ministry in these days. Pray for Craig and the wonderful team that is in place reaching out to college students at Santa Fe and at the University of Florida.
Our Wednesday nights are amazing here at the church! We have an exciting Prayer Meeting and Bible Study at 4:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall. We sing the great hymns of the faith, we study God’s Word (Currently we are studying The Miracles of Jesus), and we have prayer over the great needs of our fellowship. This is such an important time. At 5:00 PM we have our Wednesday Night Supper. This enables a family to come directly from work or to swing by the house and get the kids and come to the church for supper. We provide a wonderful meal for a price that you cannot find anywhere else. Following our Family Supper, our Youth and the Awana program meet for their special times. All of our leaders are doing a great job. We’re so thankful for Micaiah Olive, our interim Youth Director, and for Jenna Rich, our Children and Preschool Director, who helps oversee our Wednesday activities along with the help of our Preschool Director, Lee Anne Privette and Awana Commander, Brother Michael Tickel. All of these folks and their wonderful leaders give sacrificially of their time to minister to our children and our youth. We’re so grateful for them.
On Wednesday night, October 21, we will be doing Evangelism Training in the Fellowship Hall. It is our goal that every person in our church goes through at least one Evangelism Training each year. This is a one-hour class that will help equip you in sharing your faith. Every year is new information, new training, and I hope and pray that you will be a part of it. Come eat supper at 5:00 that night and meet at 6:15 in the Fellowship Hall for Evangelism Training.
We are having a Fall Family Festival on Sunday, November 1 following the morning service. You will be hearing more about this in the days to come. This will be a carnival type event where the whole family is invited to participate. Mark on your calendars to stay after church on this day. Bring a family with you to church that morning to stay and have fun with the kids that afternoon. It’s going to be a great, great day, and I wanted you to mark your calendars for it.
Please pray for our Future Plans/Vision Committee that is praying about the space issues that we have. Our church is growing! We’re so grateful for that. And because of that, we have run out of space on Wednesday nights and on Sunday mornings for Bible study. We’re almost out of space in the auditorium too! We are looking at ways to add more to our worship service and to add more options for Bible Study as well. Please be praying for Geoffrey Patterson, our Committee Chairman, and all the folks that are on that committee.
It is a joy to be your pastor! I am so grateful for this precious fellowship that has meant so much to me and Kelly personally throughout the years. You are the very best of the best. We love you!
Pastor Calvin