Church Workday

There will be a church workday this Saturday - October 1 beginning at 8:00 AM.  This will be a time to prepare the church facilities for our 165th Homecoming which will be October 9.

All are welcome to join the workday, there will be something for everyone to do!

Ladies Retreat

The ladies of Suwannee Sation Baptist have invited our ladies to join them for a Ladies Retreat on September 30 beginning at 6:00 PM.  

There will be worship and special speakers and some wonderful fellowship. All ladies are welcome!

See You At the Pole

See You at the Pole™, the global day of student prayer, began in 1990 as a grass roots movement with ten students praying at their school. Twenty years later, millions pray on their campuses on the fourth Wednesday in September. 

See You at the Pole™ is simply a prayer rally where students meet at the school flagpole before school to lift up their friends, families, teachers, school, and nation to God. See You at the Pole™ is a student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led event.

SEE YOU AT THE POLE day is on Wednesday, September 28, at 7:00 a.m. local time. All around the globe, in every time zone, students will be gathering at their flagpoles, praying for their school, friends, families, churches, and communities.  Our local schools have great support for this event. Please be encouraged to bring your child to school early that day or be in prayer for our students as they stand for Christ. 

Ladies Fellowship

Our ladies fellowship will be Thursday night, but there will be a change in location.

The meeting will begin at 5:30 PM, but will be at Ellen R.'s home.  Please contact the church office if you need directions.

All ladies are welcome, please bring a finger food or dessert to share.

Family Ministries Meal

The menu for this week's Family Ministries Meal will be

Spaghetti
Green Beans,
Salad
Garlic Bread
Dessert

Meal begins at 5:30 PM, Ministries for children, youth, ladies Bible study and prayer meeting begin at 6:30 PM.

Walk For Life

 

 

Our local Pregnancy Care Center assists women in times of crisis pregnancy, but also provides care and assistance in other ways.

 

Recently a young lady came to the center to pick up a registration for the Walk 4 Life. She is new to the area and looking to be involved in the community.  During the conversation, she shared that she is pregnant, no crisis, she is married and happily expecting this gift from God. Her situation is she is needing baby supplies as a first time mother and is ready to find a job, but deliberating if she is able to work before the baby is born.  She is aware that once hired, she would quickly be out for maternity leave. 

 

Our center shared with her the resources they provide. Earn While You Learn is a Bible based parenting training curriculum moms can go through and earn "Mommy Money" that can be spent at the center for baby supplies such as car seats, strollers, baby clothes, diapers etc. 

 

This expectant mom was very interested in the center's resources and asked "how much does this cost?"  It was a joy to tell her "NOTHING", we want to bless, train and equip her to be the best mother she can be. 

 

This cannot be done without faithful support from our churches and community.  The Walk 4 Life provides needed funds along with the opportunity to show support for LIFE with other churches and our community.  Be encouraged to support the Walk 4 Life through walking, coming to show support for our walkers or sponsoring someone.  We can all work together for LIFE!

Ladies Fellowship

Our ladies fellowships have been wonderful! They provide a time for fellowship among women of different ages, stages and backgrounds. True fellowship is centered around the Lord and His Word, to encourage and build one another up in our faith. Our next gathering will be September 22 at 5:30 PM at Joyce F.'s home. All ladies are welcome!

The Power of Grace

If we've been a Christian for a long amount of time, it is easy to lose sight of the beauty and power of God's grace.

 

Here is a powerful thought on grace to remind us of just how amazing it is..

 

"God doesn’t leave us in our sin. He reached down to us while we were yet sinners with the gift of His Son, and He continues reaching down every day.

 

R.C. Sproul writes, “God just doesn’t throw a life preserver to a drowning person. He goes to the bottom of the sea, and pulls a corpse from the bottom of the sea, takes him up on the bank, breathes into him the breath of life and makes him alive.”

 

Scripture after scripture, we see God reaching down to His people with compassion ...and grace. We see the depth of their sin, but even more so we see the depth of His love.

 

When we justify sin, we minimize grace. Once we start to practice that way of thinking, we fail to see the amazing way that He loves, how patient He is, and how precious we are in His sight."

 

WHAT IS GRACE?

Grace has long been defined as “the unmerited favor of God to mankind.”

 

It’s a gift that can’t be earned and isn’t measured by the good behavior of God’s people. It’s undeserved, yet freely given.

 

Grace is at the core of every gift that we have from the earth that we walk on to each breath that we take.

 

He makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust in the same way He gives grace to all.

 

We can’t understand the depth of God’s grace until we truly understand the depth of our sin.  God’s kindness and love shows up where it’s least been deserved. We witness His incomparable gift, as He offers hope to the hopeless. We learn to give grace in difficult situations and what it really means to love as He loves.

Family Ministries Meal

This week's Family Ministries Meal menu is:

BBQ Pork
Baked Beans
Cole Slaw
Rolls
Dessert

Meal begins at 5:30 PM.  If anyone is interested in helping with the food preparation, our helpers will be in the kitchen at 3:00 PM on Wednesday and welcome any assistance!

Healthy Church Ministry

Church ministry is important.  Spiritual lives are at stakes.  Does what we do make a difference for the Lord?  Here is a church health check up, which asks some hard questions, but will stretch us to look deep into our church ministries. 

These are questions for any healthy ministry—whether it’s your music ministry, greeters, small group leaders or any other ministry team.

1. Why are you here?

Every ministry in your church should have a clear idea of what it’s all about. 

2. What purpose of the church does your ministry fulfill?

Every ministry in your church should be tied to at least one of the five purposes of the church. Is this ministry designed to exalt Christ (worship)? Is it designed to reach out to the community (evangelism)? Is it designed to deepen relationships within the church (fellowship)? Is it designed to build people into Christian maturity (discipleship)? Is it designed to serve the needs of the church family (ministry)?

3. Who are you trying to reach?

Who your ministry is trying to reach—the Community, the Crowd, the Congregation, the Committed, the Core or the Commissioned. 

Ministries trying to reach the Community are evangelistic in nature. 

Ministries that serve those during weekend services are focused on the Crowd. 

Ministries focused on church members will work with the Congregation. 

Ministries that help people grow spiritually will center on the Committed. 

Ministries that meet the needs of people within the church or try to get people involved in the ministry of the church will focus on the Core. 

Ministries that help those who’ve committed to be involved in missions will need to focus on the Commissioned.

You need to know who your ministry is trying to reach. The Community has different needs than the Committed. The Congregation has different needs than the Core. Knowing who your ministry is trying to serve will influence how the ministry operates.

4. Where do you believe God is calling your ministry to be in six months?

This is the stage where your ministry leaders dream. Where would they like to see the ministry six months from now?  Ask your ministry leaders to get away with God and talk to Him about the ministry’s future.

5. How does your ministry do what it has been called to do?

Did you know that your body has nine systems in it? When any one of those systems gets out of order, it’s called an illness or disease. The church (the body of Christ) has systems in it as well. And for us to be healthy our systems have to work properly. How do your ministries do what they’ve been called to do? Ask your ministry leaders to think and pray about how to do ministry more effectively.

6. Whom can you partner with to do what God has called you to do?

Your ministry leaders need to constantly be on the watch for people who can join them in ministry. Ask your ministry leaders to begin praying for at least one person who should be joining their ministry team.

Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray for laborers.” Ask your ministry leaders to begin praying for more laborers.

7. In what way do you serve people?

Your ministries should serve the people in your community. Are you meeting physical, emotional, mental or spiritual needs (or a combination thereof)? All of those needs are valid. Part of understanding the identity of your ministries is to know how each of them serves people. Then look for ways you can add value to the services those ministries provide. May we look for ways each of your ministries can do a better job providing for the physical, emotional, mental or spiritual needs of the community.

Youth Skeet Shoot

Our youth recently enjoyed a Skeet Shoot.  This provided an opportunity for our teen to learn and practice safety with our experienced adults while enjoying a time of fellowship together.  Here are some pictures of the day:

 

 

Family Ministries Meal Resumes

This week, Family Ministries Meal will resume.  We have missed the fellowship and time to share with one another around the table!

The menu for Wednesday will be:

Fried Chicken

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Broccoli

Salad

Rolls

Dessert

We will have sign up slips in the church bulletin and are asking if you plan to enjoy the meal with us, please sign the slip and place it in the offering plate.  This will help us with proper amount of food preparation. 

Why Go To Church?

David—the man who wrote these words—was a man of extreme passion. He loved God. He loved God’s Word. He loved praying to God. And he loved praising God. And he had still another profound passion: going to “the house of the Lord.” In fact, he longed to worship God.

Weekly worship and fellowship with other believers can—and should—be the highlight of all your activities throughout any week.

Think about it—when you go to church, you…

… hear God’s Word—taught and explained
… grow—in your knowledge of the key truths of the Christian faith
… join—together with others in corporate prayer
… worship—God through music
… focus—on others as you pray for those in need around the world
… interact—with other believers
… participate—in something that is 100 percent pure and good
… bond—with others who belong to the Lord
… establish—friendships based on a mutual love for the Lord Jesus
… study God’s Word—for better understanding
… receive wisdom—for the decisions you must make and any problems you face
… learn—how to apply the Word of God to the everyday issues of your life

Where else can you receive all of this… and more? And think about this: Being one committed to worship serves as an example to others. When you go to church, your commitment to Christ shows. It’s right out there for your friends and family and everyone to see… and they will be influenced for Christ by it. What a witness!

Operation Christmas Child

 

 

Every year our church participates in Operation Christmas Child, a ministry that sends shoeboxes filled with gifts and the gospel message to children around the world.

 

In past years, we have had boxes filled from families, classes and different groups.  This year, we are hoping to enlarge the ministry sent from our church.

 

Every few weeks, we will be collecting particular items and in November, we will put them all together and pack shoeboxes.

 

Right now, we are accepting school supplies.  They are easy to find right now and plentiful!  Ideas include:

crayons

markers

paper

notepads

colored pencils

coloring books

stickers

 

Let's get a jump start of this ministry and begin to share items to fill up many boxes!  For more information, please visit Samaritans Purse.

 

 

New Sunday School Year

Next Sunday begins a new Sunday School year.  New books, new teachers, same foundational study - God's Word.  Be encouraged to help us get the new year off to a great start.  There is a place for you1