Laws of Service In God's Kingdom

Jesus characterized Himself as a Servant. The way to greatness in the Kingdom, He said, is through serving.

The Scriptures are saturated with teachings and examples and encouragement regarding servanthood.

Here are a few key laws of service in the Kingdom

Only the strongest can serve.

The weak, the immature and the carnal want only to be served.

Other than the cross of Calvary itself, the best illustration of servanthood is found in John 13:1-4. Our Lord washed the feet of His disciples. But before describing the event, John tells us five important things: 

1) Jesus knew what time it was; His hour had come; 

2) He knew His own and loved them to the very end;

 3) Jesus knew His strength and authority; 

4) Jesus knew He was from God; and 

5) that His destiny was Heaven. 

So, knowing all of this, He is able to stoop and serve.

Why? Because the work is hard and thankless and requires brokenness.

Only by constantly humbling ourselves can we do the work of a servant.

The disciples were offended. Washing the feet of others, we’re told, was not only the work of the lowliest household servant, but preferably someone not Jewish. And here was the Lord Himself doing this humiliating task.

Our natural inclination is to want to be served, not to serve. We like acclaim, to be recognized and appreciated, and swoon at thoughts of receiving the adoration of the masses. But those urges are anathema to the child of God.

We must humble ourselves. Why? Because the work of a servant is often difficult, embarrassing and painful.

“What can I do to help?” is the constant question of the servant. 

Why? Because the servant is focused on blessing others. He lives to make others successful.

We serve in Jesus’ name for Jesus’ sake.

Why? Because we belong to Jesus. He saved us, redeemed us and sent us. Jesus is Lord.

The servant never hesitates to honor others who serve well. 

Why: Because this is what love does.

Serving others often is not in our natural interest or ability.  But, as we follow God's Word and the example of service Jesus laid out before us, Our hearts, attitudes and actions can reflect the Lord and compel us to love and serve others. 

Fanning Springs Fellowship

Last weekend several gathered for a day of fellowship and fun at Fanning Springs. Swimming, picnic and lots of fun time was shared through the day!

 

It's a Wonderful Life

Some highlights from Sunday's Sermon..."It's a Wonderful Life".  

How would you fill in the blank: Life is ______?

Forrest Gump filled in the blank by saying: "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."

4 Things that Deal with Life:

1.   The stealers of life 

For many life is nothing more than the time spent between birth and death.  There are many avenues down which we can travel that lead not to life but to destruction.

• You won't find life in pleasure.
• You won't find life in performance.
• You won't find life in possessions
• You won't find life in position.
• You won't find life in pursuits.

2.   The source of life

The truth is that life is not found in pleasure, performance, possessions, position, or pursuits; it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus says time and time again that he is the giver of life, the author of life.

When Jesus said he is the door of the sheep, he meant that the fold has only one entrance; life has one source; spiritual nourishment is obtained one way; heaven can be entered through one entrance. And the single means of access to all that is life is Jesus.

3.  The significance of life

 The life that Jesus gives is infinitely and eternally different than the life one possesses now.

A. The first word is bios, in which the English word biology is derived.

It refers to the duration of life - one's life span, the time between one's birth date and one's death date; or it refers to the necessities of life - one's food, shelter, and clothing.

B. The second word is zoe, in which the English words zoo and zoology are derived.

It refers to life as God has it. The life that belongs to God that becomes ours when we cross the doorway of Jesus and enter into a relationship with God. It is not duration because this life is not limited by time, nor hindered by death. It is not a possession but rather an infilling - God once again breathing his life into us.

When we were born we were given bios life, when we are born again we are given zoe life. Until we cross the doorway of Christ and enter into a relationship with God through Jesus we may be physically alive but spiritually we are dead.

4. The superabundance of life

Jesus goes on to quantify this life, "and have it in abundance.  "Have it in abundance" means to have a superabundance of a thing. To be a follower of Jesus, to know who he is and what he means, is to have a superabundance of life. There is a new vitality, a new meaning, a new energy, a new purpose, a new significance, a new outlook, a new hope, a new joy, a new life.

Don't Forget...This Week..

Peanuts and Ice Cream Fellowship

Sunday night is our annual boiled peanuts and homemade ice cream fellowship!

Immediately following Sunday evening's service we will gather in the fellowship hall to enjoy boiled peanuts and homemade ice cream.

If you have a churn, please make some ice cream to share.  If not, please plan to bring some toppings.  Peanuts will be provided.

Fanning Springs Trip

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the end of summer celebration at Fanning Springs.  Bring the family and a picnic lunch and meet at 10:00 AM for a great time of fellowship and fun!

Living Proof Simulcast

Join women from around the world for this inspiring one-day event with Beth Moore!  Westwood Baptist Church of Live Oak will be hosting the event.

Captivated: The Wonder of Christ on the Winding Road

Join Beth and thousands of women worldwide as she shares truth to guide your own journey of faith.

You're invited to be part of this global, one-day simulcast that will encourage you to dive deeper into the Word of God. Beth follows the leading of the Holy Spirit to prepare a specific message for each of her events, and the simulcast is no exception. Don't miss out on this special event!
Registration Includes:

• Access to simulcast live event feed
• Access to simulcast host site for resources and promotional tools (for those participating as a small group) 
• Free PDF download of Listening Guide

Schedule

Event Begins 9:30 a.m.

Session One 10:00 a.m.

Lunch Break 11:30 a.m.

Worship 1:00 p.m.

Session Two 1:30 p.m.

Invitation/Break 3:00 p.m.

Worship 3:30 p.m.

Session Three 3:40 p.m.

Closing Worship 4:10 p.m.

Event Concludes 4:15 p.m.

Association Wide Leadership Training

Coming up this week....Leadership Conference  Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Hosted by: First Baptist Church, Live Oak

There is something for everyone!

6:00 - 6:40  Dinner

6:45 - 7:20  Worship with Billy Young

7:25 - 7:55 Session 1

8:00 - 8:30 Session 2



Workshops offered:

CHILDREN: John Bennett - Children’s Minister Bradfordville

“Top 10 Ways to Reach Children”


YOUTH: Billy Young - Fl. Baptist Next Generation Ministries  / Lead Catalyst

“Ministry in Schools”



WOMEN: Cindy Bradley - Fl. Baptist Women's  Mission & Ministry/Missions Education

“Building relational bridges through outreach and community mission opportunities”



MEN: Jeff Scott -  FBC, Live Oak

“Making Disciples that MAKE Disciples”



WORSHIP: Jeff Ray -  The Orchard

“Developing Emerging Leaders”




CHURCH: Tim Martin - Administrator FBC, Middleburg, FL

“Church Security”

Living Proof Live Simulcast

Captivated: The Wonder of Christ on the Winding Road

Join Beth and thousands of women worldwide as she shares truth to guide your own journey of faith.

You're invited to be part of this global, one-day simulcast that will encourage you to dive deeper into the Word of God. Beth follows the leading of the Holy Spirit to prepare a specific message for each of her events, and the simulcast is no exception. Don't miss out on this special event!

Held at First Baptist Church Live Oak.

What It Takes To Be a Good Encourager

As a church body, we are to provide an environment of encouragement for all who seek it. 

What does encouragement look like in action?  What does it take to be an encourager? Here are a few ideas based on Romans 12:

1.  Good encouragers have to be genuine. You can't be phony.  "Let love be without hypocrisy" Romans 12:9  Be genuine, be real.

2.  Good encouragers are diligent. "Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."  

3.  Good encouragers are assertive.  They take initiative. "Distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality."  One huge miscommunication is that everybody thinks that somebody else is doing the encouraging. And while we think somebody else is doing it, no action is taken.

4.  Good encouragers are selfless. They are primarily concered for others.  "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep." Good encouragers give themselves away to others.

5.  Good encouragers have a spirit of humility.  "Be of the same mind toward one another.  Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble." We often look to encourage others 'at our level'. May we go beyond and seek others who are different but need encouragement.

A true encourager is authentic in who he is. He's a hard worker who's assertive in reaching out to people. He's not fearful because he's selfless and primarily interested in others. He is unaffected by any sense of class-consciousness. To him, a person is a person, not matter who he might be. 

More About Future Now

It's Back to School

It's Back to School time!!  Our local schools came back in session last week and this will be the first full week of school for our students.

Something our church does every year is to call students, teachers and school staff up front for a time of prayer over them.  Last week was a time of prayer for school staff.  This week, we had a special time of prayer over our students.  

d

As a church family , we can also pray for our students.  Here are some ways to pray biblically for them.  Using the acronym SCHOOL:

S - Self control

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

1 Peter 5:8

C - Courage

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

H - Help from the Holy Spirit

“‘Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”

John 7:38-39a 

O - Opportunities to do good

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Galatians 6:10

O - Overcome evil

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Romans 12:21

L - Love God and others

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Matthew 22:37-39

Future Now

Future Now is an evangelistic community outreach that is coming to our area on August 30.  Here is a description from the website about the ministry...

FutureNow was founded in the spring of 2001 by Chris and Terri Musgrove. This was the fulfillment of a vision that was dropped into Chris's heart back in 1991 while helping facilitate a week long school assembly program involving five communities in North Central Florida. During these assemblies the students were invited back to a separate rally on Friday night.

That Friday night, to everyone’s amazement, over 2,000 students and their parents showed up to a local coliseum that was centrally located in Live Oak, FL. During the rally the assembly program speaker gave testimony of how God had changed his life by the power of his son Jesus Christ. Again, we were amazed and overwhelmed by the response of students and families who came out for the Friday night rally where 400 people responded to the invitation to receive Jesus Christ.

After that night, Chris took hold of a vision that would come into existence, ten years later, in April of 2001. Chris and Terri have worked with young people over 29 years and have seen how drugs, alcohol, premarital sex, gangs and violence have destroyed the hopes and dreams of young people. After pondering this vision for many years, Chris and Terri developed a program for public schools that uses a full scale, state of the art stage production of live music, drama, video and real life stories.

FutureNow’s daytime assembly helps students see the importance of: having a vision, and applying yourself in the classroom to aid in determining and then developing your gifting. The assembly brings the students face to face with the hard question, where are you going and how are you going to get there? It also allows them to see that drugs, alcohol, premarital sex, failing grades, gangs, violence etc. aren’t the problem, they are just symptoms of the real problem, no vision, no dreams or goals. As Chris says during the assembly, ”If you don’t know where you’re going you’ll take every road.”

After each assembly, the students and their families are invited to come back out to a night event sponsored by the schools campus Christian club where an evangelistic message is presented through music, drama, and real life stories. Since 2001 FutureNow has been to over 190 schools and seen over 190,000 students.

For more information, visit FUTURE NOW...

End of Summer Church Get Together

There is a special day planned for Saturday, August 26.  Everyone is invited to meet at Fanning Springs for a day of fun and fellowship.

Plans are to meet at the springs at 10:00 AM to enjoy swimming or visiting together in the shade.  Please bring your own lunch and we will enjoy a picnic and simply enjoy the rest of the day.  

There is something for all ages at the springs and this is a wonderful way to enjoy time with the church family. 

For more information and directions, click HERE. 

How To Pray For Church Leaders

This week our local schools will come back in session.  That is one of the best indicators that summer is slipping away.  Families will be getting on a more regular routine and our new church year will be soon starting.

This is the time of year the church prays and seeks for those to assist in serving in church ministries.  Teachers, leaders, helpers are always needed in a variety of areas.  Every helper is vital and play an important part in the church.  Surely this is a vital area that needs prayer.

Here are a few ways with old testament examples of  the power of prayer for church leaders:

1. Pray they will keep their eyes on God.

King Jehoshaphat faced three combined enemy armies, and he did not know what to do—except to lock his eyes on God. That’s the answer any time we have no clue about next steps.

2. Pray they will not take a step apart from God’s leading.

Moses prayed this prayer when God would send only an angel to lead His people after their fiasco with the golden calf. He would rather the people not start the journey if God Himself were not leading them.

3. Pray they will beware of relying on their own strength.

David, who knew the Lord is the one who fights for him (1 Sam. 17:47), trusted in his own might when he took a census of the Hebrew armies. Recognizing his sin, he prayed a prayer most leaders need to pray at some point:

4. Pray they will be wise in leading God’s people.

When Solomon might have asked for much more, he instead asked God to give him a “listening heart” as he governed the people of God. All of us who lead congregations need this wisdom.

5. Pray they will weep over the sin and failures of God’s people.

The best shepherds are those who genuinely grieve the spiritual brokenness of the people they lead. Like Nehemiah when he heard about the damaged walls of Jerusalem, they are themselves broken when they see the results of spiritual decline.

6. Pray they will know when to push away from the crowds to pray.

Ministry is time-consuming, and needs are ever before us. Nevertheless, leaders must have time alone with God to be renewed for the work—just as Jesus did.

7. Pray they will walk worthy of their calling.

If we pray more for church leaders today, it’s likely fewer will fall tomorrow. We must pray they walk in obedience and bear fruit, just as Paul prayed for the Colossian believers:

8. Pray they will speak the gospel boldly.

Paul wrote from a prison cell—his punishment for preaching the Word—but still he sought prayer support to continue his evangelizing. If Paul needed such prayer, surely church leaders do today.

9. Pray they will finish well.

Those church leaders who finish well PLAN to do so; that is, they choose from the beginning to stand against the devil and glorify God. Pray that your church leaders can one day echo these words of the Apostle Paul:

Peek Into the Newest Ladies Bible Study

Ladies, we are getting excited about the upcoming Bible Study beginning September 6.  In the Bible Study, you’ll be able to walk through the seven ways Jesus impacted his disciples that reveal to us how we can make a difference that will have eternal impact.

The seven principles in the study are:

• The Principle of Time Alone with God
• The Principle of Walking and Talking
•  The Principle of Storytelling
• The Principle of Asking Questions
• The Principle of Compassion
• The Principle of Unconditional Love
• The Principle of Casting Vision

If you go through this study with a heart that listens to God, you may be at risk for becoming a Christ-follower who cannot go through a day without influencing someone else’s life like he did.  This study is not for the chicken-hearted; it’s for the courageous woman who is ready to risk a couple of set-backs, and perhaps a failure or two in order to set her course in the direction of helping others to square with biblical principles.

Whether you are longing for someone older and wiser to mentor you or you want to use your experience and wisdom to influence others, this study is for you. The discussion questions will bring intimacy and spiritual growth to the participants.

The study will begin September 6 and will meet on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM at the church.  We hope you will be a part!

Register Here for Dave Ramsey Financial Peace

The link is up and ready to receive registrations for the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University.  This is a 9 week class that will meet at the church beginning August 21 at 6:30 PM. 

Register HERE today!

Ladies Fellowship

Our ladies gathered recently for their monthly fellowship.   These are wonderful times filled with food, fellowship and a time to grow together in the Lord. 


It is so lovely to be welcomed into someone's home:




And simply spend time with one another:
















We learned that each one has a story, and loved it when some shared them:







As we shared our stories, we learned that we can share them as an outreach and a blessing to others.  What a wonderful night it was!

Save the Date

Its almost time for the annual Association Wide Leadership Conference.  Here are the details!

Ladies Bible Study

Ladies, a new Bible Study is coming!  Becoming a Woman of Influence will be our study beginning September 6 and will meet Wednesdays at 6:30 at the church.

"Here is a description about the study..."What would happen if you decided to influence lives on purpose? The purpose of Becoming a Woman of Influence, is to challenge women to become more intentional about how we influence others.  Not because we have to, but because we want to.  Not because it’s our Christian obligation, but because it brings great meaning and joy to our lives.  Not because of duty, but because of love. Let’s be like Jesus. Let’s be women of conviction and passion.  Let’s intentionally influence other women because it’s a high calling and a part of our pre-designed purpose.  This is a nine-week study for women who want to touch lives like Jesus did—women who want to pass on a lasting legacy to their families and to their culture. "

Books are now available and are $4.00 each.  Please see Elizabeth O. for your book or for more information.