Pastor Tim Green's Message

Mark 10:17-34

1. (Vs. 31) "But many that are first shall be last; and the last first."

There is a crowing day coming. Those we see reigning as religious kings (by the glamor of religious heritage or the glory of denominational royalty) on this earth will be set aside and the faithful will be lifted up. This has always been a principle with God. When God sent Samuel to anoint a new king, Samuel saw Eliab and declared that he must be the one. But God said, "Look not on his countenance, or the height of his stature...for the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart."

Look not on the size of his church, quality of his staff, amount of mission's giving or depth of the budget. Look not whether his is director on some board, officer of some association or leader of some group. "For the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart." Faithful stewardship important to the Lord.

2. (Vs. 29-30) "...There is no man that hath left..."

God sees the proper motivation of sacrifice and rewards accordingly on this earth. We often dwell on the problems of ministry but if a pastor has invested into and loved his people there are earthly rewards that are available or given him. How many times has the pastor been blessed with cars he could not afford, houses he did not buy and perks for which he did not ask. Win the lost to Christ, disciple them and they will make the pastor an object of their love for Christ. They will be brothers and sisters that will have a stronger bond than any blood relative would be.

3. (Vs. 28) " Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee."

Abandonment is essential to the growth of the Lord's church. It is easy to settle into comfort zones that deny an amount of risk taking for Christ and His church. Many risks were taken for the glory of building and establishing the church but comfort zones limit God's ability to grow the work. What has been risked as of late for the cause of the church? Where is the reckless abandon that was instrumental in a church's beginning. Could it be that we have more to lose now and the comfort zones have replaced the "nothing to lose" attitudes of our beginnings?

4. (Vs. 22) "And he was sad at theat saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions."

This rich young ruler had come to the right person, had come in the right spirit, had asked the right question and had received the right answer from the Savior Himself yet left lost. Pastor, no matter how hard we may try, we will not win them all. We must remember that we are the tellers and not the savers. Not all of them will gladly receive the Word so do not grow weary in well doing, just keep doing well.

Hope this is helpful.

Tim

New Website Layout

I am so excited to see our new website up and running. While we are still "beta" testing some of the functions, we are looking forward to the interaction that this new format will provide. One of the greatest things is that it allows everyone to take part in the conversation. Each entry will be acompanied with the ability to leave personal notes and comments. You will also be able to keep tabs on changes and announcements by signing up to have updates emailed directly to your inbox. It allows you to have front row seating all all that God is doing through the FBBF! In the future we hope to add contributors to the mix and create a place for us to meet together as a fellowship online between meetings. Stay plugged in for more information!

Leading From a Right Heart

Thank you to all of you who came to our meeting today. It was a real blessing. Our youth pastors meeting went really well. We were able to share ideas and plan some things for the future.

Joel Johns asked me to post the content of my message.

Subject: Leadership

Theme: Heart Leadership

Proposition: God uses men in leadership when their hearts are right before Him.

Text: 1 Chronicles 29:1-28

How will men with right hearts before God lead?

Leaders with right hearts before God will…

1. Do what they are commanded… v.2
   

   David here was told by God that he could not build the temple, so David went about to do everything he could do to prepare the temple. He was obedient.
   

   There really is no way that our hearts are right before God if we aren't being obedient to what he wants us to do. Here David says that he went about this process….
   

   
   

   1. With all their might v. 2
      

      David said that he did what he was supposed to do with everything he had, and he did it...
      

   2. With the resources that God has given v. 2
      

      As leaders we have been given the stewardship of our resources- people, opportunities, buildings, relationships..all have been given to us by God and it is our responsibility to do with them what God would have us to do. Right hearted leaders are obedient to God.
      

      
      

2. See the need and respond in sacrifice…v.3-4
   

   -With a right heart v.3- "Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good…"
   

   When David saw the greatness of the work he was doing, he gave his heart over to God's work. Once he had done this, it caused him to give over and above what duty called him to do.
   

   
   

   Many times in ministry many of the things we do can become mundane and routine. Like David gave over his affection to the work that He was doing, the pure hearted leader looks at the work that God allows him to do with great excitement and passion, giving his heart to his work.
   

   
   

3. Show the people the need and challenge them to responds
   

   -v.5 "and who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord"
   

   
   

   1. Leadership responded first- v. 6- "Then the chief of the fathers…"
      
   2. People responded next- v.8
      
   3. With a right heart- v.6 "offered willingly", "the people rejoiced…with a perfect heart they offered willingly"
      

   
   

   "A leader is a person with a magnet in his heart and a compass in his head."
   

   Vance Hainer
   

   
   

   Because David had given his heart to the Lord and to the project he had gone beyond duty and sacrificed of his own property, but David realized that the work was to big for even he by himself to do. As pastors we have been called to equip our people to do ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16.),and David provides a good example here. As a leader in ministry we actually cripple our people and get less done when we don't ask for our people to respond to the needs in our church. This can be especially true when it comes to service. Sometimes it can be easier to just do "the work of the ministry" ourselves because we think we can do it better, or because of the initial effort of recruitment and training. God calls us to equip people for the work of the ministry and that is what we ought to do.
   

   
   

4. Rejoice in the work that God does…v.9
   
   1. With a blessed heart- "and David the king also rejoiced with great joy."
      
   2. With those that they have lead- "the people rejoiced"
      

      
      

      David here was able to rejoice in the work that God had done through him, and through the people that God had given him. Because David had given his heart over to the Lord and to the project, he was excited to see a victory. They hadn't completed the project. The task was not done. This was only the beginning of more good things that were to come, yet David took time to celebrate "the win" with his people. As those leading people in ministry we ought to take time to celebrate when we have a win. We must look for the victories that happen in peoples lives and celebrate those things.
      

      
      

5. Give all the credit to the Lord v. 10-18
   
   1. With a worshipful heart-10-12
      
   2. With a thankful heart v. 13
      
   3. With a humble heart- v.14
      
   4. Notice how many time David emphasizes the heart- v. 17-18
      

   
   

   Ultimately, any of the success that David had was the result of God's grace and work in his life, and it is no different with us. As leaders in ministry we must lead our people into lives of worship of God. We must make sure that our motivation for service is not the pat on the back, or recognition from each other but service for God. We must understand that it is only by the Lord that we can do anything, and we express this to God with hearts of worship, thankfulness and humility.
   

   
   

6. Impact the next generation v.19, 23-25
   
   1. Pray for the next generation- v. 19-Notice what David prayed first for Solomon- "a perfect heart"
      
   2. Allow the next generation to succeed- v. 23-25
      
   3. Instruct the next generation- v. 28:20
      

      1Chronicles 28:20
      

      And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.
      

      
      

   The best thing that you can do to impact the next generation is to have a pure and right heart before God, and to challenge those in your influence to do the same thing.
   

   
   

7. Finish Well- v. 26-28
   

   Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.
   

   And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.
   

   
   

   In verse 26 the Bible uses and interesting word- Thus- You could say it this way- "What you have read is the way that David lead his people- and he died in a good old age, full of days and riches and honour. Because David had lived his life and lead his people with a pure heart before God, he was honored with these words.
   

   
   

   May we serve God and lead our people with pure hearts before God. In doing so we may be able to finish well, and we'll be able to hear our Lord tell us "Well done thou good and faithful servant."
   

   
   

   Ben Jennings
   Sonshine Baptist Church
   

April Meeting - Port Charlotte

Guest Speakers:
Ed Trinkle, University Baptist
Tim Green, Liberty Baptist
Ben Jennings, Sonshine Baptist

Schedule:
11:30 a.m. - Luncheon
12:30 p.m. - Business meeting
2:00 p.m. - Preaching

Information:
Sonshine Baptist Church is looking forward to hosting the April FBBF. For many of you, this will be the first time you have seen our facilities since Hurricane Charley destroyed most of our buildings. This year we will hopefully be able to complete the last building, our Fellowship Hall, that was destroyed by Charley. Please bring your wife and staff because there is going to be a meeting for the ladies and also a time for the Youth Pastors to meet. We plan to be done around 4:00 P.M. which will allow most of you to get home before dark. If you need a place to stay overnight either Sunday or Monday, please call the church office (941- 625-1273) and we will be glad to help you with this.

Directions

PH.941-625-1273

Address: 23105 Veterans Blvd. Port Charlotte, FL 33954

Florida Baptist Bible Youth Pastors' Fellowship

Being a pastor's kid provided many interesting opportunities. Although many times sacrifices were made because of being a "PK", I got to experience many things that kids my age miss out on. One of those experiences was coming to, on occasion, the monthly fellowship meetings of the Florida Baptist Bible Fellowship. These days were really exciting for me-not because I was a weird kid who just loved sitting and listening to sermons- but because it meant that I got to hang out with Dad, and see other pastors kids that I knew from previous experiences. As I became a teenager I began to enjoy these meetings more because of what they were, although my primary motivation for going really stayed the same-seeing people I knew and spending time with Dad.

Now that I have come back to the state of Florida to work at Sonshine Baptist Church as a youth pastor, one of the things that I enjoy experiencing is attending our monthly fellowship meetings. My motivation for coming though has changed from my childhood days. I really do believe in what we are doing as a State. When I get to hear Church planters talk about their struggles and victories in their work, Biblical insight in the preaching of the Word, and fellowship with men of God who have been doing ministry for 2 years or 50, I am encouraged. What we do as a fellowship in uniting to cooperate on supporting starting churches, approving and sending missionaries, starting and sustaining training centers like BBC and Boston to equip future ministers, and providing Biblical fellowship is not only good, it really is critical! This is something that I know would be good for youth pastors to see, experience and believe in. It is something that must be sustained!

One of the ways that I think we can aid in the sustaining of what we do is to get more men in ministry involved. One of the ways I believe we can do this is through the starting of a Youth Pastors Fellowship to be a part of what our State Fellowship does. I have approached Pastor Williams and he has given me the green light to do what I can. In discussing this with many other youth pastors we have put some of these plans into motion. This organization would be a part of the State fellowship. We will meet during the state fellowship meetings that happen every month. Our "meeting within a meeting" would consist of:

• Devotion-to help us keep our focus
  
• Presentation of Ideas/Resources- to keep us sharp
  
• Business- to help us get used to working together, unifying to do more together than we could separately.
  
• Fellowship Time- to help us build relationships based on our calling and our passions.
  

I think starting a Youth Pastor's meeting could do several things:

• Help more youth ministers be involved and understand what we do as a state fellowship.
  
• Help youth pastors connect with and learn from their peers.
  
• Help youth pastors and their pastors spend more time with each other.
  
• Help youth pastors to learn how to cooperate on events that could help them and their young people.
  
• Help youth pastors learn how to lead and influence peers.
  
• Help to encourage our Pastors as to the future of the State Fellowship.
  
• Help youth pastors to learn form and be influenced by our Pastors
  

In the April Meeting at Sonshine Baptist we will have a time for youth pastors to meet. Mike Elkins from Palmetto Avenue Baptist in Sanford is going to be bring us a short devotion, and Lee Tomlin from Suncoast Baptist in North Port will be presenting some ideas and resources that we may be interested in. We're going to spend some time dealing with this opportunity as well as getting to know each other. Pastors, bring your youth pastors! It will be an exciting time.

Ben Jennings
Sonshine Baptist Church

Easter at Capitol City

CAPITOL CITY BAPTIST—(Tallahassee) (Pastor Sterling Young) Dear Supporting Churches: We want to take a moment and say thank you to the FBBF for all the support you have given over the six months. You Pastors/churches have been faithful supporters of the Capital City Baptist Church since its inception over a period of time until now. We believe the Lord has put you into our lives for a reason, and it has been shown in your continual support of this Ministry. It is committed individuals such as yourselves that has given us the lift that we needed, especially during our initial startup, to come through birthing pains in the establishment of this Local New Testament Church without many serious setbacks or discouragement. For that we are thankful. On March 2nd of this Month we celebrated our Grand opening service in which God met with us in a very special way. We had over eighty in attendance. Some were visiting churches and many were new prospects living in the community looking for a church home. People were able to hear the goals, the priorities of the church and most of all the precious Word of God. Please be in much prayer as we continue to be used of God to make a difference in an area lost without Christ. Capitol City Baptist Church wants you to know your labor of love for us will never be forgotten. It is our prayer that we can in the future reciprocate the acts of kindness you have demonstrated toward us. With that thought in mind may the abundance of God’s mercy and grace continually be upon each church that represents the FBBF. May the Lord continue to bless you and your ministry? (OUR EASTER ATTENDANCE WAS 20)

Pastor Sterling Young
Capitol City Baptist

Easter at Life Church

This past Sunday we had 56 people 9 of which were visitors. Each of whom came because someone in the church invited them and although we did not have a huge program planned, we had the Lord’s Supper and then I spoke on the relevance of the resurrection. I would like you to pray for Kris: a couple of weeks ago Brenda our neighbor and a member of the church called us and told us that one of her co-workers husband had just shot himself in front of their daughter! She asked if we could come and pray with her. I was out of town so Cyndi and Misty prayed with her, then some of our ladies took meals to them for a few days. This past Sunday, she and her 10 year old daughter came. We had already started and I did not know who she was. During the message I was talking about how the resurrection is relevant to us today because of the hope it gives us at the gravesite of a Christian. She just started to bawl! As you can imagine I was a little perplexed but at the end she came up and threw her arms around me and thanked me and told me that she had been getting depressed lately and that she wondered if there was any hope. She said “I came to the right place this morning!” she will be coming back and I hope to be able to share more about Christ’s love with her and her daughter. Once again I am convinced that God is doing something wonderful here at Life Church That was only one of three stories I heard this past Sunday. Another visitor, Dave, is a guy Rob had asked for prayer for because of cancer. He showed up yesterday because he said that he had to see the church that Rob goes to and is involved with. Because “He is so different,” Dave told me. I just smiled and asked him he wanted the same thing. Then Claudette was a lady that Rob’s wife invited. She is a Hospital administrator here is the area. During the message I read a passage out of John 11:25-26 and afterwards Patty told us that Claudette leaned over with tears in her eyes and told Patty that that verse was her Grandmother’s favorite verse, the grandmother who first told her about Christ. I wanted you to hear a few of these so you can see what your financial support is doing in the lives of people that would otherwise not step into a church. It is making a difference maybe not for the whole world but for these people you are. I promise you, they will be able to thank you one of these days. Please pray for our financial needs as we prepare to “launch” Life Church.

Gavin Searles,
Life Church
Clermont

Personal Soul Winning

One of the great things about preaching is seeing people come forward to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Of course, since the pastor is giving the invitation, that means that someone else in the church gets the privilege of leading that person to the Lord. Though I rejoice in the salvation of anyone who comes to saving faith in Christ, I really prefer to be the one who actually leads the person to Christ myself if possible. Therefore, I must make opportunities for myself to lead people to Christ outside of the church setting.

On the Saturday before Easter, we had a community Easter Egg Hunt at a
local city park that drew a crowd of around 300 people. We had the
karate team Breaking Point from Liberty Baptist Church in St. Pete come
over and help us, and they did a good job of presenting the Gospel.
During the invitation, a number of children came forward to be saved,
and in addition to the children, a mother came forward with tears
streaming down her face. She was escorted by two of our ladies who had
invited her to come that day. We went a few yards away from the crowd,
and under an old oak tree I led Anne Rodriguez to the Lord. As I began
to share the Romans Road with her, her thirteen year old son, Tyler,
showed up and he later prayed the sinner's prayer as well. Before the
day was over, my wife had led her daughter, Brianna, to the Lord also.
I couldn't help but think of the Scriptures that say a certain person
was saved and their household. Anne's husband was not their that day so
pray for his salvation as well. His name is David.

You might say, "Preacher, do you really think they got saved?" Well,
would it surprise you to know that Anne showed up for Sunday
School and the worship service? The last thing she said when she
left Sunday was “I will see you on Wednesday night”! Was I wired to
preach on Sunday morning? Absolutely! Because the Lord allowed me to
personally lead someone to Jesus Christ the day before. I think the
greatest thing outside of my own salvation is leading someone else to
Christ. My personal confession is this, if I really believe that
winning people to Christ is so great, why don't I do it more often?
Sometimes with all the work we must do in the ministry we get
sequestered in our Ivory Towers and forget that our ministry is with
people and not with programs! Jesus was a personal soul winner, and if
we are to be His disciples we must be personal soul winners as well. It
is hard for a pastor to preach on soul winning to his people when he
isn't doing it himself. By the way, when was the last time you
personally won someone to Christ?

Have a great day! Go out and win a soul to Jesus!

Ron Williams
State Chairman

May BBC Offering

I trust all is well with you and your ministry, we are doing well here in Jacksonville at First Coast Baptist Church. I would like to thank those of you who made a pledge to the Tribune offering and trust you will be diligent to send that to them in a timely manner. We enjoyed hosting the National BBFI meeting and trust it was a blessing to you.

We now need to concentrate our efforts on the May offering for Baptist Bible College. Please let me know what the Lord leads you to give towards this offering as soon as possible so that I can ensure that we meet our goal for this offering. Our goal this past year was right at $35,000 so I am sure it will be at least that. Would you consider having a part in this offering for the college? I trust you will and I know it would be an encouragement to the new school president, Bro. Jim Edge. Let's do our part as a state fellowship for the future of our college.

Pastor Richard Edwards

Sermoneering

Years ago, Andy Stanley spoke at the C3 conference at Fellowship Church and while I did not attend, I did order the CD's and these three rules for delivering messages have changed the way that we think about sermoneering. I looked for it on the internet, and could not find the outline, so I thought I would post these three key questions we must ask before making any presentation.

1. Is the context appealing
You started reading this post probably because the Pope led you to. There is enough intrigue to catch your attention. Much has been said recently about contexualization and the need for us to understand that not every program or presentation is universally accepted or for that manner effective. If we are to be missional in our approach, we have to ask ourselves the context question. Is the context in which we plan to speak aiding or detracting for the listener's ability to receive the message. Everything from strange sounds and odors to dirty floors and burned out light bulbs can all detract from our message getting across. Our dress, the use of multimedia all come into play. Is the context appealing for my listener. It too must be mentioned that the context may change as the listener changes. It is also important to note that context does not mean good or bad. The context of Chuck-E-Cheese is a great context for a 5 year old's birthday party and a hospital is a great context for a sick person but neither are great environments for the other. Before we go to speak, we must ask ourselves if the context is appealing.

2. Is the presentation engaging
The first book on preaching taught that attention is something you pay. We need as communicators to understand that it costs our listeners (and readers) time and effort, and if we begin the habit of wasting their time they will begin the habit of going elsewhere. Every message of Christ was engaging, it grabbed the attention of the listeners and left them wanting more, not realizing where the time went. It is a sin to take the most interesting book in history and proceed to bore people with it, but unfortunately we often do. To fight this we must tell stories and interact with the crowd as often as possible. We live in a narrative society and stories engage.

3. Is the content helpful
Andy says in his talk that comedians are engaging, but they are not helpful. Comedians have trained themselves to ride the wave of the crowd and know when it is time to go deeper and when to move on. And although very engaging, comedy is not helpful. Our task as communicators of God's word is to engage the crowd in a conversation that will in the end help them to take spiritual steps. We must always look at it from the critic's phrase "so what's your point!" A great environment and engaging delivery are only as good as the content is helpful.

FBBF Website

I am a novice blogger but I like the concept of communication among pastors
and friends. Thanks Joel for trying to get us up to speed a little more with technology.

Dealing with Departure

Last Year as I spoke to the Florida Fellowship I wanted to bring a message that would speak to the struggles that we often have as pastors. As I prayed God laid on my heart a desire to speak about people leaving the churches they pastor. It is an all too common occurrence and painful for anyone trying to build a ministry. After reading scripture on the matter ...

here is what I learned.

1. Many disciples left Jesus - Jn 6
- If many left Christ many will leave you. And when that happens it is natural to withdraw and question even your most loyal followers, but ministry marches on and some faithful will stay true to the vision and some devils will stick around too. Many quit Christ, many will quit you.

2. Godly ministers disagree - Acts 13 & 15
- John Mark wimps out on Paul's first missionary journey and it drives Paul and Barnabas to separate. In the end, ministry goes on and is actually multiplied. When this happens we must guard ourselves from bitterness, and you never know when that John Mark might come in handy. 2 Tim. 4.

3. Fellow laborers will fall - 2 Tim. 4
I think every pastor can identify with Paul when he said "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me" Ministry can be lonely at times, but we still have His promise to never leave us or forsake us. When Demas fell back into the world's grip Paul had to continue on. The plain truth is that others in ministry will fall away. Their failure cannot determine our faithfulness.


So, what do we do about it?

1. Refuse to fall in love with another man's bride.
- In truth the church is not ours. She belongs to Christ. Too many of us as pastors fall in love with the ministry to the point that we develop an unhealthy relationship.

2. Refuse to be more concerned with who you are losing than who you are winning.
- The temptation of most churches is to chase down absentees and runaways at the expense of those who have never been. Unfortunately when this happens we are usually wasting out time on people who have already decided that our church is not the church for them. We must let them go and take the gospel to the undecided.

3. Refuse to judge the success of ministry based on the number of people in the pew or pennies in the plate.
- When we look at these gauges as soon as the service is over, we are keeping score in the wrong game. A worship service is about worship of God, not worship of numbers. Number are important but they are not primary, and probably not even secondary.

4. Refuse to believe you have the ability to build it or break it.
- Pastor, you did not build the church. Jesus said He did. And if the gates of hell cannot destroy it then neither can you. Stop taking credit for everything both positive and negative.

5. Refuse to change your mission based on who gets on or off the bus.
-Pastoring a church is like driving a bus. Bus drivers do not base their driving on keeping people on the bus. They just drive their route. Along the way people will get on and people will get off, but we must keep driving because that is what we are commissioned to do.