July 13th Meeting - Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church

A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued: "Is anyone up there?" "I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?" "Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can’t hang on much longer." "That’s all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch." There was a long silence, then… "Is anyone else up there?"

I’m not sure if there is a pastor who hasn’t used that story as an illustration in one of his sermons. I know I’ve used it many times. One of our favorite things to do as pastors is to encourage people to have faith. And one of our least favorite things to do is to have to exercise it ourselves.  Spurgeon said,  “Brethren, be great believers. Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls.”

The theme of our meeting is “Great Faith.”  Come be encouraged and enjoy the fellowship. Dress is Casual. 

Speakers
David Janney – Orlando Baptist Church
Jason Henderson -  Grace Pointe Church

Schedule
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. - Officer’s Meeting

11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. – First Session
12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch Break
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Business Mt., Ladies Mt., Youth Pastors Mt.
2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. - Second Session

Address
Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church
601 Palm Springs Drive

Altamonte Springs, Fl 32701

407-831-0950

www.psdbc.net

Directions

June 8th - Eastpointe Church - Jacksonville

Pastor Hale, Connie, and the great church family of East Pointe are inviting you to spend the day with them on June 8, as we enjoy our FBBF meeting.
Jesus established His church on the backs of strong leadership.  He had the ability to enlist, engage, entrench MEN into the work of the Gospel.  If there were ever a time to address the needs of the church today, it is in the area of winning the hearts and minds of strong men to continue the work of Christ.  on June 8, we look forward to being challenged and encouraged in the ministry of Building men for the Kingdom of God.  To do so necessitates a fresh look into the Word of God.  We hope you will make plans to come to Jacksonville, FL and experience the hospitality of Kevin and the church family of Eastpointe.

Guest Speakers
Ron Sears - First Baptist Church, New Castle, Delaware
Mark McGaughey, Executive Pastor of Eastepointe Church

Schedule
11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. - First Session
12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch Break
1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. - Business Meeting
1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. - Second Session
2:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. - Break
2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Third Session

Directions
Eastepointe is located 1/2 mile north of Atlantic Blvd. on Kernan Blvd. East of Arlington

207 N. Kernan Blvd
Jacksonville FL 32225
(904) 220-2377

Website: www.epcjax.com
Email: info@epcjax.com

Believe in Miracles

On the second Sunday of January, the body of IBB Church in Miami was challenged with three words:  Faith, Obedience and Generosity.  At the end of the message it was announced that on the last Sunday of March they would be receiving a Miracle Offering  (a one time sacrificial gift) and one year commitments they called Beyond.

To put it all in perspective, the monthly general budget for IBB is $60,000 – however, it has been almost 2 years since the monthly budget had been met.  This reality, coupled with lingering construction debt had severely limited their ability to carry on the ministry as they desired.

In the two months leading up to the offering there was a palpable excitement in the air.  As the pastors visited each of the 25+ small groups that meet weekly around the community, they encountered a very positive atmosphere with good questions and testimonies of God’s faithfulness in difficult times – both past and present.

On March 29^th IBB had a combined, bilingual service to allow the entire church body to be present at the same time worshipping the Lord with their presence, their hearts and their offerings.  Early in the service the Miracle Offering was received with special participation from everyone from the Tots through the adults.

After the message the totals were given which surprised even the most optimistic among us:  Miracle Offering – over $ 93,000; Beyond Commitments – over
$ 117,000.  What a miracle!!!  In these days, in this economic climate, with so many losing working hours and even jobs.

Two side notes:  In a marriage counseling session the next day, the husband admitted that during the invitation prayer on Sunday, he had expressed his doubts to God as to whether his marriage could even be saved.  But then he added:  “When I heard the totals for the Miracle Offering it was as if God were saying to me – ‘If I can handle this offering in these times, I can certainly handle your marriage!’”

And by the way, the General Offering for the day was double the budget amount and even without this extraordinary Sunday, giving is up from this time last year.  That alone is a miracle!

Resurrection Monday Meeting - Lake Mary FL - April 13th

Program Schedule

10:30am Officer’s Meeting

11:30am Tom Wallace Jr.

12:30pm Florida BBQ Lunch

Business meeting, Ladies and Youth Pastors Meeting

1:30pm Bill Bales

2:30 Tom Messer

The theme for the meeting is resurrecting churches. Tom Wallace Jr. will be speaking on the trends he is observing from the prospective of a missionary to England. Pastor Bales will give us a perspective from someone who has spent most of his ministry either starting or resurrecting churches, and Pastor Messer will give input on resurrecting large ministries. As I have been here at Lighthouse for a little over a year and have sought counsel on building a ministry, I have come to find out that we must always strive to keep life in our churches, no matter what size of ministry you pastor. As a former Youth Pastor one of the greatest challenges was to keep your kids on fire for the Lord. I pray that through this meeting you will be encouraged and challenged. We will be serving Florida style BBQ dinner and I encourage you to dress more causal as we will be eating outside under our pavilion.


Directions:

From the South: I4 west to exit 101A, turn left on to H.E. Thomas Pky. Go 1 mile to Orange Blvd. turn right, go .5 miles to Markham Rd. turn left, the church is 1 mile on the left.

From the North: I4 east to exit 101, SR46. Go west on SR46 to Orange Blvd. turn left, go 2.5 miles to Markham Rd. turn right, the church is one mile on the left.

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A message from our Chairman...

Thanks to everyone who gave us their email address.  Let me encourage you to participate in the March meeting at Faith Baptist Church in Sarasota.  Pastor David has put together an exciting meeting.  Please don't forget to email him your responses to the questionnaire he gave to us at the last meeting.

Also, I'd like to encourage you to email any suggestions on how we could improve our monthly meetings to me at pastor@sonshinebaptist.com.

See you in March,
Bill Bales

Calling all Youth Pastors and Workers...

Here are some comments on what has been happening with our Youth Pastors Meetings:

"When I went to the meeting on February 9th, I had other things I needed to do in Winter Haven but I went anyway. Once I got to the meeting and starting talking with the other youth pastors, I realized that I really needed to be there. Throughout our time together we were able to talk about some issues that I have been dealing with in my ministry. The advice and support that I got from the other youth pastors has really helped me personally and helped my ministry. Having a group of youth pastors that aren't there to judge you but to help you is a wonderful thing. Every youth pastor meeting I have been to, I have taken something home with me that I can apply to my ministry."
Nathan Braymer
Winter Haven Baptist Church

"I love going to the BBF Youth Meetings for many reasons. First I must say that the fellowship and the friendships that I have made are a great encouragement to my life and ministry. Second I am so thankful that I have a group of guys that I can go to and share some of the burdens of ministry with. Many of these guys have great advice and encouragement because they have already experienced the same struggles. Finally, I thoroughly enjoy the meetings because of our strategy sessions. I often find myself running out of new and fresh ideas, but as we come together and share ideas of different sermon series, different activities and much more it is easy to keep things fresh and exciting here at Suncoast Youth Group! Thanks BBFI Youth Pastors!" -
Lee Tomlin
Suncoast Baptist Church

Youth Pastors, we would love to see you at the March Meeting at Faith Baptist Church in Sarasota.  It will be a time of sharing burdens, prayer and having some ideas and information that you can take back to your ministries.  In our youth pastors meeting we'll be discussing creative ideas to get students to help lead in ministry.  Make plans to be with us!