Summer 2009 Highlights

The Summer of 2009 is filled with opportunities for worship, Bible study, missions, and recreation. This summer we are learning to….

· Live authentically!

· Give cheerfully!

· Serve passionately!

Here are a few notes and highlights related to recent and upcoming events:

• We applaud the 451 Kidaroos and Outback Guides who jumped aboard The Boomerang Express last week.
• Thank you Chapel Choir for sharing the awesome music from the “Mystery Tour: We Walk By Faith” last Sunday evening during the homecoming concert.
• This week we welcomed home the mission team who has been serving in Russia. Continue to pray for those who are serving Ecuador, Afghanistan, and Indiana.
• Pray for the College Mission Trip to Homestead, Florida scheduled for July.
• Pray for Children’s Camp, World Changers, and Student Life Camp, all coming up in July.
• Our Summer Blood Drive is scheduled for this Sunday, June 28. The Northwest Florida Blood Mobile will be on our campus beginning at 7:30.
• On Sunday nights in July we are offering a variety of creative opportunities for worship and for hands-on Christian service.
• Mark your calendar for our Baptism at the Beach scheduled for four o’clock Sunday August 30 at 501 Panferio Drive.

As we continue our series, Let’s Go Outback This Summer, our message this Sunday comes from Ephesians 4:1-16 as we talk about “Getting in Sync” with God’s will and purpose for our lives. Invite a friend and join us as we explore the gifts and opportunities that God has sent our way.

Survival Skills for the Outback

Exodus 17:1-5

(sermon outline for Sunday June 21)

God wants to build in us survival skills for the opportunities and challenges of our time.

To be commanded to love God at all, let alone in the wilderness, is like being commanded to be well when we are sick, to sing for joy when we are dying of thirst, to run when our legs are broken. But this is the first and great commandment nonetheless. Even in the wilderness—especially in the wilderness—you shall love him.

-Frederick Buechner

• Prepare to encounter multiple challenges.

• Take the first step with courage.

• Be ready to explore new territory.

• Expect some to want to turn back.

• Manage all resources with care.

• Follow your leaders.

• Obey all of God’s directions.

When the going gets tough, God wants to give you the survival skills to get to your ultimate destination.

A Mid-Summer Dream

I just read an article in the business section of a prominent national newspaper stating that many “experts” believe the current recession will end in September of this year. While some are optimistic about such a recovery, others are skeptical. Personally, I tend to think that the economy will stabilize and improve gradually, over a prolonged period of months, or perhaps years.

Challenging economic times can be extremely stressful for all ages. Some have been forced into a vocational transition. Several have seen their life savings or retirement diminish. Others are coping with increased tension in their home or workplace. Most are learning to live on less. However, during this season of economic uncertainty, God is teaching us to realign many of our values and priorities:

• To value relationships over stuff.
• To manage the resources we are given with greater care.
• To enjoy the simple things in life.
• To avoid excessive debt.
• To give the “firstfruits” of our labor to support the work of the church.

I am convicted and convinced that God is specifically teaching us the importance of bringing our tithes and offerings into the storehouse, giving in proportion to the ways that God has blessed us. Our church has a great history of generous and sacrificial giving. For us to build on that legacy to meet present and future needs, it requires each of us to bring our best gifts, without compromise or procrastination.

As we have proactively monitored our church budget during the recession, our staff has done an amazing job of making adjustments to get us through this tough year. At this crucial juncture, with the consistent giving of our entire congregation, we can support and energize our mission and ministry opportunities through the summer, and into the fall. But that task calls for our personal participation. Giving is our spiritual responsibility, a primary way we live out our commitment to Christ.

My dream is that we will rise to the challenge by empowering the ministries of our church with our spiritual gifts and our financial gifts.

I believe that God is calling us to….

• Live authentically.
• Give cheerfully.
• Serve passionately.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we gather for worship and Bible study. And then back for the Chapel Choir Homecoming Concert at 7 o’clock in the sanctuary.

The Boomerang Effect

I John 4: 7-12

(sermon outline for Sunday June 14)

Your actions shape the world for better or for worse.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. I John 4:9 NIV

The game of life is like the game of boomerangs, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy. Florence Skinner

• Your actions make an impact on others.

• Sin produces a boomerang effect.

If malice or envy were tangible and had a shape, it would be the shape of a boomerang. Charley Reese

Hatred is a boomerang which is sure to hit you harder than the one at whom you threw it. Anonymous

• Service creates a boomerang effect.

A hug is like a boomerang__ you get it back right away.

Bil Keane

• God’s love motivates us to love and serve others.

Live your life in a way that shares the love of God with others.

All Aboard The Boomerang Express

Year after year Vacation Bible School proves to be one of the most exciting weeks of the summer. Some of the lifelong lessons we learn about faith in Christ are learned in VBS. This year our Outback Guides and Kidaroos will be hopping aboard The Boomerang Express.

To help kickoff Boomerang Express Week, we invite you to join us this week for Khaki Sunday. Participants in each of our worship services are invited to join me, our staff, our worship team, and our choir in wearing khaki, earth tones, or your best “down under” attire. Our Pre-Teen Worship Team will participate in the leadership of each of our worship services.

This Sunday’s message is anchored on I John 4:7-12 as we consider The Boomerang Effect and the many ways our actions impact the world and the kingdom for better or for worse.

On Sunday afternoon, you are invited to join Jean Ingram for The Boomerang Express Prayer Walk at 5 o’clock. We will be prayerwalking the FBC campus and then into the neighborhood as we distribute VBS flyers to the 32501 children.

Summer brings many great opportunities for worship, fun, and missional service. There are three crucial ingredients in providing these opportunities: the dependable leadership of the Spirit and the faithful financial support of the people. During tough financial times, it is especially important for God’s people to give faithfully, generously, and proportionately.

Our staff has done an amazing job of making budget adjustments to get us through this tough year. But it will require the consistent giving of our entire congregation to help us empower the awesome opportunities before us this summer.

During this season of economic uncertainty, God is teaching us many things about our values and priorities. Among those, I am convicted and convinced that God is teaching us how important it is for each of us to bring our tithes and offerings in proportion to the ways that God has blessed us. To be specific, I believe that God is calling us to….

• Live authentically.
• Give cheerfully.
• Serve passionately.

Remember to pray for those from our church family who are away serving in Russia, in Ecuador, on Chapel Choir Tour, and in parts unknown.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we gather for worship and Bible study.

Going Walkabout!

For Vacation Bible School this year our students will be taking a trip on “The Boomerang Express.” As we combine the VBS emphasis and our spiritual focus on missional living, our theme for June and July is Let’s Go Outback This Summer.

As we explore our theme, two terms need further definition: “outback” and “walkabout.” Although the term “outback” often refers to the land beyond the settled regions in Australia, the term “outback” generally refers to the remote areas away from the city. For our church, I am thinking of outback as life outside the walls of our campus.

“Walkabout” is a term for journey. Originally “walkabout” referred to a rite of passage, retracing the paths of the ancestors, or a period of wandering the bush country. Later writers used the term to refer to a spiritual journey.

As a family of faith, our journey of following Jesus is leading us to be more missional in identity and lifestyle. To be missional means we are adopting a lifestyle of reaching out and serving others, following the teachings and practice of Jesus. In recent months we have focused on discovering our spiritual gifts, practicing the spiritual disciplines, and connecting with a ministry team, all for the purpose of serving others in Jesus’ name.

Gathering on campus for worship, study, and fellowship is crucial to our spiritual growth. But one of the primary reasons we gather is to be encouraged and equipped to be the light and love of Christ outside the walls of the church building.

Go walkabout by embracing the adventure of the missional lifestyle. Wherever you go, whoever you meet, whatever you do, ask God to bless others through you.

Let’s go outback this summer! Let’s begin by going walkabout this week.

Something Good in the Neighborhood

Mark 12:28-31

(sermon outline for Sunday May 31)

God wants you to be a catalyst for something good in your neighborhood.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

Mark 12:30-31 NIV

• A neighbor is someone located near you…geographically, socially, or vocationally.

• God has strategically placed you in your neighbor network.

• God wants to bless your neighbor through you.

This week begin your day by asking, “God, show me who want to bless through my life today.”