Life Matters

Beach Baptism 2010 (video)

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Join Me For A Beach Baptism This Sunday

I hope you will join us this Sunday night at Hanna Park for Beach Baptism! This is an awesome opportunity for our church to get outside the walls of our building and allow new believers to publicly declare their faith. The service will begin at 6:00 p.m. You can park between areas 6 and 7. The cost for baptismal candidates will be paid, but the rest of us will need to pay $3 per car at the entrance to the park. We will have a tent on the beach so you can locate us. If you want to be baptized you can come to the tent and sign in. After the service we will just hang out and fellowship as long as you want. We had about 150 people come out last year!

An added blessing that really excites me for this year's beach baptism is that Jeremy Crespo will have the opportunity to baptize some people for the first time! We licensed Jeremy into the Gospel ministry a few months ago. This will be a great experience for him as he ministers to God's people.

Pray that many people will follow the Lord in believer's baptism. Encourage people you know to take this opportunity to be baptized if they have been putting it off. Pray that we will have the opportunity to witness to people on the beach who may be curious about what we are doing. And pray for good weather.

Did You Hear What Happened At Church Last Night?

Last night we baptized two people at the beginning of the worship service at 6:30 p.m. Another young man whom John Shultz led to Christ earlier in the week desired to be baptized, but he could not get off work until after 7:00 p.m. He serves in the U.S. Navy and deployed on a six-month cruise today. We told him that we would wait on him and perform his baptism at the end of the service.

At 7:30 p.m. he had still not arrived because he got off work a little late. We found out it would be close to 8:00 p.m. before he could make it to church. So at the end of the service I told our folks that I was willing to wait so this young man could be baptized and that they could wait with me if they chose to do so. I dismissed the parents to pick up their children from children’s choir and the nursery. Our chairman of deacons shared a testimony and the congregation sang several hymns to pass the time. I was amazed that the majority of our people stayed and even brought their children in to see the baptism. The congregation erupted in applause and shouts when the baptistery curtains opened and Pastor John introduced Rob Copeland. John shared the story of how Rob had come to faith in Christ outside a Gate Gas Station. John then baptized Rob to the cheers of the congregation!

All baptisms are moving experiences. It is thrilling to see someone profess their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But I was deeply moved last night for another reason. Last night I saw the church, the Body of Christ at her best. Fellow believers were willing to stay as long as needed to show their support for a new believer in Christ. Rob was able to deploy today knowing that he has Christ in his life and that he has a new church family praying for him while he is away. (I apologize for the poor quality of the photo. I used my cell-phone camera to capture the moment.)

"I Am Not Ashamed" Baptismal Service

Watch the 9:00 A.M. and 10:30 A.M. baptismal service on our "church channel" at Live Stream.

I Am Not Ashamed!

 

I cannot tell you how excited I am about the baptismal services we have planned for both morning worship services (9:00 & 10:30 a.m.) this Sunday, August 30, 2009. It will be a unique and uplifting time as new believers declare their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you have never been baptized by immersion then it is not too late for you to join the others who will be baptized this Sunday. Call the church office at (904) 642-2288 and tell the ministry assistant that you are not ashamed of Jesus Christ and want to be baptized as a public profession of your faith. They will give you information about the service so you can participate. Each person baptized that day will receive a beautiful certificate of baptism as well as a special memento of the ceremony. You can also click here to create an "e-card" to send an e-mail invitation to your family and friends!

FAQs about Baptism
(from The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention)

Black Hawk Down: The Rest of the Story

Mark Your Calendar! Upcoming Events For "Imagine…the fully devoted life"

Prayer Events
August 19, 6 p.m. - We will pray for our schools.  We will meet at the church at 6 p.m. and will go with our Student Ministry to pray for many of our local schools.

September 12, 10 a.m.-12 noon. We will prayer-walk the area surrounding FCBC in preparation for a door to door survey which will happen in the same neighborhood on September 19^th.   
 
We will also be asking many of our key leaders to partner with our Prayer Warriors in the work of prayer during the Worship Services, especially on Celebration Sunday.
 
Ministry Fair
September 13^th during both services.  We will have many of our ministries represented in order to allow everyone an opportunity to learn more and to connect to a ministry.

Intentionally Evangelistic Events
September 19, 10 a.m. --- 12 noon -  We will conduct surveys of the people in our immediate area surrounding FCBC.  We will discover prayer needs and real needs that we, as a partner in the community, may be able to meet.  We will also be sensitive for opportunities to share the gospel.

October 3, 2-5 p.m. - We will conduct our Community Carnival.  This is a fabulous time for everyone to have fun and to provide a free service to our community. The kids will love it!

Baptism Event
August 30 - This will be a special time in both morning worship services to make this public profession of faith meaningful and exciting. Please call the church office at (904) 642-2288 to schedule your baptism on this historic day!

Lords Supper Event
August 23 - This is always a meaningful and reflective time to celebrate our relationship with Christ. 

Celebration/Investment Sunday
October 4 - This will be a Sunday you will not want to miss.  There will be much more to come on this day.  Mark it on your calendars.