Pastor Ricky Powell

I Need Your Help

 Dear Fort Caroline Baptist Church family,

Your church is getting ready for an exciting Resurrection Celebration this weekend on April 4^th.  (Services at 9:00 A.M. & 10:30 A.M.) We are mailing out Easter invitations to all the new people who are moving in to our area. We are using the church sign and publications to invite people to our services. Here is my question for you. Have you invited anyone to come with you yet? Did you know that 80% of the people who visit our church for the first time do so because they were personally invited by a member? Many of your friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors will come to church if you will invite them. In fact, a recent study conducted by Tom Rainer indicated that many lost people wonder why their Christian friends never invite them to church. He found that 9 out of ten of them would likely attend if they were invited. Rainer then commented:

The next obvious question is: Are Christians inviting non-Christians to church? The heartbreaking answer is "no." Only 21 percent of active churchgoers invite anyone to church in the course of a year. But only 2 percent of the church members invited an unchurched person to church. Perhaps the evangelistic apathy so evident in many of our churches can be explained by a simple laziness on the part of church members in inviting others to church.

Don't let apathy and laziness stop you from inviting someone to church this weekend. It could be a life-changing day for them!

This year I will be speaking on “The Ultimate Victory.” It is a message of encouragement that I’ve written to show how Jesus' resurrection means we don't have to fear death. In fact, death will be defeated when our earthly bodies are made fit for our heavenly home! You can read about it in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.

Who of your relatives, neighbors, and co-workers do you want to see come to Christ this Easter?  People are more likely to be open to your invitation at Easter than at any other time of year. Don’t miss this once-a-year opportunity to invite them to one of our church services!

Here’s how you can fulfill your mission at Easter:

1. Ask God to show you who to invite. 
2. Use the "E-Vite" Card we designed by e-mailing it to your friends.
3. Help your Life Group contact everyone on your class ministry and prospect roll with an invitation to Bible Study. 
4. Pray that many will commit their lives to Christ this Easter.
5. Pray for God to use me to communicate His Word. 
6. Greet everyone around you. There will be a lot of first-time guests. Please help them with directions. 
7. Reserve the “Guest Parking” for guests! (Isn’t that a novel idea?) Consider parking in the back of the property in order to give our guests and senior citizens the best parking spaces near the Worship Center.

This Easter we are planning our greatest service ever. I am SO excited about it I can hardly sleep! The music we’ve planned is incredible! Thanks for your prayers. It’s going to be an amazing day!  I love you so much and am so grateful to be your pastor.  Let’s each “Reach One More ... for Jesus!”

Because He lives,

Pastor Ricky

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

I apologize for the delay in posting lately. Life has been a little on the hectic side. Anyway, you can click the button and listen to last Sunday's message, "Cries From the Cross." My text was Mark 15:22-37 (even though I said Matthew a couple of times at the beginning!). I was personally touched and humbled in my study time as I considered Jesus' cry from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" I will never understand what the Lord Jesus endured to purchase my salvation. I hope this message will inspire you to love Him even more for what He did for you.

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A Great Tool For Inviting Your Friends To Our Easter Services

We will celebrate the resurrection of our Savior on April 4. Who will you invite to join us? Many of your friends and neighbors will attend if you invite them. That is why I am providing you a simple but powerful tool to use. If you visit http://reachafriend.com/fcbcjax you will find an "E-Card." You can use the electronic card to send an e-mail invitation to your friends. It is simple, quick and effective. Please be assured that your friend's name and e-mail address will not be captured by the church for our use. We will not send them spam or place them in our data-base. Try it out today! Let's invite hundreds of people to experience the victory that Christ gives!

Are You One of the Happy Ones?

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
who made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!

Ps. 146:5–10

"Time For A Change" -- Sermon Audio

 

Click the link below to listen to last week's message.

Time For a Change 20100314am

The Least Officially Religious Generation

Time Magazine ran a great article about the Millennial Generation (18-29 year-olds) with insights that might surprise you. You can read an excerpt below that deals with the religious attitudes. Churches will have to grapple with how to best reach this generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how to best help them become His followers and members of His Church. Some churches are being effective in reaching this generation while others are failing. Just ignoring the cultural changes and hiding in our ecclesiastical traditions is not the answer. What are your ideas for reaching this generation?

 

But they are also unconventionally conventional. They are, for example, the least officially religious of any modern generation, and fully 1 in 4 has no religious affiliation at all. On the other hand, they are just as spiritual, just as likely to believe in miracles and hell and angels as earlier generations were. They pray about as much as their elders did when they were young--all of which suggests that they have not lost faith in God, only in the institutions that claim to speak for him.

via www.time.com

"Time For A Change" - Sermon Notes

You can read today's sermon manuscript by clicking the Sermons.Logos.com link below. I enjoyed preaching this message. The music was wonderful and prepared our hearts to hear God's Word. You guys are the greatest. Your love for the Lord and your passion for the Word thrills my heart. The highlight of the morning was when a young man accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior! Go God!

I will try to get the audio uploaded soon. God bless you as you follow Jesus!

"Time For A Change" - Richard E Powell.

Don't forget to "Spring Forward" by setting your clocks ahead one hour tonight. Take a moment to also change the batteries in your smoke detector and fire alarm. Get a good night's sleep and be at church in the morning! Expect God to do great things in your Life Group and worship service!

Religion In America (The Church in Decline?)

Here is a video from Ed Stetzer's blog. It is a news report produced by WKRN of Nashville, Tennessee in which ed is interviewed about the state of religion in America. The news report raises some good questions.

WKRN News 2 Nashville Reports on Religion in America from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Preparing For Easter Church Guests

Here is a great article I read this morning about how churches can prepare to welcome all the guests who will attend on Easter.

Fresh Ideas, Preparing for Easter Church Guests
Written by Diana Davis
INDIANAPOLIS (BaptistPress) Feb 2, 2010

You've inundated your town with prayer and printed invitations to worship at your church on Easter. The nationwide GPS (God's Plan for Sharing) media blitz has reinforced those efforts. You have a sudden, terrifying thought ... "What if they all show up?!"
My husband often says, "You get what you get ready for." Need fresh ideas for getting ready?