First Baptist Church
Sunday, September 05, 2010
LaBelle, Florida
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The Pastor's Journal   Welcome to my web journal. I hope to use this as a way to inform you of the things that happening in the church and other topics that are close to my heart. The best way to keep up with my posts is to subscribe using one of the buttons above, whichever is your preferred method. I also would like feedback so please email me at pastorfrank@fbclabelle.org with comments and suggestions.
  Southern Baptist Pastor's Conference in OrlandoMonday, June 14, 2010Preston and I are attending the Southern Baptist Pastor's Conference in Orlando, Florida. Tonight we heard Dr. David Uth, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Orlando preach and then Dr. Steve Gaines, Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, TN preach. Preston and I took a small break and got something to eat and raninto Dr. and Mrs Long. We spend sometime talking with them and what God is doing in their lifes. After visitng with the Long's we return back to hear Dr. Ravi Zacharias. Dr. Zacharias was born in India in 1946 and immigrated to Canada with his family 20 years later. For the past 35 years, he has spoken all over the world and at numerous universities. Our final message of the night was by Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX.
Preston and I are looking forward in what God is going to do at this Conference Buckets of Hope UpdateFriday, May 28, 2010As I shared in my last post, I'm at Lake Yale for meetings for the Florida Baptist Convention. At our meeting Dr. Sullivan has given us reports about out work in Haiti. Dr. Sullivan stated that our feeding and food distribution continues at full speed. On an almost daily basis we are sending food supplies of rice, beans and pasta. Bulk food purchased within the country has included 132,120 pounds of rice and 12,000 pounds of beans. Additionally, foodstuffs purchased in the United States and shipped (or waiting to be shipped) to Haiti include: 205,000 pounds of rice; 85,000 pounds of beans; and 14,000 pounds of pasta. The food has been and will continue to be distributed within the country through the coordinated efforts by the Haitian Baptist pastors with distribution being from Haitian Baptist church houses.
Soon the bulk food distribution will be supplemented by 152,000 Buckets of Hope which were contributed by Baptists in Florida and across the Southern Baptist Convention. Two initial shipments involving 31 shipping containers departed from Louisiana and Ft. Lauderdale ports. The containers arrived in Saint Marc, Haiti, but were being held by Haitian custom officials until receiving government clearances. Craig Culbreth reports that meetings have been held between high-ranking government officials and Delouis Labranche, director of ministry for the C.M.B.H., and Joseph Gaston in an attempt to secure the release of the Buckets of Hope for distribution. As soon as ongoing negotiations for customs clearance have been secured, the remaining 111,000 Buckets of Hope are expected to be shipped.
Continue to pray for the people of Haiti and its government. Thank You Lord for the work that is going on in Haiti and for the precious souls that are coming to you. Haiti Earthquake Relief UpdateThursday, May 27, 2010I'm attending the State Board of Missions Meeting at Lake Yale this week. Dr. Sullivan will be giving us a report on the work in Haiti. In that report the Haitian missionary personnel have reported a total of 85,377 professions of faith have been made as of mid-April. A subsequent mid-May report indicated that as a result of the three evangelistic crusades - which produced 95,203 spiritual decisions - when added to the previous commitments, established a new total of 135,330 professions of faith.
We have also had 64 new church starts since January 12, 2010. Planning and funding process has begun to begin at least 200 new churches by December 31, 2010. Each church will serve as a distribution center for the gospel; a distribution center for counseling and hope; a distribution center for meeting humanitarian needs (feeding, clothing, etc.). At mid May report updated the total new church starts at 135.
In the three months since a January 12 earthquake devasted Haiti, Florida Baptists have worked alongside their Haitian brothers and sisters and Southern Baptists to distribute rice, staff medical clinics, provide counseling and fill countless physical and spiritual needs. As of April 24, a combined total of 88 Florida Baptist and Southern Baptist volunteer teams had ministered in Haiti. These included: 34 medical teams; four chaplaincy training groups; 35 home inspection and chaplain counseling teams; five water system delivery/purification teams; six demolition teams; and four teams working in warehouses to facilitate storage of bulk foodstuffs.
The Florida Baptist Convention staff has worked with local church leaders and the Miami and Palm Lake Baptist Association to minister to over 150 refugees transferred into Florida from Haiti by the U.S. government. These have included 43 families, comprised of 143 individuals, and another thirteen unattached persons.
Dr. Sullivan calls this "Hallelujah in Haiti! Only the Father knows the great impact for the gospel that is emerging out of this earthquake. He is allowing us to share in moving a nation from tragedy to triumph." High School Senior Recognition SundayTuesday, May 18, 2010On Sunday, May 23, 2010 we will recognize our High School Seniors in our Morning Worship Service. Our 2010 Seniors will be presented to the church and a gift will be present to each of them. Preston Long our Youth Pastor will be bringing our Morning Message on this Sunday. After the Morning Service we will have a special luncheon in the social hall for the seniors and their families. Here is the list of our 2010 High School Seniors:
Olivia Luckey
Savannah Smith
Brittany Smith
Brianna Sanchez
Brooke Ambrey
Emily Hull
Bobby Billings
Tonie Marie Tolar
Kelsey Cooper
Kyle Owens
Lori Spangler
Dani Bennett
Zach Hutchinson
Marvin Gonzalez
If we have left anyone off the list, please call the church office at 863-675-2171
Pre-School DinnerThursday, April 22, 2010Last night we had a dinner for our church Pre-School with the proceeds of the dinner going for a new fence for our new play yard. We had over 155 people come to our dinner last night and we appreciate everyone who attended. We collected $1030.00 from the dinner and we had some expenses that we will take out of that amount. The cost of the new fence will be $1,300.00 so we are well on our way to get this fence paid for. The fence has been ordered and should be installed very soon. If you would like to give toward this project you can write a check to First Baptist Church of LaBelle and mark it Pre-School Fence.
We also have two big swing sets that we want to put in our new play yard. If you would like to help with installing these swing sets, please let Preston Long, Paul Burchard or Bob Burns know. Once again thank you for the support of our church Pre-School. Church MinistryFriday, April 09, 2010This past weekend our Youth had a Lock-In. We had over 30 young people at the Lock-In. Bro. Preston talk to our Youth about the Jewish passover and had the Lord's Supper with them. Many of the youth were touch by this experence and are still talking about it. When the Lock-In was over on Saturday the youth help hide over 2300 easter eggs for the Church Pre-School and Children Easter Egg Hunt. I am so glad that we have different ministry for our adults, youth, children and preschool. As a church we want to do ministry that will help people come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Each year our church sets a budget so we can do ministry in our church and community. We ask each member to tithe or give an offering to the church on a regular basis. Our Weekly Budget requirements to meet our 2010 budget is $6,968.34. Each week we need this amount to reach our budget goals for 2010 and to continue to do ministry in our church and community. Up to this point we have received $72,538.53 for our budget and to do ministry. This leaves us a short fall of $17,886.75 to be current with our budget at this time. Even though we have this budget short fall we have not overspent our budget. We are watching our finances very carefully but we ask each member and friends of First Baptist Church to look at what they can do to help us make up this shortfall.
Our mission field is white for harvest and it does cost money to do many of the ministries we do. We are thankful for what we have received and what people have given to our church budget and building fund. Let's give with a cheerful heart and continue to reach out in his community. Rejoice Easter Has ComeThursday, April 08, 2010Easter is always a busy time in our church and this Easter was no exception. Our Church Pre-School celebrated Easter with a Easter Egg Hunt and many of their parents came to be apart of this event. At lunch that day we served them Hot Dogs and our kids were very excited. Pictures can be found on Facebook under First Baptist LaBelle Pre-School. The staff of our Church Pre-School took the time to share with our children the meaning of Easter and how Jesus died for us.
On Saturday, April 3rd we have our Church Easter Egg Hunt for Pre-Schoolers and Children. I wish I could tell you how many we had but the kids were moving so fast I couldn't get a count. The Social Hall was full of children and parents. I would like to thank everyone who helped in making this Easter Egg Hunt a great success. We had several news couples who came to our Easter Egg Hunt and they expressed interests in our church ministries and our Church Pre-School. We are hoping some of them will bring their children to our Church Pre-School this coming school year. Pictures of our Church Easter Egg Hunt can be found on Facebook under the First Baptist Church of LaBelle.
Easter Sunday, we were blessed with a large crowd. Chairs had to be brought in so that everyone could have a seat. We had many visitors who join us for this special Sunday. We were bless with over 300 people in attendance for Easter Sunday Morning. Our Adult Choir bless us with a great musical presentation of the Easter Story. I would like to thank each member of the Adult Choir and Mrs. Tara Sherrod for the great job they did in presenting this exciting gospel story of Jesus Christ and his Love.
On Easter Sunday morning we took our offering for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and we took in over $1,400.00. This money goes to the North American Mission Board to send and support missionaries in North America. Thank You Church for this great support.
Every Sunday can be Easter Sunday because of what Jesus has done for us.! Come and join us this Sunday!
International Childcare MissionsThursday, April 01, 2010For more than 100 years the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes has been working to serve abused, neglected and orphaned children in Florida and now we are also reaching out to serve children in the developing world. Together we can be witnesses of the love of Jesus Christ to the least of these here in Florida and to the ends of the earth.
There are more than 143 million orphans throughout the world — each number represents one of God’s precious children. God has given us an awesome task, but before he gave us this task he gave us his awesome spirit.
We need you! Be a part of international childcare missions. Come be a witness to the ends of the earth as we work to provide assistance to orphanages and other childcare centers in the developing world. In the process we also share the gospel of Jesus Christ to these children and others. Join us in the wonderful adventure of helping abused, neglected and orphaned children in the developing world. What a joy it is when you bring a smile to a child in another part of the world that does not speak your language.
We are so blessed — will you go and share the blessing with others? Join us on one of our mission trips to share the love of Christ with a child. For more information go the Florida Baptist Children's Home site fbchomes.org and then click the International Missions tab. Then click the calendar tab for upcoming mission trips and find one that you feel God wants you to go. Then there is a place for you to fill out an application to go on this trip. Please be in prayer if this is something God wants you to do. Living Lord's SupperMonday, March 29, 2010The LaBelle Gathering of Christian Men are reenacting the Last Supper as a community introduction to the Easter season. The Living Lord’s Supper will be on Good Friday April 2, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in Barron Park. Everyone is invited to this moving event.
12 Apostles: Carl Pendrey, Hugh Herott, Phil Pelletier,Ron Costa , David Clark, Dave Alexander ,Seth Strehl , Peter Sullivan,Ronnie Revels, Johnny Bruner,Mark White, Larry Woosley , Smiley Hendry ,Millard Wagman Jesus: Rob Armstrong
Announcer: L.W. Howard
Judas: Millard Wagman
Blind Man Wayne Wilkins Soloist Joy Armstrong
Director Cliff Avery
For more information call 675-0900 or labelleone@hotmail.com The Church: A Building or a BodyWednesday, March 24, 2010Matt Tullos is Pastor of Bluegrass Baptist church in Hendersonville, Tennessee and he writes for Let's Worship Magazine. I would like to share his article about the church. I hope you will enjoy it.Some churches have felt like a country club, complete with secret handshakes, special membership privileges, and perks for members based upon your seniority and attitude. But we are not called to be a country club.Some churches are more like a fashion show where once a week we are concerned more about what the members look like on the outside than who we are on the inside. But we are not called to be a fashion show.Some churches are like a spa where healthy people come to be pampered, to get a personality makeover and attend self-help rallies devoid of the power of God. They'd never think about service because the church is meant only for enrichment--not spiritual warfare. But we are not called to be a spa.Other churches are like courtroms full of authority and judgment. They offer stern faces and hushed whispers. Some believe that these churches are holy because of the formal atmosphere and the lack of tolerance for things like laughter, celebration, and dancing. These churches are dead; they just don't have the good grace to lie down. But we are called to be a court.We also find the church of cool, where musicians display their gifts not to the glory of God but rather to the glory of themselves. The tendency toward outlandishess knows no bounds. they are different just for the sake of being different. Messages aren't centered on the bible; in fact, some sermons might cause you to wonder if there's really a point beyond the emotions and the glitz of atmosphere. What is the vibe? But we are not called to be cool.Each model apart from the work of Christ is like a cemetery. You can put flowers of the graves, you can have tea parties next to the tombs, you can pipe in the best music and serve the best meals; but without Christ the cemetery is still full of deadness. But we are not called into death.So what about us? Are we any of these church? Most churches have been all of these from time to time. That's why it is so important for us to be desperate and dependent on God. Do we want to see people who are hurting and in need come to us for help!How far are we willing to go? Whom do we chose to exclude? Jesus is still knocking at the door of churches promising that if anyone hears His voice and opens the door, He will come in and eat with them.Let's invite people to the table through worship and become the kind of churches He desires to enter.These words are by Matt Tullos, pastor of Bluegrass Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
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