First Love

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First Love

Lord, prepare us to go into the city,
Let us live through you.
You are our Creator, sovereign God
Show your love through us as we go afar.
Lord, prepare us to go into the city
Let us praise your name
You are God!
Let us live to show your name.
You are God,
Let Jesus’ love be shown to those in pain.
Fill us with love and compassion
As we all go out today
Into the city to spread Jesus’ name.

Samuel Carlton, one of our college students, composed the lyrics and music to the song printed above for the Love Tallahassee series. We sang this piece this past Sunday at the 9:00AM service and will reprise it this Sunday night for the First Love Celebration service at 6:00PM As you prepare this week for the 11th annual First Love, keep in mind several things.

We begin Saturday at 8:30AM in the Sanctuary with the kickoff service. We have 58 projects and over 425 volunteers registered to serve throughout Leon County. “Love Tallahassee” t-shirts will be on sale that morning for $5 each. Our Children’s Choir will sing at two assisted living centers, teams will take the Lord’s Supper to the homebound, sew bibs for disabled children, fill craft bags for Haiti and Miss Annie and so much more. We have over 20 painting projects for groups such as Brehon, Chelsea House, Women’s Pregnancy Center, and Veterans Village. We’re raking, mowing, power-washing and hauling. A large workforce will be at the Florida Baptist Children’s Home.

Scattered among the First Love teams will be a group of over 80 individuals who have been trained for Servant Evangelism (SET). They are going out two by two, especially among teams that will be ministering to the unchurched. They share why we are here; we serve in Jesus’ name. Many thanks to Josh Hall, Todd Smith, Jenna Young, Zach Allen, and Fran Buhler for coordinating this effort. Each SET will be equipped with Bibles, information about following Christ, and information about First Baptist.

Many thanks to those who have served on the First Love Committee. They are Tom Perrin, Jr., Edem Ablordeppey, Hal Burke, Daniel Cone, James Craig, Shari Cromar, Richard Duley, Cindy Fernald, Angela Gaskins, Donna Heald, Rigsby Jones, Steve Lawrence, Denise Perrin, Bill Smith, Richard Tudor, and Linda Yon. Staff liaisons for First Love are Zach Allen, Joyce Barnes, and Rhonda Smith.

Please pray for safety for the teams and open doors to share the gospel in deed and word. Plan to be here Saturday morning, to share the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper Sunday morning, and to return Sunday night for the First Love Celebration. Let’s “go into the city and spread Jesus’ name.”