Christian love moves in four directions simultaneously—up, in, out, and across. We look upward to Christ as he reaches inwardly to change our hearts. We extend our hands outwardly to those who need this love, working together across the church with Christian sisters and brothers. 1 John 3:13-16 defines this four-fold love this way: “We […]
Read More »Pentecost is this Sunday, June 8. Fifty days after Easter, we celebrate the birth of the church through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This Sunday in worship, we have a special treat. Marty Smith, Penny Folsom, and George Feijoo have arranged a special edition of “God is so Good,” to be sung in many […]
Read More »Humans need humor. Christians need to laugh at themselves especially. Any time we can get together with people of faith, we are making room for the movement of the Spirit in our midst. Last week, 34 of our Seniors played together in Branson, Missouri. The time of travel and fellowship was sweetened by the sounds […]
Read More »When we say “Love Tallahassee,” there’s no better sign of success than the people who have volunteered at Sabal Palm. Under Rhonda Smith’s leadership and a great ministry group of leadership appointed by the missions committee, these volunteers have delivered the good news through good deeds. On Sunday, we told just one story about one […]
Read More »Last Wednesday, Josh Hall kicked off a two-part series on preventing suicide. This is a tough topic for any church to address, but naming the problem diffuses the pain and encourages people to discuss difficult issues at church. If we can’t talk about these things here, then where else can we discuss them? Often times […]
Read More »Last week at the Weekday graduation reception, I chatted with a couple of parents about their experience with Weekday. As you know, last week 22 students completed the program and are now ready for kindergarten. They’ll spend a few more weeks with us this summer, and then they’ll be off to school. I noticed two […]
Read More »Let the little children come to me, and forbid them not; for such is the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus said these words, he spoke to busy disciples trying to keep him away from children. The instructions still challenge us today. Our church has a tremendous ministry with parents and children of unreached families in […]
Read More »Amy Parks begins as the new administrative assistant for Dr. Shiell on June 2. A native of Ft. Myers, Amy and her husband Michael have three children. Joyce Barnes retired May 20. We are so grateful to Joyce for her six years of service to First Baptist. Paula Clayton will be handling prayer requests and […]
Read More »This Sunday, we congratulate the high school class of 2014 and their families. They graduate from five schools over the next two weeks and will attend eight different colleges this fall. What they have received from their church family is a degree that will last an eternity. First Baptist unites people across our community through […]
Read More »How do we develop a resurrection community where we live, work, and learn? Confronted with their own mortality, and threatened with their lives, the disciples traveled from the place of worship (temple) to the place of work, family, and school (house) in Jerusalem. They didn’t become defensive or anxious. They didn’t develop strategy. They just […]
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