Luther and Nora Krank are religious empty nesters featured in John Grisham’s novel Skipping Christmas. With their daughter Blair safely away on a Peace Corps mission to Peru, the Kranks decide to give themselves a Christmas gift. Normally, they host an annual Christmas Eve neighborhood gathering. People have come to count on it in this […]
Read More »According to Acts 18, Corinth was a thriving capital of commerce and industry based on business, sports, and religion. There was only one thing missing: a church committed to working with the city. The people credited for the spiritual turnaround in Corinth are usually Paul, Priscilla, Aquilla, and Apollos. Corinth had two very large ports […]
Read More »Before Kelly and I visited Israel in 2011, we updated our will to make sure our families were cared for through our estate. Stewardship is a responsibility we take personally in life and death. I want to invite you to an important seminar designed to help you plan and provide for the people and church […]
Read More »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 »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 »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 »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 »“You never get a second chance to make a _________.” If you said “first impression,” you’d be partially right. Long before new families try to find a parking place downtown, they have an impression of our church. They’ve met one of our members in the neighborhood, heard about us through word of mouth, or visited […]
Read More »Our ministry in 2014 is off to a fast start. We’re just four months into the year, and we’ve celebrated Connections Weekend, Dessert Theatre, Disciple Now, a mission trip to Boston, and a Women’s Conference together. My home has been filled with laughter, study, and renewal. Think back with me about the impact of one […]
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This Sunday I begin a new sermon and worship series: “Charter for the Common Way.” I’ll be preaching through Acts 1-12 and highlighting the characteristics of Christian community in the book. In order to follow Christ’s command to share the gospel from “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8), he […]
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