|
|
| Family Connections |
The Family Church Newsletter
November 2009 |
|
|
|
A Word From Max
As you read this The Family Church is in its last few days of a season of open Elder nominations for our congregation. Most of you know that The Family Church is an elder led church. While we certainly don't think that this is the only Biblical model for church leadership, we believe it is Biblical and consistent with our best reading of Scripture. In our church, final decision making authority on nearly all matters is in the hands of the elders. As such, the office of elder is of vital importance to our church.
Any member of The Family Church is eligible to nominate a man to serve as an elder. Those nominated are vetted by the elders and the decision is given much prayer. As with the earliest church leaders, when it seems right to us and to Holy Spirit, those selected will be put forward to the church body for ordination. This is a lifetime calling and a lifetime role. I hope you are all in prayer about this important process.
If you believe that you want to nominate someone to the office of elder, it is essential that you believe they meet the Biblical qualifications of elders found in I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1, as well as other places. If you believe that the person you are considering is qualified Biblically, it is also vitally important that he feel called to the office as well. The Bible speaks favorably of men who "aspire" to the office of elder. I take that to mean, among other things, that a man should have a desire to live out that calling or should not serve. Please meet with the individual you are considering and his wife if he is married, and be sure that he "aspires" to the office of elder. If all that looks good, please do not hesitate to make a nomination.
|
|
Ongoing Support Groups
Healing Prayer for Women
A ministry for Women in need of physical, emotional, or spiritual healing.
Prayer times are held individually with a member of our Prayer Team and everything is kept confidential.
Contact person-Terri Straughn
at 332-6459 ex 33.
Grief Share
Grief Share begins again on November 3rd for 13 weeks from 7-8:30pm in room 118. Contact Janice Hamilton if more information is needed at rham7233@aol.com Divorce Care Ministry and
Divorce Care 4 Kids
Divorce Care and Divorce Care 4 Kids are now in session. We are currently meeting at 7:00 pm on Friday nights.
Child care is available. Contact numbers are Tom Nelson at 352-262-4166 and Holly Nelson 352-318-1048
Forgiven and Free Ministries
►Men, women, and student support group meets off campus on
Mondays. Contact Marie Rucker at 352-278-0057 or
forgivenfree@hotmail.com.
►Parent and Spouse support group meets at TFC on Monday. Contact Carol Cooper 352-356-2055 or
forgivenfree@hotmail.com.
| |
|
Whispers in the Dark
Scripture - Acts 7:25 - "Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn't."
Observation - Moses was God's man. He was blessed with wisdom, education, position and a desire not only to serve god but also God's people. He was selfless and bold in his willingness to act. Stephen says, however, that in assuming leadership he also made an erroneous assumption - namely that the people would realize that God had sent him and that he was serving them. They not only didn't realize this truth then, but in subsequent years they would prove time and time again that any realization of his calling from God would be short lived at best. Complaint, rebellion, and outright challenge to his leadership was to be the norm.
Application - There are important leadership implications in this for any Christian leader.
1) If indeed God has sent a person to lead in a given area of ministry, then that person needs to be prepared to take not only direction but also the encouragement and affirmation needed directly from God. Leadership can be lonely and a leader cannot expect that the people will always want to be led.
|
|
Operation Christmas Child
LAST OPPORTUNITY!
Love offerings will be accepted until October 31st.
Deadline to drop off shoeboxes is November 8th.
|
Baby Congratulations:
Congratulations to
Jodi and Alice Faye Wood
on the birth of
Dakota Charles Maximilianos Wood, October 15th, 2009.
Dakota joins siblings: B'Elanna, Walter, Anastasios, and Corbin.
| |
|
Men's Ministry  - "Are you a Reader?"
Most guys are not big readers. Generally speaking guys just don't spend a lot of time reading. We don't even like to read directions on how to put things together. Today I would like to take a minute to ask you to look at reading differently.
I love to read. Reading takes up a good portion of my down time. Reading helps us to grow our minds. I may not agree with everything that I read but I still read. Reading is a great way to exercise your mind and to develop new thought processes. Often times I find that guys don't like to read because to them reading seems like a waste of time or at least not the best use of time. But, we have no problem sitting in the recliner and watching hours of television. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching TV and I have some shows that I like to see each week.
There are many, many great books available for the man who is striving to be God's man. We have the luxury of having some really great Christian authors writing books for us as men. There are books to help us fight temptation, to engage in spiritual warfare, to be better dads, better husbands and better followers of Christ. The fact is that we can find a book on almost any subject that we could pick.
One thing that I have found is that some of the smartest people and the best leaders that I know are readers. It just seems like smart people are well read and they read books on a variety of different subjects.
So, men of God, I am asking you to give reading a chance if it is not in your current bag of hobbies. Stretch your mind and bring in some new ideas. There are books that I have read that have changed my life. Just one word of caution though. Not everything you may put your hands on to read will be just right. We must also be smart enough to weigh everything against the Book of Truth, filter the ideas through scripture as you see new things. The only book of perfect truth is God's Word and you have to keep that in mind.
Give reading a shot; develop a library of your own. You won't regret it.
Jim Guth
Florida Men of Integrity [fmi-ncmm@fmi.cfcoxmail.com]
Editor's Note: To get started, browse in TFC library or see Patrick Callahan or Terry Straughn to suggest some books for you. Also, do a search on Focus on the Family online for books to purchase: http://family.christianbook.com/
Check out The Message Bible, an easy reader with its contemporary language and application. |
|
Worship Through Creative Arts with Larry Carpenter
Is it just me or do you ever get the feeling that our lives have turned into a very long list of "personal security questions, user names, & passwords"? Yeah, me too, but the trade off isn't' bad in this world of digital relationships. The ability to connect with all my friends and family members in different states twenty-four seven is quite nice...
I've never considered myself to be one of those "what would Jesus do" kind of persons but here's the deal; I believe that Christ was technologically relevant when he walked the earth. Jesus used the "acoustics" of water while on a small boat just off shore to speak to the crowd on the hill. In the parable of the talents he allocated funds to three servants according to their ability, "hedge fund managers", to trade and make a profit. The third money manager buried his funds, which in to days terms is worse than buying a US 10 year T-Bond (believe it or not)...we all know what happened to that guys allocation. And one of my favorite examples is when Christ made sure the Pharisees noticed his meeting with tax collector at the sycamore tree. I'm sure Jesus would have "face booked" all of the Pharisees pictures of the party at Zacchaeus' house that day if he had the chance...
The bottom line is; it's all about relationship! Pharisees are not extinct and scripture shows us time and again that Christ went out of his way to connect with broken people on a personal level with every means possible. Shouldn't we do the same?
Come join us as we grow, Larry
|
|
Women's Ministry
"Going Deeper" by Emily Sorgius
On Friday, Sept. 19th a group of women from The Family Church set off on an adventure for the first ever Women's Road Trip to Orlando. We were challenged to go "Deeper Still" at the live event of the same name featuring Kay Arthur, Beth Moore, and Priscilla Shirer. What an amazing experience to gather together in the body of Christ with thousands of other women. As one of the ladies of TFC stated Saturday night, "My favorite thing was seeing my Jesus glorified!" Not only was this a time for learning from wonderful biblical teachers from all generations, but forging relationships with the unique set of women at our church.
Friday night kicked off with awesome praise and worship lead by Travis Cottrell followed by a whirlwind tour through Hebrews by Kay Arthur. In her seventies, she is still kicking off her heels to dance on stage but most importantly, speaking truth through His word. Her primary encouragement was to "fix our eyes upon Jesus" and to "rest in faith". In Hebrews 10, she reveals that the righteous live by faith and it is important to continue on because it is "when you draw back, that is when you miss the blessings" He has prepared. Over and over, she reminded us that way to grow in our faith is through the Word.
Photos from Women's Road Trip to Orlando
|
|
GO! Missions and Evangelism
with Jeff Moody
Michael and Laura Lothers (pictured on right) along with dozens of other local and international missionaries, will be with us in February 2010 for our "Global Impact Celebration" Missions Conference!
This year's theme is "Every Day". We will be exploring how we can live our "Every Day" lives in order to fulfill God's purposes.
As we daily seek the Lord, then live in obedience to Him, He will lead us into fulfilling our role in His Kingdom. "May Your Kingdom come!"
More Conference details coming soon!
|
|
Focus on the Family Groups with Patrick Callahan
"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity" Psalms 133:1
Doing life together; tailgating for Jesus As you go about the country in far away places, you spot that familiar orange sweatshirt or UF ball cap which is an immediate invitation to that familiar greeting 'Go Gators". Seven times each fall, over 90,000 loyalists display their passionate allegiance to the greater cause. It is more than a 7 time a year gathering, it is the reunion of friends in the seating block, the breaking of bread at the tailgate site, the sharing of revelry in local living rooms. "How good and pleasant it is when brothers (and sisters) live together in unity". Ever wonder what Florida football would be like if all we did was congregate 7 times a year at the stadium (because it was expected of us). Would the "experience survive if there was no small group experience to bring it home to an identifiable level?... No football watching parties, no water cooler discussions, just the stadium with 90,000 people who we are supposed to call "family".
Isn't that what many of us do with our Christian identity? Writes one of your family group participants in the family group led by John and Debbie Eccleston and Rod and Arlene Ingram , "Being in the Family Group allows us to weep with those who are weeping and rejoice with those who are celebrating. No one should ever have to go through significant times in their lives alone". . . . Read more
 
Moody Family Group Campout
Welch Family Group Helping the Straughn's Move
Click on the link above to read the details about these groups.
|
|
Give me RED! RED!
Give me YELLOW! YELLOW!
What's that make? ORANGE!!!
The Family Student Movement (FSM) wants The Family Church body of Christ to think of the color ORANGE when thinking of moving students with their families through the foundational years:
Cradle to Graduation.
Why ORANGE? Click here to find out!
|
Woodpecker, Specialized Driller By Stephen F. Larner, PhD
The woodpecker - a real head banger! The woodpecker is quite different from other birds. It makes its living banging its head into trees. How did it get the idea to do that in the first place? How did banging its head into trees increase its likelihood for survival? The woodpecker is a marvel of interdependent parts-traits that depend on one another for any to have functional value.
When a woodpecker slams its head into a tree, the force it experiences is many times gravity. To put it into human terms if you jumped off a 6 foot table under these same gravity conditions you would end up as a puddle. Yet the woodpecker does it 100's of time a minute! The bird has a number of inbuilt protections unlike any other bird. For example, its nerve and muscle coordination must produce a dead-on hit; a slip to one side or the other could virtually rip its skull open. The birds' eyelids snap shut when the beak strikes its target. Some say that's to keep wood chips out of its eyes, others to keep his eyeballs from popping out of their sockets. Both may be right.
|
|
On the Home Front - A Recipe for a Great Thanksgiving
by Connie Reid
Many of us will have extra guests invited to our Thanksgiving Dinner. The three P's of entertaining is preparation precipitates poise. Try to have as much done the day before guests arrive which will allow you to be more relaxed and focused on visiting. It also leaves room for dealing with the unexpected.
The recent decline in heat and humidity signals approaching holidays which are often linked to favorite family foods. I thought I would share two recipes that have always been served at my family gatherings for as long as I can remember and are always a hit with guests.
HAM LOAF
Ask the meat manager at your grocery to grind: 1 1/2 lb. of cured ham
1 lb of fresh lean ham
2 Eggs
1 Cup of Milk
1 Cup of Cracker Crumb ( I use Town House )
2 Teaspoons of worcestershire Sauce
Mix well and form into small loaves about the size of a medium potato.
Sauce: 1/2 Cup Apple Cider vinegar, 1/4 Cup of Water, 1 1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar, 1 tablespoon of dry mustard
Bring to a boil for 5 minutes and pour over ham loaves that have been arranged in a glass cooking dish. Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Half way through the baking time I pull the pan out and gently rotate the loaves to get even coating of the sauce.
CRANBERRY PUNCH
2 1/2 Cups Cranberry Juice
2 Cups Strong Cold Tea
3 Cups Orange Juice
1 1/2 Cups Lemonade
2 cups Grape Juice
1 Quart Cold Ginger Ale
These two recipes compliment each other in taste and the cranberry punch always looks festive in the glasses.
| |
|
|
|
Service Dates and Times
Weekly Calendar
Family News
Daily Bible Readings
and/or
Listen to Sermons and great praise music and more!
| |
|
