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Worship Service Schedules
8am-
Traditional
Service
9:30am-Contemporary Service
11:30am-Contemporary Service
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Children's Ministry
 With GREAT EXCITEMENT
I have the privilege to introduce you to our new Children's Ministry Intern, Janelle Burns. She has just recently started with us and will be working with me directly in conjunction with KidzVenture Ministry. She just graduated from University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. She has come to Gainesville seeking to pursue a career in Children's Ministry or forensic anthropology. You will see her most
at our
11:30AM Sunday Service, Kidz Blitz (Sunday Nights) and Kidz Stuff (Wednesday Nights). Please join me in making her feel like part of the family at
The Family Church. Angela Renick |
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The Family Church's
Scout Troop is
now beginning
its new year.
Boys who have completed
the fifth grade
or reached age 11
are eligible to join.
For more information
see our bulletin
board across
from the restrooms,
or contact
Scoutmaster Bill Woodbury
(352) 682-6028 or
bwoodbry@bellsouth.net
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October 2012
The Family Church
'Family Connections' Newsletter
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A Word from Max
My friend Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Oahu, HI, has recently written a new book entitled The Irresistible Church. In it Pastor Wayne describes the church that is irresistible to God; a church that God desires to bless because it is a church that brings joy to the heart of God. He lifts up the following seven things that people experience when they are part of an irresistible church.
1) People grow spiritually at this church! Here you find spiritual education grounded in biblical principles that help you and your family grow in faith. There are authentic disciples being made here and authentic corporate worship is taking place here. It provides opportunities to meet other Christ-followers and make lasting, authentic friendships.
2) You witness a strong sense of mission. In this church you see fruit: consistent conversions, lives being transformed, marriages being healed, new leaders emerging, and engagement with the Lord's mission at home and around the world.
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Whispers in the Dark
Scripture - "Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink." (Exodus 17:1)
Observation - At the command of the Lord, they camped, but there was not water to drink. You'd think that if God commanded, there'd be immediately plenty of water, a buffet line and waiters who will bring you coffee and dessert. You'd think that if God had planned it, all the logistics would have been taken into consideration and a catering company would be waiting for them as they arrived. After all, God knows they need water, and food, and rest. If He is leading, it will all be taken care of, and immediately, right? Some believe the safest place to be is in the center of God's will, because we all know there will not be any challenges, any hardship, any suffering in the midst of God's will. Just ask Jesus....
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Discipleship Ministry
Family Group News
 | | Aaron Read |
On Sept 9th, we started our new season of Family Groups. It is my prayer that if you are not in a Family Group that you would make it a priority to visit some of these groups and find the one that fits you the best. You can find a list of all the Family Groups on our website (www.thefamilychurch.net).
Spiritual growth is accelerated in a healthy relational environment. I believe that a small group community is essential to form the relationships we need to spur us on in the faith. I have asked Mark and Peggy Bracewell to share their experience when they visited a Family Group for the first time in September.
CLICK HERE TO READ ON
CLICK HERE TO READ OR PRINT:
FAMILY GROUPS 2012 (photos and details)
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Worship and Arts Ministry
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Larry Carpenter
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Hi everyone, it's good to have the students back in town as we move into fall and begin to ramp things back up into the holiday season. We continue to add new members to our teams on a monthly basis for which we are grateful. At the same time it is good to celebrate and feature volunteers that have been with us for a while. This month I've asked Heather Justice, one of our singers, to share her Gainesville story with us...
 | | Heather Justice |
I love being on TFC worship team. I moved to Gainesville in December 2011 and as soon as my mom and I attended TFC we knew that is where God wanted us to be and where we felt most at home. The praise and worship time is so awesome and full of talent and I knew I wanted to be a part of that amazing ministry! So, I inquired about it in January 2012 and have had the opportunity to be onboard ever since!
I was always in children's plays at church growing up and loved singing. I took piano and flute lessons for a short time in my childhood, but decided I wanted to sing more than anything. I always participated in choir in school and looked forward to the spring and Christmas concerts.
When I was younger and my grandpa was still alive, it was always a blessing to get together with my dad, aunts, and grandma and grandpa and listen to the amazing harmonies they could create. I loved sitting on my grandpa's lap and listening to him praise the Lord and just take in the moments of everyone being together and singing.
While I grew up singing a lot of hymns, I began to enjoy more contemporary, praise and worship music because personally, it speaks more to my heart. Sometimes the words in a song can help me get through a situation or tough time in my life knowing music is one of God's ways of speaking to me. I feel thankful and blessed to be part of such a wonderful church family and worship team.
Thank you Heather. We feel blessed to have you here at The Family Church as well. Just like Heather and so many other talented people that we are fortunate enough to serve with every week, we have room for you! Please let me know how we can get you connected...
Come join us as we grow, Larry
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Missions Ministry
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Jeff West
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Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) - You may have heard about it, but ... does it really make a difference? Is it really worth my time? Do they really need MY involvement? To make it real simple, the answer is YES, YES, and YES. The Bible alone gives us enough motivation to participate in this significant ministry to families in crisis in our community.
"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him. Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." ~ 1 John 3:17-18
As a church body we have two upcoming opportunities to serve the Lord by serving others:
October 7-14 and November 11-18
Whether you are an individual, a couple, a family, or a Family Group, this is the perfect opportunity to apply the recent sermon series that Pastor Max preached about the 4H Club (head, heart, hands, head out). For this ministry to continue, we as the Body of Christ must engage. On a personal note, our Family Group has a designated liaison to work with Don & JoAnn Ugliano, IHN coordinators, and mobilize our folks to help meet needs. This blesses our IHN guests and strengthens our Family Group bonds.
Upcoming Short Term Mission (STM) Trips- Coming up. . .
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Youth Ministry
Greetings TFC,
Our entire staff would like to formally thank Brittney Ranard (former youth ministry administrative assistant) for her service to our church and ask you all to be in prayer for her and her family as this little guy she's carrying, is giving her a tough time. Under doctor's advisement Brittney resigned to tend to her health and that of her unborn child, so we wish her well, thank her for being a part of this team and encourage you all to lift her up. She will still be around here as a part of TFC but not as a part of the staff any longer. We are saddened by her departure but applaud her for what she has done to help our student ministry grow and for what she is doing now to prioritize her family and help it to grow. We will miss you Britt!
 | | Brenda Herring |
To that end, our student ministry would like to introduce you to the new youth ministry administrative assistant, Brenda Herring. Though we were caught off guard by Brittneys hasty departure, God wasn't. Brenda transitioned in very seamlessly as she has been around TFC since the early Spring getting more engaged with various ministries, helping with VBS and generally falling in love with what God is up to around here. Brenda brings many years of valuable experience in both the business and youth ministry worlds to our team. She has been a salon and spa owner and served as a long-time volunteer in youth ministry at her previous church in Cross City, Fl. Brenda has three children, two daughter-n-laws, 1 grandchild, a servant's heart with a desire to invest in teenagers and a can do spirit that is simply infectious. I hope you will all help me in making her feel welcome by introducing yourself when you see her around our youth kiosk on Sunday mornings or just during the week here in the office. If you have any questions or need youth info, Brenda is your new contact. Her email is brendah@thefamilychurch.net. Welcome to the team Brenda! We are so glad you are here!
In His grip,
Pastor Mark
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The Problem: Was There Evil Before the Fall?
By Stephen F. Larner, PhD
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Ornithomimus
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A divisive issue in the evolution-creation debate is whether there were billions of years of animal death, disease, predation, extinction and other natural evils, such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and tsunamis before humans were created, and before the Fall. Can this evolutionist view of history be harmonized with the Bible? Is the Biblical teaching on the Fall of Adam and its consequences and the character of God compatible with this kind of pre-Fall evil?1
Scriptures inform us that all divine acts in Genesis 1 occurred instantaneously on the days specified. Conversely, nothing even hints God required or used billions of years to achieve His objectives. Psalm 33:6-9 emphasizes the miraculous and instantaneous nature of divine creative acts, "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. . . . For He spoke and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." Likewise, all Jesus Christ's miracles, the Creator who became a man (John 1:1-10), transpired instantly when He spoke.One of the greatest barriers to belief in God centers on suffering and evil in the world. Why would a loving God create a world with such widespread violence, pain, and death? The fact is He created a perfect world, one where humans have free will. It is through their disobedience that death and suffering entered the world. Evolutionists would rather have us believe that violence, predation, and death were required for life to evolve. If God brought about life via evolution there is no way to reconcile that with a loving God.2
CLICK HERE TO READ ON
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Orphan Care Ministry 
The Orphan Care Ministry wants to extend a huge "Thank you!!" to everyone in our church family who brought in a Journey Bag last month. When we began the project, we bought sixty bags and prayed that the Lord would help us fill all of them. Instead, we have received about 150 bags to date, and they just keep flowing in! Do you know what is so amazing about that number besides that it is way bigger than what we'd hoped for? 150 is almost exactly the number of children that come into foster care every year in our area. In his grace, God moved in the hearts of His people to provide enough bags so that every single child that comes into foster care in Alachua and surrounding counties over the next year will be given a Journey Bag!
 Rejoice with me in the God who is a father to the fatherless...the God who moves hearts to act on behalf of these precious children who so need to know that they are not forgotten. And remember that each bag is packed with an age appropriate bible. Would you join us in giving these children the greatest gift we could give them - our prayers? Please pray that when each child receives their bag, they will know that they have not been forgotten by God. Please pray that the bibles will be opened and broken hearts will be healed through the words of the Father. Pray that children will come to know Him as Savior.
The Journey Bag Project is just one facet of the Orphan Care Ministry. If you feel led to "spend yourselves" (Isaiah 58:10) on behalf of orphan children, please know there is a place in the Orphan Care Ministry for you. Often folks are hesitant to join us thinking we are here only for those who are called to foster or adopt. But projects like the Journey Bags are a wonderful example of how anyone can become involved in helping orphans. So please contact us or join us at our monthly meetings to find how your gifts and talents can be used for God's kingdom work through this ministry.
Scott and Haley Long
haleyuf@hotmail.com
scottyuf@hotmail.com
9352)375-8685
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Children's Ministry
by Katie Spillman
Our goal in the Children's Ministry is to nurture, grow and disciple God's children and, it has been very exciting to see this happen in the lives of so many children and their families. Our volunteers and leaders are having fun as they teach and model the Truths that are revealed through God's Word in and through various opportunities to reach out to not only to the children of families we have here in our church, but to the children in our surrounding communities. And, as a result, these precious little ones are beginning a faith journey by growing not only in the knowledge of the Word to make wise decisions but, they are also coming to accept Christ as their personal Savior and beginning a faith walk that will transform their lives and others, forever. Not only are they beginning a personal walk with the Lord, but they are also coming to be baptized. Isn't that awesome!!!???!!! As children come to make such an important decision, they have available to them a New Believer's Class (NBC Class) that is taught by Kelly Petruy. Kelly has a love and a gifting to teach children and is fulfilling a great service to the Lord in helping these children discover what it means to be a new believer in Christ. Currently there are eight children participating in this class. In addition, we have children who have accepted Christ and decided to follow through with baptism. During the month of September, three children came forward to be baptized (Demetrice Dixon, Jr., Duke Wise and, Isaac Long). Two of the three that were baptized were from our Dare to Care (D2C) community outreach program. |
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Women's Ministry
Fall Mini-Retreat
The Fall Mini-Retreat is scheduled for October 13th 9:30 - 1:30 upstairs in the FSM Building, $ 8.00 includes lunch...the theme is "Connecting...to God...to Each Other...in Service...
We will need to limit the attendees, so make your plans now, only 2 weeks registration, September 30th and October 7th.
HELP!! HELP!!! HELP!!!
The Women's Council desperately needs volunteers to serve on committees for the Christmas Brunch December 1st. This is always a special event and has been a source of outreach for our friends, family and co-workers...but we need your help! So please pray about serving in this area.
We are also looking for those who are interested in serving on the council for the coming year. If you are interested, please contact Vivian Sawyer at 352-514-2845 or viviansawyer@yahoo.com
Fall Events:
October 13th: Fall Mini-Retreat
December 1st: Christmas Brunch
February: Spring Bible Study TBA
April 12th-14th: Spring Retreat
May 4th: Mother-Daughter Tea
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Men's Ministry - The M.O.B. (Men of Brotherhood)
After three years of faithful service as the Point-man for the M.O.B., Bob Welch is stepping down and Mark Ulmer is stepping up. Bob will still be actively involved with the Men's Council. Mark, who is already a member of the Council will ensure a seamless transition of leadership. It is still not too late to sign up for and participate in Florida Men of Integrity's Iron Sharpens Iron (ISI) Conference in Ocala, FL, Saturday, October 13, 2012. Early registration (10 days in advance) for individuals is $48 and for groups is $39 per person. Full time students (ages 13-22) is $29 per person while teenage sons who register with their dads can come for FREE! For more information about time and location or to register, go to: www.IronSharpensIron.net. Save this date - Men's Winter Retreat - Friday evening through Saturday afternoon, January 25-26, 2013. This year we are ramping things up a notch with the men's winter retreat. We have secured Lake Swan Camp near Melrose, FL as the location for this event. Registration will begin on Monday, October 15th. More details to come next month.
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"We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it", we say what we believe.
And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory:
more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!
So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
These hard times are small potatoes compared
to the coming good times,
the lavish celebration prepared for us.
There's far more here than meets the eye.
The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow.
But the things we can't see now will last FOREVER!"
2 Corinthians 4: 13-18 The Message
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The Family Church
2022 SW 122nd Street
Gainesville, FL 32607352-332-6459
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