Category Archives: Events

Soup, Soil, & Super Sunday

February 5, 2011 By in Events Tags: , , , 1 Comment

If you think I’m referring to the big game tomorrow night, think again.

In my mind the significance of Super Bowl XLV pales in comparison to the day before us at Orlando Grace tomorrow.

In the first place, we get to practice Titus 3:14 – And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

Hunger, particularly in these tough economic times, is always an urgent need. Every year on Super Bowl Sunday, the Christian Service Center of Orlando petitions the churches of this city to collect non-perishable food items to help restock their food pantry for feeding the hungry. Have you pulled your items from the shelf yet? The deacons will have a designated spot in the entry way tomorrow for you to leave your offering. Let us do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8) as Evan reminded us so well in last week’s message.

In the second place, we get to break ground for our facility (pray for good weather)! At 3 PM tomorrow afternoon we will participate in a service of worship on our property for giving the construction project of our church over to God. After the turning of the soil, those who call OGC their church home will bring soil from their own households to put in the hole symbolic of each one’s investment in this kingdom enterprise. Have you dug up your bit of ground yet? That’s ours in the baggie on the right.

As some of us put the finishing touches on prepping the property this morning for the ceremony, we mentioned numerous times our growing sense of excitement at the historic day and process before us. We will really get to do this, if God continues to give us favor!

Will you join with me this evening and throughout the day tomorrow that God will be glorified in all we say and do and that our joy will grow as we embrace the challenge He has put before us? Watch with me tomorrow and throughout the rest of the year as He will do immeasurably beyond all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20-21)!

Groundbreaking Countdown!

January 28, 2011 By in Events Tags: , , , Leave a comment

It has been so long since I’ve done a blog post, I’m not certain I remember how to do it!

Fortunately our website has returned to the land of the living. Thanks, Greg, for going the extra mile to get us back in service.

What better way to return to the blogosphere than by reminding everyone that in just a little over a week we will break ground for our first ever facility?

Here’s what you need to know:

As the sign indicates, the date is set for February 6th at 3:00 p.m (not 4 as originally communicated) on our property at 872 Maitland Avenue. We will be having an informal picnic on the property immediately after the worship service. Pack a lunch or go pick up something from your favorite take-out place and bring it to the property. Also bring lawn chairs (extra for guests if you have them) and/or blankets for seating. Parking will be on the vacant adjacent property just south of our parcel. Portable “facilities” will be on site for our convenience. Please, each household also bring a finger food to share among ourselves and our guests after the ground breaking (A-M – savory; N-Z – sweet). Drinks will be provided. Members, and those working toward membership, will also want to bring a couple of ounces of dirt from their own properties to place in the hole that will be turned by our groundbreaking shovels to symbolize the participation of all our people in the building of God’s church. Every family that attends will receive a special gift memento.

The property won’t look like this for much longer. February 6 is right around a corner. It will be a banner day in the history of our church!

Please pray that the invitations that have gone out to the surrounding homeowners will result in some attending the groundbreaking ceremony and that the gospel of Jesus will touch their hearts.

And it wouldn’t hurt to pray for decent weather as well, now that I think about it.

Hang on to your hats. It’s gonna be a great year for Orlando Grace Church!

Giving Thanks – Not Optional

November 22, 2010 By in Events Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Our confession of faith makes it clear. The giving of thanks comprises an essential component of true worship. Under the heading of Religious Worship, and the Lord’s Day paragraph 3 begins, God requires all men to pray to Him, and to give thanks, this being one part of natural worship.

Psalm 65:2 states Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion. Psalm 95:1-2 commands Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! Psalm 118 starts Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.

Jesus modeled thanksgiving in his prayers. I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth; that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will (Matt. 11:25-26). Paul directed prayer as a first priority for the worshiping church and included thanksgiving as part of its character. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people (1 Tim. 2:1). Indeed, the filling of the Spirit manifests itself in our lives by a relentless penchant for giving thanks (Eph. 5:18-20).

If I pause to consider, it amazes me just how much I have to thank God for as another Thanksgiving holiday comes around. So great a salvation. Relative sanctification (I have so far to go!). The Spirit’s voice. The precious word of God. Length of days. A loving, forbearing (if you only knew) wife. Kids, grand kids, and extended family. Shelter and provision in abundance. Ministry opportunities galore. Faithful friends. Keeping providence. Grace that abounds in the face of my sin. The covenant community at OGC. Making friends for eternity among the Digo and other people groups. Great co-workers. I could go on and on!

As this Thursday approaches and our country heeds the call of our forefathers to give thanks, how do you find your gratitude quotient? Perhaps you might make a list like the one above, recounting the many ways in which God has blessed you. Maybe you could include a sharing time around your table on Thursday as to why you are thankful. How about writing a friend and let him/her know why you are grateful. Be sure to include a note in the note about your gratitude for that friend! That will be a great encouragement. If you need help with this, you might want to read Scotty Smith’s post concerning prayer about being a gratitude-geyser.

It is not optional for the Christian, this discipline of thanksgiving. But if we give it some thought, we will find that it doesn’t take much to get the gratitude juices going. God has given us so much. If you don’t think so, just read Ephesians 1:3. If that doesn’t get you going, I don’t know what will.

Will There Be Knitting at the Men's Retreat?

November 15, 2010 By in Events Tags: , , Leave a comment

Not the kind that probably first comes to mind, I can assure you.

But I pray for the kind of knitting of soul between brothers that happened between David and Jonathan in 1 Sam. 18:1-5 immediately after David slew Goliath.

As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. [2] And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. [3] Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. [4] And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. [5] And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

Look carefully at the terminology in v. 1. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. That’s a good translation of the Hebrew word used here. It means literally to tie a knot or make a chain. The same word is used in Gen. 44:30 to describe the relationship between Jacob and his son, Benjamin – his life is bound up in the boy’s life.

This is remarkable! Jonathan, Saul’s firstborn, stands in line to inherit the throne. If ever anyone had reason to be suspicious of the young upstart David and reject him as a consummate threat, it was Jonathan. And yet something of an immediate chemistry with David strikes him resulting in love that binds them soul to soul. The text says, As soon as he had finished speaking, this happened. Jonathan overheard the conversation between his father and the young man at the end of chapter 17. But words on the lips reflect passions, commitments, character traits in the heart. These two ended up with hearts beating hard together. As one hand climbed the cliffs at Michmash and bested a whole garrison proclaiming, Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few ( 1 Sam. 14:6), so the other hurled a stone from a sling felling a giant declaring, The Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand (1 Sam. 17:47). Proverbs 27:9 became their reality from that moment on. Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

My point is that this was something special. It was indeed a peculiar, soul-mate kind of affection. It was a gift from God. You don’t get this kind of connection all that frequently. When it comes, treasure it, cultivate it, protect it. It is worth its weight in gold.

It’s the kind of thing that can start when men get together for a weekend to pursue their covenant commitments toward one another on retreat. It’s not too late to sign up. Call the office today and register for some soul knitting.

An Annual Call to Remember

November 13, 2010 By in Events Tags: , , Leave a comment

Tomorrow we will observe, as we always do, the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church.

Scriptures like Hebrews 13:3 compel us to do so:

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

Open Doors estimates some 100 million of our brothers and sisters around the globe suffer mistreatment for their faith.

This year’s world watch list, which reports the worst nations in the world for persecuting Christians, has the following nations in the top ten positions in 2010:

1. North Korea (#1 for the eighth year in a row)
2. Iran
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Somalia
5. Maldives (collection of over two hundred islands South West of India’s tip)
6. Afghanistan
7. Yemen (the Arabian Peninsula)
8. Mauritania (West Africa)
9. Laos
10. Uzbekistan (central Asia, north of Afghanistan)

I plan to preach on Daniel 3:1-30. I have entitled the message Fearless Faith in the Fiery Furnace.

Rather than devote the 9:30 hour to prayer for the persecuted church this year, we felt the need to keep the momentum going in the Gospel in Life equipping class. Instead we decided to shift our regular 8:30 AM prayer time to the church property, albeit a meager way, but nonetheless an attempt to identify with so many who gather for prayer and worship in far, far less comfort and even danger than we do.

If you like, bring a blanket or folding chair with you. We will have resources from Voice of the Martyrs available to guide our praying.

Hope to see you on the property nice and early tomorrow morning.

There will be no prayer meeting at the SDA site at that time.

May God have mercy on our brothers and sisters in chains around the globe as we gather to remember, identify, and pray.

An Acts 9:31 Birthday Wish/Prayer for OGC

November 5, 2010 By in Events Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Our church turns 19 on Sunday. Thanks be to God. It pleases the Lord to grant us corporate length of days.

As we head toward the actual anniversary this Sunday, I want to share with you a personal birthday wish/prayer I have for our church each time of year our anniversary comes around. My hope is you will join in making it with me.

It comes from Acts 9:31.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

By peace Luke means rest from persecution. The previous chapters record the hits taken by the fledgling church throughout Palestine in the form of heavy persecution. But now, following Saul’s conversion, she enjoys a widespread, relative peace.

But that’s not all the author tells us about the church in this season of blessed rest. He mentions two other significant realities about her. First, she was being built up. Edified. The Greek word gives us a word picture of a house under construction. We might say she was becoming more spiritual.

Second, she multiplied. The church grew. Numbers were added. Souls were saved. People were converted. The kingdom advanced.

How did these two things occur? Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Walking conveys the idea of an everyday kind of experience. It was second nature for this church of the first century to reverence God and to be strengthened by His Spirit. In other words they were a Godward people in every sense of the word. As a result, they were edified and multiplied.

G. Campbell Morgan, in his commentary on this verse, wrote:

It is impossible to read this verse without being reminded of the missionary vocation of the Church. Here the Church is seen going on its way, going in the way the Lord commanded it, going to the nations to disciple them, going into the cosmos to suffer in order to save; and going on its way in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. These two things are closely united. The first part of the verse ends “being edified”; the second part ends “was multiplied.” The underlying thought is exactly the same. Consequently if the Church is to be missionary, she must be spiritual; and if the church is to be spiritual, she must be missionary (The Acts of the Apostles, Fleming H. Revell, 1924, pp. 253-54.

Spiritual and missionary. Edified and multiplied. To be one or the other we must be both. That is my prayer for OGC as we move into our 20th year. May God make us spiritual and missionary, edified and multiplied, to a greater extent than we ever have before!

Will you join me in praying this birthday wish for our church?

The Men's Bakeoff Dessert to Beat

November 3, 2010 By in Events Tags: , , , , , , 5 Comments

It’s official.

I’ve entered. The hat’s in the ring. The gauntlet is down.

No more 7 Layer Cookies either. I’m trying a whole new approach. Can’t say what category. Gotta lay low. Be anonymous.

EF, you’re in trouble. MG, get ready to lose your crown. JG, too bad you moved to NC.

PC has the RCP for the PNC that will blow the competition AWAY!

Only problem is . . . there isn’t much competition as of yet.

Come on you last minute Louies – get with the program. Contact the office and take your chances. Go ahead, I dare you.You don’t have a chance.

So much for Gal. 5:26.

Not Just A Halloween Alternative

October 30, 2010 By in Events, Uncategorized Tags: 1 Comment

Tomorrow we observe Reformation Day at OGC.

Reformed churches of many types mark October 31 each year as the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in church history when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the Wittenburg door.

In the morning I will preach from Habbakuk 2:4b a message entitled The Verse That Launched the Protestant Reformation.

Then in the evening we will gather back at the SDA facility for a family celebration of Reformation Day for all ages.

We will assemble in the auditorium for an introduction and instructions. Then we will proceed to the fellowship hall for variety of kid-friendly activities in different booths designed to teach our children and families about various aspects of this most important event in church history. For example we will have a carpenter shop for nail hammering races, an alms booth with penny pitching, a Wittenburg door to dramatize the nailing of the 95 theses, just to name a few. Light refreshments will be served.

Then we will process back to the auditorium to conclude with among other things, songs and a special presentation by . . . oh well, just come and see and enjoy!

We owe much to the work of God in the 16th century that brought about the reforms that shape our church to this very day.

Let’s join together tomorrow in remembering and giving thanks!

Men's Retreat

September 21, 2010 By in Events Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Guys!

Have you marked your calendars yet?

Be sure to set aside Friday and Saturday, November 19 and 20, for our annual men’s retreat at Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center in Leesburg, FL.

We will be joining with our brothers at Faith Baptist Church for an exciting time in fellowship and in God’s Word.

This year’s theme is In Praise of Lesser Known Saints: Making a Difference Though You’re No Household Name.

More details will be coming shortly.

Vacation Bible School Opportunity

July 7, 2010 By in Events Tags: , 1 Comment

Our friends at Faith Baptist Church are hosting a VBS for children next week, July 12-16, 6-8:30 PM.

Here is the theme of the week:

Wisdom Calls Aloud
A Study for Children on Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord.
We will learn about wisdom and foolishness and how to get wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

They will have lessons, activities, games, and crafts.

Questions? Call their church office at 407-894-4031.