September the 12th is our 75th Birthday! We are celebrating in a huge way and want you to come! We have planned one magnificent celebration service to begin at 9:30am. Our own choir and orchestra will lead us in worship! Roger Breland and the Voices of Mobile will be our musical guests on this special day. Roger brought the group Truth here on many occasions in years past. Our people will be blessed by the memories and the Christ exalting music that Dr. Breland will share. We will have a special media presentation given to the gathered group that morning that will be snippet of our churches fabulous history. I will preach a special 75th Anniversary sermon. Following the service we will not have our usual Sunday School but will fellowship around a wonderful, complimentary BBQ lunch that will enable us to see old and new friends. Oh yes…one more thing. Everyone will receive a 75th Anniversary keepsake gift that will last a lifetime. You simply don’t want to miss this special day. Come and be apart of a historic day!-A celebration of the past and vision of the future at North Central!  Happy Birthday!

We are very excited about what the Lord is doing at Vacation Bible School this week at North Central. We have a fabulous group of leaders who have been pouring God’s Word into these precious children. What a great time they all have had. This coming Sunday night we will have a Musical presentation performed by these precious children. You don’t want to miss it. Following the musical, we will have a carnival for the children and our whole church family. We will even have some live animals that will be brought for the children to see! Fun and refreshments for the entire family!

What an awesome thing that the 4th of July falls this year on Sunday! Why don’t you join us at North Central for Worship at 9:30am? Our guests will be the Word of Life College Ensemble from Hudson, Fl under the direction of Tom Phillips. These students have a contagious walk with Jesus. I appreciate their willingness to come and lead us in worship. We will look at a passage of scripture that I believe is relevant for our times. Israel was in turmoil. The pillars of society were weakened considerably and the followers of God wondered what to do. Sound familiar? Come join us for a time to think about our response as God’s children to the drifting of our nation. I believe that you will be encouraged!

This was the invitation last night at Youth Camp. Tom Phillips, the director of Word of Life Florida preached a great message from Romans 12:1 at the Thursday night Campfire service. Several of our youth went forward to dedicate their lives to Christ. The commitment that they made reads like this: All I am…All I have…All I ever hope to be…I now and forever dedicate to the Lord Jesus Christ for His use and glory, absolutely, unconditionally, now and forever. Now Lord, hold me to it. This the commitment that our youth made. My prayer is that all of us would say “Yes” to the Lordship of Christ!

Tonight I had a meeting with the older guys at the youth camp. I asked them what God was doing in their lives-I wanted them to vocalize what they sensed Him saying to them. I was so encouraged! One young man shared that he felt God leading him to take the gospel overseas! Another sees himself doing youth work in the future in a local church! All of this is evidence to me of the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m so grateful for the opportunity that God has given us to work with youth. What potential is wrapped up in everyone of these lives. Here is the question:  Are we being faithful to the calling on us as a church to give them the truth and are we as adults modeling the life of a Christ follower to them?

What a blessing to see our people growing in their faith in Jesus Christ.

I’m writing this article after a Sunday in which we welcomed three individuals into our fellowship. Two were already believers and one young man came on Profession of Faith in Jesus Christ! Our task has remained the same–to win people to Christ & to disciple/equip those we reach. Our Sunday School is the best place to involve people in growth & ministry in the church. Research done by Thom Rainer of Lifeway Christian Resources revealed that of 100 people who attend the worship services only, 16 of those people will be with us five years from now. If 100 attend both Worship & Sunday School, 83 will still be active in the church after five years. Simply stated, those who attend Sunday School are five times more likely to remain in our fellowship. If you or someone you know is not attending our Sunday School, why not invite them to your class? We have some of the finest Bible teachers to be found anywhere. These teachers study the Word & minister to their class members.

Put June 20-23, 2010 down on your calendar for our Connect Conference. We will have church wide services each night beginning at 7pm. Pastor Anthony George will be our guest preacher. He is pastor of the Aloma Baptist Church in Orlando, Florida. This is one of our booming churches in Florida. Anthony is a wonderful Bible teacher. He will share dynamic messages that will be a great encouragement to the friends, neighbors, & co-workers that you bring. Music will be provided by the dynamic youth choir of First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia. This choir is over 100 strong & will lift the roof off of our building as they praise the Lord Jesus Christ. Our youth will join them in ministry throughout our city during the daytime. Monday through Wednesday, we will have a Block Party/Carnival from 5:45-6:45pm at the church right before the evening Conference meeting. The kids will love this. Special events & face-painting will accompany the regular booths that they will love. We will also have $1 meals available for anyone who wants to grab supper at the church before the services. We are doing this to make it as easy as possible for you to bring a friend. Be praying for hundreds to be involved in this special outreach to our city. Here’s how you can be involved:

1. Prayer. Please take these efforts to the Lord in prayer daily. We must have His Power!

2. Housing. We need at least 35 homes to house students. They will be in groups of 2-4(either guys or girls.) Please contact Jennifer Gladdish, she will be thrilled to hear from you: jgladd1@cox.net

3. Bring friends to the services. Ask for God’s leading as God prepares hearts to hear the gospel.

4. Pray about other ways to be involved. These may include: hosting a Bible Club, working at the Carnival, helping with the meals, mapping out survey routes, set up/clean up; giving financially & much, much, more!

I can’t wait for Mother’s Day on the 9th, a day that all treasure.

This is graduation time for some in our church. Congratulations! Our hats are off to the graduates & their parents! Our prayer is that each student will live the remainder of their lives with Christ on the throne of their heart. Our own Rachel is graduating from Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. We can’t believe it! It seems like she was born just a few years ago. Where does the time go?

Continue praying for the 75th Anniversary Committee of the church (September 12th) & for our Future Expansion Committee. Important days are ahead in the life of our precious fellowship.

On Sunday, April 11, Dr. Alvin Reid will be our pulpit guest. God is using Dr. Reid all over America as he has been unusually anointed in sharing the message of Jesus with God’s people. I really encourage you to be here. Dr. Reid will be speaking to our college students on their annual Spring retreat. We already have over 50 that are planning to be a part of this spectacular weekend. The title of the retreat is ADVANCE. We are praying that Jesus will Advance this group of students into the world to make a difference for the gospel’s sake. Any college students wishing to sign up can still do so by emailing us in the office at info@gatorchurch.com or by calling us at 352-373-3341. The cost is only $25 which includes lodging, food, and the sessions. You don’t want to miss this great weekend.

The Youth of North Central Baptist are on the move! Two Saturdays ago, 20 youth and workers went to a local Nursing Home to minister to the residents. We sang the great hymns of the faith, read the Easter story, gave testimonies, and presented the Gospel!  You would have been so proud of these students. This past weekend I had the privilege with 25 others to go to the Florida Baptist Convention’s Youth Evangelism Conference in Orlando. What a blessing to spend those days with some of the brightest, growing Christian students that I know of anywhere!

Let me encourage all of our parents to sign their

students up for Youth Camp 2010! A deposit of $75 is due by April 18th. Word of Life Camp in Hudson, Florida (outside of Tampa) is the location for our camp this year. The dates for camp are June 26-July 3. Our students will absolutely love the activities and fun they will have. Our students will be encouraged to give over their lives to Jesus and to commit to grow in their Christian lives. I will personally take our students to the camp along with our wonderful youth workers. You can find more information on camp in this edition of the Lifeline.  Don’t let any students you know miss this strategic week!

Happy Anniversary! Hold September 12th for our 75^th Anniversary Celebration. Our wonderful anniversary team is making plans for us to experience the memory of the past and the promise of a bright future on this special day.

Thank you for the privilege of being your Pastor.

I’m writing this article on a Thursday
morning and rejoicing over what God is
doing among our Youth. Last night I had
the privilege of speaking to a wonderful
group of youth who were engaged in the
study of God’s Word. We learned about the
fact that if they are believers in Jesus Christ,
they are members of the Body of Christ with
a purposeful assignment from the Lord. Our
fine Discipleship in Action Leaders took their
small groups to share & pray together. I’m thankful for these
dedicated adults that work with our students.
All of our Youth are encouraged to join with us on March
20th at 3:30pm to minister at the Woodlands Nursing
Home. We will sing and share testimonies with the residents
there and enjoy some Pizza afterwards. We are also preparing to
go to the Florida Baptist Youth Evangelism Conference in
beautiful Orlando, Florida on the 26th and 27th of March. Mark
these dates on your calendar.
The Future Expansion Committee elected last month has
already met twice and is working hard under the
excellent leadership of our chairman, Mr. Fred Hart. Please
be in prayer for this group to have the wisdom of God as they
are charged with bringing a recommendation to the church
fellowship.
This fall we celebrate North Central’s 75th Anniversary. Be
praying that we would have some special days of rejoicing
together over what the Lord has done through this precious
fellowship of believers. There have been thousands who have
been saved and baptized in our fellowship during our great
history. God’s hand has been on this church. We are praying for
an even greater history for the next 75 years.
March 7th we begin a new Sunday night sermon series
entitled, ‘Do you have Questions?’ Have you
ever wondered how to answer questions like-“Why do the
innocent suffer?, Is there really a God?, What about those that
have never heard the gospel?” We will be handling those and
other key questions from the scripture on Sunday nights. Also, our
study of Acts will be ending soon. Pray for the leadership of the
Lord as we move into another study together on Sunday
mornings.
The Liberty Wind Ensemble will be with us on Wednesday
night, March 17at 6pm. Come for a delicious supper at 5pm
and enjoy wonderful music that will lead you to the heights of
worship. Our own Amy Fox is a student at Liberty University and
plays in this group. Her parents, Dave and Mary Ann, are helping
us enlist host families for this phenomenal 60 member group. Let
them know if you can keep two of these students for one night.
Dr. Alvin Reid will be our guest in the morning worship
service on Sunday, April 11. Dr. Reid is a professor of
evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Wake Forest, North Carolina. He is being used of God all over this
country as he speaks to students. He will be with our college
students in their annual spring retreat on Friday and Saturday,
April 9 and 10th in beautiful Hilliard, Florida.
Please pray with me about a major church wide
evangelistic outreach scheduled for June 20-23 of this
year. Pastor Anthony George from Aloma Baptist Church in the
Orlando Area will be preaching here 4 nights–Sunday through
Wednesday–as we seek to reach our friends for Christ. We will
host the Prayz Choir, made up of youth from the First Baptist
Church of Atlanta, Georgia. This 100 voice youth choir will join our
youth in a daytime ministry to hundreds and they will sing and
lead worship for our entire congregation in the evenings. We will
have the assignment of inviting everyone possible to these
powerful gospel meetings.
It is wonderful to be the Pastor of such a precious
fellowship of believers. Let’s all be looking for someone in our
path that needs Jesus Christ. This is our assignment-to reach
someone with the gospel and then to see to it that they grow in
Christ.
I love you in the Lord,
Calvin J. Carr

The Lord’s Supper was given to the church by the Lord Jesus Himself. He said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” On Sunday morning February 7th we will have the Lord’s Supper service at 9:30am. This is unusual for us. We normally have the observance of the Lord’s Supper on Sunday evenings. I wanted to highlight this special day for all of our members and friends. We are bringing can goods and non-perishables to the Lord’s supper service. Please place your can goods and non-perishable items on the tables that will be set up in the Worship Center. These will be donated to a local food bank to be used in our community. This is part of the “Souper Bowl of Caring” effort around the world. This organization challenges congregations to make an effort to give back to their communities on Super Bowl Sunday. The Souper Bowl of caring ministry doesn’t collect the goods, they simply record what amounts are donated and announce later what God’s people all over the world have given.

The College ministry will have a Super Bowl party at the church following our evening service on February 7th. Other classes in our Bible Study Ministry may have parties after the service. In an effort to involve more in our evening activities on Super Bowl Sunday, we have decided to have one service at the church (6pm).

We have begun a Word of Life Club outreach to youth on Wednesday nights. I’m writing this article on a Thursday following one of the most exciting youth meetings I’ve ever been in. Our youth are being challenged by our leaders to have their daily quiet time, memorize scripture, and participate in Bible Study and prayer. We have wonderful students here at North Central. They deserve our absolute best. Please invite any youth you know to be a part of it.

Jonathan and Shelly Griggs are leading our Friday night Bible study for College students at the home of Mark and Chrissy Severance. Jonathan and Shelly and their sweet family will be headed to the Far East to become involved with missionary work with our International Mission Board. This is a once in a lifetime chance to hear from them prior to their departure. I urge all of our students and their friends to be a part of this special time.

Men! Hold February 27th on your calendar. The Real Men’s Event will be held at Skeeter Ranch from 8am to 4:30pm on that day for you and your sons and grandsons. Cost is $20 for adults and $15 for children but that includes a huge lunch and tons of activities designed with you in mind. See www.realmensevent.org for all the details. We are signing up our own men so get signed up this coming Sunday morning.

Please be praying about two other things of great importance to our church. First, our Future Expansion Committee will be working on the important matter of planning and implementing the completion of more space for our growing congregation. We only want the perfect will of the Lord in these matters. Pray for them. Second, this September is the 75th Anniversary of North Central Baptist Church. Our committee to plan this observance will be hard at work also in the weeks ahead. Pray for them.

It is a blessing to be your Pastor.

Because of Him,

Calvin J. Carr

Pastor

I believe that 2010 will be our greatest year in reaching people with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! We are called to fulfill the Great Commission-to “make disciples” of all nations. Our mission is clear-to do whatever we can to get the gospel to the lost and to faithfully disciple those that are within our sphere of influence.
I am looking forward to meeting with all of the parents of our youth on Sunday night, Jan.10th in the fellowship hall following the Sunday evening service. We will discuss some upcoming plans for our students that I believe will impact them for Jesus. The young people of our church should get the very best that we have to offer. We have always been a church with a priority for youth. We will make an all out effort to focus on our young people in the days ahead.
Upward Basketball games begin on Jan. 8th. Let’s be praying for the outreach potential for each of the boys and girls enlisted in this fine program. Pray for coaches and leaders as they attempt to lead their players to love Jesus more.
We look forward to welcoming our college students back for yet another semester here at University of Florida and Santa Fe College. I’m thankful for the fine team of leaders that the Lord has assembled to work in our College Sunday School. Students, mark your calendars for April 9-11 for our College Retreat with Dr. Alvin Reid. Dr. Reid is professor of Evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forrest, North Carolina. He is a highly sought after speaker across the United States. He is being used of God in an unusual way among college students. I know that he has spoken several times at the University of Florida. Students mark your calendars. Dr. Reid will be concluding with our students right here at the church as he preaches for our whole congregation both Sunday morning and Sunday night on April 11th.
The Celebration Choir and Orchestra has been growing by leaps and bounds. Their retreat is scheduled for January 23rd right here at the church. Now is the time for you to join our wonderful music ministry. See Brother Michael for more detail about how to use your talents for the Lord.
It is a wonderful privilege to be your Pastor. Let’s make 2010 a year consecrated and dedicated to Jesus! Looking forward to seeing you this Sunday.

Pastor Calvin