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

I love December. The birth of Jesus is central to the meaning of Christmas. Our world is doing all it can to remove the true meaning of Christmas. No matter how hard they try, nothing can over shadow the significance of what Jesus Christ did 2000 years ago. My prayer for our church family is that this would be the most Jesus centered Christmas we’ve ever had.

David Champagne, trumpet soloist will be performing on Sunday morning, December 6 with our own orchestra. David has been here before. He loves Jesus and is an amazing trumpeter. You won’t be disappointed when you hear this fine young man use his talent for the Lord.

The Wonder of Christmas is the title for our Christmas Dinner Theatre, December 13th. I absolutely love this event every year. A fabulous meal, great Christmas music and drama, and the clear presentation of the gospel are the highlights of this Music and Media event. Brother Michael Anderson and our team of musicians are working extra hard to give us a splendid Christmas gift. We are so blessed to have an event such as this in our church. Make sure and buy your tickets. Let me encourage you to do something important. Buy your tickets, but also buy at least two extra so that you can bring two others that would be blessed by such a wonderful presentation. I can’t wait!

A Smokey Mountain Christmas is scheduled for Sunday night, December 20 in the 6pm service. When I think about a Smokey Mountain Christmas, I think of singing the wonderful carols of the season with guitars, piano, and maybe even a banjo! Picture yourself in a mountain cabin with friends and family singing along. Who better to lead this service than the Privette family singers! This wonderful family is amazingly talented. You will hear special songs performed by this family playing many different instruments. You will also have the opportunity to sing along with them on the traditional Christmas hymns. Don’t miss this night!!

Our Christmas Eve Candlelight Lord’s Supper Service is a very meaningful service. It is an opportunity to slow down right before the big day and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. This service teaches some great lessons to our children. It gives all ages an opportunity to remember the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice.

One way we impact the world in missions is through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. This year our goal is $17,000. I know of no other more significant offering for missions in the world! Pray about what you will give to the Lord Jesus through this special offering. We will take it up on all Sundays of the month of December.

We are well on our way to retiring the Scholarship Fund debt. Last Sunday mornings offering for our fund was $4,158.00. Some had given early which totaled an additional $1,980.00. This means that during our drive we raised an additional $6,138.00 toward this worthy cause. We will make two more regular payments this year of $736 each. When we started our campaign we owed $14,418.02 to the scholarship loan. With our cash gifts just given, and the two other payments we are scheduled to make, our total debt to the scholarship fund will be down to $6808.02 on the last day of this month! Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord!

Speaking of money matters, the Stewardship Committee is presenting our budget to the church on Sunday, December 6th. Be on the lookout for it. The committee will be grateful to answer questions concerning the budget. We will vote on the budget following the Sunday evening service on December 20.

It is a wonderful blessing to be your Pastor. Kelly and I and our entire family want to wish you a wonderful, Christ centered Christmas. May we all look for opportunities to share the greatest gift of all with someone who needs Jesus.

Pastor Calvin J. Carr

In the excellent book, The Treasure Principle, author Randy Alcorn teaches us that there is one great way to sum up the Bible’s teaching on Stewardship. He says it this way, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead!” This is laying up treasure in Heaven. Jesus spoke more about giving than he did about heaven and hell combined! I heard one pastor say this, “The nerve that runs from a man’s spiritual life to his wallet is the most sensitive of all!”The outward fruit of many conversions in the Bible were demonstrations of giving. Think of Zacchaeus who restored what he had taken from people “four-fold”. When Jesus heard this he said, “Today salvation has come to this house . . . “ (Luke 19:8-9) It only makes sense that when a person is truly converted, their stewardship in all areas (including financial) will change.

The Joy of Giving is our November emphasis on Christian stewardship. Our people are studying passages on stewardship in Sunday School and I am preaching messages on Sunday Morning on this same wonderful topic. A church is not faithful to the teaching of the Bible if it never talks about these matters.

All of this will conclude with our annual Harvest Festival Banquet, scheduled for Sunday night, November 22 at 6pm. Mrs. Ann and Mr. Ben Davis will prepare a fabulous dinner for us to enjoy. Our special speaker will be Dr. Mac Brunson, from First Baptist Church of Jacksonville Florida. Dr. Brunson leads a mammoth congregation with the heart of a loving shepherd. I know you will not want to miss this special night. We will be signing up in Sunday School so make sure you get on the list. This will be a night you won’t want to miss.

How we thank the Lord for the great spiritual victories that our church experienced this past Sunday. Bob Tebow was used of the Lord to powerfully preach the Word of God. His morning message centered on the gracious offer of salvation through the Lord Jesus. Sunday night he spoke on the importance of fruitfulness in the lives of believers. One crucial statement he made was, “If you’ve been saved for eighteen months or more, you ought to be teaching someone else!” That was a powerful and convicting statement.

We are thankful for the individuals that gave their lives to Jesus and asked Him to be their Savior! Many believers were challenged and the Lord was glorified!

I encourage you to listen to the messages again. You can access these fine sermons on this website.

May the Lord richly bless you and yours!

It is a blessing to welcome Bob Tebow to North Central this Sunday, October 18th. He will be speaking at both of our Sunday services, 9:30am and 6pm. All are invited to attend.

I have had the privilege of knowing the Tebows for 20 years. They have never wavered in their commitment to the Lord Jesus and His Great Commission task. Prior to coming to North Central as Pastor, I had the unique opportunity to direct the High School Ministry at one of the most dynamic churches in the world, the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida. This was my responsibility for over 18 years.  Bob and Pam Tebow’s two daughters and three sons all went through the High School Ministry during my tenure.  Although most everyone is aware of Tim’s great accomplishments on and off the field, what most may not know is that all five of the Tebow children are champions in their own right.  They all love the Lord and are a testimony to Bob and Pam’s efforts to raise up children with a heart for Christ.

I am excited about having Bob here for a number of reasons.  First, Bob is committed to the Gospel.  He is a Gospel centered preacher.  Secondly, he has a heart for lost people.  Bob has spent the lion’s share of his life getting the gospel to the lost of the Philippines.  Over these years, Bob has reported that hundreds of thousands of these wonderful people have  come to know Jesus through the efforts of his Evangelistic Association.  Third, Bob is real.  I’ve known him for these 20 years.  He’s the same guy to me that he was before Tim ever came to Florida and won two national championships and the Heisman Trophy.  What you see is what you get. I think he and Pam have done as good a job as anyone in the limelight at just displaying that they are servants of the Lord, and want Jesus to get the glory for all He has done!

All are invited to these special services with the hope that they will find the encouragement that they need through a relationship with the living Lord Jesus Christ.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome new and returning college students to Gainesville, Florida for the Fall Semester 2009! What a wonderful opportunity the Lord has given North Central Baptist Church to touch the lives of thousands of collegians throughout our storied 74 year history. Our lives are enriched by your presence in our church and community.

I want to give you Five reasons why you will love it at NCBC!

1. Our people love College Students. That’s right. From the front door to the Small Group Bible studies, our people will give you encouragement and love.  Our college ministry is led by the finest College minister that I know of anywhere, Zach Allen.  He and his sweet wife Shelly have been pouring into UF and Santa Fe students at a record pace.  Zach has assembled a team of leaders that you will love. These leaders are sold out to make this a place that is Biblically relevant for you.

2.  We won’t candy coat the gospel.  When you come here, you will hear the Word of God. In the sermons preached and Bible studies taught our message is simple–surrender to Jesus Christ and experience the magnificent Grace of God.

3.  You can get your hands dirty in ministry here.  I mean that, from mentoring a youth, to the lost man in Gainesville who needs the gospel, we will give you a way to make a difference.  Isn’t that what you want to do anyway? Sure you’ll take chemistry in Leigh Hall but why not also count for Christ through your local church?

4.  We love the nations here.  Our church loves missions.  We are taking college students to Brazil for them to share Jesus.  Many have left our ranks to go all over the world for Christ. We have an international ministry that is awesome.  You like missions?  You’ll like North Central.

5. This place is full of surprises. For years God has blessed our people in unique ways.  Some started pouring into youth here.  Others were called to missions here.  MANY majors are changed by our students. (I think that happens everwhere!) And get this–you may meet your wife here!  Oh yea, that happened to me when I was minding my own business as a college student at North Central.  This beautiful girl named Kelly caught my eye and the rest is history!  I am forever grateful for this place.

So check us out.  We are a New Testament Church that wants to be on mission with God in the world.  Come along with us.  I think you’ll love it!

Our church faces some wonderful opportunities right now. Many of these I put in our August edition of the Lifeline that was mailed to the church family. I thought that it may be helpful to post a copy of my comments on the website blog to remind us of the blessings of the Lord and the great opportunities that are before us! Here it is!—–

I hope this edition of the Lifeline finds you doing well. We have had a fast paced summer & in August we will get back into the swing of a regular school year.

On July the 5th, I asked the church to pray for several specific issues that are on our hearts. I want to thank you for your efforts in prayer. If you missed this message, you can access it through our website or call the church office to obtain a CD copy. The items of prayer are:

1. Revival, for our individual lives, our families, our church, & our nation.

2. Missions involvement; where should North Central be actively involved in missions around the world?

3. College Ministry; we’re praying for a continued strong outreach to Sante Fe College & the University of Florida.

4. Growth issues; this includes the expansion of our Sunday School, both hours (8:15am & 10:55am), & the space we need to reach & disciple our church family, plus those we reach for Christ.

5. Financial matters; this includes the expansion of our Scholarship Fund as well as primary debt we have on our current facility.

Although our July prayer emphasis is over, let’s continue to make these important requests a matter of prayer.

We resume our fall schedule for Wednesday nights beginning August 26th. Our Awana ministry as well as our youth program will kick off on this special night.

Evaluations for Upward Soccer are underway & our practices will begin the week of August 31st. To sign your student up for Upward soccer please call the church office (352)373-3341.

August means an influx of new college students. Beginning August the 23rd our college ministry is extending a warm welcome to every new student, with a special emphasis during the first five Sundays of the fall semester. All of us at North Central are thankful for these new students & want them to know we welcome them with open arms to our church.

Please mark your calendar for Friday night, September 11th 2009, for a special leadership banquet. Guinell Freeman, retired Sunday school director from First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, will be our speaker. This banquet is not only for Sunday school teachers & leaders; it is for the members of our Sunday school as well. We would like to extend to you an invitation to this important banquet. Child care will be available for your preschoolers. Tickets will be available soon through your Sunday school class.

It’s a joy to be your Pastor. Thank you for praying for me & my family.

Blessings to you & yours!

Calvin J. Carr

In my last blog, I pointed out that as Paul and Barnabas were persecuted and in the midst of that persecution, they remained faithful. (Acts 14) What do you do when people try to worship you? That is exactly what happened next when Paul and Barnabas went to Lystra. Paul healed a lame man and the people thought that the two men were gods. They called Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker. They called Barnabas Zeus. There was a legend that Zeus and Hermes visited Lystra years before and so the people were all worked up that it was happening again.

How would you respond? My tendency would be to relish in the spotlight momentarily. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes.  This was a way to visually show their disapproval of the idolatrous worship of the people of Lystra.  They said, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.” In spite of the people being out of control to worship them, Paul and Barnabas wouldn’t allow it.

Great lesson for us.  Run from idolatry.  Embrace Humility