Relationships - Week 3

Week 3 in our current series called 'Relationships', this week we will be hosting a guest speaker Dwayne Eslick. Dwayne was one of Paul's students in Miami & has seen God work mightily in & through his life. Dwayne pastors a inner city urban church in Chicago, IL called New Life Community Church, he has 4 kids with his wonderful wife of 8 yrs, Ceci. Join us this Friday as Dwayne & Ceci share the story of God's work while they were dating to their marriage today. Share this time with us as we dive into God's Word and rediscover the command and charge God has laid upon each and everyone of His children to build strong, healthy, and Gospel centered relationships in our lives with those around us.

If you are available to come early we have a prayer group called "The Herd" that meets at 7 pm in "The Loft" we would love to pray with you and help you find Godly wisdom and guidance in this fallen world.

Our service starts at 8 pm, Jay Aden and company will be leading us in worship so don’t miss out on the opportunity to worship the only name worth worshipping.

If you have any further questions about Impact or this week’s message send us a message on facebook or contact me Mike Sanders via phone @ 813.661.3696 x227 or email @ msanders@baylife.org and I will try and answer them for you as best I can. Thanks and we hope to see you there!

God Is Love - Relationships

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Here's an Impact update so that you can see what we're going to cover over the next 3 weeks - help us spread the word! You don't want to want to miss this...

This week we'll be starting a series about relationship called, God is Love. This is the big one that everyone wants to hear - or maybe not hear?! This series will cover the real problems in relationships between men & women and also as brothers & sisters in Christ. God has called us to "love one another as ourselves" - Mark 12:31, and "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:35. More than just some nice sounding moralistic Sunday school story, this is a command from Almighty God, rarely seen in action in today's "it's all about me" society. Join us over the next few Fridays as we dive into God's Word and rediscover the command that God has laid upon each and every one of His children to build strong, healthy, and Gospel centered relationships. If you're available to come early, we have a prayer group called "The Herd" that meets at 7 pm in "The Loft" - we would love to pray with you and help you find Godly wisdom and guidance in this fallen world. Our service starts at 8 pm, Jay Aden and company will lead worship, so don’t miss this opportunity to worship the only name worth worshipping. If you have any further questions about Impact or this week’s message, send us a message on facebook or contact me Mike Sanders via phone @ 813.661.3696 x247 or email at msanders@baylife.org.

Thanks to all of you who pray for our ministry!

Love you all,

Michael Sanders
Impact Intern
Bay Life Church
Brandon, FL 33510
 813-661-3696 ext 227

Good Grief

Greeting Impacters,

'Grief'

It's a beautiful week so far here in sunny Florida. Last weekend I attended my best friend, Andy Escobar's bachelor party. It brought me back to so many of the good times that we've shared over the last 10 years since we've been friends. It also made me realize that not all the memories are full of happiness, excitement, and adventure but that some are sad, painful and even devastating. 'Grief' is a process that an individual goes through after an emotionally devastating event occurs in their life. I've personally dealt with such emotions - since graduating in 2006 I've witnessed the burial of at least eight of my friends. Not all memories are happy so the real question is - How do we handle 'grief' when the tragic times come? Is there a method to deal with it? Ultimately, we should look into God's word to see what He wants for us.

Friday, we'll be in Matthew 14 looking at the story of Jesus as he feeds the five thousand. We'll focus on the events leading up to this great miracle to see how Jesus dealt with 'grief' after the loss of his beloved cousin John. Don't miss this opportunity to dive into God's word and uncover the truths of scripture.

Join us this Friday in the Student Center.

Praise the Shepherd,

Mike Sanders

Bay Life Church

1017 Kingsway Rd.

Brandon, FL 33510

(813) 661-9636

Here&Now

It's Friday Impacters,

We all know what that means don't we? - it's time for us to worship and seek the Lord at Impact tonight. We should be doing this regularly anyway, apart from Friday nights - we always say, "God cares more about what happens outside of the building than what happens inside it." Now for all of you who might come at me with a theological standpoint and say, "Jesus wants us to be in Church" this is for you...you are absolutely correct! I 110% agree with you that Christ no doubt calls us to be in community with believers and to constantly be encouraging one another but I also know that our calling is to go into the world and make disciples of His name. We can't do that if the only time we are being intentional with people is at Church. A good percentage of the people in the church are already going to be believers, but again this doesn't negate our responsibility to sharpen one another either. We are to continually challenge one another and keep each other accountable. Paul commanded Timothy to train himself in Godliness - are you doing this? Better yet, are you training others the same way? That's what we're going to be looking at this week - now that we are saved, believers, disciples, chosen ones or whatever you want to call yourself, what does God expect of you - what are we called to do now?

I'm tired of a generation where the heathen, fallen, and evil world has more boldness than believers who bear the name of the most powerful being in the universe - He who is the supreme example of courage, Jesus Christ. We'll be studying Hebrews 10 tonight, it says, "Therefore, brothers, since we have 'confidence' to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God." We can be 'CONFIDENT' in the sacrifice of our Savior and the power of his death and resurrection. This event holds the greatest significance for us as followers of Christ and it's the center of our theology. Without it, we are no better than any other pagan religion.

So, don't miss out as we finish our series Then&There/Here&Now week 2 - Here&Now. I'm excited to share what God's been working on in me this week. I know it's something we all need to hear, whether you have been a believer for 20 years or 6 months.

I'm blessed to be able to share my weekly thoughts with you all - I love you all very much.

Bay Life Church • 1017 Kingsway Rd Brandon, FL 33510 • baylife.org

Michael Sanders
Impact Intern
Bay Life Church
813-661-3696 ext 227

Happy Friday Impacters! First day back ...

Happy Friday Impacters!

First day back in the office from visiting my brother Brandon in Seattle, WA. It's been 9 years since I've seen Brandon or his wife Michelle and my nephew Hayden who I'd never met. It was exciting to get away from the heat & humidity of Florida and go where there is cool and normal weather. Plus, the 'Salmon Days' festival was on so I got to indulge in some of the best salmon I've ever tasted. *Note - if you want to go somewhere to eat salmon, go to Seattle.


But enough chatter about how awesome my week was, let's get to the point of this blog. At Impact this week, we're starting a series called Then&There/Here&Now to talk about the issue of who we were prior to Christ and our need for a savior - about how we're His chosen ones - see Colossians 3:12. Then&There is this week - we're looking at why Paul had to address these issues with the Church in Colossae. I often wonder if we're like that church, made new creations but continually going back to our old ways and not striving toward what Christ has or wants for us as His chosen.

Join us this week at 8pm in the Student Center to hear and learn from God's Word - to look at the ways He wants to challenge us to be more like His Son, Jesus Christ. Come out at 7 pm if you'd like to join us as we seek God in prayer for His Spirit to move on the evening and for guidance in our walks with Him.

Dont miss out on what God wants to do in your life and through your life. Hope to see you there!


Praise the Shepherd,
Mike

Create: Music. Art. Coffee.

Friday greetings, 


My name is Michael and I started my new job as the Bay Life IMPACT ministry student intern this past Tuesday.  One of my job responsibilities is to keep you who read this blog updated on what's going on within our ministry & how God is working in the lives of those involved. So enough worthless banter, I'm sitting in my office today wondering if we understand the true meaning of Create: Music. Art. Coffee.


I think in the past we've misuderstood the underlying goal of what Create is...so I wanted to take a few minutes to lay out our vision for what we want this event to accomplish and become.


Create has always been a night of fun, art, music, fellowship and appreciation of others' gifts & talents. On the other hand, I feel like we have made it what it is not ... a night off from doing what God has called us to do - reach out into the world and share the light that resides within us as believers. I feel like it may have become an excuse for some of us to take a night off. We say things like, "I'm not that into art" or "I don't like coffee" or even "It's not my scene"... Let me encourage you that sharing the love of Christ with those who have come to share their talents and skills with us, those who don't know the unexplainable love of our Savior, is our mission. I believe Jesus said it perfectly, 


'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.' The second is this: 'You are to love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31 


When I read this, I feel like Christ is telling me that He comes 1st, others come 2nd, and I come last! Being a follower of Christ is not about you or me but others. So as the carriers of the name of Christ, it's impossible to justify taking the night off.


This is an opportunity for us to invite those who are not familiar with the name of Christ to come in and share their talents, and passions. Let's not miss the opportunity to share the love of Christ because of a misconstrued agenda of what's really important.


So, as we continue in the path that God has chosen for us to follow, my prayer is that we can redefine what this event is all about and really make it grow it into something great - to give those who don't know the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, an opportunity to come and fellowship with us as we love and encourage them with the same love that Christ shows us. Life isn't about what we do for us but what we do for others


Join us as we fulfill the Great Commission, Mathew 28:19 - To go and make disciples...


Praise the Shepherd,


Mike


Michael Sanders
Impact Intern
Bay Life Church
813.661.3696 x227

CREATE Coffeehouse Next Week - Feb 25

Hey everyone, Jay here from the IMPACT College ministry!

Just wanted to let you know that our quarterly art/music event, CREATE, is next week Feb 25 @ 7 pm. There'll be free food and coffee throughout the evening as well as artwork displays and original live music. Featured artists include: indie-folk outfit Travis Lowe and Friends, photography from Ashley Holloway and Mariana Yarleque, and screen-printed pieces from Jessica Humphreys. Come on out and invite a few friends! CREATE is open to all ages and a great event to bring your unchurched friends to as well. Thanks for reading - see you all there next week!

J