If you were interested in going to the Beth Moore Simulcast at Clearwater Community Church on Saturday, April 24, you need to drop your check off to the church office by this Thursday!
The church office's address is:
5008 W Linebaugh, Suite 24, Tampa 33624
Write your checks to Clearwater Community Church. Seats are $15, or $25 if you want lunch provided.
The simulcast will start at 9:45 a.m. and will go through 3:45 p.m. Email catbladies@churchatthebay.com if you have any questions.
You know you've been waiting for it! That's right-- any excuse to match two pairs of socks with your oversized hot pink shirt! You've been waiting for an excuse to deplete the ozone just a little more for those rockin' high bangs.
Well, wait no longer.
Friday, March 26th at 7:00 p.m. will give you just the reason you need.
It's theTotally Radical 80's Party (church-at-the-bay-style).
You'll need to visit the Goodwill, or your attic, for the most outrageous outfit you can find and see if you can out-dress your friends!
We'll have games from the 80's, music, snacks and a couple contests.
You'll also need to bring your highschool yearbook (even if you didn't graduate in the 80's). We've got a game planned around your adorable senior picture.
Please bring $3 to cover snacks.
So, are you coming?
Please email catbladies@churchatthebay.com by Wednesday, March 24, to RSVP so we can plan accordingly.
It doesn’t always happen like this. This whole God-cuts-me-to-the-core kind of experience. But every now and then, truth spills out onto the scene, and I’m changed. Here’s what happened just a couple weeks ago.
I arrived at work one Tuesday (I’m a resource teacher at Bryant Elementary), took my scarf off and noticed that one of my diamond earring studs was about to fall out of my ear. I immediately checked for the other one and realized it was missing.
These earrings were my husband’s gift to me for our third anniversary. That added just a little motivation to find them.
I decided to retrace my steps-- from the car, across the parking lot, through the front office, down the hall and to my office. No luck. I put out a mass email to my fellow teachers, describing the earring and asking them to let me know if a student were to find it. My own students were at an assembly that morning, so I asked permission from my administration to sign out.
The whole drive home I was racking my brain with possible locations, trying to conjure up some obvious place I hadn’t thought of checking. And if that didn’t keep my mind busy enough, there were the sentimental emotions. Even if the earrings were insured (which they weren’t), I could never replace the moment they represented.
I got home, searched several places and found myself on the floor of our bedroom, raking the carpet fibers with my fingers. I said a prayer. It was one of many I had already prayed, asking the Holy Spirit to help me find my missing earring.
And then it struck me. Right there, while I was already prostrate on the ground, He rebuked me over the irony of it all.
“When was the last time you prayed 5 times, or got this emotional over my lost children?”
And the contrast was laid so clearly before me. Silly piece of rock versus lost eternal beings. Jewelry versus souls. My earring versus my neighbor.
When was the last time I felt any emotion over their separation from God?
I couldn’t remember.
There’s a story Jesus tells about a woman who has 10 coins and loses one of them. She turns the house upside down searching for it. When she finds her missing coin, she calls up her friends to tell them the good news.
What if I truly viewed the neighbors, coworkers and friends of mine who don’t know Jesus just as I saw that diamond earring? Or, as that woman saw her missing coin? Would I be more intentional about building relationships with them? Would I pass out more catb invite cards? Would I mention the hope I have more often?
What about you? Who will you pray for this week? Who will you build a connection with? Who will you give an invite card to? When we're "available and alert," as Hal says, we'll make the most of every opportunity to help people get to know Jesus.
What if you had the chance to join something bigger than yourself, to become challenged and inspired to take your next steps with God, and to form authentic friendships with other Christ-followers?
Well, that chance is yours with Home Teams.
This week, Home Teams at Church at the Bay are kicking off. We've got a great variety of groups: marriage groups, mixed groups, an evening women's group and a morning women's group. There's even a singles group.
Have you signed up yet?
Are you in?
Click here for our spring 2010 list of groups. Email neal@churchatthebay.com for more info and to sign up.
