Advent Greetings from
Florida and the Caribbean Islands
December 20, 2023
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Here's a quick look midweek to strengthen your faith and connect with your CBF family. | |
How do you define the difference between joy and happiness? |
It is important not to confuse joy and happiness. The New Testament says a great deal about joy and very little about happiness. The root of the word happiness is "hap," which means "chance" (as in "happenstance"). Happiness is a mood, an emotion that changes as circumstances around us change. It is like a thermometer that goes up and down as it interprets the events around us, making us vulnerable to happiness one minute and despair the next. Joy, on the other hand, sets the temperature of our environment, rather than responding to it.
Cathy F. Young
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La Poza del Obispo, Puerto Rico
prayer from Daily Feast, Meditations from Feasting on the Word
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Congratulations to CBF field personnel Jeff Lee (Skopje, Macedonia)
on this well-deserved honor!
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"Last night, Jeff and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship were honored as a recipient of the “Mother Teresa Humanitarian Award” awarded by the Citizen’s Association of Mother Teresa, overseen by the Catholic Church in Skopje.
This was an incredible honor and we wanted to share this news with you because YOU make this work possible through your sacrificial giving, constant encouragement, and faithful partnership! We are grateful for each of you and our wonderful local partners who have journeyed with us these 11+ years!"
“Do ordinary things with extraordinary love.” ~ Mother Teresa/ Saint Theresa of Calcutta.
| | Bayshore Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida is hosting a screening of “Midwives of a Movement,” a new documentary from Baptist Women in Ministry which chronicles the stories of the women who boldly birthed a movement to seek greater visibility and opportunities for women in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over 40 years ago. Despite great opposition, their courage blazed pathways for advancing women in ministry and leadership among Baptists. The film includes heartfelt stories, painful anecdotes, profound insights, and lighthearted remembrances which will inspire continued advocacy efforts for women to find equality and equity among Baptists. As women in ministry have once again been targeted by the SBC in the past year, the stories found in “Midwives of a Movement” are as relevant today as they were four decades ago. | |
Church musicians ... take note of this wonderful opportunity. | |
Paul Baxley featured on
"Leading and Thriving in the Church" podcast
Alban Duke Divinity school hosted CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley on their new podcast, "Leading and Thriving in the Church." Rev. Prince Rivers, editor of Alban Weekly and pastor in Raleigh, North Carolina sat down with Baxley to discuss what it means to lead faithfully, effectively and sustainably in today’s church.
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CBF of South Carolina and Florida / Caribbean Islands, together, are offering this inter-generational mission engagement opportunity to families, singles, young, old and everyone in between. Spend this 2024 holiday weekend making a difference and making new friends. "Credit" is available to FL students seeking community service hours.
$100 per person (covers lodging and food) to engage in this joint mission endeavor.
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What should I expect? Our SC/FL teams will be working on projects ranging from painting and light household repairs to building wheelchair ramps. There will be projects for everyone and all skill levels. All meals on Saturday and Sunday are covered in your registration fee. There are two lodging options - motel rooms (at an extra cost) and cabins with bunk beds. You can indicate your preference when you register.
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In 2024, it is time
to attend to your soul...
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Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation
SOUL CARE
Cultivating an Awareness of Divine Presence
MARCH 3-8, 2024
Fruitland Park, FL
Read More Here
Scholarship assistance is available to members of
CBF churches in Florida and the Caribbean Islands
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Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us
Stories tether us to what matters most: our families, our friends, our hearts, our planet, the wondrous mystery of life itself. Yet the stories we've been telling ourselves as a civilization are killing us: Fear is wisdom. Vanity is virtuous. Violence is peace. In the pages of Between the Listening and the Telling, storyteller, author and activist Mark Yaconelli leads readers into an enchanting meditation on the power of storytelling in our individual and collective lives. We tell stories to remember who we are. We tell stories to savor the pleasure of living. Stories can be medicine, and they can transform entire communities.
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This year’s theme, “Equipping With Every Good Thing,” is based on Hebrews 13:20-21: "Now may the God of peace … equip you with every good thing to do his will, by developing in us what pleases him through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory forever and always.” The Offering for Global Missions equips the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship with the gifts and passions of 46 Field Personnel in 17 different countries and the United States, spreading the hope of Jesus Christ. When you give to the Offering for Global Missions, you also participate in this mission of Jesus Christ around the world.
This year we have a goal of $4 million. Every gift helps us reach this goal to support the presence of Field Personnel.
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Get your copy of the
OGM Prayer Guide below
| "Writers were invited to share about someone who has made a significant impact on their lives, a spiritual guide so to speak - one who has shaped their faith, their theology or their prayer life." Thanks Meg Lacy Vega for compiling these beautiful Spiritual Guides. | |
On the road...
Jan 7 - New Covenant, Deland
Jan 21 - First Baptist Gainesville
Jan 25/26 - CBF Global Missions Council, Decatur, GA
Jan 28 - Bluewater Community Church, Niceville
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To stay connected, a few links for you to explore with a quick click. | |
[813.810.7499] [tsnyder@floridacbf.org] [www.floridacbf.org] | |
A direct and compelling headline | | | | |