This is Week 3 of our series. This series is called Pass The Baton… Pastor Shareef will talk about giving and focus on those who have come before us and those who will come after us. This week he will be bringing the message Whatever It Takes. If you want to prepare for this message, read Philippians 3.
Worship songs for this Sunday are: I Believe, Holy Hands, Jesus We Love You, Jesus Be The Name, Final Words.
The bags are gone but the IMPACT is not. Central filled more than 460 bags to help some local families enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. That’s 460+ bags of Love. Thank you Positive Impact of St Petersburg for partnering with us to make this happen. Thank you Central partners for the way you generously responded to this need.
You probably have heard that there is a third service in our future. It won’t happen until the new year (2026) but it is definitely coming. Can you take a minute to take this survey about which Service you would plan to attend (8, 9:30, or 11). It will be helpful in planning our volunteers.
Speaking of Volunteers! With 3 services there will be more opportunities to serve on Sunday morning. Where can you serve? Children’s, Student, Worship, Greeters ?? Get more involved – Central is YOUR church – Be the church.
December 7th is our congregational meeting where we approve our new Elder Board slate and approve our 2026 Budget. Matt Lameyer and Tony Lowe will be retiring from the board this year, remember to thank them for their service. Renewing this year are Rob Breese and Will Crandle. New Elders on the slate are Mark Simpson and Bob Strube. The new budget will be published for your review this Sunday. You can contact any of our Elders (listed below) if you have any questions or comments.
Please continue to park at Northwest Park for both first and second service on Sunday morning. It will be a great help with parking for our many Visitors every Sunday if you can use one of our great Shuttle Vans. With the new service times, (9 & 10:45am) there is plenty of time to shuttle to services.
I hope you have been keeping up with your Bible Recap study. This Sunday, November 23th, & will be Day 327. This Sunday we should be reading Acts chapters 15 & 16. It is never too late to start the recap – start this week to follow the early church through the book of Acts.
Work continues on the bathrooms in the Connect Center with plans in place to be completed before the holidays. At this time there are no bathrooms available in the Connect Center but soon we will have new larger men’s and women’s bathrooms there. For now, we will have to use the bathrooms in the NextGen House or Main Building. Thank you for bearing with us as the work is being completed. New men’s bathrooms in the 2-story will start after the first of the year.
We have kicked off our $1.5 million Capital Campaign called Pass the Baton. The main items that we are targeting are:
- Main Worship Space Renovation Updating seating, floors, walls and upgrading sound to accommodate growth and enhance our worship space.
- Bathroom Renovation Our main building bathrooms are in dire need of updating and expanding.
- A/C Unit Replacement Replacing our two main building 40-ton A/C units (each costing $270,000) to ensure reliable comfort for everyone who worships and serves at Central.
- Mortgage Payoff Paying off our $308,062.04 mortgage balance to free up our resources for ministry, missions, and outreach.
All of our giving methods have been updated to accommodate the new campaign.
The Central staff & Elders pray for the health and safety of you and your family every week. We pray for your physical health but also for your spiritual & emotional health. We pray that there will be harmony and unity within His church. Please continue to submit prayer requests on our Connection Cards, Linktree, or through our Central App. You can also stop by our Prayer Room on any Sunday morning to submit a prayer or meet with a prayer warrior. We are a church that believes in the power of prayer and we see it working every day in our lives.
There are always visitors, some new, some repeat, showing up every Sunday morning. What a blessing!! God brings them to us; it’s our job to make them feel welcome and share the good news. Don’t forget to invite our visitors back to worship with us again. Invite them to your class or small group. Now is the time for you to start talking to friends and neighbors about our 3 Christmas Eve Services. INVITE!
Take some time to introduce yourself to someone you meet that you don’t know this Sunday – they could be a Central partner you haven’t met or maybe a visitor. Be an encouragement to others – your smile might be just what they need this Sunday. This may be your opportunity to tell someone the good news or to invite them to one of the connect groups you attend. Share YOUR Central story with others.
Be bold and share your Jesus story. Your first testimony is the joy in your heart and on your face. Let them see Jesus’ love through you.
Feel free to reach out to your Elder or any Elder with any questions or concerns you may have. The Elders are listed at the end of this email with the partners in their group, by last name.
YOU are a blessing to Central in so many ways.
The Lord has brought you to be a part of His kingdom work.
We appreciate your heart for worship, giving, caring, and serving and are grateful to God for you.
