January 22nd

Good Afternoon Trinity,

 

I hope you all are having a blessed week so far. This is a very exciting time to be here at Trinity. So much is happening, we are taking new strides to not only be a church that worships our Lord, but to be the complete church that the Lord calls us to be. Here is your scripture reading for the week.

 

John 13: 1 – 17

 

I’ll bet you have never started out on a journey or trip and in the back of your mind wondered if you would reach your destination. You can be sure that before leaving the driveway I would have the complete faith in my vehicle that it was going to carry Shirley and I wherever we were planning to go. For sure no one would climb into an airliner or a cruise ship if the thought was that it might not make it to its destination. Fact is folks, in every example that I’ve given to this point, faith in the vehicle that will transport us to our intended destination allows us to take those first steps and then to move forward without concern.

 

Trinity stands in this same place. We are ready to take that first step. Our goals are in place so we know where we are heading. You might say we have our maps out or our GPS’s powered up and we are looking for the best route to take. Here is why we don’t have to worry about taking that first step. Our Vehicle is sound, secure, and powerful enough to take us on our journey to the destination our Lord has set before us.

 

I know that you will have many questions about the missions that we are getting involved in. Which one fits with your time and talents. What I would like you to do is to pray about it. Ask the Lord where He might be leading you to serve. There are also many missions that you are involved in already and that’s wonderful, I want you to keep doing whatever it is you’re doing because  that’s where the Lord is using you. We offer suggestions but these are not the only places to serve. We just want to touch hearts in this community and I know the loving hearts here at Trinity are up to the task. If you have questions please ask. Call me, email me, ask me on Sunday, whatever you are doing if it’s to help another and brings glory to our Lord I’m for it. We just want to keep track of it.

 

Our Lord has laid a challenge before us. It’ll take a lot of effort on our part to reach and exceed this goal. But I truly believe this journey will bless us and bring us all closer together and closer to our Lord.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Dave

 

Announcements:

 

Sunday – Bring your completed mission opportunity slips and put them in the “Red Mission Boxes” provided. Also if you have recorded you hours of community service fill out the sheets provided and put them in the same box.

 

Sunday – Sunday School 9AM – Details soon on a new Young Adults Sunday School – and Worship 10:15. Bring a friend

 

Sunday – If you would like a 70 – 700 – 7000  T – Shirt put your order in this Sunday $10.00. They are great conversation starters out in the community

 

Sunday – This week we’ll cover the 700

 

Sunday – There will be a birthday party at Colony Hills Clubhouse celebrating 99 years for Millie Fochtman from 2 – 4 PM. Cards only, no gifts please.



December 4, 2013

Good Morning Trinity,

 

I hope you are having a wonderful week. It’s difficult to believe we are in the first week of December and only a few short weeks away from a new year. Remember to give thanks to the Lord for the blessings in your life. As you look back at this year I bet you’ll be able to see His handy work in your life. The following devotion was sent to me this week and I thought I would share it with you. It’s from Charles Stanley and I hope it’ll speak to your heart as it did mine.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Dave

 

Discovering Our True Identity  

1 Corinthians 1: 1 – 9

 

Many Christians are experiencing an identity crisis. They know they’re saved, but they don’t really know what to think about themselves. Let’s take a little test. Do you consider yourself a sinner saved by grace or a saint who occasionally sins? Both statements are true, but the first one dwells on your past identity whereas the second focuses on the Lord’s perception of you.

 

If you are a believer, God’s word says that you are a saint (vs. 2). But too many of us still see ourselves as the same old sinner, who has been forgiven and patched up and yet is basically unchanged inside. But the Lord says anyone in Christ “is a new creature; the old things passed away” (2 Cor. 5: 17). That’s what being born again is all about. We can never go back to the way we were.

 

The solution to this identity crisis is to change the way we think about ourselves. If we don’t, we’ll rely on how we feel, and Satan will bombard us with reminders of our failures and sins. He wants to keep us focused on being a sinner, because he knows that the recognition of our sainthood will lead us to live like saints. We’ll be motivated and empowered to obey God, and Satan will lose his foothold in our lives.

 

Jesus didn’t come just to save you from hell; He wants to live His life through you. In Christ, you have a new identity which has replaced your old one. If you will focus on who you are now, your actions will follow, and you will experience to enjoyment of a victorious Christian life.

 

Announcements:

 

If you were one of those who chose a name from the Westbrook Manor Angel Tree I would like to thank you and say you are indeed an Angel. We will need to have those gifts brought to the church by next Sunday, December 15th  so they can be delivered to Westbrook.

 

December 15th is Potluck Sunday following the Cantata “That’s the Good News.” We are expecting visitors to enjoy this time with us so if you could please bring over and above what you would normally bring to the potluck it would be very much appreciated. We want to be a good host by not running out of food. Thank you.

 

If you are interested in working at the Trinity booth this Saturday at the Christmas Light Festival in Zephyrhills please call the office at 813-788-2898. There are two shifts available 2pm – 5:30pm and 5:30pm – 9pm

 

Sunday – Sunday School at 9am and Worship at 10:15am. Bring a friend, they’ll love you for eternity.



August 21, 2013

Good Afternoon Trinity,

I pray you all are having a great week. But if you’re having a rough week I have this word of advice for you which comes from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 – 18. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I know this is a scripture that many look at and comment that it is an impossibility to live up to. Do you mean that I’m supposed to give thanks for the person that cut me off in traffic? What about the person who has eleven items in the ten item or less checkout line at the grocery store? I’m supposed to give thanks for my grouchy neighbor that I find it almost impossible to live next to? Am I supposed to thank God for the 3rd cold I’ve had this year?

Do you know that in every situation, regardless of what it may be, there is reason to give thanks? Can we become so bitter in life that we forget the One who has given us the very breath of life? As with everything else in your life, you have a choice as to how you handle the situations that arise. Does “to pray without ceasing” mean that you spend your life on your knees? It doesn’t mean that, but I will tell you this, I would rather be on my knees with Jesus in this life than running on my own two feet alone. It doesn’t hurt as much to fall from my knees as it does from my feet.

Praying without ceasing is how we need to look at our lives. Is Christ such a part of your life that you find yourself thinking of Him during the day? Do you think of Him when there is a decision to be made? Do you ask for His help, His guidance during the day? If He holds a position of major importance in your life than chances are you are one that “prays without ceasing” and it has become so natural that you don’t even realize it.

Our Lord does not force His way into the life of one who has no desire for Him to be there. But please understand this, He doesn’t refuse the one who seeks Him to be a part of their life either. Again, the choice is ours to make.

God Bless,
Pastor Dave

Announcements:

To those wishing to become members of Trinity there will be a new membership class starting on Sunday September 1 and completing on the following Sunday September 8. Those interested please call the office or contact my wife Shirley this Sunday.

Saturday – Youth leaving for “ONE” be at the fellowship hall at 5: 30

Sunday – Square dancing resumes at 2pm in the fellowship hall

Tuesday at 6:30 pm Family Night is back in the fellowship hall



Good Morning Trinity,

I pray you are all having a God filled and blessed week. There is no doubt that prayer has an effect on the outcome of life around you. Do you start your day with prayer? I was listening to an interview with a pastor from a rather large church who said that he began each day with prayer. That is not an unusual thing for someone to say except that his prayer began each day when he would slide out of bed straight to his knees without his feet touching the floor. Think about what it says when your first move of the day is to humble yourself before your God on your knees. Here is your scripture reading for the week.

Hebrews 11: 1 – 7

When we read scripture such as this we tend to set those that are mentioned high on a pedestal. Great men of faith is a term used by some. But here is something that you need to realize about those mentioned in today’s scripture reading. They were no different than you or I. There was a choice to be made in each of their lives and that choice was to believe as it says in verse 6 that “He is.”

Believe that He is, diligently seek Him in all that you do. Better than knowing He is with you, take Him with you wherever you go. Know in your heart that this majestic, awesome God wants a relationship with you and it all starts with your belief that He is. You too can be that great man or woman of faith. One that the Lord can use for His glory on this earth.

God Bless,
Pastor Dave

Announcements:

Saturday 9am – Men’s breakfast and fellowship in the in the fellowship hall. Hey guys bring a friend. There will be a couple special announcements at this breakfast so you need to be there. We’re going to have a great time. No charge of course.

This Sunday is Name Tag Sunday, New Member Sunday, and Potluck Sunday. Take all of that and wrap it around the worship of our Lord and you have an awesome beautiful day. Don’t miss it.



Good Morning Trinity,

Well it’s the 3rd day since we were last together worshipping our Lord. Do you still feel the blessing half way through the week that we felt together on Sunday? Did you carry that blessing with you into the week? Do you ever stop and think as you go through your daily life as crazy as it might be that the God who created the heavens and the earth is with you and wants an ever incredible relationship with you. Here is a scripture reading for you to keep and draw on when you feel alone.

Psalm 63: 1 – 8

I don’t mind telling you that this is one of my favorite scripture readings and there are many different reasons. But let me share two of those reasons with you. As David wrote this Psalm in the wilderness of Judah he made a comparison between his physical need for water and his spiritual need for his God. David most likely being parched in the desert knowing that water was the sustainer of his physical life put the same importance to his relationship with God as the sustainer of his eternal life. Think about what he’s saying when he states that his soul actually thirsts for God, his flesh longs for God, in the same way as if he were dying of thirst where water couldn’t be found. What a profound way to describe your need for the Lord in your life. Lord, You are my next breath.

One of the other reasons that this scripture is special to me comes in verse 8. “My soul follows close behind You.” Not in front of or beside Him but close behind Him. Let me put it this way, in His shadow. If He stops I’ll run into Him. That’s where I belong, and if you’ll notice when you stay that close, His right hand will uphold me.

One of the blessings that you can receive this week is the knowledge that God wants to be that close to you. You can claim this scripture as one of your favorites too if you want. I’ll let you. You can also call Him your God, King David did, I do, because He is.

God Bless,
Pastor Dave

Announcements:

Thursday at 9AM is VBS workshop. We’re meeting in the fellowship hall but working all over the campus

Saturday at 9AM yeah you got it – VBS workshop – doing the final jobs and getting ready for Monday night



Victory In Jesus

Good Afternoon Trinity,

I pray you all are having a great week. Let me take a moment to tell you something that has been on my heart today. Thank you for being a part of the Trinity family. You are appreciated and prayed for. We have so much to be thankful for. The Lord has been so good to us and I was thinking how special it is when we can get together as a family on Sundays and worship Him together. Here is a scripture reading for you to enjoy today.

Romans 12: 1 – 2

When you read this passage that Paul has written and see the way he begins the 1st verse you can hear the pleading in his words. “I beseech you” to me says that Paul is appealing to our will. That God calls us to make a choice in the way we live for Him. A conscious choice that we make every day.

There is a battle that is fought every day and you and I are right in the middle of it. You may think that you are able to stand on the sidelines and not be a participant in this battle. But sooner or later you find yourself having to get involved because without your consent you’ve been dragged right into the middle of it.

What are the spoils for the victor of this battle? You are the prize believe it or not and the battle is over your spiritual mind. On one side, the world strives to convince you to conform to the ways of the world. On the other side a renewing or transforming of your mind through Christ Jesus. The choice is yours to make and every day the battle is on.

Remember there is victory in Jesus.

God Bless,
Pastor Dave

Announcements:

Thursday at 9:30 am – we’ll be walking the neighborhoods again handing out invitations to VBS. We need walkers and drivers to help out on these last remaining neighborhoods.

Saturday at 9 am – Men’s Breakfast in the fellowship hall. Bring a friend – no charge

Sunday after Service in the fellowship hall is our pot luck dinner – bring a dish to pass. It’s a great time to get acquainted and meet our new members.