VISTORS INFO: DRIVE-IN SERVICE

What can you expect at NBCC’s Drive-In Service?

We hope you would arrive at around 8:15am for the 8:30am service… but arriving late is ok too!  We just want you to come and worship and we want to get to know you.  Arriving at 8:15am lets you get a great parking spot and grab a free donut.  It just wouldn’t be church without coffee and donuts… would it?

You will be warmly greeted at the white gazebo where you will receive a bulletin and communion for everyone in your car.  The bulletin outlines the latest information about the church calendar, events, and announcements.  Also in the bulletin is a page for you to take notes on during the sermon as well as a communication card.  The communion is a small cup with the wafer with it (I guess you have to see it to understand).  Once you get past the greeters and pull up to a spot in the field (any ol’ place you like)… you have almost made it.

Turn your radio dial to 103.9FM and you will hear light music, an occasional announcement, and the service when it begins.

But wait, there’s more!  Up towards the boat (that’s what we call the building that looks like a boat) on the right, are the bathrooms (cleaned and ready for use) as well as free coffee and donuts.  You will also find an assorted group of folks talking, sharing, and willing to say hello.  You can stay and chat or take your goodies back to your car.

The service will include songs, singing (words provided in the bulletin), communion and offering, and a sermon.  Please fill out the communication card that comes in your bulletin so we can know your name and address and we will drop a note of welcome to you.  You can put the communication card in the offering plate when it comes by.  After the sermon, feel free to drive towards the boat to exit and you can speak with the minister as you leave.  We always like to say hello!

The service starts at 8:30am and is always done before 9:30am because that is when Sunday School starts inside.

By the way, during December of 2012, NBCC celebrated the 40th Anniversary of our Drive-In service, the only Drive-In service in Tampa.  In 1972, at the suggestion of senior minister, Rev. Dean Burton, the church bought the land and used it to create a drive-in ministry.  A neighbor donated a salvaged boat for use as the pulpit. Burton preached the first sermon from "Noah's Ark" December 3, 1972.  At that time, a pole and sound system, like those at drive-in movies, was used so that attendees in their cars could hear the service.  In 1988, worshipers began tuning into a radio frequency for the church service when a new underground broadcasting system was installed and the ark replaced with the current building designed to look like a boat.  This building was named the “DiscipleShip,” which is in use today.

And that’s what you can expect at the Drive-In Service!

Troy Borst

Christian Education Minister

The Story Chapter 8 / When Your Mistakes Land You Before a Judge

A minister once told a story:

“It was my ninth grade year at Robert E. Lee Jr. High in San Angelo, Texas.  My student council job was to broadcast the morning announcements.  It was the first step in my dream of becoming an on-air personality.  My team and I added a little spice to the traditionally droll morning litany of announcements.
For awhile things went fine.  Then one day Amy Cassles had an idea.  Instead of just reading off the list of birthdays, Amy wanted to sing the birthday song.  It was my show and I gave her the go-ahead.  We imagined our imaginary ratings soaring.  But then, halfway through the song, Amy busted out laughing uncontrollably.
            At the end of our program there was dead silence.  Until our principal, Mr. Snodgrass, asked to see us.  A look of terror struck the eyes of my team.  I know because their eyes were staring right at me.  In a moment of extreme bravery on my part, I led the way into Mr. Snodgrass’ office.  Mr. Snodgrass was a retired military commander and we felt like we were going before the judge in a court martial.”

Judges elicit a sense of fear, don’t they?  They never call you in for something you have done right.  We think of them as someone who harshly tells us what we did wrong.  And they seem to be everywhere these days on television.  There’s Judge Judy and Hatchett.  Mathis and Christina and Judge Brown. 

Then there are some judges you may not know.  They even have a book in the Bible with their name on it.  Judges.  These judges appeared on the scene to help sort out right and wrong.  They also helped people get out of trouble.

God’s people kept putting themselves into a never ending cycle of disobedience, discipline, declaration of wrong, and deliverance.  Judges like Deborah and Gideon and Samson helped them find their way back to God. 

What did the people do that was so bad they needed judges?  Two things.  First, they failed to put God first in their lives (Judges 1:28).  And secondly, they did not teach their children to know God (Judges 2:10).  These two “sins” led to their downfall and ruin.

Are you making the same mistakes they made?  If so, you have a judge that can help you––Jesus.

The good news is that when he “calls” you into his office after you've messed up, you will look up to see your judge’s face and see your savior there.

For the Wanderers

The Israelites are so fascinating, aren't they? Scripture is rich in its story of relationship between God and His people. I so often see myself and my own relationship with God on the pages that tell of the Israelites great devotion and great unfaithfulness.

In Exodus, we see a God of freedom who leads His people out of captivity after 400 years of slavery. He gives them a wise leader in His friend, Moses. He shows them His awesome power by parting the Red Sea and giving them victory over the Amalekites. He provides for them food from heaven and water from rocks. He takes them to Mt. Sinai where He shows His great love by giving them the law which sets them apart as holy. All of these things take about a year (13-14 months according to most scholars). Then God tells His people it's time. This is what I brought you out of Egypt for...to possess your land of promise. It's time. 

and then an 11 day journey became a 40 year desert...

The journey to their land of promise took them through the wilderness...God showed them great wonders in the wilderness, but they were never meant to stay there. God did not bring His people out of Egypt so they could wander around in the desert. That was never His plan. He brought His people out of Egypt to take them into to the sweet land of promise. His desire was to give generously...to richly bless His people.   Finally, disobedience, lack of focus and unfaithfulness kept them from receiving the richness God had planned for them. He wanted so much more for them.

He is still a God of freedom who longs to give generously to us.

Jesus frees us from captivity to take us into our land of promise. We are each created with God given purpose and designed to bear much fruit to God's great glory, but, like the Israelites, we spend so much time in bondage or wandering in the wilderness. He wants so much more for us.

Are you a captive? Troy gave a great way to know if you are enslaved in a sermon a few weeks ago. Is there something that brings you to your knees asking for forgiveness before the Lord over and over again? Do you spend communion, a time of remembrance and repentance, focused on the same area of sin each week? Scripture tells us that sin entangles...it binds us. But, Praise Jesus, Scripture also tells us that we have been set free in Christ. Allow the freedom found in Christ loose the sin that binds you...allow His grace and forgiveness seep into the areas of your heart broken and wounded by sin and heal you.

Are you in the wilderness? Look for His wonders. Our God who parted the Red Sea, defeated enemies and fed His people from heaven is with you. He is working even when the desert seems driest. He is leading you to your land of promise. Follow Him. Guard against disobedience, lack of focus and unfaithfulness that can turn an 11 day journey full of His wonder into a 40 year season of wandering through the desert.

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of venegeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor

Live in freedom. Possess your promise land. Trade ashes for beauty. Claim the Lord's favor in your life this year. Live to display His splendor.

Kelly

The Story Chapter 7 / Face Your Battles with Strength and Courage

When someone keeps telling you to “be strong and courageous,” you might suspect you are up against something big.  And the Israelites were.

About to enter the land that had been promised them 600 years before, they had a giant-sized task awaiting them.  Literally.  Forty years earlier ten spies had come back and told the Israelites that the inhabitants of the land were so big they felt like they were the size of a grasshopper in comparison.  Fear took them captive without a battle and sent them off as a group to wander around in a wilderness where they took their chances against wild animals rather than face their giants.

They wandered so long that those who had grasshopper-sized faith died out.  Forty years later their children were ready to take the land.  They were physically no taller than their parents had been.  The enemies in the land were no smaller than before.  But the Israelites’ faith muscles had grown. 

There were two spies who had reported the land was theirs for the taking. One of them, Joshua, is now the Israelites’ leader.  He was courageous.  And God wanted to keep him that way. So God tells him three times in the first nine verses of the first chapter of Joshua: “Be strong and courageous.”  He also reminds him “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

My guess is you have a few giants in your life too.  Some uphill battles that appear insurmountable.  A task demanding more than you think you have to give.  One too many things on your “to do” list than you have the time or energy to do. Unemployment is staring you down.  Depression has a grip on you.  Bills have raided your bank account and left it empty.  An illness hovers in your life like a threatening storm.  You’d rather just run and wander.

Instead, be strong and courageous.  You have a Joshua that will lead the way.  The New Testament equivalent of the name “Joshua” is “Jesus.”  And he has promised to be with you always (Matthew 28:20). 

Jesus knows how to lead you through battles.  He had a few of his own while he was on this earth.  Enemies attacking him with accusations (Mark 3:22).  No home and no bed (Luke 9:58).  Crowds and expectations pressing in on him (Luke 8:45).  The religious establishment eventually insuring he was sentenced to a brutal death. (Mark 15:14).

Yet he took on the most barbaric giant there is, death, and lived to tell about it.  He can help you do the same.  You need only be strong and courageous in your faith.

  

The Story Chapter 6 / Decisions You Make Affect Those Traveling With You

Every parent has been there.  The trip ahead is long.  The travel schedule is tight.  You hit the road with a full tank, confident the plan you have crafted beats anything AAA could muster.  But twenty minutes down the highway you hear a small, squeaky voice from the backseat.  The artillery begins to bombard you.  The questions.

Some you expected.  Are we there yet? How much longer? Can we get something to eat?

The next barrage is unexpected. Who was the first person to decide to squeeze those things on a cow and drink whatever came out? Why does our dog get mad at us when we blow in his face but when we take him on a car ride he sticks his head out the window?

Every parent has been there.  Questions from the backseat.  You come to expect them.  Every journey to a destination includes them.  The same is true for the journey of faith.  Just like kids on a trip we get tired of the journey.  We want to know when we can stop. 

We get tired of serving. 

We get tired of waiting. 

We get tired of the people we’re traveling with. 

And we grumble.  The Israelites did.  They complained about the food, about the place they were traveling, and about their ‘driver’ Moses. Grumbling does not set well with God.  In fact, our grumbling can lead to our wandering.  When offered the chance to leave Kadesh and enter the Promised Land, the Israelites listened to the fear-filled report from ten spies instead of the faith-full report of Joshua and Caleb. 

Kadesh means “Spring of Decision” and it was time for one.  They were in the right place to make the right decision.  But the majority made the wrong one.  The people wished they had died in the desert.  So God told them they would get their wish.  They would wander until the unbelieving generation died out.

And they did.  They wandered in the Wilderness for forty years.  And their children were impacted by their decisions.

The decisions you make affect those around you, just like the decisions the Israelites made at Kadesh.  You can decide to grumble or be thankful.  You can decide to turn away from God or turn toward God.  You can decide to wander without purpose through life or follow God’s vision for your life.

Just don’t forget that those in the backseat will be affected by your decisions.

The Story Chapter 5 / The Home God Wants for His Presence

It was perhaps the greatest opportunity ever.  God tells Moses that he wants to come to his people and dwell right in the middle of their camp.  Not on the outskirts.  Not in the ‘burbs.  But right in the middle of where they were living.  You might wonder, “What preparations would a people need to make for God to live in their midst?”  Would it be like getting ready for weekend guests or someone special coming to dinner? You feel compelled to make sure your home looks as good as possible. You want to make a good impression and you want your guest to feel welcome. 

God anticipated the question and told Moses what needed to be in place for his coming.  First, He wanted to be close to them but there was the problem of sin that created a breach between them.  So God provided Moses with instructions about the practice of sacrificing, offering a covering for the people’s indiscretions before a Holy God.  Sin is serious stuff, not to be taken lightly, and the sacrifice of unblemished animals was necessary to give the people a picture of sin.

Second, He wanted to stay close to them.  Moses was given the blueprints for the building of the Tabernacle.  It’s a big word for “tent.”  A portable place of worship.  Kind of a mobile Motel 6.  And he wanted to camp out right in the middle of where they were camping.  God wanted to be close to His people.

But He also wanted them to be close to each other.  So He declared a third thing to get ready.  He gave them Ten Commandments concerning relationships.  The first four commandments focus on how we are to demonstrate our love to God.  The second set of six have to do with how to show love to other people.  In seeing these relationships of love it was God’s desire that people would come to know Him too.

Jesus said the same in John 13:34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. . . By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

God gave the Israelites guidelines so that, when they sought to live by them, other nations would see them as different and know that they were God’s people.  God gave us Jesus so that, when we live like Him, others will know that we are His people.  For those who know Him, God took care of our sin through the sacrifice of Jesus.  He tabernacles (or resides or lives or dwells) in the hearts of those who have drawn near to Him. 

Could it be then that the degree to which we are obedient to Him in this command to love each other is the degree of His presence we will find among us?

It could be our greatest opportunity ever.