PRAISE AND PRAYER Begins October 7th
​
We began PRAYER FIRST as a series of Monday night prayer meetings in preparation for the first building project our church would undertake with me as your pastor. Ridding ourselves of the Portable Buildings being used for Preschoolers and Youth and building a new Student Center and Kid Zone Building was a tremendous challenge in 2008. We knew we needed to start with PRAYER FIRST.

After God granted success, and the new buildings were all completed and occupied, we continued PRAYER FIRST on the first Sunday night (or the closest Sunday possible) to continue to give prayer a first priority in our church.

The staff and I, and many others, still believe that we must give prayer a first priority, because Jesus told us, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Since praise and thanksgiving are parts of the biblical pattern for prayer, we have decided to add a brief time of musical praise and worship at the beginning of our prayer time each month, starting Sunday night, October 7, at 6:30 p.m.

We are also going to change locations. We have been meeting in the Worship Center, but the pews make it awkward for us to pray in small groups, which we often do. Therefore, we are going to move to the Fellowship Hall where we can sit around the round tables, an easy setting for small groups.

We are calling the new gathering PRAISE AND PRAYER. Discipleship classes end at 6:15 p.m. We will have coffee and water in Fellowship Hall from 6:15 to 6:30, and promptly at 6:30 we will start a brief time of praise in song together and then quickly move into prayer. Our target for dismissal will be 7:00.

If you have been faithful to PRAYER FIRST, I hope you will join us for PRAISE AND PRAYER. If PRAYER FIRST was not a priority, I hope PRAISE AND PRAYER will become one. Join us in Fellowship Hall, Sunday, October 7, 6:30 – 7:00 p.m.

The Shepherd Loves the Sheep,
Bro. Mike

Fifteen years is how long Bro. Doug White has served the Lord and us as the Minister of Music and Worship here at St. Andrew Baptist Church! Bro. Doug and Sheila have made an incredible contribution to the spiritual life and ministry of our church, for which we should all be very grateful, to the Lord and to them.

​Bro. Doug has a heart for the Lord and for worship. He believes what he sings, and he sings what he believes. He is a man who is capable of putting on a big show (we will talk about that in a moment), but worship for Bro. Doug is never a show. It is the expression of his heart and soul to the Lord he loves and adores.

Bro. Doug has a heart for the lost. He delights in the sharing of the gospel and communicates a genuine caring for those without Christ. Sharing his testimony, inviting the unchurched on Sunday or one of our other events, making sure the gospel is shared as a part of every presentation are things Doug has done faithfully across all of his years of service.
Bro. Doug has a heart for missions. Doug has gone on mission to Brazil, to Ghana, with Bro. Mark and the teens to Mexico, as well as to Baltimore and ministering in our own Center of Hope. In addition to our Team Mission Trips, Doug has gone on several personal mission trips both in country and abroad.  

I mentioned that Bro. Doug is capable of putting on a show, and don´t we all know it! The Panama City Passion Play is known throughout the Southeastern part of our country, and people travel many miles to attend. Although hundreds work as part of this production every year, the Passion Play is certainly “Doug´s Baby!” He gave birth to it after coming to St. Andrew, and he has nurtured it across the years. Strangers who go to the Panama City Passion Play who have attended Broadway Musicals say that the Passion Play is better! But Doug is not content to just produce “a good show.” He makes certain the gospel is clear in every script and presented plainly at every presentation of the play. Only the Lord knows how many have come to faith, how many have had faith re-kindled in their lives, how many have been drawn to a closer walk with Christ because of the way Bro.Doug has led us to present the life, death, resurrection, and message of Christ so clearly in the Passion Play.

​You can probably think of other contributions to our church Bro. Doug has made. They are too many to write in this article, but you will have the opportunity to tell what you have seen and know. On Monday night, July 30th, following our Summer Monday Night of Praise, we will have a fellowship honoring Bro. Doug, Sheila, and their family. For two weeks prior to this, we will be receiving a love offering in which each of us will be able to express our great appreciation for Bro. Doug´s long and fruitful service to the Kingdom of God and to St. Andrew Baptist Church. Please bring your “Doug” stories and some finger foods to the fellowship. Buddy will provide the cake, and we will all have a grand time celebrating the ministry of this wonderful man of God.

The Shepherd Loves the Sheep,
Bro. Mike