Welcome to Grace Community Baptist Church
Located in picturesque Palatka, Florida, we are an independent Baptist church committed to the teaching of God's Word in an expository manner (verse-by-verse and book-by-book). If you are looking to grow in your relationship to Jesus through what the Bible teaches or if you want to know more about a relationship with God, we would be glad to have you come visit or to talk with you more. See our Location/Contact Us page for more details.
3/24/2020 Important Grace Community Baptist Church Update
In light of everything occurring with the Coronavirus, the elders decided that it would be best to cancel all extra-curricular activities of the church and make some temporary changes to the way things are done.
We can no longer recommend that you come to any services. As it stands, the latest medical advice is advocating staying at least 6 feet away from other people. You have all been very good at doing that (and taking other precautions) in our church activities up to this point, and we are thankful for that. However, this might not be enough to slow its spread to manageable numbers for the healthcare system.
We will not be physically meeting together for prayer service this Wednesday night 3/25/2020. But, we will be reaching out to you for prayer requests (and feel free to call us with them!). Please be in prayer for each other and our country.
Despite what it might initially feel like, we are not planning to quit ministering to the needs of the body and community. But we are going to have to make adjustments for the way that we are doing it.
Given these new realities (which may be with us for a while) we need to take our ministry efforts to the next level in order to continue to meet your needs and the needs of our community in a safe way (they are generally calling people to avoid groups of 10+ [or less], and the Surgeon General is urging people to stay home). So what can we do to balance the physical distancing that is needed along with Scripture’s mandates in Matthew 4:4 and Hebrews 10:25? While we will not pretend to have the answer for every church and situation (which can vary greatly), this is what we are going to be doing:
1. We will begin live streaming our Sunday services on Facebook.
Instead of encouraging people to come, we will be live-streaming the Sunday Service in order to facilitate recommended self-isolation precautions.
This will allow more people to continue to hear God’s Word even if they cannot come be with us. We know this is not “church” as Scripture envisions, but hopefully it will be of great help during this extraordinary time of crisis.
We will not lock the doors of the church, but for our situation we also cannot recommend that you put yourself in a possibly dangerous circumstance. Thus, we will also be adding a new pastoral ministry for you (and everyone else in the community) for the time being. Pastor Kevin has been commissioned by the elders to head this up in lieu of the weekly Proverbs message (which will be resumed as time allows).
2. We will begin hosting The Curbside Quarantine Pastor (or if you like, Car Talk With A Pastor).
What will this look like?
The Lord has blessed us with a nice drive through portico. Simply drive up and talk with Pastor Kevin from a safe distance from within the comfort of your car. There will be no touching, or even close physical proximity. Yet, you can receive and share encouragement from God’s Word, have some real life fellowship, have prayer together, and (if you would like) even try to sing a hymn together.
Likewise, if anyone in the community needs Scriptural and Spiritual encouragement Pastor Kevin will be available for everyone.
To be clear though, no donations will be received for this ministry service. This is not a gimmick to get money. Rather, this is an acknowledgement (like the army does with their chaplaincy corp) that spiritual counsel and ministry is an essential part of life. A crisis is not a time to be cutting out the availability and presence of the truth of God’s Word in our lives. Thus, we will not be shrinking back, but pushing forward with a safe way that we can be available for in-person (but safe!) interaction.
When will this be available?
To begin with these will be our hours starting this Sunday 3/29/2020:
Please come as often as is needed or helpful—and recommend that others drop by too. If anyone has any questions about life, eternity, or anything in the Bible please come see us. If fears, stress, tension, or quarantining is becoming overwhelming we are here. We need God’s Word to guide us through all of life. Come see us, or give us a call: 386-546-0820 (Pastor Kevin) or 563-845-1813 (Pastor Caleb). If we cannot answer, leave a message and we will try to get back to you as soon as we are able.
Where will this Curbside Quarantine Pastor Service be available?
At our church drive through portico: Grace Community Baptist Church, 161 Peniel Church Road, Palatka Florida 32177
3. We will encourage parents to take seriously their privilege and responsibility to teach God’s Word to their children.
It has always been the responsibility of believing parents to raise their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4, Deuteronomy 6:5-7). If you have not already been doing family devotions now would be an ideal time to start. If you have any questions or need help with this please contact us. We would love to help you grow in shepherding your family spiritually and scripturally in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
It does not need to be complicated or overwhelming. Consider starting with something as simple as reading a chapter of Scripture and praying together. Other features of course could be added (such as discussing the passage, singing a hymn together, or even having a lesson). Yet those kinds of things do not need to stand in the way of getting started.
Conclusion
Stay tuned for updates, as the nature of this situation can vary greatly.
We are currently studying the following:
Sunday School - 9:30 a.m. - Psalms (Caleb Dodge)
Morning Worship - 10:30 a.m. - Matthew (Caleb Dodge)
Wed. Prayer Service - 7:00 p.m. - (Currently suspended)
(Click here to listen to recent messages.)
In addition to the corporate worship services, we [NORMALLY] have a monthly Men's Bible Study and a monthly Women's Bible Study. We also have a Children's Sunday School and Nursery, as well as Wednesday night children's programs for those 6th grade and younger during the school year. Our monthly communion service is generally the last Sunday of the month.
3/24/2020 Important Grace Community Baptist Church Update
In light of everything occurring with the Coronavirus, the elders decided that it would be best to cancel all extra-curricular activities of the church and make some temporary changes to the way things are done.
We can no longer recommend that you come to any services. As it stands, the latest medical advice is advocating staying at least 6 feet away from other people. You have all been very good at doing that (and taking other precautions) in our church activities up to this point, and we are thankful for that. However, this might not be enough to slow its spread to manageable numbers for the healthcare system.
We will not be physically meeting together for prayer service this Wednesday night 3/25/2020. But, we will be reaching out to you for prayer requests (and feel free to call us with them!). Please be in prayer for each other and our country.
Despite what it might initially feel like, we are not planning to quit ministering to the needs of the body and community. But we are going to have to make adjustments for the way that we are doing it.
Given these new realities (which may be with us for a while) we need to take our ministry efforts to the next level in order to continue to meet your needs and the needs of our community in a safe way (they are generally calling people to avoid groups of 10+ [or less], and the Surgeon General is urging people to stay home). So what can we do to balance the physical distancing that is needed along with Scripture’s mandates in Matthew 4:4 and Hebrews 10:25? While we will not pretend to have the answer for every church and situation (which can vary greatly), this is what we are going to be doing:
1. We will begin live streaming our Sunday services on Facebook.
Instead of encouraging people to come, we will be live-streaming the Sunday Service in order to facilitate recommended self-isolation precautions.
This will allow more people to continue to hear God’s Word even if they cannot come be with us. We know this is not “church” as Scripture envisions, but hopefully it will be of great help during this extraordinary time of crisis.
We will not lock the doors of the church, but for our situation we also cannot recommend that you put yourself in a possibly dangerous circumstance. Thus, we will also be adding a new pastoral ministry for you (and everyone else in the community) for the time being. Pastor Kevin has been commissioned by the elders to head this up in lieu of the weekly Proverbs message (which will be resumed as time allows).
2. We will begin hosting The Curbside Quarantine Pastor (or if you like, Car Talk With A Pastor).
What will this look like?
The Lord has blessed us with a nice drive through portico. Simply drive up and talk with Pastor Kevin from a safe distance from within the comfort of your car. There will be no touching, or even close physical proximity. Yet, you can receive and share encouragement from God’s Word, have some real life fellowship, have prayer together, and (if you would like) even try to sing a hymn together.
Likewise, if anyone in the community needs Scriptural and Spiritual encouragement Pastor Kevin will be available for everyone.
To be clear though, no donations will be received for this ministry service. This is not a gimmick to get money. Rather, this is an acknowledgement (like the army does with their chaplaincy corp) that spiritual counsel and ministry is an essential part of life. A crisis is not a time to be cutting out the availability and presence of the truth of God’s Word in our lives. Thus, we will not be shrinking back, but pushing forward with a safe way that we can be available for in-person (but safe!) interaction.
When will this be available?
To begin with these will be our hours starting this Sunday 3/29/2020:
- Sunday: 12-4 pm
- Monday: Closed
- Tuesday: 3-7 pm
- Wednesday: 9am – 1 pm
- Thursday: 9am – 1 pm
- Friday: 9am – 1 pm
- Saturday: 9am – 1 pm.
Please come as often as is needed or helpful—and recommend that others drop by too. If anyone has any questions about life, eternity, or anything in the Bible please come see us. If fears, stress, tension, or quarantining is becoming overwhelming we are here. We need God’s Word to guide us through all of life. Come see us, or give us a call: 386-546-0820 (Pastor Kevin) or 563-845-1813 (Pastor Caleb). If we cannot answer, leave a message and we will try to get back to you as soon as we are able.
Where will this Curbside Quarantine Pastor Service be available?
At our church drive through portico: Grace Community Baptist Church, 161 Peniel Church Road, Palatka Florida 32177
3. We will encourage parents to take seriously their privilege and responsibility to teach God’s Word to their children.
It has always been the responsibility of believing parents to raise their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4, Deuteronomy 6:5-7). If you have not already been doing family devotions now would be an ideal time to start. If you have any questions or need help with this please contact us. We would love to help you grow in shepherding your family spiritually and scripturally in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
It does not need to be complicated or overwhelming. Consider starting with something as simple as reading a chapter of Scripture and praying together. Other features of course could be added (such as discussing the passage, singing a hymn together, or even having a lesson). Yet those kinds of things do not need to stand in the way of getting started.
Conclusion
Stay tuned for updates, as the nature of this situation can vary greatly.
- All the sermons are here on the church website for you to listen to. If you need help accessing this please let us know.
- If you have any needs please let the elders know and we will see what can be done.
We are currently studying the following:
Sunday School - 9:30 a.m. - Psalms (Caleb Dodge)
Morning Worship - 10:30 a.m. - Matthew (Caleb Dodge)
Wed. Prayer Service - 7:00 p.m. - (Currently suspended)
(Click here to listen to recent messages.)
In addition to the corporate worship services, we [NORMALLY] have a monthly Men's Bible Study and a monthly Women's Bible Study. We also have a Children's Sunday School and Nursery, as well as Wednesday night children's programs for those 6th grade and younger during the school year. Our monthly communion service is generally the last Sunday of the month.
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