Your desire for more of God than you have right now, your longing for love, your need for deeper levels of spiritual transformation than you have experienced so far is the truest thing about you. – Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms

In a recent sermon, I asked the congregation to consider the reasons we get up and come to church. Whether we know it or not, and regardless of how “spiritual” we may feel, I suggested the reason we find our way to church is our desire, as it says in James, to “draw near to God.” While we know we can do this outside of our Sunday morning church experiences, there is still something special about a Sunday!

Our desire for more of God in our life, no matter how much or little God we currently have in our life, is the truest thing about who we are as people. But how do we get more of God in our lives? Where do we even begin? Beginning September 9th, I am offering an 8-week sermon series called, “Sacred Rhythms,” inspired by the book of the same title. As many of you know, I recently completed a spiritual formation program for Christian leaders which led me to a monastery once a quarter. Through this sermon series, I hope to share my personal experience with the ancient spiritual practices I learned there as I sought to draw nearer to God in my own life. I know it can sometimes be hard to put our faith into action and sometimes we struggle to know how we can grow in that faith. Through the teachings of Sacred Rhythms, we will consider our own spiritual journeys and connect them with similar stories from those in the Bible.

Together we will talk about ways we can make room for more of God in our lives and to lower the volume of the world so we can listen to his voice. We’ll experience the different spiritual rhythms and practices God’s people have embraced throughout Christian history as we seek to arrange our modern lives for spiritual transformation. On Wednesday evenings, I will offer a supplemental Bible study which will connect to our Sunday morning scriptures and offer an opportunity to go deeper as we seek to apply these rhythms to our lives.

Join us to discover the “Sacred Rhythms” God has for your life!

5:15 Community Dinner
1st Wednesday of each month

6:00 Shore Kids
Birth – 5 grade

6:00 The Middle
LOFT for youth grades 6-12

6:30 Adult Classes
Study of Mark in rm 1476
Sacred Rhythms in the chapel

6:30 First Nester’s Auxiliary

7:30 Choir

Amazon Smile

When you shop at http://smile.amazon.com/ Amazon will donate to Bayshore! It really is that simple. AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Bayshore every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at AmazonSmile, you’ll find the exact same convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to Bayshore once you designate it as your favorite charitable organization.

A Touch Of Grace is a salon serving both women and men at Hyde Park ALF which will be open the first & third Friday, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM of each month. We are so excited to offer free salon services to our Hyde Park friends. Want to get involved? We need salon supplies, hosts, people to wash or cut hair and paint nails, and more… See Aurora Smith.

Book Club

Do you think that half the fun of reading a book is discussing it with friends afterwards? Then the Bayshore Baptist Book Club is for you! We meet the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at Bayshore, in the front lobby by the elevators.

For more information, join the Bayshore Baptist Book Club group on Facebook, or contact Lisa McCarter at 813-743-5113 or via email at tampafilmfan@aol.com.

Barnabas Ministry

Do you ever go to your mailbox only to be disappointed by what was in it? Bills, junk mail, and unwanted political propaganda make for a sad mailbox. The Barnabas Ministry is an opportunity to fill our college students’ mailboxes with notes of encouragement. Bayshore is looking for “Barnabases” to be paired with our college students.

If you are interested in this ministry of encouragement, please contact Dina Marshall.

If you like to or want to learn how to refurbish “stuff” to be used to give young adults in need their first homes, join us. Every Wednesday a team of people will meet from 6:30 – 7:30pm in the First Nesters Studio on the 2nd floor. Childcare is provided.

While we have many friends from Hyde Park ALF who worship and mingle with us on Wednesdays and Sundays, there are some people who simply aren’t mobile enough to leave the property. Join a group of Bayshore family who are leading worship onsite at the ALF on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm.

Meet in the dining room at 3011 W. DeLeon Street, only ½ mile from Bayshore. Questions, contact Jim Neill.