If you’ve recently started attending Local, plan to join us for our upcoming Newcomer’s Party on July 16th @ 5:30 PM. We love seeing all the new faces here at Local Church St. Pete and we want to take some unhurried time to get to know each other better!

We’ll meet at The St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club (in the clubhouse) located at 559 Mirror Lake Dr. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

Dinner will be provided and shuffleboard will be to follow! Please register HERE for this free event so we can know how many people to plan for.

Join us, on Sunday December 15th from 1-3pm for a time of Christmas card-making for Created (a ministry in the Tampa Bay area who “believes that a growing, thriving relationship with Jesus is the context in which vulnerable women will find hope for emotional, physical, and social healing from the wounds that sexual exploitation and their involvement in the sex industry has inflicted”).  If you have scrap-booking supplies–bring them.  If not, no worries, supplies will be provided.  Food, fellowship, and fun also provided.  Please come! To learn more about this check out the Created Group under the groups section on our website.

Yesterday morning Gina Snyder shared the current journey God has her on. Originally from Minnesota, Gina and her husband, Dan, began to travel for his work. The first place his job took them was North Dakota. In the midst of this transition Gina felt alone at times because they didn’t know many people, but her husbands sister lived nearby and God used her to bring comfort and connections to Gina.

“When we were living in MN before the travel gig to ND we found out I was pregnant.We were pumped! Well on my drive to ND some complications started to happen. I went to the doctor and they couldn’t find evidence of life in the ultrasound. That rocked Dan and me. Personally, I knew that God is good and His plans are good but I still had to go through the emotions of feeling sad and confused and angry and that is ok. We are humans and we have emotions and God can handle them.”

“So in the midst of having a miscarriage, more complications came up. I was bleeding a lot and passed out in the hotel and Dan had to call the ambulance. I was shaking and felt out of it. But while being in the ER, I could totally sense the Lord was near. So many people were praying for me and I felt His peace washing over me.”

While they attended a church in ND, they didn’t feel connected to it and didn’t make many friends there. As Dan’s job came to an end they found out that they were being sent to Florida next. Gina began to pray for a good church, for good community and for a good job to come in FL.

“I googled churches in St Pete and Local came up. Right when we stepped foot in the church, we felt so welcome. People greeting us asking us our story, I was blown away with the love I felt. We felt the community through getting involved in the small groups.”

“Throughout this journey that I’ve been on, I’ve been meditating on this verse from 1 John 5:14-15 And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for. I asked for a good church to be apart of and God answered, I asked for community and God answered. He is faithful and when we pray boldly He hears us and provides in just the right time. Kiddos will come, the right job will come and the other things I am believing for will come. He is good and faithful, I encourage you to keep contending, go to Him in boldness and make your requests.”

Monday, December 21st @ 6PM we will join with our friends from City Church to participate in the 6th annual Lessons & Carols at Green Bench Brewery. This is a family-friendly night of carol singing with 2 worship bands and a Christmas story.  Invite your friends & neighbors!

Located at 1133 Baum Ave N. St. Pete 33705

Join us for a candlelight service filled with songs we love to sing, celebrating a story we can’t get enough of. We’ll gather to celebrate Jesus’ humility and hear what his birth means for us both now and forever. We’d love for you to be our guest!

L O C A L  S T O R Y

This Sunday Marni Zafar shared with us how God has used prayer to showcase His grace at work in her life.

She and her husband have been married for 42 years and have 4 children and 3 grandchildren. Marni was born a Christian, or so she thought. Until she was 31 years old she had convinced herself of this.

“I realized now that I did not have ears to hear. What an epiphany moment, one morning, at bible study when I understood I had to ask Christ to forgive me and to come into my life. I did!”

An important part of Marni’s life is prayer. She shared a few of the many times that God used difficult situations to reveal more of Himself.

Seven years ago she got a concerning phone call from her youngest daughter. All she could hear on the phone was her daughters voice crying out in pain, then silence followed by a male voice that said hello and then the phone hung up. All night Marni prayed. She called the police, the friends her daughter had been with and another friend to join her in praying. Finally at 6am her daughter called to say she was fine.

“We found out the next day that she had been a victim of the date rape drug. We convinced her to go to the police and to get counseling. I was so thankful for God’s presence that night! I was thankful that I got that phone call, so I could cover her in prayer.”

About a year ago Marni began to have trouble with her eyes. She found out that she had a rare disease called Histoplasmosis. After being treated for the wrong disease twice, it was finally discovered that she had Graves Disease with Thyroid Eye Disease. One of the treatments included a weekly infusion of steroids.

“Every Friday I would have an infusion and every Friday night I was wide awake, all night! I would pray, asking for healing and then something happened. I started praying longer and longer and more and more in depth and it wasn’t just me praying, it was receiving guidance and answers to prayers. I felt as though I was in the presence of God.”

Thank you Marni for reminding of us that prayer is such a privilege! Listen to her full story on our website under our “talks” section.

Join us immediately after our Sunday Gathering for a brief introduction (10 minutes) designed to welcome and connect you to Local Church St. Pete. If you are new to Local Church St. Pete, this is for you! We’ll share our mission, vision and values and help you get connected to House Group, Sunday Gatherings and the LOCAL mission we’re on together.

L O C A L S T O R Y

Yesterday, Ron Aldrich shared with the church how God’s grace has transformed his life. He grew up here in St. Pete and his father struggled with addiction and depression for as a long as he could remember. Because of the choices his father made, Ron grew a hatred for him that ultimately spilled over into his adult life.

“To avoid being sent to a bad middle school, my Mom put me in a private Christian middle school. It was there that I really learned who Jesus of the bible was. In 8 th grade at an alter call I remember the Holy Spirit stirring in my heart and being saved that day.”

As he entered high school Ron slowly drifted away from God. The hatred he had for his father continued and he would spend the next may years rebelling, partying and doing drugs.

“It was during this time that I met two people who would later help lead me back to Christ, my wife Lara and good friend Ryan Carver. They were not believers then, rather some of the people I made poor choices with. But, God had a plan for all of us. Little did I know, the farther I pushed myself away from Jesus, the more he perused me, even chasing me down at times.”

Ron continued to live in his sin and a few years into college he reconnected with Laura and they began dating. A few years later when Laura got pregnant she immediately changed but Ron did not.

“Shortly into our marriage and two kids later, I hit rock bottom. I couldn’t turn away from my substance addictions, even hiding much of it from my wife. She eventually figured it out and I was faced with losing everything that I cared about because of my selfish choices. It was this absolute complete brokenness that lead me straight back to Jesus. The Lord knew that I needed to be completely broken in order to finally surrender it all.”

One night Ron decided to recommit himself to Jesus and he was freed from his addictions ever since! Through God’s grace his marriage was restored and now stronger than ever.

“Not long after, the Lord really started to work on my heart and made it clear to me that I needed to forgive my father. After really wrestling with this topic I finally gave in. I called my father after not speaking to him for years and I told him that I forgave him. I was able to be a witness and really share what the Lord had done and was continuing to do in my life. After lots of prayer my father got saved and got sober, two things I never would have paired next to him.”

Ron’s father passed away in 2013 but he had hope that his father was now with Jesus. At the funeral, Ron boldly gave a speech and used it as an opportunity to share Jesus with his whole family.

“I think the most important thing to remember in all of this, is that no matter how far you run away or try to hide, you are never out of the Lord’s reach. God was always chasing me down and seeking me out. Even when I didn’t know it.”

Ron shared Luke 15:4-7 with us, reminding us how Jesus leave the 99 sheep to find the one.

Listen to Ron share his full story below.

As disciples of Jesus we’re called (given the privilege and responsibility) to make disciples. But HOW? One expression of that is to walk with someone “ONE to ONE” through part of the Bible. But where do you begin? And how long should you meet? What is the goal? What if you don’t know all the answers to their questions? These are just a few of the questions we’ll discuss. We’ll also walk through a passage of scripture in real time discussing what it might look like to do the same with someone else. From college students to parents, from young professionals to retirees, ONE to ONE Bible reading is a simple and effective way to help make disciples. Sign up HERE.