About

Since the chief end of man is to worship God and enjoy Him forever, our first desire is to be intimate in our personal relationship with Jesus. We encourage regular personal communication with God using the Bible as the source of God's revelation in our lives. We regularly share with others what God is doing in our lives. We are an elder-directed church with no paid staff. Each member is encouraged to exercise his/her gifts in the body and encourage others along in their own personal walk and obedience to Jesus.

The fourth Sunday of each month is set aside for anyone to bring their song, their testimony, or their message from scripture to be heard by all. Gatherings are informal. Needs and concerns are addressed here in prayer. Each individual is encouraged to generously give of themselves and their resources to the church and other ministries according to the passion God has given them.

Sharing Sunday

Sharing Sunday, which occurs on the first Sunday of the month, is an example of how the Body of Christ functions with Christ as the Head. After the praise and worship on Sharing Sunday, the service is opened for anyone in the congregation to share what God has been speaking to them. Just as the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 14:26, we encourage everyone to participate -- "What is the outcome then brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification."

Some will share how the scripture has applied to their life. Some sing praise with a song. Some bring praise with a dance or a song. Some ask for prayer. Some bring a word of exhortation. Some bring a prophetic word (speaking forth God's revealed scriptural truth applied to our current situation). But each does so according to the grace of God given to them.

After our time of encouragement, we share a meal together.

History

The History of Micanopy Christian Fellowship by Jenny Elder
In 1994, three couples who had formerly been deacons at another Micanopy church met in the Hunter Ave. home of Micanopy’s mayor- commissioner, Steve Elder, to seek God’s direction. They were committed to creating a fellowship of Christians that focused on how Christians in the book of Acts in the Bible functioned. The Elder children remember helping their parents every Saturday move out all of the regular living and dining room furniture to set up rows of chairs for the families and others who heard about the meetings and just “happened” to stop by. Once a month they had a “dinner on the grounds” that entailed every family bringing one or more covered dishes and fellowshipping after church. Sometimes there were baptisms of new believers in the Elders’ swimming pool.

In 2000 the group unanimously agreed that the Lord was leading them to build a building. By that time the rooms in the Elder home were so full of chairs that they spilled down the hallway and were about to go onto the front porch. The living and dining rooms, held up by original beams made from entire felled pine trees in the late 1800’s, were starting to sag from the excessive weight and motion. Also, members of the congregation remembered that they had continued to meet at the Elder home because there was no place in Micanopy for public gatherings except for the ball park or a few small rooms in town hall. They envisioned a place where they could meet to worship and grow closer to God themselves, while reaching out to others and providing a place for the community to hold special events without charge.

Later that year, construction of Micanopy Christian Fellowship broke ground. That was after the members bought for a very reasonable price, a parcel of “Thrasher family land” on the edge of Lake Tuscawilla. As word about the planned church building spread, unsolicited donations appeared and the members of the church donated countless hours of work doing everything from hanging sheetrock to landscaping. In February, 2001, Micanopy Christian Fellowship had its first meeting in the church building. Today it is still called “the church building” because members recognize that they themselves are the real “church”. While there are designated church leaders, there is no paid pastor or staff – and there never has been. Sunday messages are brought by members who are recognized as having the gift of teaching as it is described in the Bible. Others have the gift of pastoring, serving, and/or administration – to name a few. Not having a designated pastor seems strange to some but it keeps the focus on the true “head of the church”. That is Jesus himself.

What we Believe

Who is God? Revelation 1:8 I cause all things to begin and I cause the end of all things, says the Lord. I am the One who is, who was and who is to come, the All Powerful. God created time, the universe, life, all living things, each of us, our ability to love and be creative.
What do we learn from the Bible? The Bible shows us how to know Him and have a relationship with Him. 2 Peter 1:3 God's divine power has given to us all things which relate to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who has called us. He has given to us the great and precious promises, that through these we may share His divine nature and escape the world's corrupting lust.
Why do we exist? We exist to enjoy God in blessings and sufferings so that our thoughts and actions please Him. Colossians 1:10 I pray that I might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as I bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. We understand pleasure by understanding what pleases God. If it pleases God it pleases me.
What does the Bible teach about God? The Godhead is one God in the three persons, the Father, Jesus the Son and Holy Spirit. The Godhead discussed the creation of humans and animals. Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, to be like us. Let them be masters over the fish, the birds, the livestock and over the earth itself!”
There is a friendship among the Godhead full of purity, joy and love. This is part of what it means to be created in the image of God Luke 10:21 At that moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus extremely joyful, so Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because it pleased you hide these things from wise and intelligent people and reveal them to children.
God has always existed and will always exist. He made time and lives outside of time. 1Timothy 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
God’s Moral Purity Hebrews 1:9 Jesus loved righteousness and hated wickedness. That is why God, filled Him with more joy than the people around Him.
God’s love for us. 1 John 4:10 We did not love God first. Rather, he loved us first. He sent his Son to die, to take away our sins.
God sees and knows everything Hebrews 4:13 No creature can hide from him, but everyone is exposed and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.
How God works on behalf of those who love Him Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
The Holy Spirit distributes gifts to the believers 1 Corinthians 12:11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
What does it teach about people? Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Genesis 3:11 The Lord God said, Have you eaten from the tree that I told you not to eat from? The man made an excuse then the woman made an excuse. Our independence is based on our own flawed reasons, feelings and view of things. This sin is passed on to our children by example and by our human dispositions toward sin.
Disobedience and death has passed to us. Romans 5:12 Therefore, as through one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned.
What is sin? Sin is any thought or action different from the nature of God. Sin is any thought or action similar to the nature of the evil one. Romans 3:23 All have sinned, and fall short of the perfection God designed for us. God’s nature and perfection are revealed to us in the Bible. Universally people believe that people should try to make the world a better place. The fact that the world has evil is the result of the sin of people.
What is the result of sin? Each person has broken friendship with God and become independent. Disconnected from God they are lonely, driven to pain by their sinful nature and destined for eternal separation in hell forever. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What did God do to save us? In His love He offered forgiveness for our sins as a free gift. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his unique Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Romans 5:8 God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that the Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. John 3:3 Jesus replied to him, “Truly, I tell you emphatically; unless a person is born again from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
What is purpose in marriage? God’s creation was that a man and woman and make a family of children so that none of them will not be alone. God commanded the father and mother are to pass on their enjoyment of God to their children. God created the marriage relationship of love between husband and wife to display the love which Christ has for His church. Ephesians 5:31-32 We are members of Christ's body just as a man leaves his father and mother, and is united to his wife in marriage so the two become one. This mystery is great, but it shows that Christ is united with His church.
What is the Church? 1 Corinthians 12:27 All of you are Christ’s body. And each of you is a part of that body. When we received God’s free gift of eternal life, Holy Spirit began to dwell in us guiding us in His work for Jesus, making us part of what Jesus is doing with the other people who have eternal life, His church, His body. The church, the family of believers, is how Jesus shows His love to all people in the world.
What is the purpose of our work on the earth? Colossians 3:23 Whatever labor you do, work hard with all your heart. It is your gift to God and not merely work for men. Every task we do to help and bless other people is our worship to God.
We remember Jesus and His death for us at the Lord's Supper Luke 22:19-20 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you.
Jesus' Great Commission Matthew 28:19 "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”