All kids ages 5-11 are invited to be a part of the Fuzion Club House on Wednesday nights at Spirit Life Church.

After praise and worship in the sanctuary, the kids are led by the Fuzion mascot, Sparky, to the Clubhouse, where they are taught a lesson about a Bible character. Recently the children learned about Jonah and Joseph and how God worked in their lives in spite of the difficulties they experienced. Fun activities such as games, puzzles, skits, or crafts are used to reinforce what the kids have just learned. There are friendly competitions with prizes of candy or small toys awarded to the winners.

About once a month, the kids have “movie night” where they watch a popular children’s film on the state-of-the-art theatre system. And no movie night is complete without fresh popcorn!

The kids love seeing their friends, and the creative atmosphere in the Club House makes learning the Bible fun.

Fuzion Club House – the place to be on Wednesday nights!

This fall at Spirit Life Church, REVOLUTION (our student ministry) is the place to be on Wednesday nights! We meet in The Hub every Wednesday after praise and worship until 8:30 pm.

You may have heard about our new Spirit Life Church fan page on Facebook. Be sure to check it out and become a fan! And while you’re there, take a look at our new REVOLUTION fan page. Yes, that’s right, REVOLUTION is now on Facebook! Or if you prefer tweeting, follow us on Twitter. These are great tools for us to communicate and be relevant to our students and their friends. Technology is a very effective way to spread the word about the latest happenings, post photos or even just connect to the people around us.

Now you know why REVOLUTION is the place to be on Wednesday nights for middle and high school students!!

Averaging over 100 in weekly attendance, Gator football chapel services, hosted by our own Senior Associate Pastor Lindsey Seals, have continued to add a welcome spiritual dimension to the entire football program at the University of Florida.

Lead Pastor, Chris Hays, accompanied PL to one of the weekly services recently and witnessed first hand the respect and appreciation players, coaches and their families have for PL. “You can tell they all love PL,” said Pastor Chris. “He has definitely earned their respect because he has proven that he genuinely cares for them. He has no other agenda than to help them experience the reality of God in their daily lives.”

Weekly services are about 30 minutes in length and feature video clips, music, and a relevant message from PL. It’s a powerful time as players and coaches have the opportunity to worship and experience God’s presence, some of them for the first time in their lives.

But more than just a once a week experience, PL offers encouragement, support, honesty and perspective to the team. He is available by phone, travels with the team to all of their games, and has had opportunity to pray with several players facing difficult situations. As PL has stated time and again, these players are just kids. On the field, they seem larger than life but in reality, they’re just young men - 18, 19, and 20 year olds facing real life challenges and choices.

The chapel program has also become a powerful selling point used in recruiting. As PL recently shared, several families of the new recruits have expressed their gratitude for the quality chaplaincy program offered by the Gator football program, which has been part of Coach Urban Meyer’s vision for the team.

Keep PL, the team, and their families in your prayers and stay tuned to spiritlife.com for more team pastor updates!

To read more stories about PL and the Florida Gators, check out the News Archives.

A group of fourteen kids and five chaperons spent a day Christmas shopping recently thanks to gifts from The Heart Smile Foundation. The Heart Smile Foundation, formed by Spirit Life’s own Pastor Gail Perinchief, is a network of women looking for opportunities to be generous with their lives and resources.

Over the years, Heart Smile has helped support a variety of people in our community including those battling cancer, victims of house fires, underprivileged kids and more.

This season, Pastor Gail’s desire was to bring assistance to single parent families by taking the kids out for a special day of shopping. The kids were able to purchase shoes and a shirt or outfit for themselves plus a Christmas gift for their parent. The group also had lunch at local favorite “Five Guys,” making it a memorable and fulfilling day.

For more information about Heart Smile, check out www.heartsmilefoundation.com. Donations to the Heart Smile Foundation can be made on Spirit Life’s “Give” page (choose "Heart Smile Foundation" in "Type of Giving" on the "Give" page).

It’s been a powerful experience each evening as hundreds of Spirit Lifers have gathered together to set the pace for this new decade with 10 days of prayer.

Beginning with Dr. Richard on Wednesday, January 6, the meetings continued nightly with the pastoral staff taking turns leading each evening. Each prayer time has focused on a different topic - relationships, worship, our community, and the economy have been some of the areas covered.

On Friday, January 15th, we finished on a high with a healing and deliverance service. God's presence filled the room and many people were healed and set free! We are still receiving testimonies of breakthroughs that have already happened and we are believing for much more throughout the year from these amazing 10 days. This time of prayer and fasting was a great way to kick off a new year and decade!

For more than ten years, Spirit Life’s student outreach program - STRENGTH OF THE YOUNG - has impacted the youth of our community with three primary tools: community rallies; the very popular summer basketball league; and a public school mentoring program.

This year, Strength of the Young (SOTY) has taken its partnership with our public schools to another level. The mentoring program has expanded its focus on middle and high school students and now includes local elementary schools as well. Tristan Kennedy who is SOTY’s program director (and head of Spirit Life’s student ministry), recently shared that young kids are being exposed to much more than those in previous generations. And so far, the elementary school students the team has connected with are really benefiting from the program.

Students are identified by school officials as being “at-risk” for failure or other problems and are recommended for the SOTY program. A team of mentors holds weekly classes that include games, multimedia, and other creative tools to communicate a powerful message. Every week builds on the previous lesson, teaching concepts like integrity, character, and goal setting.

Stephanie Hays is an SOTY mentor at Emerald Shores and Belleview-Santos elementary schools in Marion County. She says, “I love the fact that we are really able to have an impact on the students. They not only improve their grades, but they also have better attitudes and behavior.”

It’s a great opportunity to connect with young people in our community and help change their future - one step at a time. For more information about Strength of the Young, check out their website at www.strengthoftheyoung.com.

Nearly 100 women joined Pastor Gail last week for the first ladies meeting of 2010 - Fun, Food and Friends.

Highlights of the evening included lots of chatting and laughing as women had a chance to connect with one another. Dinner consisted of a delicious meal prepared by Chef JAG, who has been featured on Food Network’s Rachael Ray and Next Food Network Star (check out Chef JAG’s website at www.chefjag.com!)

The night continued as Pastor Gail and her leadership team shared exciting opportunities including three new book clubs and four new prayer teams for 2010. At the end of the night, Pastor Gail made the big announcement of Spirit Life’s Women’s Conference, which will be held in September 17-18, 2010, and will feature guest speaker Kathi Pitts. Ladies, mark your calendar now and make plans to come to this life-changing event which will be held in Orlando, Florida.

For more information about Spirit Life’s women’s ministry, contact Pastor Gail at mail@spiritlife.com.

It’s an exciting time at Spirit Life as we celebrate our 20th Anniversary! Our “official” anniversary date is May 1, but the festivities have already begun with our Legacy Series on Wednesday nights. Be sure to take part in our midweek services as Spirit Life families share experiences, memories and highlights from the church’s rich and exciting history.

Events to look forward to in the coming weeks include our Anniversary banquet and special services with guest speakers Steve Kelly of Wave Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Michael Pitts of Cornerstone Church in Toledo, Ohio.

Come celebrate this momentous occasion with us!

Ladies! It’s not too late to be part of this Spring’s series of book clubs - “Pages.” This is a priceless opportunity to change your life by reading a powerful book specifically selected by Pastor Gail. It’s also a great chance to get to know other ladies in our area. Book clubs are open to all women, ages 18 + up.

We have three different groups to choose from - each group meets every other Thursday evening (started on March 4, 2010).

The books we are currently reading are:

Secrets of a Satisfying Life: Discover the Habits of Happy People
Self Talk, Soul Talk: What to Say When You Talk to Yourself
Becoming a Woman of Influence: Making a Lasting Impact on Others

If you’re interested in being part of a book club, contact the Spirit Life office at mail@spiritlife.com.