Current Series

Ruth's Journey To Bethlehem

In this short, 2-part, series, we'll explore how Ruth's journey from Moab to Bethlehem was inspired by God so that the prophecy of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem would be fulfilled.

View Ruth's Journey To Bethlehem

Articles

Sometimes there are thoughts that we'd love to share with you, but they really don't fit anywhere in particular. So we have a blog for just such items.

Recent Articles

View Blog Archive

Sermon Archive

We also have a large archive of all of our previous sermon series. Feel free to have a listen.

Past Series

Visit the Sermon Archive

Music

We maintain a few shared playlists on Apple Music & Spotify. They serve two purposes: To allow you to learn songs before we sing them, and to listen to a wider array of songs that we have sung corporately for the life of Good News.

Sunday Weekly

Apple Music Spotify

Sunday All-Time

Apple Music Spotify

Where Are We Located?

Our Address

5600 SE 24th St
Ocala, FL 34480

Phone: (352) 229-8901
Email: info@goodnewsocala.com

Contact Us

Good News Church is located off of Baseline Rd in Ocala, FL. Whether you're coming from North, or South FL, it's a quick jaunt on I-75, or just straight up US Hwy 441.

Get Directions

Follow Us!

Church is not just Sunday mornings. It's a community of believers joined together. Keep in touch with us throughout the week.

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Financial Support

The stewardship of our finances is a tremendous—and often overlooked—area of our lives where we can faithfully proclaim the gospel. Giving strengthens our devotion to Christ and frees us to live open-handedly with the gifts God gives us. We trust in Him and His provision instead of our perceived self-sufficiency. As people of faith, we give faithfully and generously.

Give Your Money

Volunteer

Just as we can donate from our finances, we can also donate our time. In this way you can help serve people inside, and outside, the church body. We have many ways in which you can serve:

Ways To Give Your Time

  • Greeting people (new & old)
  • Coffee Corner Setup & Service
  • Lawn maintenance & care
  • Teaching Bible Lessons to kids
  • Watching babies, so the mother & father can attend the service
  • etc...
Give Your Time

Baptism

Policies & Procedures

What is Baptism?

Baptism is a ceremonial immersion/washing with water in the name of God/Christ, which is done to a believer in Christ, signifying what God has done in their life (salvation).

We believe that the sacrifice Jesus made by dying on the cross (for the sins of all the people who would ever trust in Him) provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sin. Salvation occurs only when a person places his or her faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as the sufficient payment for his or her sin.

How We Handle Baptism

Who Should Be Baptized?

When someone accepts Jesus Christ as Lord (the God they obey) and Savior (the one who rescued them from the sins they could never rescue themselves from) then they are ready to be baptized. As a bride and groom show others their love for each other by wearing wedding bands, we believe that baptism is a great opportunity for people to be able to show others that they have accepted Christ and are now walking with Him.

The reason for this is that we want to be clear on exactly what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ - we want to make sure that a person understands what it means to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. If, after listening to these sermons, you have any questions about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, please fill out our form so that we can arrange for someone to meet with you and explain things further.

For people who do follow Jesus and understand what this means, it is important that they be baptized. Because Jesus instructed us to be baptized, baptism is an act of obedience. While we do not believe the baptism itself saves you, it demonstrates submission to God.

Infant and Small Child Baptisms

Some denominations choose to baptize infants and other small children. While we recognize the right of other churches to practice infant baptism, we understand Scripture to teach that only professing believers qualify for baptism.

Because we baptize people based on their “profession of faith” we are very careful in how we handle the baptisms of small children. While it’s true that 5-year olds can profess faith in Jesus Christ by parroting back what their parents told them to say, we think it’s wise to wait until a child is older to ensure that they are professing a faith that is truly theirs. Technically, we’ve never officially decided on a minimum age for this. However, we think that encouraging parents to wait until the professing child has reached the age of twelve is good advice.

I'd Like To Be Baptized!

Feel free to fill out our form to set up an appointment with a church leader who will meet with you. They will ask you questions about your relationship with Jesus Christ and take over from there. Together, you can schedule a Sunday morning when you will be baptized.

Note: While there are other ways to do baptism other than during a service on a Sunday morning (ex: in a pool in someone’s back yard), at Good News, we prefer to baptize people during our Sunday morning services because we believe it is important for the rest of the church people to be able to see it, and to celebrate along with the person being baptized.

I'd Like To Be Baptized

Details About What To Expect At Good News Church

At Good News we have a portable baptistery (it is like a movable hot tub with no jets) that we set up for baptisms during the Sunday morning service.

  1. We schedule which day we plan to baptize you. This doesn’t have to be planned months in advance, but we do need a bit of time so that we can make sure there the baptistery is set up and filled with water. Usually, if it’s early in the week, we can do it that upcoming Sunday. If it’s later in the week, we can do it the Sunday after that.
  2. You can wear whatever clothes you would like to be baptized in. Good News doesn’t make anybody wear baptismal gowns that you sometimes see at churches. You can just wear a normal set of clothes. You’re going to also want to bring an extra set of clothes to change into afterwards.
  3. Whoever is going to baptize you will take you over to the baptistery and you will get in it. There is a heater… so the water will probably be lukewarm and not cold.
  4. You will be expected to say something that indicates you are a follower of Jesus Christ. Nothing long or fancy. Just something simple like: “My name is __________, and Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord.”
  5. Be sure to invite your family and friends! This is a very important moment that you do not want them to miss out on!