BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Over 300 Lake Region Kiwanis Club’s Easter Sunrise Service attendees donated $3,651 to Lake Area Ministries.
At the conclusion of the service, Kiwanian Tina Bullock held up a handful of U.S. currency, demonstrating the crowd’s generosity.
“I thought we needed to see this,” the retired educator said. “A picture is worth several thousand words.”
Kiwanis known for parades and Terrific Kids
Toward the beginning of the ceremony, Kiwanis President Karen Lake told the crowd that the primary mission of her group, founded in 1989, is to serve children. She highlighted her club’s production of the Independence Day and Christmas parades in Keystone Heights, and its ongoing sponsorship of Terrific Kids, a student recognition program in Lake Region elementary schools.
Lake said that last week, her organization received an $8,375 grant from the Florida Children’s Fund, which Lake Region Kiwanis will give to the Keystone Heights High School Band.
Lake Area Ministries assisting families for 36 years
Scott Standland, president of the board of Lake Area Ministries, told the crowd the food bank has been assisting families in the Lake Region for 36 years.
Standland, also Trinity Baptist Church’s pastor of worship and administration, said that in 2024, Lake Area Ministries assisted 7,621 families.
“That’s not individuals,” he said. “That’s families. Four hundred, twenty-four of those families had never come to Lake Area Ministries before.
He added that in the first quarter of 2025, the organization had helped 1,852 families, 76 of whom had never sought help from Lake Area Ministries.
“So, you can do the math there and understand we are on track to serve the same amount or even a greater number of families in 2025,” he said.
“You’ve been to the grocery store,” the minister added, “and you know exactly how much groceries are, and these are families that are in crisis that need help. And so, we strive to give them as much as we can as they come, but we need you.”
Standland asked audience members to pray for the ministry, offer to volunteer, and financially support the effort.
The nonprofit’s leader said that, unlike past years, the food bank had not received any grant funding in 2025 and has relied solely on the generosity of cash and in-kind donations.
“(During) March and April, we’ve been collecting canned fruit,” he said. “So, if you want to drop off some canned fruit, there are some boxes there at the facility on Commercial Circle, some brown boxes that are outside.”
Knowing Christ’s righteousness, power, and sufferings
Trinity Baptist Church Senior Pastor Brandon Denmark preached the morning’s message from Philippians 3:1-11.
Denmark said that from that passage, the Apostle Paul wrote about the necessity of knowing Jesus Christ and that understanding Christ involves experiencing his righteousness, his power, and his sufferings.
The pastor warned audience members about self-righteousness.
“The problem with our righteousness is it will never justify us,” he said. “It will never satisfy the wrath of God that is upon us because of our sin. It will never sanctify us. It is insufficient to save us.
He also said that knowing the power of Christ is understanding the power of creation and the power that raised Jesus from the dead.
“There is no power in our good-hearted commitments, no power in our great ambitions, no power in our religious pursuits, no power in our works of righteousness,” he said. “But hear me this morning, there is power in a resurrected Jesus. There is power to redeem us, to forgive you of your sins, to block out your iniquities, to make of you a child of God, to redeem you, to save you, to justify you.”
Denmark said the biblical theme of the sufferings of Christ and his followers is not the message of modern-day, popular Christianity.
“The Bible teaches that God seldom removes us from suffering,” he said, “but that he is with us, enabling us, empowering us in the midst of our suffering.”
He said that the popular message of many churches, which removes the cross from Christianity, removes justification and the strength and endurance necessary for surviving life’s trials.
Also participating in the service were Keystone Heights Methodist Church Pastor J.T. Taylor, who delivered the opening prayer, the Keystone Heights High School JROTC, which presented the colors, the Friendship Bible Church Worship Team, which led music, Tim Grubbs, who presented special music, and Kiwanis member Roy Chandler, who introduced Denmark.
Retired Pastor and Keystone Heights RV Park resident Jerry Curtis gave the benediction.
