Progress Baptist Church is looking forward to special revival services, Sunday, September 29 – Wednesday, October 2 with Pastor Johnny Jones from Oceana, WV. God has used Brother Jones the past two years during our Fall Revival, and the PBC family loves and appreciates Brother Johnny and Mrs. Cathy! His passionate preaching of the Word of God has been greatly used of God to strengthen this body of believers.
In preparation for the special services, we are focusing special attention our prayer during the month of September. Each day of the month, a member of the church family is setting aside extra time to pray, and we are trusting God to burden other hearts to pray for revival in our church as well. God is working in the hearts and lives of the PBC family, and we want to see Him do more! We want to grow in grace, and as a local body of believers, we long to hear Him say, “Well done!” one day. Will you join with us in prayer and trust God to do great things?
We are looking forward to four special services during the month of August, 2013! Each week, we will move our mid-week service to Tuesday night at 7:30 P.M. There will be a guest preacher each Tuesday, and we’ll have a time of fellowship after the services. We are hoping to see many of our friends from the greater Hendersonville area during the month as well.
On Tuesday, August 6th, Pastor Derek Farmer from Open Door Bible Baptist Church in Goose Creek, SC, will be with us. Brother Farmer and his family were members at Progress Baptist for about fourteen months before the Lord moved them to Goose Creek, SC, and we’re excited about having them in our service and hearing him preach God’s Word.
Then, on August 13th, Bro. Matthew Morgan from the New Freedom Baptist Church in Columbus, NC, will be with us. We’ll have the blessing of hearing the good folks from New Freedom sing for us – they give it all they’ve got! – and then Brother Matthew will be preaching.
On August 20, Bro. Josh McBryar, a young man with a heart for God will be preaching. We are encouraging many of our sister churches in the western NC area to bring their young people to hear this dear brother preach God’s Word. You will not be disappointed!
On Tuesday night, August 27, Bro. Bruce Robinson, from Swannanoa Heights Baptist will be preaching for us. We are thankful for the good fellowship we’ve had with Brother Bruce and his people and are looking forward to having them with us again this month.
Please make plans to join us for as many of these special services as possible. We would enjoy worshiping with you, and the fellowship will be a blessing to the PBC family, and we hope we can be an encouragement to many of you as well!
Each year during the month of December we remind ourselves of the wonderful privilege we have a sharing the gospel with a lost world. Jesus’s last words before He ascended were that we should be witnesses. Along with that awesome privilege comes a great responsibility. For that reason, we use this month to challenge our own hearts with the needs of our community, our region, our country, and the world.
On Sunday, December 2, Missionary Jerry Sexton and his family were with us. Brother Sexton is a missionary with Bearing Precious Seed – a Bible publishing ministry headquartered in Milford, OH. His family provided special music, and Brother Sexton brought a tremendous message on the topic of not settling for less than God intends for us to have in our Christian walk. In addition, he challenged our hearts with an update about this year’s Bible-Publishing Offering as well as next year’s. In 2013, Bible-believing churches will have the blessing of partnering with Bearing Precious Seed to publish and distribute the Word of God in the country of Myanmar (formerly Burma). This translation is the one that Adoniram Judson first translated for the Burmese people in 1835! What an amazing blessing to be a part in making God’s Word available to the 32 million people who speak Burmese as their first language.
Sunday, December 16 will be a special day at PBC! We will have two veteran missionaries as our guests for the day. Sunday morning, Missionary David Edens who has spent over 40 years sharing the gospel in the town of Agadez in the country of Niger will be our guest preacher. He has translated the Scriptures into the native tongue of these nomadic people, and he is a man with a passion for God and for souls. On Sunday night, Missionary Bob Garrett will be preaching. Brother Garrett has served the Lord in Spanish-language missions for over thirty years. His dedication to God is evident, and his preaching has been used of God to help many people; both English and Spanish speakers.
We are praying that God will enable us to do even more for world evangelism during 2013; and our prayer is that He will use these special services during the month of December to burden our hearts as well as stir our hearts about the blessing of being co-laborers in the gospel!
December is a joyous time for believers as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. At Progress Baptist Church, we love to use this time of year to share with a lost, hurting world the truth of the gospel! On Saturday, December 1, we visited two area nursing homes/assisted living centers with gift bags for all the residents. At each facility we were able to sing some Christmas carols and share a short message from God’s Word.
On Saturday, December 15, we will hold our annual Christmas Dinner. This year we will be at the Boiling Springs Baptist Church fellowship hall in Fletcher. The evening will begin with good fellowship around some hot cider, coffee, and hot chocolate around 5:30 P.M. Then at 6:00 P.M., the Philbeck family will provide some good music for us to enjoy followed by a message from God’s Word from Pastor Barry Philbeck from Love Valley Baptist Church in Kings Mtn., NC. Then, we’ll enjoy a great meal and some more good fellowship. The church family is encouraged to bring friends and family with them to this event, and we hope to share the light of the gospel with many folks that night!
On Thursday, December 20, we will hold our annual caroling event. We’ll meet at the church at 6:00 and head out to a subdivision where we’ll carol and distribute Christmas-themed evangelism packets to all the homes. Afterwards, we’ll head back to the church for some good food, fellowship, and games!
God has been so good to us! We are thankful for His many blessings and are looking forward to the rest of the month of December as we worship Him and share His love with those who need a Saviour!
Praise the Lord!! The doctors admitted later that they were very, very skeptical in the beginning about Morgan’s chances…BUT GOD!! Jeremiah 32:27, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” Despite amazing “odds” against his arrival, God graciously allowed Amber to carry Morgan to 31 weeks, and then allowed him to go home after 4 weeks in NICU!
So, on Sunday night, November 11, 2012, we’ll have a baby shower to rejoice in the goodness of God on the Lisenbee family! We’ll have food and fellowship after service (soup and sandwiches), then a good time of gift-giving for Morgan. Make much of what God has done, and tell your children about His might and power! Yes, He is still good and faithful in the dark, difficult times of life. But we can rejoice when He chooses to work miracles on behalf of His children! Bless the Lord!!
On Saturday, October 13, the Teen/College Age Sunday School Class will have a Fall Get-Together. We’ll begin at 5:30 P.M. Everyone is encouraged to come AND to bring a friend! We’d like to have a good number of guests at this event! Sign up at church on Sunday, October 7, so we can plan accordingly for the food. Let’s have a good time of food, fun, and fellowship on Saturday the 13th!
On Saturday, October 27, we will continue our outreach into the Mills River Community. John/Romans evangelism packets are currently being prepared, and we’ll plan on finishing the neighborhoods we began canvassing in September. Let’s be sure to pray between now and then; asking God to prepare hearts to receive the Word.
Sunday, September 30, 2012, is an exciting day in the history of Progress Baptist Church. Our radio broadcast ministry, “Pressing On,” will begin airing on WKJV 1380 AM in Asheville, NC. Earlier this year, WKJV begin simulcasting with a station in Bryson City, NC, giving much wider coverage into the western corner of our state.
We had been praying about a radio ministry, and our tentative plan was to inquire about beginning a weekly radio broadcast in early 2013. Then, at a tent meeting in Leicester, NC, in August, Dr. Wendell Runion, director of the station approached our pastor about an opening in their Sunday, mid-day schedule. The church family prayed about the opportunity, several folks committed to support the outreach financially, and the time slot was secured.
We are excited about this new avenue of outreach and look forward to what God has in store. Christian radio is important to saved and lost folks alike, and we are blessed in this nation to have the privilege to share the gospel over the airwaves. May God keep that freedom for the church!
So, tune in on Sundays from 12:30 – 1:00 P.M. on 1380 AM. We are praying that the broadcast of, “Pressing On” will be a blessing to you!
On Sunday evening, September 30 through Wednesday, October 3, we will have special revival services with Bro. Johnny Jones from Oceana, WV. Last year, God used Brother Jones in a special way, and we are looking forward to what God has in store for the Progress Baptist Church. Services will start each evening at 7:00 P.M., and we hope that many of friends in the western NC and upstate SC area will join us. Please be in prayer for God to work in hearts and lives during these special days!
On Saturday, September 22, we will launch our Fall Outreach! This fall, our goal is to reach all 7,000+ residents in the Town of Mills River with the gospel! We will spend the next few weeks preparing evangelism packets with John/Romans, tracts, church information, and small gifts for families and children. Most importantly, we need to pray! Without the blessing and power of a Holy God, all is vain. Pray that His Spirit will go before us and prepare hearts to receive the Word. What a blessing to hear testimonies of those who say, “We were just talking about how we need to get in church, and the very next week we got an invitation from your church!” Our desire is not to simply get people in church! We want them to have a personal, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ!
Please join with us in prayer as we prepare to spread the Good News that Jesus Saves!
