On August 30, the PBC Family will join together at 7:00 P.M. for a cottage prayer meeting. This special times used to be common in the rural south, but our busy schedules and lifestyles have robbed us of this rich heritage. In the springtime, we held a, “cottage prayer meeting” that was a great time of fellowship, prayer, and preaching from God’s Word. On this last Saturday in August, we’ll meet again and trust God to meet with His people.
On Saturday, August 23, the PBC Bible quiz team, Progress Voice will begin the new season. We are looking forward to what God will do with His Word in the lives of our young people this coming year!
On Saturday, August 16, we’ll enjoy a good time of fellowship for those who are participants in Freedom That Lasts and Mountain Climbers. We are ALSO inviting all those who want to learn more about these outreach/discipleship ministries and how God is using them in folks’ lives. The cookout/fellowship will be held at the church. Call 828-419-0722 for details.
Friday and Saturday, August 8-9, a group from the PBC Family will travel to St. Stephen, SC, and the Life Baptist Church to enjoy their summer jubilee services called, “Summer Spectacular.” We are looking forward to the preaching, fellowship, music, and worship with Brother Alfred Willis and his good people.
When a baby is born, its basic need for food is soon recognized! An appetite is one of the fundamental proofs of life and growth. And, for that newborn baby, while the first meal is delicious, only a couple short hours later, he or she is ready for more nourishment. That nourishment must be provided on a very consistent basis in order for that baby to grow properly and maintain good health.
In a spiritual sense, a newborn believer will have an appetite for the Word of God, called the “bread of life” and the “water of life”. It is our source of nourishment for our spiritual growth. In Matthew 5:6 tell us, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” God promises to fill our appetites for spiritual food through His Word.
Physically, irregular feeding or little food at all will cause us to suffer malnourishment, sickness, and sadly, death. Eating unhealthy foods will cause us to feel full, but will result in sickness and a general sense of poor health. We not live at our full potential if our diets are in need of a major overhaul. When we are weak physically, we are more susceptible to disease.
It is same for our spiritual man. Little time spent in the Word will result in spiritual sickness. If we spend time feeding our flesh, our spiritual man will suffer. If we’ve spent hours in various forms of distractions and entertainment and little or no time in the Bible, our flesh will certainly be controlling us, keeping us from walking in the Spirit. In addition, if we are weak spiritually from filling our appetites with our earthly pursuits, we are more susceptible to spiritual disease and attacks from Satan.
For example, if I neglect my personal devotion time with God, it will be very easy for me to succumb to the temptation to grumble, complain, or gossip. I’ve not equipped my heart to fight temptation that day. I’m fighting a battle without my God-given weapon, His Word. However, if I’ve spent time in the Word and time in prayer, asking God to guide my tongue and let every word I speak be in obedience to Him, I’ll be slower to complain, and quicker to make God-honoring decisions even in the mundane tasks of my day.
Even if you’re not filling your time with sinful activities, simply neglecting to read the Word consistently will have devastating consequences on your walk with God. You’ll find yourself powerless to live Spirit-filled.
George Mueller, a powerful man of God and a man of great spiritual discipline said, “Since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is, to obtain food for his inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food; and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning; so it should be with the inner man. Now what is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts…How different, when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, arid the temptations of the day come upon one!”
We wouldn’t think of going an entire day without feeding our physical body. We are painfully aware of our need and desire for food several times throughout the day. What if we regarded our spiritual appetite with the same intensity? What if we wouldn’t consider going several hours without communication with God through prayer and reading? What if personal devotions (a set time with God each day) were as much a habit in our lives as breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Imagine the spiritual growth you would experience if you made the Word of God a consistent and major part of your day, not just something you do occasionally or at church?
If daily time with God is a struggle for you, consider making a commitment to be in the Word for the next seven days. Research suggests that if you do something twenty-one days in a row, it will become a habit. Once you’ve established a routine, stick with it. Leave reminders for yourself throughout your home. Ask a friend or family member to keep you accountable. Eliminate distractions during your time with God. Put your cell-phone to the side and concentrate on gaining knowledge of God through His Word. God has given us the tools we need to live Spirit-filled lives of victory. If you are powerless and defeated in the area of personal devotions, determine now to commit to consistent, daily time in His Word.
During the month of August, the PBC family will enjoy a different schedule for our mid-week service; a month-long event we call, “August Jubilee.” Different men of God will preach for us each week, and we enjoy the fellowship with those who are able to visit with us as well. Services begin at 7:00 P.M., and if you’re within driving distance of western NC, we’d love to have you join us!
The schedule for this year is:
August 5 – Pastor Tommy Morrow, Rosman Baptist Tabernacle – Rosman, NC
August 12 – Missionary Edward de los Reyes – Alpharetta, GA
August 19 – Pastor Brandon Harrell, Bethesda Baptist, Flat Rock, NC
August 28 – Pastor Darin Cale, People’s Baptist Church – Spencer, WV
Please NOTE – The last service of the month will be on THURSDAY.
We invite you to join us and several sister churches in Western North Carolina for the WNC Camp Meeting in Candler, NC, July 14-18, 2014. Pastor Eddie Davis from Crossville, TN, will be preaching. Church choirs and others will be providing the special music. Services start each evening at 7:30 P.M.
“Pressing On”, the radio ministry of the Progress Baptist Church will expand to two new stations this coming week! We can now be heard on Mondays at 5:15 P.M. on 1230 (AM) WSKY in Asheville, NC, and on Tuesdays at 12:30 P.M. on 1360 (AM) WELP in the Easley/Greenville, SC, listening area. Both of these stations are part of the Wilkins Radio Network, and we are excited about adding them to our radio outreach. You can also hear “Pressing On” each Sunday at 12:30 P.M. on WKJV, 1380 (AM) in Asheville, NC.
As we celebrate our Risen Saviour, our prayer is that this excerpt from a sermon by Andrew Murray will be a blessing to you in your walk with Christ.
Are you ready to use this resurrection life for the purpose for which God gave it Him, and gives it to you, as a power of blessing to the lost? All desires after the resurrection life will fail, if we are only seeking our own perfection and happiness. God raised up and exalted Jesus to give repentance and remission of sins. He ever lives to pray for sinners. Yield yourself to receive His resurrection life with the same aim. Give yourself wholly to working and praying for the perishing: then will you become a fit vessel and instrument in which the resurrection life can dwell and work out its glorious purposes.
Brother! thy calling is to live like Christ. To this end thou hast already been made one with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. The only question is now, whether thou art desirous after the full experience of His resurrection life, whether thou art willing to surrender thy whole life that He Himself may manifest resurrection power in every part of it. I pray thee, do not draw back. Offer thyself unreservedly to Him, with all thy weakness and unfaithfulness. Believe that as His resurrection was a wonder above all thought and expectation, so He as the Risen One will still work in thee exceeding abundantly above all thou couldst think or desire.
What a difference there was in the life of the disciples before Jesus’ death and after His resurrection! Then all was weakness and fear, self and sin: with the resurrection all was power and joy, life and love, and glory. Just as great will the change be, when a believer, who has known Jesus’ resurrection only as the ground of his justification, but has not known of the likeness of His resurrection, discovers how the Risen One will Himself be his life, and in very deed take on Himself the responsibility for the whole of that life. Oh, brother, who hast not yet experienced this, who art troubled and weary because thou art called to walk like Christ, and canst not do it, come and taste the blessedness of giving thy whole life to the Risen Saviour in the assurance that He will live it for thee.
O Lord! my soul adores Thee as the Prince of life! On the cross Thou didst conquer each one of my enemies, the devil, the flesh, the world, and sin. As Conquerer thou didst rise to manifest and maintain the power of Thy risen life in Thy people. Thou hast made them one with Thyself in the likeness of Thy resurrection; now Thou wilt live in them, and show forth in their earthly life the power of Thy heavenly life.
We started the month with “Friend and Family Day,” and we want to encourage members of the church family to invite a friend to come with them to the Spring Church Picnic on Saturday, May 24. Details will be announced in the church bulletin, so start praying and planning now.
