PCBC On Mission 4th Qtr 2018

On Mission!
Preston City Bible Church Quarterly • December 2018

What is God’s
plan for you?

Salvation - What must I do to be saved?

This was the question asked of Paul and Silas in Phillippi − very direct and
to the point. Their answer was just as concise: “Believe in the Lord Jesus,
and you will be saved.” The Apostle John wrote his book about the life of
Jesus “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and
that believing you may have life in His name.” - Seminary Student, Mark Rabon.

To The Point!

God has provided so many blessings to the Preston City Bible Church (PCBC) family. We all have been given

spiritual gifts, and the greatest obstacle can be determining what the gift is, and how to use it. Our feature article,

written by Pastor Roseland, is discussing our mission. As Christians, we all called to stay on mission and make

disciples, however, fear can often cause us to lose sight of this important task. One way we can support disciple

making is by communicating our mission throughout PCBC and our local community. Recently, PCBC formed

a communication committee to lead this important work. In This Issue
This quarterly newsletter is just one way we can spread

the good news with the gifts God has provided us. As a On Mission 2
committee, we are excited to see how God uses these
tools to support His mission. We are blessed to have a Eternal Life 4
small group of brothers and sisters in Christ that truly are
on mission. The articles within this first issue were written Reaching the Lost 5
by many faithful members of PCBC, and we hope you are
encouraged and edified by this work. Missionaries 6

Events on the Horizon 6

PCBC History & Beliefs 7

1

On Mission! “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to
walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which
you have been called” - Eph. 4:1

Our desire to be pleasing to the Lord Jesus begins
with His work in us. We start on a new journey
with a new purpose in life when we receive the
new birth. This new life begins with the Gospel
message of Jesus Christ: Jesus died for your
sins and rose from the dead. His offer is eternal
life, which is an unbroken relationship with Him,
the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity. We
receive this gift of eternal life by responding to the
simple gospel message in faith. We believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

This initial faith in Christ is only the beginning of
an endless calling. God gives us eternal life so that
we will live it! This is the essential thrust of the
commands in the New Testament for all believers.
Having received eternal life by grace through faith,
we live it by grace through faith. But how? We
believe that God’s word provides all the answers.
The Bible is not a rule book but a personal
communication from the God with whom the world
must deal. It is therefore called revelation. In the

2

21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is
the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved
by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose
Myself to him.” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If
anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father
will love him, and We will come to him and make Our
abode with him. - John 14:21, 23

Bible, God reveals Himself to us, and He does this for a grace, for anything we may do that pleases Him (John
special reason: He wants to enjoy a personal relationship 15:4-5). This abiding in Christ, an intentional, connected
with us. Living this life, “walking in the light as He himself dependence on Jesus, is accomplished as we rely upon
is in the light” is the enjoyment of a personal relationship the power of God the Holy Spirit. The resultant fruit of
with God. We call this relationship “fellowship,” and it is obedience will happen when we pay attention to the
the eternal birthright of every believer in Jesus Christ. instructions of the Spirit in the writings of the New
Testament apostles and prophets.
So how does the Bible equip us to walk with God in this
new life? It tells us Who He is, what He wants, and how As a church family, we are learning to pay special attention
we can be pleasing to Him. For example, in Hebrews to Jesus’ final set of commands for this age of the
11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him….” We church. We find these instructions in Jesus’ last words in
receive the commands of the New Testament not as a the Gospels, clearly set forth as a mission statement in
set of dead rules that make us right with God but as a Matthew 28:19-20. We need not dither about, wondering
way of life that pleases Him. Jesus taught His disciples what God wants us to do as an organization. Jesus told
that loving Him means keeping His commandments in us very clearly, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can
John 14:21 and 23. do it! - Pastor, David J. Roseland, Th.M.

In the Christian way of life—God’s way—love is active; 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the
it does things. Loving Christ means keeping His nations, baptizing them in the name of the
commandments. So what are His commandments? Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20
A study on this question will occupy us for the rest of teaching them to observe all that I commanded
our lives. First, one must be dependent on Him, on His you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the
3 end of the age.” Matthew 28:19–2o

my eternal life
Personal testimonies from our beloved

Nell Manolakos, or Miss Nell as she is affectionately sermons, and would listen to them during her drives from
known by her PCBC family, has been a member of Preston New Jersey to Connecticut to visit her daughter-in-law
City Bible Church and an inspiration to its members and Preston City Bible Church. At that time her husband
for many years. She celebrated her 99th birthday last was in favor of retiring to Florida so that he could fish, but
February. When asked recently about her testimony, she she eventually convinced him that he could fish as easily
replied, “I was always God-conscious, but came to know in Connecticut as Florida.
the Lord later in life.” Raised as a Roman Catholic, she
became a believer at the age of 6. But it wasn’t until well Miss Nell recalls the move to Connecticut as the “best
into adulthood that she understood the gospel. decision I ever made”. After building a house in Montville,
Nell became friends with the Bearse family and would
When Nell and her husband were considering where ride to church with them. Her husband eventually joined
to retire, her daughter-in-law who lived in Connecticut her, and under good Bible teaching, she has enjoyed
invited her to see a “quaint old church” in Preston. Nell years of maturing her faith, learning God’s Word. Miss
said she was very impressed by the teaching, which was Nell still lives in the house she and her husband built, and
solid and Biblically-based, “unlike what I had at home in she is looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday
New Jersey at the time”. She received audio tapes of with her church family.

*Contributing Authors: Jennifer Devereux, Ashley Devereux, Erin Devereux and Heather Thibeault. 4

Reaching the Lost

Making disciples at home and abroad

Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF) was founded by to children around the globe each year. CEF has a three-
Jesse Irvin Overholtzer in 1937. He didn’t come to know fold mission: (1) To evangelize young boys and girls with
Christ as his Savior until college, having been told as a the Gospel of Jesus Christ, (2) To disciple them in the
child that he was too young to understand the Gospel. As Word of God, and (3) To establish them in a local church.
a adult, Overholtzer read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon
where he stated, “A child of five, if properly instructed can At Child Evangelism of Rhode Island (CEF-RI) we continue
as truly believe and be regenerated as an adult.” the CEF outreach mission by developing partnerships with
local churches to conduct Good News Clubs and J-You
God used this statement to lead Overholtzer to begin the Connection Clubs in area public schools. We are also
ministry of CEF when he was 60 years old. The ministry training the youth to lead 5-Day Clubs in neighborhood
has grown to be the largest evangelistic outreach to communities. Volunteer teams are currently bringing
children in the world. Currently, CEF reaches children in the Gospel of Jesus Christ to children in several Rhode
more than 200 countries with 3,000 full time missionaries Island school districts through Good News Clubs. So far
and thousands of volunteers who help spread the Gospel this school year, several children have accepted Christ as
5 their Savior and at least two families of Good News Club
children have started attending church.

How can you help? Reaching our local youth is a critical
mission that can provide eternal benefits. Please
continually pray for the youth, our volunteers, and
financial support for this important and life changing
ministry. - Associate Pastor, Ryan Baker

Our Missions Events on the Horizon

Wes and Penny Chappell, Menya In addition to our regular schedule of worship services
312 W. First Street we have key events occurring throughout the year.
Sanford, FL 32771-1231 Please visit us on Wednesdays or Sunday for more
[email protected] information.

David and Marilyn Kibbe, Thailand • Christmas Program (December 22, 2018)
P.O. Box 645 • Adult Christmas Party (December 14, 2018)
Union, ME 04862 • Christmas Eve Service
[email protected] • Annual Business Meeting (January 13, 2019)
• Fellowship Dinners (fourth Sunday of every month)
Jim and Phyllis Myers, Ukraine • Resurrection Sunday (April 21, 2019)
Raisa Okipna 5, Apt. 71 - Kiev 002 • Vacation Bible School (July 2019)
253002 Ukraine • Annual Picnic and Baptism (July 2019)
[email protected] • Camp Arete Youth Camp: (Summer 2019)

Ron and Nancy Minton, Ukraine Young Adult Fellowship
P.O. Box 191
Springfield, MO 65801 Young Adult Fellowship for the 2018-2019 season is
[email protected]
off to a great start! We plan to meet every two weeks
Ralph and Cindy LaRosa, Philippines
P.O. Box 111 on a Friday night to share a meal, study, and have some
Lucena City, Philippines 4301
fun. Consider joining us as we learn how to correctly
Child Evangelism Fellowship of RI
P.O. Box 688 evaluate the many facets of today’s culture using a
Hope, RI 02831
[email protected] Biblical viewpoint. It’s fascinating to learn how to apply

Disciple Makers Multiplied God’s Word to technology, social norms, relationships,
P.O. Box 7758
Beaumont, TX 77726-7758 politics, and scores of other current cultural issues.
[email protected]
Please text message Loring Boyden at (860) 213-3234
Camp Arete
Joyce Mann, Registrar if you, or a friend, would like regular YAF schedule
P.O. Box 35938
Tucson, AZ 05740

Chafer Theological Seminary
P.O. Box 93580
Albuquerque, NM 87199
www.chafer.edu

The Friends of Israel
P.O. Box 908
Bellmawr, NJ 08099
www.foi.org

information. 6

Our History in
Preston City

Over two hundred years ago, this church officially launched as an independent congregation of believers. Established
in 1815, PCBC was truly a work of God’s grace, where He brought people together in the community who had become
convinced that Christians should follow the commands of scripture. Our continuing presence here today represents
a testimony to the same conviction of those early Christians in Preston. God has blessed this local body of believers
to stay true to the teaching of God’s Word based solely from the Bible for the purpose of sharing the Good News and
making disciples throughout the nations.

PCBC Distinctives Fixing Fort Preston

We are an independent, fundamental Bible- Our old building, which
teaching church. Our strong emphasis on biblical we lovingly refer to as
doctrine, especially the informed Christian walk by Fort Preston, is the place
the Spirit in this age, arises from our commitment where we re-fit, re-arm,
to the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible. and re-deploy in the
Accordingly, we hold to the free offer of God’s grace operation and conduct
through the Gospel message of salvation through of our mission of making disciples. It has served as
the work of Christ on the Cross. We are traditional a meeting place from which the gospel message has
dispensationalists; we believe that Israel and the gone forth for over two hundred years. Prayers are
Church are distinct entities for whom God has solicited for resources to accomplish the following
related but distinct eternal purposes. We believe major projects:
in the sufficiency of the Scriptures for all things
pertaining to life and godliness, that Scripture is • Handicap accessibility
totally adequate to equip, mature, and empower the • Provision for new well
believer throughout a lifetime of Christian service. • Repairs to steeple and reinstallation of the bell
7 • Redesign of main entrance and seating