3/10/2024

 Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

Missionaries Kurt and Bethany Gomez present their Mexico ministry today. Welcome them!

       Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

             Song Leader: Ralph Verdu

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study

  Thursdays at 6:00 PM

Worship Hint for Families

   Zaccheus was a ‘wee little man’ – in stature. But he was a giant in demonstrating a heart changed by faith in Christ.

   Jesus, incredibly distressed, was enroute to Jerusalem, anticipating crucifixion (and all the wrathful penalty for sin it entailed). Yet he had the compassion and took the time to touch the heart of another undeserving sinner.

   Zaccheus was curious. He was also delighted by the attention Jesus paid him. Up to that point he is no different than thousands of others. But Zaccheus believed, acknowledged Jesus for who he was, and was gloriously changed.

Ø  Bruce and Luann Sievers enjoy hearing from you.

850 Washburn Ave.

Apartment #327

Louisville, KY 40222

Ø  Harold ‘Barney’ Barnhart also wants to hear from you. He now lives at:

#137

22 Clen Moore Blvd.

New Castle, PA 16105

Ø  Orders for commemorative Easter flowers are being taken now. Please indicate the kind, quantity, who is giving the flowers and who is being remembered or honored by them. Orders must be in by Tuesday, March 12. The flowers are $9.00 each. Please make checks payable to Portersville Bible Church. Order forms are on the table in the foyer.

3/03/2024

Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

Today in Church History

March 3, 1263: French cardinal, Hugh of St. Cher, dies. He reputedly compiled the first Bible concordance and was the first person to divide the Old and New Testaments into chapters.   From Christianity Today

However: the chapter divisions we use today were developed by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1200s and the verse divisions we use were by Robert Estienne, a printer/scholar in the 1500s.

       Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

             Song Leader: Barry Peffer

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study resumes

 this Thursday, March 7.

Worship Hint for Families

   Many believers (and some unbelievers) object to the commercialization and trivialization of Easter in modern culture. Bunnies, eggs, candy and other tokens loom large in the public eye. So what’s wrong with that? Nothing!

  Bunnies are cute and cuddly, candy is tasty, eggs are nourishing, pretty clothing is pretty, and Spring is delightful. Enjoy it all!

  It just happens that all these cultural delights coincide with an event that is the greatest event in all of history: the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead. He rose to justify us before God in heaven. Chew on that while you nibble on a hard-boiled egg.

Ø  Write to Bruce and Luann Sievers as they endure his treatments for his illness. Their address during the treatments is:

850 Washburn Ave.

Apartment #327

Louisville, KY 40222

Ø  There will be a Childrens’ Ministry Meeting after the service this morning. Please join us in the basement.

Ø  Next Sunday, the 10th, Missionaries Kurt and Bethany Gomez will present their ministry in Mexico.

Ø  Orders for commemorative Easter flowers are being taken now. Please indicate the kind, quantity, and add a note to show who gave the flowers and who is being remembered or honored by them. Orders must be in by Tuesday, March 12. The flowers are $9.00 each. Please make checks payable to Portersville Bible Church. Questions? Ask Kathy Drake.

2/25/2024

 Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

Yesterday in Church History

February 24, 1582: Gregory XIII issues a bull requiring all Catholic countries to follow October 4 with October 15 and replace the Julian calendar with the Gregorian (which we still use today). By 1582, the Julian calendar had drifted from the equinoxes by a full ten days.

From Christianity Today

       Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

Song Leader: Pastor Roberts

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study resumes

 Thursday, March 7.

Worship Hint for Families

   Some “practical minded’ people discourage or demean regular and frequent Bible reading. These people are not all unbelievers, nor are they all against education. And, neither are they practical!

  To read the Bible is to know God. There is nothing we can know about God that is not in the Bible. Since such knowledge is the very way of life, it is eminently practical. But there is more to be gained. To read Scripture is to learn history, geography, math, poetry (and other forms of literature), vocabulary, problem solving, relationship building, and more.

READ THE BIBLE !

Ø  Write to Bruce and Luann Sievers as they endure his treatments for his illness. Their address during the treatments is:

850 Washburn Ave.

Apartment #327

Louisville, KY 40222

Ø  Coming in March:

o   3   Childrens’ Ministry Meeting after the morning service. Please meet in the basement.

o   10 Missionaries Kurt and Bethany Gomez will present their ministry in Mexico

2/18/2024

 Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

This Day in Church History

John Bunyan published his book Pilgrim’s Progress

       Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

Song Leader: Ray Bauder

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study will resume

 Thursday, March 7.

Worship Hint for Families

   In Paul’s great letter to the Philippians, we read that we are to “…let [our] requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus.”

   What a promise! Today’s psalmist recognizes the oppressiveness of this evil world, but he also sees the sovereignty of God in and through the oppression. In your family prayer times give God glory while you plead for help and mercy in difficult times.

Ø  Keep an eye on the proposed changes to this building (see the plan posted on the bulletin board in the foyer). Walk through the spaces where change is planned and get an idea of how our ability to use this building to serve the Lord will be improved.

Ø  Only 30 days until Spring!

Ø  Learn more about what needs there are in our congregation as we gather for prayer each Wednesday. Learn more about who and what God is as we study his attributes as they are described in Scripture.

2/11/2024

 Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

       Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

Song Leader: Barry Peffer

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study will resume

 Thursday, March 7.

Ø  There are copies of the Annual Report and the Missionary Directory on the table in the foyer.

Missionary Bruce Seivers (wife, Luann), pastor of a church plant in Ireland, Indiana is recovering from recent medical treatments for cancer. Pray for his church, Grace & Truth Church, and the folks with whom he has been ministering.

See our Missionary Directory for contact information should you feel prompted to send a card. 

Worship Hint for Families

         There are interesting contrasts in Scripture. The one who was not permitted to build the temple is the one who says  that the Lord hates the one who loves violence. This same one also wrote Psalms rightly calling for the destruction of his enemies. Yet it is his exalted descendant who cautions us that even to hate someone is equivalent to murder.

    Let’s not be too quick to wish God’s judgments on the earth. We were graciously saved from wrath, and we should pray that others…many others should be saved too.

 February 12, 1915: Blind hymnwriter Fanny Crosby dies at age 95 after writing more than 8,000 texts. 

Christianity Today

2/04/2024

 Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

January 30, 1912: Evangelical missionary, philosopher, author, and lecturer Francis Schaeffer is born in Philadelphia. A leading figure in the resurgence of evangelicalism during the 1960s and 1970s, he blamed the rise of relativism for the decline of Western culture.   Christianity Today

       Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

Song Leader: Barry Peffer

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study will resume this Thursday, March 7.

“If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”                               Revelation 14: 9b-10

Worship Hint for Families

  The many metaphors of God as a rock, fortress, or strong hold are wonderful pictures of comfort and encouragement.

  But let us not confuse the image with the imagery. Rocks and hills cannot save us like God can. Neither can they hide us from God when we sin against him.

  The apostle John reminds us in Revelation 6:16,17 when he says that those would hide called upon the hills “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” John goes on to say that the “…great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”         Jesus is the Rock of our salvation!

Ø  Information about the Gideons is available on the table in the foyer.

Ø  Rejoice with the Roberts family at the birth of their new son, Bennett. Pray for them as they adjust their household to this new arrival.

Ø  Thank you to those who helped make the meal for our Annual Meeting on Friday night.

Ø  There are copies of the Annual Report and the Missionary Directory on the table in the foyer.

1/28/2024

 Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

On January 27, 417 A British monk, Pelagius was excommunicated for heresy. Pelagianism teaches that men are innately good (no original sin, contrary to Romans 5) which dilutes the essence of Christ’s substitutionary atonement.

       Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

Song Leader: Ray Bauder

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study will resume on Thursday, March 7.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…”

Romans 5:12

Worship Hint for Families

          Let’s play hide-and-seek!

We all like to hide—and some of us are really good at it. Oh, we don’t hide from ‘hunters,’ we hide from each other or from ourselves. Sometimes we even try to hide from God.

Where do we go when we hide? Do we use the other door at church, delete an email, silence the phone (relying on caller ID), only speak in generalities, stay home from church? The list is endless.

The psalmist says “In the LORD I take refuge…”. Would that we go to Him to hide. Even if we are hiding because of a besetting sin, to hide in the Lord is true refuge. No shame, no fear, just lots of encouraging help. 

Ø  There will be a presentation by the Gideons during the evening service.

Ø  Rejoice with the Roberts family at the birth of their new son, Bennett. Pray for them as they adjust their household to this new arrival.

Ø  The Annual Meeting will be held at 7:00 on Friday night, February 2. There will be a pot-luck dinner at 6:00. Please bring a dish to share.

1/21/2024

 Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

Today’s Psalm praises and thanks God and asks for help in times of trouble: the stuff prayer is made of! Join us on Wednesday nights for our own time of prayer to do those very things.

On January 17, 1604 King James of England called a conference of churchmen and theologians at Hampton Court. During the conference a motion carried “…that a translation be made of the whole Bible…”. That eventually led to what we now call the King James Version.

Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

Song Leader: Ray Bauder

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study will resume in the spring. More information will be posted closer to the start date.

Psalm 9:2

I will be glad and exult in thee; I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High.

Worship Hint for Families

          Happy New Year!

    We’ve seen the ‘new thing’ God will do when he re-makes the heavens and the earth. We’ve seen the ‘new thing’ when, by Christ’s resurrection, we are made to “walk in newness of life.”

  Now note the command to “put on the new self” – an act for which we are responsible. God makes the new life. God makes it available. God makes us able to do it. But God requires us to exert the effort to ‘put on.’

  Like with those frustrating resolutions, some act of will is necessary. But unlike the usual resolution, this act is sanctioned and supported by God. It is his command. This new year follow the advice of the old gospel song and “Trust and Obey.”

Ø  This coming Friday – Sunday is our annual Castle Retreat. Sign up to attend and join us for refreshing fellowship and feasting on the Word of God.

Ø  Please be in prayer for our church leaders as they prepare for our annual meeting and as they plan our course for the coming year.

Ø  The Annual Meeting will be held at 7:00 on Friday night, February 2. There will be a pot-luck dinner at 6:00.

1/14/2024

Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30. 

Join us in prayer on Wednesday nights. Several of our members and many of our loved ones, neighbors, and acquaintances are ailing or otherwise in need. Corporate prayer encourages and strengthens. This is a time in the week when you can get and give at the same time.

Happy New Year!

Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

Song Leader: Barry Peffer

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study will resume in the spring. More information will be posted closer to the start date.

Psalm 8

O LORD, our LORD, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth!

Worship Hint for Families

          Happy New Year!

    Someday there will be a ‘new heavens and a new earth.’ That’s a wonderful promise about changes yet to come that God will do. As we look back, we see change that God has already done. The apostle Paul encourages the Corinthians with hope for that great world-change which, he says, will include a physical change for people. But he goes on to remind his reader of a change already made. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that ‘in Christ’ is a newness created by God. In New Year’s resolution-like language “…the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

  These are profound truths that promise great things. This is that new birth spoken of elsewhere. Rejoice in the “…God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…”

Ø  Castle Retreat! See the write-up on the bulletin board in the foyer and then sign up to attend. The retreat is Friday, January 26 through Sunday, the 28th.

Ø  Ministry Leaders annual reports need to be submitted to the church secretary by Wednesday night so they can be published prior to our annual meeting.

Ø  Thank you for the donations of used Christmas wrapping.  

1/07/2024

 Kidz Club will meet this evening at 5:30.

Happy New Year!

Events This Week

Today

Sunday School at 10:00

Morning Worship at 11:00

Evening Worship at 6:00

Song Leader: Barry Peffer

Wednesday

7:00 PM    Prayer Meeting

Ladies’ Bible study will resume in the spring. More information will be posted closer to the start date.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up…But according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

2 Peter 3: 10, 13

Worship Hint for Families

        Happy New Year! It’s a new year, so do something or be someone different. Make that significant CHANGE. Such are the sentiments of more serious-minded New Year’s resolutions – disdaining trivialities like “I resolve to lose five pounds.”

  What do you believe and teach in your family about “newness?” Scripture speaks to us of three distinct facets of ‘being made new.’ The first is that, at Christ’s return there will be a “…new heavens and a new earth.” Isaiah, Peter, and John all teach of a complete re-making of creation. We have no part in that accomplishment, but we will gain great benefit. “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

We will look at the other two facets in subsequent columns.

Ø  Castle Retreat! See the write-up on the bulletin board in the foyer and then sign up to attend. The retreat is Friday, January 26 through Sunday, the 28th.

Ø  Ministry Leaders please be preparing your annual reports. The reports need to be submitted to the church secretary by Wednesday, January 17.

Ø  Now is the time to bring in all the used Christmas wrapping you saved. There is a collection box in the foyer for your end pieces or unwrinkled scraps of Christmas wrapping.