Pleasant Grove Baptist Church of Neese, Georgia

By Jonathan Tolbert

Two weeks ago, the following excerpts were part of an article entitled “Comeback Churches” from a leader in our denomination.

FACTOR 1: Renewed belief in Jesus Christ and the mission of the Church

Comeback leaders helped people know and experience the reality of Jesus Christ in their lives. Comeback churches made the hard decision to love the lost as much as Jesus did. Comeback churches also focus outward. We know that Jesus came to seek and save people who are lost. The need to reach them in whatever condition we find them often requires us to make changes in the way we do things. We have to find ways to love people the way they are, and that’s often messy work.

To God be the glory, VBS was a tool for PGBC to do just that!

• Jesus was the central message of our Bible Study time. Four children expressed interest in becoming a Christian. One girl trusted in Christ and there are 3 who are wanting to be baptized!
• God lead us to be “On Mission” as we reached out to new families and were able to build relationships with them as well as strengthen already established ones.
• We made changes to accommodate our limited people resources and limited financial resources: we met outside for music and bible study; we reused previous curriculum; and we borrowed water slides at no cost from a sister church in our Sarepta Association.
• VBS was a tool for us to love children and families through: ministry of food, ministry of physical activity, ministry of the Gospel, ministry of Christian love expressed through hugs, smiles, encouragement; ministry of transportation as we picked up those needing a ride.
• We got messy as we… listened to hurts, prayed for children’s families, and showed equal love to people from all kinds of backgrounds, socio-economic situations, and cultures.
• Leader development. Several adult volunteers served as music leaders, craft servants, food servants, transportation servants, registrars, and recreation servants. We also were helped in a huge way by 3 of our youth, Caitlyn, Justin, and Cody. Thank you all!

The Baptist Women of Pleasant Grove are seeking your help in establishing a ministry to show God’s love to children in crisis situations. We want to comfort and cheer children found in emergency or family crisis situations in the Madison County Sheriff’s department and the Madison County Emergency Medical Services (ambulances).

Please bring 12- to 15-inch inexpensive new teddy bears to church during June and July. A tag will be attached to the bears giving scripture verses and the church’s name, address and phone number.

A Sunday in August will be chosen to display all the bears and a special dedication service will be held during the worship hour. After the service the bears will be individually wrapped in cellophane and delivered to the sheriff’s office and the ambulance service. A bear can be kept in the patrol cars and ambulances at all times and given to children as the need arises.

by Gail Lester

This past Saturday Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Children’s Ministries hosted the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Many of our Wednesday night group, as well as our Sunday Bunch were in attendance.

A light lunch was served while a little over 500 eggs were being hid. After lunch, a very attentive group listened and watched our friends and neighbors, David and Peggy Whitehead do their balloon magic, which is always centered around the gospel.

The big moment finally arrived— time to hunt eggs! I estimate it took only about fifteen minutes, twenty at most, for fifteen to twenty children to find 500 eggs!

Then it was back inside to receive prizes and listen as Pastor Jonathan presented the story of the Resurrection Eggs, a dozen plastic eggs with a tiny symbol of the crucifixion and resurrection inside. As a child opened an egg and displayed the tiny symbol, the group helped identify it and its place in the resurrection story. It was very rewarding to realize that this group knew that Easter is more than bunnies, eggs, and candy!

Thank you, Pastor Jonathan, Miss Amy, Children’s Committee, food preparers, and church family who contribute to the Family Ministries Fund. Thank you for all you do to make meaningful evenst like this possible.

By Gail Lester
The children and youth who are attending Spring Out! seem to enjoy each feature of the Spring Out! program to the fullest. They play hard, eat hearty, and have eagerly taken on the challenge of learning Bible scripture.

In between outdoor activities and meal time, there is a short group time. Pastor Jonathan and Miss Amy make any announcements. A few minutes is devoted to singing praise choruses under the direction of David and Rhonda Black. Memorizing Bible scripture is next led by Miss Amy. The verse chosen for this session of Spring Out! is Romans 10:9: For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

It is a very special time watching their excitement as one by one they bravely stand before the group and try to say the memory verse. A few have already said it successfully, while others are still learning. How about you? Have you learned this verse? Just a few weeks ago, Pastor Jonathan reminded us in Pleasant Times that these words from Paul are good news!

By Pastor Jonathan

Connect—
With the Lord and His people
March 11th is the start of our Spring Out! ministry. This is a great time to Connect, Grow, and Serve with your church, with visiting people, and families for Recreation at 5:15; Supper at 6:00 pm; and Bible Study for all ages at 7 pm.
Vision Team Meeting: Please mark your calendar for March 22nd and make the change to 4:00 pm so we can accommodate Dr. Lex Bowen’s schedule.

Grow—
Through the Word and Prayer
“And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead.” This quote taken from Revelation 13: 16–17 has been a mystery through­out the last 2,000 years to followers of Christ. It will remain a mystery until it actually happens.

Rev. Glenn Guest, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, will be sharing with us Sunday evening on March 15th the fruit of his study on this important biblical topic as well as his research on the current technologies and developing technology of a worldwide cashless system.

Serve—
With gifts, talents, time & treasure
We will be serving refreshments for International Friends on March 18th. See Pastor Jonathan or Ramona Booth to join the team. The group will leave at 8:30 am from the church. It is a blessing to see a room full of about 80 visitors from all over the world and know that we are helping to reach people from places like China and Mexico from Athens, GA.

Go—
Sharing the Gospel
Join us this Sunday evening for 1) Fellowship and spaghetti supper at 5:00 pm 2) An evening of worship through mission’s learning at 6:00 pm and 3) A great opportunity to support North American missions by giving generously to those who have already gone to “Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” They have gone so we must pray, give, and learn how to go like our missionaries. Will you support this important work by connecting with us tonight at 5:00 pm?