January newsletter

The Global Aid Network (GAIN) is the

humanitarian aid division of Cru. Our

missionaries, Bill and Dawn Sundstrom,

will be taking some PSU students down to

Lancaster to help sort items at the

Logistics Center. We will be sending our

donations with them.

PFBC is supporting GAIN

ITEMS NEEDED

Items are sent to refugee centers and people in crisis or need around the world.

□ Clothing, especially coats – new & used

□ New school supplies

□ Blankets – new & used

□ Shoes – new & good condition

□ Hygiene items

Donate items by JANUARY 20TH.

Learn more at gainusa.org.

PARK FOREST BAPTIST CHURCH

Church Events

• Jan 2nd -– Toys for Tots Agency

Pick Up & Cleaning

• Jan 4th – Women’s Dessert & Video

• Jan 5th – Men’s Breakfast

• Jan 6th – Wagners Sharing during

Worship Service

• Jan 8th – All Access Monthly

Prayer Gathering

• Jan 10th - Esther & Ruth Women’s

Bible Study Starts

• Jan 13th – New Quarter of Grow

Deep Hour

• Jan 13th – Second Sundays Lunch

• Jan 13th & 20th – Membership Class

• Jan 19th – Date Nite

Growing Stronger.

Think about it. There are probably a lot of ways over the

course of your life that you grew stronger, but they took a

little bit of work. If you look back on those days of growing

stronger and remember the effort you put in, and it wasn’t

always fun, but now you wouldn’t change a thing because

of the results from the effort. Maybe you spent some time

in the gym lifting weights. Maybe you studied hard for

your degree or to get a good grade and you gained

knowledge. Maybe you worked hard at a craft that took

years for you to become proficient in, but now you are

stronger in your ability. Getting stronger is not always

easy, it takes effort and hard work, but growing stronger is

also one of the ways that God invites us to live our lives in

our relationship with Him. We must think about and be

intentional about our spiritual growth. I Peter 2:2-3 says,

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it

you may grow up into your salvation, now that you have

tasted that the Lord is good.”

Multiply

This year in 2019, as a church we are relaunching a fantastic

growth plan for you. It’s called “Multiply”. Yes, it will take

effort on your part if you choose to participate, just like

anything else in life, it might require reordering some

priorities, but it will be well worth it. Multiply is a

discipleship Bible study book written by two well-known

pastors, Francis Chan and David Platt. Why should you use

Multiply? Whether you have been a believer for many

years or if you are just new to your relationship with Jesus,

the Multiply book is written to help you be stretched in

your walk with God as you meet with one other person

regularly to grow stronger in your walk with God, by

discussing questions around 24 unique Bible studies that

cover topic such as, “Living as a Disciple Maker”, “Living as

the Church”, “How to Study the Bible”, “Understanding the

Old Testament” and “Understanding the New Testament”.

This material is part of PFBC’s discipleship material for you

that we encourage every person to go through with one

other person and then continue to use year after year as

you have the opportunity to help disciple other people in

their relationship with Christ.

So here’s the challenge.

Starting in January, find one other person you know who

you would like to meet with once a week for one hour.

Meet for breakfast, lunch, over a cup of coffee. Have read

the chapter for the week, and then discuss the questions

with each other. Grow. Grow stronger. Grow stronger in

your relationship with Christ and in the plan that God has

for your life. By meeting together, you are not only

investing in your growth, but you will be helping another

person grow. Jesus called us to be followers who help

make other followers in the Great Commission in Matthew

28. Let’s make 2019 a year of great growth in your walk

with God. Commit to growing stronger. (*Multiply books

are available in the office for a small donation or you can

download the Multiply app for IOS or Android.)

Pastor Jeremy

Thoughts From Pastor Jeremy

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you

may grow up into your salvation, now that you have tasted that the

Lord is good.

I Peter 2:2-3

On January 13th

, the church will kick off our 2nd

quarter of classes. These “Grow

Deep Hour” classes fit into our Discipleship Strategy of "Come Hear, Grow Deep,

Serve With & Go Out".

Quarterly Classes Easy to schedule. Variety of classes.

This round of classes should end in April or sooner depending on the class.

Lineup

Crazy Love

John & Sandy Mackin

Room 7

ONE

The Woodlawn Study

Jim & Diana Crom Room 11

The Book of Ephesians*

(Women's Class)

Priscilla Cetnar Room 9

*Starting February 3

Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament

(Men's Class)

Phil Cetnar Room 8

1 John

Small Group

Nate McElroy Room 12

Mini-Series Discussion

(College & Young Professionals)

Josh & Daniel Cetnar, Tessa Cooper Room 10

It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe loves us

with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our

typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to

cuss. God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with

Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't work-

ing harder at a list of do's and don'ts—it's falling in love with God.

In 1973, Birmingham was torn by racism and hate. God worked

through the Woodlawn high school football team to unite the city

and ignite a spiritual awakening. Could it happen again? ...it only

takes one person to start a revolution. What if that person is you?

Has it ever dawned on you that nothing has ever dawned on

God? He knew before the world began that His people would

face hardship, so He gave us His Word. The Book of Ephesians is

a survival manual—it equips believers to thrive in a world that

hates the message of Jesus Christ.

Continuing in...

1 John

Study by

Nate McElroy & Small Group

Continuing in...

Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament

(Currently in Numbers)

Study by Phil Cetnar

Mini-Series Discussion

Group discussion using the Bible, different RightNow Media video

series, and other resources. For Young Adults (18-35 years old).

Women’s Class

WOMEN’S MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS

The Annual Christmas Brunch was

held again at Cheryl’s Victorian home in

December. It was a wonderful morning

of delicious food, great fellowship with

friends, and a beautiful talk by Jenny

Summers, from the Pregnancy Resource

Clinic (PRC). Jenny shared her testimony

and how Luke 2:19, “But Mary treasured

up all these things and pondered them

in her heart”, applies to us each day.

Mary had much to ponder as she was to

give birth to Jesus but through it all she

held it dear to her heart. Jenny en-

couraged us about what we may be

pondering and each lady was given an

ornament with a paper inside to write

what we treasure. Thank you so much to

the women and Crom’s Small Group for

decorating Cheryl’s home for this

special event. A BIG thank you to Cheryl

and Paul for hosting!

Thanks to all the ladies who contributed

to our Pregnancy Resource Clinic

week of blessings! As the Christmas

bags were delivered each day, the girls

on staff at PRC couldn’t contain their

appreciation and excitement. It’s a small

way to show Jenny, the executive direc-

tor, and her staff how much we appreci-

ate what they do in our community.

Our youth group and a few small

groups have helped Cheryl DeCusati

do two outreach activities. Cheryl had

the opportunity to share the love of

Jesus with two of the Bellefonte Elemen-

tary Schools who brought their students

and teachers to her house to Christmas

carol. During her teaching years, Cheryl

always shared Jesus with those in her

path and her heart continues to do that

even through her sickness.

We made over six hundred little cards

with a message & candy cane for each

student. Every year, she would make an

ornament necklace for the teachers. It

continued again this year with help from

our church. Thank you again to Jon and

the youth kids, the small groups, and

the other women who helped Cheryl

fulfill her wishes.

COMING AHEAD

The Ladies Spring Retreat will be here

soon—April 5-7, 2019. Later in January,

registration brochures will be available.

Join our planning team to help us make

our retreat a good one! Our first

planning meeting is January 9, 2019,

at 5:30 PM in Pastor Jeremy’s office.

Our Women’s Ministry Team is looking

to grow. We have three ladies but I

would love to see four more join us in

2019! If interested, see Hilary Field or

Priscilla Cetnar.

Women’s Ministry

Dessert and Video - Ladies, as you begin the new year, consider joining us on January 4 at 7

PM for dessert and the fourth video in the series Living Life Together, at the home of Hilary

Field (667 Devonshire Drive, State College). It’s a great opportunity to con-

nect with other ladies and enjoy some yummy dessert!

Breaking Free: Women’s Bible Study will resume their Wednesday mornings study of the

Beth Moore series Breaking Free on January 9 at 9:30 AM in Room 9.

Esther & Ruth Women’s Bible Study - The new study begins Thursday, January

10, at 7 PM in Room 9. Sign up for workbooks at the Activity Center and talk

to Audrey Ogden for more information.

Women’s Grow Deep Class - Sunday mornings from 9:30-10:30 AM, will

conclude their study of Ruth this month, and will begin Ephesians on February 3 using the

video series The Book of Ephesians by J.D. Greear.

In the video series Common Man:

Uncommon Life speaker Jeff

Bramstedt shares with us the

importance of the rigorous

training that a Navy Seal goes

through in the session titled “My

Training is Never Complete”.

Navy Seals are constantly

training. This prepares them for

whatever mission they are

assigned. Once they complete

that mission they return and

get right back into their training

so they are prepared for their

next mission.

Our Christian walk should be

much the same. Constant training

gives us the ability to go out as

the Apostle Paul instructed us to

run with perseverance the race

marked out for us (Hebrews 12: 1)

or fight the good fight of faith

(1Timothy 6:12). Each and every

day is a mission, we need to be

prepared.

How can we be sure we are

prepared? By training which

includes prayer, reading God’s

word and a coach who will help

you get through life. If you don’t

have a coach consider finding

someone who will encourage you

to continue to train.

What’s your New Year’s

resolution going to be? Hopeful-

ly, if you’re not in training, it will

include: prayer, reading God’s

word and finding a coach.

Link to last month’s video session

rightnowmedia.org/Content/

Series/265337?episode=4

Join us for the next

MEN'S BREAKFAST on January 5, 2019, 8 AM.

Dennis Devlin

Men’s Ministry

Men’s Ministry

Sunday School Classes

We have a wonderful Sunday School class for

elementary students that is taught by Julie

Zuercher. She is teaching from a curriculum

called Better Bible Teachers and the kids are

really enjoying it.

Babette is teaching the preschool children.

We would love to have more students in both

classes. Sunday School starts at 9:30 AM in

Rooms 4 & 5. Start the year off with a

resolution to get involved in Sunday School,

many adult classes/Small Groups are held

from 9:30 – 10:30 AM for parents. There is

something for everyone!

Looking to Serve?

If you are looking for a place to serve in the

church, Children’s Ministry has opportunities

for you to get involved. It is so special when

you can take the time to share your faith in

Christ with the children of PFBC. Please

consider how you can impact future

generations of our church. If you would like to

get involved, please get in touch with Babette

(bimanning@comcast.net).

Children’s Ministry Happy New Year! We are excited to begin a new year

in Children’s Ministry.

Whew, what a year! As I sit here and reflect over

the last 12 months, I am encouraged by what I see.

This past January saw a youth ministry struggling to hold

it all together. As the months passed, leaders became

more comfortable with the new RIOT, and teens were

getting on board with the new direction we were headed.

The first major turning point came in the spring during

our Spring Retreat. We got to spend a weekend away

getting to know each other, growing closer together and

closer to God. A few more months passed by and we

had an incredible summer. Several teens spent a week at

Lake Ann camp growing by leaps and bounds in their

faith. Several teens spent the summer as counselors,

sharing their faith with the kids in their cabins. Other

teens went to other various camps, and one was used by

God to save a life. Summer ended and teens were

excited for a new school year. We challenged them hard

to stand out for Christ in their schools and to be bold in

their faith. We continue to see new faces both on

Sunday nights and at our monthly events. The teens are

showing a genuine care for each other, seeking prayer at

times, and reaching out to each other. They are also

spending time together when there is no youth group.

These are signs that the ministry is thriving. When I look

back on this year, I get more and more excited for this

coming year.

I know that God has some big things planned for RIOT,

and I look forward to seeing what they are.

Check out what some of our teens have

said about the ministry:

• My favorite part is how close all of us [are] but how

easy it is to get close with us.

• My favorite part is the preaching [you are] giving us.

• I like the activities we do together as a group.

• I found that the group has this really great dynamic

now with each other where we feel close enough to

share our personal lives.

• It’s really great to reflect upon the lesson[s] with each

other and apply it to our lives, and to get a break

from worldly things where we can get together and

worship God.

• So much bonding in Christ’s love.

• I like how we have really fun activities that we do

as a group and the leaders are just really amazing

and fun.

• You teach us about how to be strong in our faith

and basically how we can create an impact on

people's lives.

• My favorite part about youth group is the time

and effort all the leaders put into the time we

spend together.

RIOT Report

Please Pray

• For the new year and the places that God is

leading us.

• For our Youth Worship Team.

• For our teens to continue to be bold in their

schools (we've been challenging them).

• For our Juniors and Seniors that have been

shifting their focus to leadership.

• For us as we continue to seek new ways to help

guide our teens to draw nearer to God.

• For the people that God will lead to the minis-

try to join us as leaders.

• For the teens that they can continue to seek

God and the ways that He would use them for

His kingdom.

• For the teens to want to seek out their lost

friends.

Praises

• We have an exciting outlook for the new year.

• The teens are being bold for Christ at their

schools.

• Teens are comfortable enough to invite their

friends.

• We are seeing an increase in maturity and in

numbers.

• We have teens seeking out friends that they

can bring with them.