By
the fall of 2006, we celebrated our first service in our brand-new facility.
Over these 27 years we have glorious memories of having the privilege of being
involved in seeing lives changed by the power of God. We have seen worship, fun
and fellowship God’s way
This
new year, 2026 looks very promising with over 1,000 homes being built within a
three-mile radius of the church. It was though God was directing to our
backdoor ponds filled with new prospects. It brought me back to the truth that
Go wanted us to be fishers of men. Our theme for the new year had begun with
the mindset, “Not I, but Christ!”
As always, we were looking forward to February
23, 2025, we had planned a big day as we had hopes of celebrating our 26th
anniversary as a gospel preaching church. But two week earlier on February 9th
we were facing an issue with our new building. We had major truss issues with
our roof that had occurred over the years that we were not aware of. After
having an engineer to examine we had to shut down the use of the building until
repairs could be made.
It
was only one thing to do! In three days, our church family moved back into the
older building and continued what we were called to do. We celebrated our 26th
anniversary and what a service it was. Over half our congregation had the
opportunity to experience the earlier years of a pioneer spirit. It truly
brought back wonderful memories of how God had his hand on His ministry.
Because
of the nature of the damage, it was determined that the truss failed more than likely because of design. Our insurance declined our claim. The Truss Company that made the truss had filed bankruptcy. Concerning
the new building we have no alternative. Now we are faced with saving our new
facility by faith, Forsaking All I
Trust Him.
After
thorough investigation by three engineers and builders within the church, we were faced with the challenge to replace the roof and all twenty two truss. The
estimated cost was going to be $175,00 plus.
As
pastor and founder of Pleasant Plains Community Church I was determined to see
us through this temporary storm. God has allowed me the honor to oversee our
challenge because of the realization that PPCC is His church. I’m asking our
church family and all my friends to heed to the Apostle Paul as recorded in
God’s word to “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will
say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The
Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to
God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7
Twenty years ago, I was reading about the penetrating of the Great China Wall. China
had installed Gatekeeper’s at the entrances of the China Wall to prevent
enemies to enter through to China. It had been penetrated several times because
of dishonest Gatekeeper’s who were paid under the table to allow the unwanted
into China. For the last four weeks I had been praying, “What am I to do?” For
weeks God laid on my heart, “Tim, I need honest gatekeepers to be involved by
faith, so the community knows that I’m not dead. I am that I am who still saves to the
uttermost.”
For
you that don’t know it was the Gatekeepers of 2005 in the first month that
contributed over $30,000 toward the 2005 project. Those donations allowed us to get started and through the
years others joined to help pay off the 15-year loan in 14 years. So, you can
see how Gatekeepers helped financially to proceed in building our new worship
facility.
I decided it was time to share with the congregation the need for twenty five 2025 Gatekeepers. A
2025 Gatekeeper is one who will invest a minimum of $2,000 to meet the
challenge. Of course, we needed the money
as soon as possible in full or in part to be donated in full by Sunday December
7, 2025, on Chest of Joash Sunday. At that time we needed $25.000 by May 6, 2025 so we would be able to take care of immediate cost for “Phase One – Preparation to be
ready for new truss and roof replacement.”
When
it comes to prayer, the Bible in James 5:16 instructs us that “The effective, fervent
prayer of a righteous man avails much.” The Lords model
prayer in Matthew 6 begins in verse 8, “Therefore do not be like them.
For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask
Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our
Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your
kingdom come. Your will be done. That
means His work is exactly that, His work and may His will be done through the
ministries of Pleasant Plains Community Church.
Here it is 2026 and we have completed what God had in store for us to walk hand in hand with His will for His church.
God is truly good all the time
and all the time He is good.
Now we were able to continue in faith to reach, teach, train, challenge and make disciples for the cause of Christ.
We were blessed with a lot of free labor and generous donations as well as many prayers. We are very thankful for all who has helped and continue to financially and prayerfully support PPCC.
If you are able to help with any amount financially, we would love to hear from you. Make all checks payable to PPCC and mail to Pleasant Plains
Community Church P.O. Box 1119 Buies Creek, NC 27506 or you may go online to
Pleasant Plains Community Church and click on GIVING to donate online. If you
have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at 919-818-1652.
Donate Click to Give On-Line to Help
Your
prayers and support are very much appreciated and Patsy and I are looking
forward to growing and serving Christ together with all of you.
Not I, but
Christ,
Pastor Tim Batten
Pastor Tim
Batten
