From the Elders: The Blessing of Membership Interviews

Since February, following the Sunday morning service at Faith Bible Fellowship Church of York, I have had the privilege of meeting with individuals interested in becoming members (26 in total, to be exact). These meetings take place in my office after most congregants have departed. During these interviews, I am honored to hear how each prospective member came to faith in Jesus Christ. Honestly, listening to these personal conversion stories is one of the greatest joys of my pastoral ministry.

Now, in these interviews, I engage with prospective members by asking them to articulate the gospel, respond to a few affirmation and denial questions, describe how the Holy Spirit has gifted them, and to share their insights on our church community. However, it's their stories of conversion that never cease to amaze me. It is a profound honor to be trusted with such personal accounts of who individuals were before coming to faith in Jesus Christ, how they came to faith in Jesus Christ, and who they are now as followers of Jesus Christ.

So, to all of our new members joining us this May, and to everyone else who has shared their testimony with me previously during this process, I just wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks. Hearing your stories is truly a highlight of my ministry, as it reminds me anew of the wonderful and powerful ways in which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ saves sinners from their sins.

So, thank you, church family, for sharing with me and trusting me with your conversion stories. It truly is an encouragement to me as your pastor.

Press on,
Pastor Wesley

From the Elders: Introducing Josh Vann

Grace and peace, church family!

It is an honor and privilege to serve you in this new role as an elder at Faith Bible Fellowship of York. I look back and consider all that the Lord has done for me and through me for His glory, up until this point. I’m thankful to be used as I continue on this journey. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA (Philly), I never imagined leaving and residing in a place that I had initially never heard of (York, PA). I made so many plans prior, but God ordered my steps.

As a child, I grew up in a Bible-believing, two-parent household with my three siblings. This is where the Lord would begin to plant seeds about Jesus. Unfortunately, I would rebel and live for myself, chasing after everything that led to destruction. At the age of 18, the sin and destruction that I so much enjoyed were no longer enjoyable, as the Lord had begun tugging on my heart and would ultimately save me from my sin through the hearing and understanding of the gospel. Through surrendering, the Lord would begin to put fellow believers in my life to fellowship with, disciple me, hold me accountable, and encourage me on how to live a life pleasing to Jesus.

At age 19, I would begin to go out with brothers in the faith to pray for and evangelize strangers/lost souls on trains and street corners. The Lord would also use me to speak boldly and share music in spiritually dark places, all to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus snatched me out of the darkness, saved me, and sent me back to now shine His light to those dead in trespasses and sin, as I once was.

While doing ministry, I would sometimes visit friends at a local Bible college. On a visit just to hang out and help my friends in ministry in the York area, I met my wife, Brittney. We would later become friends. I moved closer (with a roommate), and ultimately she and I got married. The Lord has now blessed us with four amazing children!

Over the years the Lord has allowed me to serve in various ways in ministry, from serving at my local church to local and traveling ministry engagements to simply leading a men’s Bible study in my basement. This is all just a glimpse of what the Lord has done for and through me. I’m often reminded of Acts 4:13: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” It encourages me how God uses “common men” like myself for His service. As my journey continues, may Christ be glorified as I look to lovingly serve His people at Faith BFC for His kingdom’s sake. I look forward to connecting and building lasting, godly relationships with you all. Please pray for me as I pray for you.

God bless,
Joshua Vann, Elder

From the Elders: A Loving Farewell

Beginning this month, the newsletter will be published as a series of weekly articles. This week we feature parting remarks from our associate pastor, Ricardo Vargas.

From the Elders

Dear Faith Bible Fellowship Church,

For the past seven years, I have had the immense pleasure of serving you all as a youth volunteer and as one of your pastors. As I look back at the past seven years, I am humbled that the Lord would use me to play a small part in what He was doing at Faith. First and foremost, God gets all the glory for any good done at Faith over that time. I am simply humbled that He would use me at all.

As I think about my final thoughts that I would like to share with you all, I want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the love and support that you have shown my family and me over our time at Faith. The past seven years, we have worked through a lot of good times and a lot of challenging times, and Kasha and I truly do see you all as family. You all have been a tremendous blessing to us, and the Lord has used you all to help us grow deeper in our faith and sanctification.

I am confident that God will continue to lead this church according to His plan and purpose. As I shared on Sunday, it is my prayer moving forward that you all continue to stand firm in the faith, to seek peace amongst yourselves, to rejoice in the Lord, to be known for your graciousness, to be a praying church, and to keep your gaze on Jesus. Finally, my encouragement to you all as you continue to grow as a church, as seeds are planted, as growth begins, and as trials and tribulations may come your way, is to always stand on the Word of God. God’s Word will get you through difficult times; God’s Word will bring you closer to God; God’s Word is sufficient. God is sovereign over all things, so continue to entrust yourselves into His care. This is not a good-bye; this is until next time.

Grace and Peace, 

Pastor Ricardo Vargas