Good Morning, Bethesda!
The music and singing yesterday morning was simply inspiring and Christ exalting! Thank you to our musicians and to everyone who sang from their hearts!
Urgent Prayer Requests
* Pete & Brenda, their health
* Brenda’s father who is very ill
* Brazel family
* Debbie, recovering from foot surgery
* Marilynn Norvell
* Cynthia Wordlaw, need for a kidney
* Aaron Wordlaw and his arthritis
* Dennis fighting kidney failure
* Gene & Lois Schulze at home.
* Caroline, Anne Overton’s sister-in-law, and family – terminal brain cancer
* Our church and need for revival
Upcoming Activities
1. Ladies Fellowship. Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
2. Bible Study (Brief Books) and Prayer Meeting, Wednesday, 7pm.
3. Sunday school, Sunday, 9:15 a.m.
4. Worship Service, Sunday, 10:30 a.m. including the Lord’s Supper.
5. Bowling and Late Lunch Fellowship, Sunday after morning worship.
6. NO Discipleship Training
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”
Ephesians 5:1
Ladies Fellowship!
Ladies, an evening of fellowship will begin Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the church’s fellowship hall. All ladies are welcome to attend and join in the fun!
Statement of Faith
Bethesda’s statement of faith is “The 1963 Baptist Faith and Message” and may be read at http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfmcomparison.asp. Here is the 3rd part of the article on God.
3. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fulness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
Luke 6:40
Sermon Extras
Jesus’ remark concerning John expressed in verse 22 was misunderstood by many to mean John would not die until the Lord returned. John set the record straight in verse 23, indicating that was not what the Lord was saying. And, of course, John ultimately did die prior to Christ’s return. Yet there is a comment on these verses by Arthur W. Pink which speaks truth:
“The ministry of John actually goes on to the end, for in the Revelation he treats at length of those things which are to usher in the Lord’s return to the earth, aye, and beyond to the new heaven and the new earth!”
Outreach Effort
The Outreach Committee is asking church families to donate energy or granola bars for an outreach effort. We are going to add Scripture verses to these bars and then make them available to church members to hand out to homeless individuals or anyone who has a need for some food and the Gospel.
We’ll start our collection this Sunday. So if you would like to provide some energy or granola bars for this simple outreach effort, please bring them to church this Sunday.
Pastor’s Postscripts
This Sunday marks a minor milestone relative to my ministry at Bethesda. If the Lord wills, we complete our exposition of John’s Gospel which we began on April 11, 2010. After 3 years and 128 messages, we will put John down (for now) despite there being so much more in the Gospel to discuss.
Since coming to Bethesda, we have moved through John, Ruth, and Colossians together. Combined with my previous pastorate, God has given me the privilege of preaching through a total of 11 books now (1/6th of the Bible). As a math geek, I calculated that, at that pace, I would have to live to the age of 377 to complete an exposition of all 66 books! Holy Methuselah!
I sought the Lord’s direction on where in the Word we should now turn. Repeatedly my mind turned to the local church. God’s Word has much to say on the church and I believe one great way to do that is to examine a specific New Testament church. So, beginning in June, we move from the work of the Lord while on this earth to the work of the Lord through His church. And we will do this by looking at the church of the Thessalonians.
Unless the Lord intervenes, my first message in June will be from the book of Acts in order to provide the background for the following weeks. Then, on June 9, we open the Word to the book of 1 Thessalonians and see what God had to say to that local church and how His Word applies to us at Bethesda Baptist today.
I began working on these messages a few weeks ago but I covet your prayers as we begin this new series. May the Lord bless our journey together with the Thessalonians as He brings to a close our study of the Gospel of John!
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