BETHEL CHURCH WELCOME FEBRUARY 2013 www.bethelsarnia.com CONNECT Welcome to Bethel! We are so glad to have you here! As you look through this Connect Bulletin, we trust that you will quickly find that Bethel has something for you and your family. Our hope is that you will take the next step into our community and get involved. As you do, you will begin to see that Bethel is more than just a Sunday service, it is a family of everyday people following Christ to bring hope and change to the world - one life at a time.
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Transcript
BETHEL CHURCH
WELCOME
FEBRUARY 2013www.bethelsarnia.com
CONNECT
Welcome to Bethel! We are so glad to have you here! As
you look through this Connect Bulletin, we trust that you will quickly find that Bethel has something for you and your family. Our hope is that you
will take the next step into ourcommunity and get involved. As you do, you will begin to see that Bethel is more than just a Sunday service, it is a family of everyday people
following Christ to bring hope and change to the world - one
life at a time.
This Month
Childcare on Valentines DayFor families at Bethel with young children, we are offering FREE childcare on Valentine’s Day Febru-ary 14th from 5:30PM to 9:30PM to give married couples an opportunity to enjoy a date night together. All we ask is that you sign-up by Sunday, February 10th to allow us time to prepare a pro-gram for the number of children.
Ukraine Missions TripBethel is increasing its involvement in the nation of Ukraine. A Missions trip is planned for August 1st-15th to work with Missionary Ed Dickson to do a week of ministry at a Government Summer Youth Camp. We already have 12 young people in going and we are looking for a few more adults to also participate in this trip. We are also looking for those who may be interested to come alongside a building construction team as they build the church in Smila. In addition to this, there is also opportu-nity for another team from Bethel to travel this Fall to work in churches and conferences. If you have any interest in Missions and the possibility of God using you in Ukraine, an information and discussion meeting will take place on Monday February 11th at 7:00PM in the Fellowship room at Bethel.
Plan To ProtectIt is the policy of Bethel Church that all those who work with children and youth to go through a Plan to Protect program and be renewed every two years in this program. Our next Plan to Protect is scheduled for Saturday February 2nd from 10AM to 12PM. For those who work with youth or plan to be, it is important to be at this meeting
Annual Meeting - March 3rdOur Annual Church Business meeting will take place on Sunday March 3rd immediately following the morning service. Childcare will be provided dur-ing this meeting. Nominations for the Elder Board must be received to the Church Office by Wednes-day, February 6th.
THINGSTO KNOW
Coming Soon
BE PART OF ALPHA AT BETHEL IN 2013
What Is Alpha
Who is Alpha For?
As part of Bethel’s ongoing discipleship program from January 2013 onwards we will hold Alpha Courses starting on different dates so that one is bound to fit your schedule.
- Thursday evenings starting February 14th at 6.30 pm at Darwin and Angela Armstrong’s house.- Monday evenings starting April 1st at 6.30 pm at Bethel Church.
More than fifteen million people all over the world have completed the Alpha course during the last fifteen years in churches, homes, schools, universities and prisons. Alpha is an opportunity for anyone to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed, non- threatening setting over nine thought-provoking weekly sessions. It is low-key, friendly and fun.
Everyone is welcome on an Alpha course and people attend for a wide variety of reasons. Some want to investigate whether God exists and if there is any point to life; others are concerned about what happens after death. Still others may have attended church all their lives but felt they have never really understood the basics of the Christian faith. People come from many different backgrounds, holding many different viewpoints - but all come with the same objective - to establish whether Jesus Christ has any real relevance for their lives.
There is a fresh move of the Spirit of God taking place at Bethel. How we thank Him for His presence amoung us!
As 2012 was coming to a close, I felt directed of the Lord, in calling our church family, to sanctify the first 13 days to the Lord in prayer and fasting for His will to be done in our church. What wonderful times of prayer we had! One prayer time in particular, there was such an awesome sense of the glory of God in our Sanctu-ary. It was holy!
We moved from that time to 4 days of special meetings with guests Tracy Stew-art and Jan Painter. I can truthfully say that I have never been in 4 days of meet-ings where so much prophetic words were deposited into my life personally and into our church body. The declaration was that this would be the year of Testi-mony! Also, that a Move of God is com-ing to Bethel and has already begun. We are in a pivotal time. What God will do will surge and will supersede all of what God has done to this point. We are now stepping into our future and into what God has called us to be. The key to this move will be our hearing from the Lord. (These are just some of the highlights of the words given. All the messages from the Encounter services with Jan Painter and Tracy Stewart are available online at bethelsarnia.com).
As the Word came forth in these meet-ings, I ask God for His direction for what we as a church body must do. This is what I believe the Lord said to me: Lean into what I am doing (the picture is that like a downhill ski jumper who leans into where he wants to go - and as he leans, things will accelerate!). We lean into this move in prayer. Emphasize prayer more than services. Trust Me to lead you. I will order your steps.
Between Christmas and New Years, I received a communication from Michael Livengood (U.S. Evangelist who minis-tered at Bethel this past October), invit-ing me to attend a Prayer conference in Illinois this past Jan 21-23. I prayed about this and felt the prompting of the Spirit to attend. I then learned that Pastor John Kilpatrick, of Brownsville and Bay Reviv-als, would be presenting at the confer-ence. The first night at the conference, as I was worshipping, a man tapped me on the arm and said, “Pastor John wants to see you.” I was directed to Pastor Kilpatrick and he asked me, “Son, what is happening?” I told him of our 13 days of prayer and our Encounter services, and that we would be honoured to have him come again to Bethel. He replied, “OK I will come.” And then added, “I could even come next week.” Over the next 2 days I communicated with his assistant and while he was not able to come “next
week”, he is coming back to Bethel, February 10th and 11th. Now I find it very significant that this man that God has used in one of the greatest moves of God in America, suddenly, without months of planning, will be in our house at this “pivotal” time. God is leading!
Now we do not look to man to bring a Move of God. First, a Move of God has al-ready begun. Second, what will cause this Move to snowball and become greater is our seeking Him in response to the lead-ing of His Spirit. I feel directed to have many times of prayer over the next weeks as well as days of fasting. We must “seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near.”
I believe that this Move of God will result in many salvations. On March 23 & 24th, Bethel will be hosting the drama “Heav-en’s Gates, Hell’s Flames”. This drama has resulted in many, many people coming to faith in Christ. On Sunday morning Feb 10th, Tom McIntyre of Reality Ministries will be sharing about this drama and how we can get involved. I believe even the timing of this drama with what God is do-ing in our midst is not a coincidence, but rather God has ordered our steps!