Pastor Dave’s Corner Pastor Dave 1-3 Pastor Steve 4 Roofing Project 5 Children’s BYG 6 7-9 Lil’Angels/Int’l College/YA Community 10 11 12 Adult Ministry Missions 13-14 15 Praise & Prayer 16 Support Groups —Birthdays/ Anniv. 17 18 Upcoming 18 Inside this issue: I have always thought of myself as a patriot. I grew up believing that I live in the best country in the world. I still get a lump in my throat when the flag is raised and the National Anthem is played. Even during the Vietnam war, my loyalty for our country was high. While I was in college, I took some mild ridicule for that stance, when I chose to de- fend our country publically in a speech class. I deeply respect the men and women who have faithfully served our country in the military. Yet, being a citizen of the United States of America is not my highest loy- alty. My highest loyalty goes to being a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Over the past few decades, patriotism and being a Christian have been unequally yoked. Many people see the two as inseparably linked, with patriotism taking the leading role. This came clearly to the fore- front after 9/11, when “God bless America” became a battle cry for pa- triotism. Even today, during the 7 th inning stretch at many baseball games, the song “God Bless America” is boldly sung, to the cheers of the gathered crowd. During this month, when we rightly celebrate the birth of our nation, we need to put our patriotism into proper perspec- tive. According to the Bible, we who are believers in Christ hold dual citi- zenship. We are citizens of the nation in which we live, and we are citi- zens of God’s Kingdom, which transcends all political and ethnic boundaries. The Bible makes it clear that our highest alle- giance is to Christ and only secondarily to our country. Both are important, but one is far more important than the other. The Apostle Paul modeled for us what it means to live in this some- times conflicting environment. Paul was a Roman citizen by birth, but he identified himself, first and foremost, as a follower of Jesus Christ. Calendar 19 July 2015 V I S I O N PUTTING PATRIOTISM INTO PERSPECTIVE
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PUTTING PATRIOTISM INTO PERSPECTIVEmedia1.razorplanet.com/share/510376-1853/resources/...PUTTING PATRIOTISM INTO PERSPECTIVE The opening lines of Paul’s letter to the Romans is typical
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Transcript
Pastor Dave’s Corner
Pastor Dave 1-3
Pastor Steve 4
Roofing Project 5
Children’s BYG
6 7-9
Lil’Angels/Int’l College/YA Community
10 11
12
Adult Ministry Missions
13-14 15
Praise & Prayer 16
Support Groups
—Birthdays/ Anniv.
17
18
Upcoming 18
Inside this issue:
I have always thought of myself as a patriot. I grew up believing that I live in the best country in the world. I still get a lump in my throat when the flag is raised and the National Anthem is played. Even during the Vietnam war, my loyalty for our country was high. While I was in college, I took some mild ridicule for that stance, when I chose to de-fend our country publically in a speech class. I deeply respect the men and women who have faithfully served our country in the military. Yet, being a citizen of the United States of America is not my highest loy-alty. My highest loyalty goes to being a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Over the past few decades, patriotism and being a Christian have been unequally yoked. Many people see the two as inseparably linked, with patriotism taking the leading role. This came clearly to the fore-front after 9/11, when “God bless America” became a battle cry for pa-triotism. Even today, during the 7th inning stretch at many baseball games, the song “God Bless America” is boldly sung, to the cheers of the gathered crowd. During this month, when we rightly celebrate the birth of our nation, we need to put our patriotism into proper perspec-tive.
According to the Bible, we who are believers in Christ hold dual citi-zenship. We are citizens of the nation in which we live, and we are citi-zens of God’s Kingdom, which transcends all political and ethnic boundaries. The Bible makes it clear that our highest alle-giance is to Christ and only secondarily to our country. Both are important, but one is far more important than the other.
The Apostle Paul modeled for us what it means to live in this some-times conflicting environment. Paul was a Roman citizen by birth, but he identified himself, first and foremost, as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Calendar 19
July 2015
VISION
PUTTING PATRIOTISM INTO PERSPECTIVE
The opening lines of Paul’s letter to the Romans is typical of his self-awareness. Paul, a ser-vant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—(Romans 1:1) Paul always put his allegiance to Christ first in his life. Paul was also ready to tap into the benefits of his earthly citizenship. When he was un-justly accused, and was about to be flogged, he reminded his captors of his rights as a citizen. As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?" (Acts 22:25) Paul’s ex-ample makes it clear that it is not wrong to claim the rights of our earthly citizenship, as well as taking up the responsibilities of that citizenship. When Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi, he encouraged them to follow his example. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live accord-ing to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:17-21
As followers of Christ, we are to live under the authority of Christ and of our country. As good citizens of our country, we are to submit to the authorities that are over us. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1) We are to do this for a higher purpose; so that we might be able to continue to proclaim the good news of the Gospel. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, inter-cession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Our citi-zenship in the Kingdom of God must shape and guide our relationship with our earthly citi-zenship. When a conflict comes between our earthly citizenship and our heavenly citizenship, then we must stand with Christ. Peter and John were pressed to submit to earthly authorities above Christ, but they refused. They were willing to face the consequences for the sake of Christ. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:18-20)
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Pastor Dave’s Blog: daves-randomramblings.blogspot.com
I love my country, even with all of its flaws. I have benefitted greatly from being an American citizen. In many ways, God has blessed this country as much, if not more, than any other nation. God has used America to be a launching pad for the gospel around the world. God has entrusted us, as a nation, with a great responsibility, and He will hold us accountable for all that He has given to us. Let us never forget that we are stewards of God’s resources, that our first loyalty must be to God, and that one day we will be called to account for what we have done. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:48b)
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Gay Marriage and Our Future
I write today with a heavy heart. In a 5-4 ruling this morning (June 26, 2015), the Su-preme Court mandated that all fifty states must recognize gay marriages. This ruling inher-ently changes our nation’s definition of marriage. I knew this decision was coming, but I’m still grieving.
As Christians who hold the Bible as our guide in faith and practice, we know the truth; that God created both man and woman in his image to have a fruitful relationship resulting in children and cultivation. Because of man’s need for this complementary relationship, God created marriage. Genesis 2:22 says that after her creation, God “presented” the woman to Adam. That word holds a lot of meaning. And this process set a human precedent, meant to continue. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) The Apostle Paul demonstrated in Ephesians 5:22-33 that marriage was supposed to rep-resent God’s relationship with humanity, realized fully in the relationship between Christ and his Church. Christian spouses are to intentionally demonstrate their relationship with Christ in the way they approach marriage. Wives obey their husband as the church obeys Christ and husbands serve their wives with their lives as Christ did for his people. Wives and husbands become a part of each other just as believers become a part of Christ. Paul quotes Genesis 2:24 in order to demonstrate that it is specifically to bear the image of Christ and the church that we marry and become one flesh. It is because of this inherent Christian truth – that a marriage is defined as between one man and one woman and serves to bear the image of human relationship with God – that we cannot budge on the gay marriage issue. That being said, the nation has now made a clean break with God’s word, sovereignty, and design. They will bypass us and continue on in this matter without us. We can be sure that the culture will become more impatient and discriminatory toward those who oppose the new laws. And there may be coming attempts to force churches to recognize and perform gay marriages. Even so, we must be careful to remember what we once were and what Christ did for us then. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Jesus loved us while we stood opposed to him and he serves as a model for us to follow in our reactions to the Supreme Court ruling and all that is to come. And the good news is the Gospel is both unchanged and undefeated in this ruling. We came out of sin and into God’s light; more will join us. So while there is a place for us to grieve what has been lost today, we must also prepare. Gay marriage is sure to leave people scarred and broken; let’s work together to glorify Jesus and make Bethel a loving and healing place for all those who will come to us seeking something more beautiful and far more fruit-
ful than what the world has to offer. Sincerely, Pastor Steve
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Schmidt Siding & Window, Inc.
901 N 5th St., Mankatoi, MN 56001
Dear Schmidt’s,
Thank you for graciously allowing Jesse Kruger time and the equipment necessary to pro-fessionally direct us in the Bethel Baptist Church shingling project. His expertise and your equipment made for a very successful and quality roofing project. We couldn’t of done this without you. Thanks again!!
Sincerely,
Bethel Baptist Church
Thanks to all those at Bethel
who came to either shingle or
to provide refreshments!
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Nursery
More nursery workers are needed. Our Nursery Coordina-
tor is Kristi Borowy. If you have a heart for children we are
in need of helpers for the nursery, as little as 1 hour every
other month would help. If you would be able or if you
have any questions please contact Kristi at (507) 382-5618
July 1 HFHP (Host Family House Party) at the Beiswanger’s 5p-7p
July 8 HFHP at the Edward’s 5p-9p
July 15 HFHP at the Jentges’ 5p-7p
July 16 All day BYG tubing @ Lansboro, MN 8:30a-6:30p
July 22 HFHP at the Kroehler’s TBA
July 29 HFHP at the Hickock’s TBA
- Driver needed - Meal needed $ - Money needed
**Please keep in mind – This schedule may change. Be sure to check the weekly bulletin and weekly emails for updates and changes.
All-day Tubing Trip
Thursday July 16th 8:30am-6:30pm Attention Students!!! Friday Night Frenzy has been changed this month to an All-day tubing event on Thursday July 16th from 8:30am-6:30pm.
Eat a big breakfast and bring your friends, $11 for a tube, a sack lunch to eat on the river, a one piece swim suit or t-shirt to swim in, sunscreen, and extra money for misc snacks or gifts in Lanesboro.
Key:
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Go BYG! Bethel Youth Group!
$
Host Family House Party's (HFHP)
July HFHP's (host family house parties) July 1, 5p-7p Beiswanger’s 313 Woodshire Dr. Mankato, Mn 56001 Pulled pork sandwiches Badminton, yard games, Ultimate Frisbee
July 15, 5p-7p Jentges’ 205 Cameo Ln. Mankato, Mn 56001 Walking Tacos Swimming pool, yard games
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Go BYG !–Bethel Youth Group!
July 8, 5p-9p Edwards’ 48811 State Hwy. 68 Lake Crystal, Mn 56055 Hot Dog Roast Large group outdoor games (capture the flag etc.)
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Thanks BYG for your impact also with VBS this year!!
July 22, 5p-9p Kroehler’s 28419 351 Ave. Henderson, Mn 56044 Pizza & pool party, football, ultimate frisbee
Sew, knit, crochet to make clothing for missions. If you'd like to help but don't stitch, we can use: soft yarn for baby caps and prayer shawls, pillow cases in very good condition, extra-
wide double-fold bias tape (white, ecru, pink and blue are most common), 1/4 inch white elastic. Place in tote outside church office. Next Stitch & Share will be Sat. July 18, 9-11a. Contact Mary Hale or Suanne Banfield
Intergenerational Class on Spiritual Disciplines Sun-
days @ 9:45a from May 31-July 12. This class will cover some ideas on the
hows and whys of spiritual disciplines for the purpose of growth in godliness and
deepening our relationships with Jesus Christ. You will need the book: Spiritual
Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney. You can order it through
Lighthouse bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or find it online at Amazon or CBD.com. If
you are unable to purchase the book contact Pastor Steve Douglas for a copy.
Opportunities to Serve on the Worship Team-Sound Board, Vocalists, Instrumen-talists…
We are looking for people who have a Christian testimony and would like to use their abilities to glorify God.
1. We are looking for a few people whose musical ability need not extend any further than their ear!
Would you be interested in working behind the desk on the sound board or powerpoint for the worship team? You can be on the team as frequently as you wish - once a month, once every other month, whenever is comfortable for you. Sound board techs (training provided!) are part of the worship band and need to be available for rehearsal on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings at 7:30am. Powerpoint volunteers can run the powerpoint for a single ser-vice - 8:30, 9:45 or 11:00 and do not need to attend rehearsals.
2. So, let's say that you have musical ability that extends a little further and you can sing or play. We'd love to include you, as well! There is always a need for more musicians and vocal-ists. There is something very rewarding about helping to lead others into genuine praise to our Lord.
If you have any questions or would like to see how you can fit into the worship team, please contact: Tracy McQuown, Deb Thormodson; Rob or Heather Milton.