Weekly Encouragment
Good Wednesday Everyone,
Weekly blessings to you. This week Bethel Baptist is full of activity, laughter, and NOISE!! There is so much happening in our hallways as we have let the children loose to learn more about God. If you are not here, you are missing a blessing. The good news is we are only halfway through VBS – 2023 and it is not too late to join us. Rember each evening there is something for the adults as the children participate in VBS, so if you do not have someone to bring – Then you come and be apart of VBS this week.
As we approach July, there are a few announcements to be aware. First, our Wednesday Night Fellowship (Summer Edition) continues. Each Wednesday, beginning at 6:00 PM, we will show an episode of the Chosen-Season 3. This is an excellent series, and it has just begun. We paused the series for the week of VBS, and will begin again on Wednesday, July 28 with episode two. Also, July is a five-Sunday month. This gives the opportunity for a Fifth Sunday Fellowship immediately after the worship service on Sunday, July 30. For the Fifth Sunday Fellowship bring a dish/dessert to pass and invite someone to eat with us.
In these recent weeks, we have been examining the life of Daniel. Remember the overall series theme: “God Has a Plan.” Within God’s plan are incredible applications of faith covering the lives of obedient servants. Daniel demonstrated a life of faith was more important than a life of fantasy. Do you recall, the introduction to our Daniel series? It is displayed on the screens in the sanctuary, and it is the introduction displayed on our website. It reads: “Daniel lived nearly 2,500 years ago in a time where all he knew and loved was stripped away. Daniel was forced to live in a foreign culture where people refused “sound doctrine” and had turned “aside to myths”. What do you do in such a culture? How do you live in such a culture? You PRAY!! Your strength to fight temptation and resist sin comes from prayer. Daniel will show us how PRAYER empowers us to thrive in this world.”
God always intends for His children to thrive today in His world. Even where we eat, when we live, how we raise families, and as we worship in a pagan world committed to defeat and rejection of our Holy Trinity. Everything Daniel lived for pointed others to God, and God protected, provided for, and prospered Daniel. God will do the same for us today. We don’t have a “Daniel” in our life, we have someone far better. Daniel was a wise man, a great man, but Daniel was not a perfect man. Daniel received a glimpse of what was to come, and he obediently shared it with us.
The future Daniel saw did not involve a “what” but rather a “who” for salvation and He was Jesus Christ. Jesus came, He lived, He preached and reached people, He was rejected, He was sacrificed and died, but He rose again and lives eternally. There are great men and women in our Bible, but there is no one close to Jesus Christ. The theme of Daniel was, “God Has a Plan.” God’s plan has always been Jesus Christ.
Bethel Baptist, we know God’s plan, and we know Jesus Christ. However, God’s plan is running out of time. Not for God. Not for us. God’s time and ours are forever linked together through Jesus Christ. Time is running out for others. Places like Bethel Baptist are full of people who have answers to the pagan world’s deepest and hardest questions. Let us show those around us that Jesus Christ is God’s Way to Him.
Everyone follows a plan, what people don’t know is that God’s plan can become their plan. God has a new and better plan waiting for people, “They just don’t know it yet!” Let Bethel be a place where others can come and find God’s plan for their life. Keep inviting, keep loving, keep praying for, and keep obedient to God’s plan for you. You are responsible for what God calls you to do. Obey God in love. Live for God by faith. And worship God in spirit and in truth. Throughout the life of Daniel, people found their way to God. Through your life, people can find their way to God too.
In Christ,
Pastor Michael
