Bethel Crc Lacombe

Today we continue our series on Gifts from God. We will reflect on 1 Chronicles 5:18-22 The Gift of Prayer:  An Act of Trust. This is our annual spring Prayer Day service and we will be taking extra time in our worship service to pray for various topics, including a special focus on our upcoming growing season. The writer in Chronicles describes a time of war between Israel and the Ishmaelites tribes. The Israelite warriors turn to God for his presence and help in the battle. God responds because their prayer is rooted in their trust in God. Prayer was an important part of Jewish life and we will reflect on what prayer is and how we can pray.

Today we are continuing our four-week series on Gifts from God. We will begin be reflecting on Romans 12:1-13 The Gift of Gifts. The Holy Spirit gives us many gifts in order to build up the body of Jesus. Paul uses the image of a body to encourage the church to live together in health. With this goal are to be a blessing to each other so that the world can see the blessing it is to accept Jesus and be part of his body here on earth.

Today we welcome Pastor Frank de Boer who will be leading us in worship. The focus of our worship will be on Isaiah 41:1-20; The Source of Our Strength. 

Today we begin a four-week series on Gifts from God. We will begin by reflecting on Ephesians 5:1-20 The Gift of Time. The gift of time really only becomes a gift when we approach it shaped by God; and the shaping of the Holy Spirit in us. As we begin to realize the gift of time that God gives us, we can then begin to embrace it as time to be shaped by God, as opportunities to become more like Jesus in living sacrificially; to understand the importance of learning Holy Spirit wisdom; and living in a spirit of gratitude. 

 Today is Good Friday. Today we will be reflecting on Mark 15:33-39 Were You There… Beneath the Cross. This is a hard place to be. We know the theology, but do we really understand the pain or cost to Jesus? We will also be celebrating the Lord’s Supper as we reflect on Jesus’ body broken for us, on Jesus’ blood shed for us. 

Today is Easter! We will be reflecting on Mark 16:1-8 Were You There… When He Arose. The women come to prepare Jesus’ body properly after his death on the cross. As they journey to the grave, they wondered to each other who will roll the stone in front of the grave away since it was so large and heavy. They are surprised to see the stone rolled away and a young man sitting beside it with a message, “He is risen. He is not here… But, go tell his disciples and Peter.” The grave and death could not hold Jesus because he is the God of life. But Mark ends with quietness and fear; why? 

Today we continue our Lenten series “Were You There…” by reflecting on Luke 19:28-40 Were You There… as a Demonstrator? Jesus is now preparing himself, his disciples, and the people for what is going to happen soon: his sacrifice. Jesus now publicly reveals who he is: the son of David, heir of David’s throne, King of Israel! Jesus uses the imagery of the Old Testament prophets to show the people that the Messiah has arrived and this triggers the start of what we call Holy Week, or Passion Week which will end with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. 

Today we continue our Lenten series “Were You There…” by reflecting on Luke 23:26-31 Were You There… as a Sympathizer. As Jesus walks down the road to the place where he is going to be crucified, he comes across a number of women who are weeping for him and for what’s happening. Jesus tells them not to weep for him, but to weep for themselves and what’s coming up. Jesus likely has in mind the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70, as well as pointing ahead to the day of judgement when the king will return to judge the world.

Today we continue our Lenten series “Were You There…” by reflecting on Matthew 27:32-44 Were You There… as a Spectator? As Jesus is crucified, a whole cast of characters shows up, most of them taking the time to mock Jesus, only Jesus’ mother Mary, her friends, and John are there for Jesus. God’s plan of redemption is being played out in front of everyone, and yet no one sees God at work.

Today we continue our Lenten series “Were You There…” by reflecting on Matthew 27:1-32 Were You There… in the Shouting Crowd? On Palm Sunday the crowd was shouting for Jesus to become their king, now just a few days later the crowd is calling out to crucify Jesus. It is easy to get caught up in joining the crowd in the moment, but it’s also easy to forget who we are as followers of Jesus and to stop reflecting on who Jesus is calling us to be in those moments. 

Today is the second Sunday of Lent. We begin our Lenten series “Were You There…” by reflecting on Luke 22:7-38 Were You There… at the Supper? It’s time for the Passover, the feast where Israel remembers how God saved them from slavery and led them into freedom and the Promised Land. Jesus takes the Passover and fills it with new meaning, pointing us to the freedom we are given through Jesus’ sacrifice for us as the Passover lamb, who frees us from our sin. As part of our service today, we will be re-enacting the foot washing with Jesus and his disciples and doing a reading of the whole Lord’s Supper.  We are doing this in place of the usual form to help us understand the meanings behind the Passover and the various elements of the Lord’s Supper. 

Today we are  celebrating GEMS Sunday, a time to rejoice in our girls’ ministry! We will be focusing on Micah 6:6-8 Act, Love, Walk. We will take a close look at their theme verse, Micah 6:8. There are a lot of questions in these verses. What does the Lord expect from us: does he want our stuff, does he want our very favorite things for himself, does he want us to give him some of our stuff, or maybe even all of it? The Lord tells his people that what he really wants is for us to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. We will explore what that looks like. 

Today we are wrapping up our series on the Book of Judges by reflecting on Judges 16 Samson – The Foolish Man. Samson once again finds a Philistine woman to fall in love with, but as we go through the story, we discover that their love is about using each other for their own goals, rather than a self-sacrificing love that builds the other person up. We see that Samson is addicted to his desires and to the adrenaline rush of danger and violence. Like all addictions, this makes Samson blind to the reality of what’s around him, leading to his ultimate destruction. Addiction, no matter what form it takes, hurts. 

We will be reflecting on Psalm 78 Telling Our Children God’s Story. Psalm 78 begins by calling us to listen to the stories our ancestors have told us so that we can tell them to our children. The writer then moves into telling the story of God’s faithfulness in his relationship with his people, how he provides for them, protects them, and how the people fail to be faithful to God. The psalmist ends with how God punishes his people, but in order to draw them back to him, he provides them with a faithful king.

Today we are returning to our series on the Book of Judges by reflecting on Judges 15 Samson – The Angry Warrior. Samson is treated unfairly by his wife’s father and he takes vengeance on the area.  When the Philistine leaders come to Israel, they demand the Israelites give them Samson so they can punish him. The Israelites comply. The Israelites are seeing themselves as slaves again instead of as God’s people. The Spirit of the Lord once again comes upon Samson and he destroys 1,000 Philistine men.  Even though Samson has been given the Spirit of the Lord many times, his character is not changing. We also can have the gifts of the Spirit without growing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. 

Today we are celebrating Cadet Sunday and having the Cadets be an important part of our worship. The Cadet theme this year is Amazing, and we will be focusing on Joshua 3:1-6 Amazing. Israel is getting ready to enter into the Promised Land and Joshua calls on the people to prepare themselves, telling them that “tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” We will take time to reflect on the “amazing” things in creation, the “amazing things” God has done and is doing. Our focus will be on the awe and wonder of God and to marvel at who God is, the creation around us, and our relationship with Jesus. 

Today we continue our series on the Book of Judges by turning to Judges 14 Samson—Doing it His Way. Samson’s birth story is one of those in the Old Testament where God gives a barren woman a child who will be used by God.  The angel tells Samson’s parents to raise him as a Nazirite, dedicated to God for His purposes. However, we learn in the historian’s first story of Samson that Samson is going to live life his way, quickly ignoring the call to be a Nazirite, being drawn to the Philistines and desiring to be more like them. How often do we really think about who God has called us to be and how to live as His people in our day-to-day decisions? 

Today we continue our series on the Book of Judges by turning to Judges 11:1-6; 14-40; 12:7 Jephthah—The Foolish Vow. This is a heart-breaking story of a mighty warrior who is called to be a judge in Israel and save the people from their enemies. But Jephthah has been influenced by his culture in how he understands who God is and makes a vow to God before going into battle, but the vow turns out to cost him dearly! 

Today is the third Sunday of Advent. We will continue our Advent series by reflecting on Matthew 1: 18-25 Joseph: Obedience and Righteousness. Joseph is chosen by God to be the earthly father of Jesus. Joseph is described as a righteous man and a compassionate man at the same time. For Joseph, faith and obedience go hand in hand, all while being open to having God completely change his life and plans. Joseph gives Jesus the name the angel told him to, making Jesus his son and from his family tree, adopting him into the family line of David, a family line of kings, the family line of the Messiah. Joseph becomes just the right earthly father that Jesus needs to learn to love and trust his heavenly father!

Today we return to our series on the Book of Judges by turning to Judges 9:1-15;42-57 Abimelech: The Thornbush. Abimelech is Gideon’s son through a concubine and so he murders all his half brothers in order to rule over the people. His half-brother, Jotham, escapes and then curses Abimelech. Israel is looking and acting more and more like the nations around them instead of the people God wants them to be - shaped by his laws and festivals. God allows Abimelech to rule for a few years but turns the people against him. God allows us to suffer the consequences of our choices, but when we cry out to him, he responds and will bring order into the chaos we create through our own choices.