Bethel Crc Lacombe

Today the fifth Sunday of Lent, and our theme is Good News. We will be reflecting on John 12:20-33, Good News: For All. In Jesus’ day, people were divided by ethnicity, gender, and social and economic class. The Pharisees in particular liked to keep people in their place and were disturbed at how Jesus upset the social order (John 12:19). Our culture today hasn’t overcome division either. In this passage, Jesus tells us that when he is lifted up on the cross, all will be drawn to him. In a world of division, we are reminded of the universal call of the gospel. 

Today the fourth Sunday of Lent we have the privilege of celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. We will be reflecting on John 3:1-21, Good News: A Fresh Start. We are reflecting on John 3:1-21, Good News: A Fresh Start. Nicodemus was likely the very picture of a successful person in his culture. This makes him an unlikely follower of a perceived troublemaker like Jesus. In this famous passage, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to make a fresh start and be “born again.” This actually is good news for Nicodemus and for us. God can and will give us a fresh start, a spiritual rebirth, when we believe in the savior who was lifted up on a cross and raised from the dead to deal with our sins.

Welcome to Bethel! Today is the third Sunday of Lent, and our theme is Good News. We are reflecting on John 2:13-22, Good News: The Temple is Rebuilt. There are a few things we would do well to understand as we approach this passage. The first is the fierce and holy passion behind Jesus’ extreme actions. The second is how spiritually dysfunctional the Jerusalem temple had become. Jesus came into our fallen world as the true temple that would link heaven and earth. This temple would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days, just as he said. This is the good news of the gospel! And we who believe are the assembled body of Christ on earth who will proclaim his kingship until his return 

Today is the second Sunday of Lent, and our theme is Good News. We will be reflecting on Mark 8:31-38, Good News: Worth Dying For. We also have the privilege of celebrating a Profession of Faith! In this passage, right after Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus starts teaching them what being the Messiah is going to actually look like: suffering, rejection, death, and then resurrection. Being a follower of Jesus is always about Jesus, never about what we want, but Peter doesn’t understand that yet and rebukes Jesus for talking the way he is. In one of the most shocking rebukes in the Bible, Jesus then turns and rebukes Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” We will explore what being a follower of Jesus is really about.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent, and our theme is Good News. We are also celebrating GEMS Sunday, our girl’s ministry. They will be leading much of the service, as we will be focusing on the theme Standing Firm on God’s Promises by reflecting on Psalm 62:2 and Matthew 7:24-29. God is a rock, a place of strength, a place of safety and hope. Jesus teaches that if we shape our lives on his teaching then we are like the wise man who builds his house on the rock and no matter what happens, the house stands firm.

Today we have the privilege of celebrating in the Lord’s Supper and we will be wrapping up our series on the Apostle’s Creed by reflecting on Psalm 57 and John 20:24-29, Resurrection Flesh. The creed teaches us under the section the work of the Holy Spirit that we believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. The psalmist takes refuge in God, trusting God to protect him and save him. Jesus comes to save us; he dies on the cross and comes back in his physical body to reassure his disciples that he is truly alive. Jesus comes to restore all creation. The physical creation, including our bodies is central to the redemption Jesus brings. 

Today we will be celebrating the sacrament of Baptism for two lovely little girls. The parents have chosen Psalm 103 and Psalm 145, with the title of the message being: The Lord is Compassionate and Gracious. Both these psalms focus on praising the Lord for being a God of forgiveness, a God who does awesome works, whose greatness no one can fathom. Our God is compassionate and gracious, who calls us to tell his stories to our children and our children’s children so that they too will believe in and love our Lord.

Welcome to Bethel! Today we will be returning to our series on the Apostle’s Creed by reflecting on Psalm 51 and Mark 2:1-12, Forgiveness: Healing Power. The creed teaches us under the section under the work of the Holy Spirit that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. Our thoughts almost immediately go towards the forgiveness that we experience through Jesus’ death on the cross, however we are called to be a people who seek forgiveness from God through confession and repentance, and who offer forgiveness to others. Forgiveness is not simple, nor is it easy; forgiveness always comes at a cost. This week we will be focusing on God’s forgiveness of us, after Easter we will take a look at Jesus’ command for us to offer forgiveness and what that looks like.

Welcome to Bethel! Today we will be celebrating Cadet Sunday. Their theme this year is God’s in Control, based on Joshua 1: 2-9, focusing on verse 9. Joshua is leading Israel into the Promised Land and there are so many unknowns that lie ahead of them. God reassures them that he will be with them wherever they go, a promise we can still hold onto today.

Welcome to Bethel! Today will be reflecting on Acts 2:1-4; 14-17 and John 15:26-16:15, Spirit at Work. Jesus points his disciples to the coming Holy Spirit who appears at Pentecost. This is a time of hope, of change, of God on the move in a powerful way. The coming Spirit will point them back to Jesus, helps us be obedient to Jesus, and be a witness of Jesus to the world 

Welcome to Bethel! Today we will be reflecting on Psalm 121 and Matthew 16:13-28, On This Rock. Over half of the Apostle’s Creed focuses on who Jesus is. By looking at Psalm 121 we are reminded to look for our help from the Lord who keeps us from harm. Then we will move to Matthew 16 where Jesus challenges the disciples with this question, “Who do you say I am?” This question reverberates down through the centuries to us today where we are asked who we say Jesus. C.S Lewis in Mere Christianity wrote “You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. 

Welcome to Bethel!  We are starting a new series based on the Apostles’ Creed. We will begin by reflecting on Exodus 3:1-15 and Romans 8:1-17, Our Eternal Papa. In Exodus, God reveals himself to Moses as “I Am Who I Am,” a powerful statement about who God is, but God reveals more of himself in the following generations until we come to Paul in Romans 8 where we are given a picture of God as our Father, a personal God that comes to us in relationship 

Happy New Year! It is the first Sunday of 2022 and we will be reflecting on King David’s desire to build a house for God and how God responds by telling David that he will build David’s house. As we reflect on 1 Chronicles 17:1-15, we will look at how God builds our house and what that might look like in 2022. As part of the service, we will also take some time to look back on how God has been at work in our Bethel Church family in 2021. We remember those God called home, those who have left, and those who have joined our family, offering prayer for all 

Christmas Day Service: Jesus is born! New life has entered the world. This will be a service filled with lots of singing and a reflection on the Christmas story as found in Luke 2:8-20, Love is Here!

Welcome to Bethel! Today we have the privilege of taking part in the Lord’s Supper. For the message we will be looking at what Jesus has called us to do while we wait for his return. We will be reflecting on Matthew 28:16-20, While We Wait. This is a familiar passage and is often called the Great Commission. Yet in this passage, Matthew tells us that they worshipped Jesus when they saw him, but some doubted. This observation from Matthew has always puzzled me, how can they doubt Jesus after everything they had seen? We will explore that question, as well as how can we participate in the Great Commission.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service:  Come with the family as we journey From Darkness to Light in a candlelight service. We will be reflecting on Isaiah 60:1-3 where Isaiah celebrates that the Lord’s light has come, and the Lord’s glory rises upon us!

Advent is here! Today we will have a very special Children’s Service. Our children and youth will lead us in Searching For Jesus. Join us as we hear the Christmas story through the words and eyes of our children. We will continue our Advent series What Are You Waiting For? by reflecting on John 4:4-14, Waiting to be Satisfied. The Samaritan woman was searching for something but didn’t really know what until she met Jesus who offered her living water and eternal life. We too wait to fully experience the living water into eternal life that Jesus offers us. 

Advent is here! We continue our Advent series by reflecting on Isaiah 40:1-11, Waiting for Strength. Israel has been in exile for almost 70 years now. After so many years, hope is hard to hold onto, and the people are feeling weak. God comes to Isaiah and commands the prophets and leaders to comfort his people, to help them experience hope, and in this they will find strength 

Blue Christmas service. This special time of worship is for those who are finding the Christmas season difficult. Join us as we reflect on Jesus as our peace, and we light the candles to offer hope to those who are mourning and weary.

Advent is here! We will begin our series on Waiting by reflecting on Luke 12:35-40, Active Waiting. Jesus has gone home for a while, but he has promised to return, yet we don’t know exactly when that time is. Jesus tells a parable of a master going to a wedding and expecting his servants to continue running his household until he returns. This is an active waiting, engaging in the master’s work and business until returns. The master expects the servants to always be ready for that time. There are twists and turns in this parable that are unexpected and show that Jesus is the master in the parable. So how are you actively waiting for Jesus’ return?