Forty Days of Purpose - Coming to Bethel
-Pastor Ted Brust

It's amazing how quickly we have found ourselves entering a new year! My prayer for each of you is that you will acquire a fresh vision and a new awareness of what we are about!

I want to encourage you to think about the true mission of our church. Always keep in mind that God calls people, not institutions. YOU and I are called to make disciples! From the very beginning, the Assemblies of God has been totally committed to worship, discipleship and evangelism.

Let's keep in mind that the church is more than an organization. It is a living organism, designed by God to touch the world through you and me. The Assemblies of God exists for the purpose of seeing every believer actively involved in the threefold mission of the Church: glorifying and magnifying God through worship, growing in your walk through discipleship, and making Christ known to all around you through personal evangelism.

Keep in mind that God calls people! People just like you and me. Whatever great things the Church may do are ultimately accomplished by individuals who submit themselves to obeying God's will. As we, Bethel Christian Life Center, focus on the true mission of the Church, we are focusing on our personal mandate, which is to: "Know Christ and to make Him known".

Life in Christ is a mission. This mission must be central to our lives. It cannot be viewed as a part-time job, or as something we tag onto our lives. This mission must cover our every waking hour, inspired by the divine purposes of God. This mission must impact everything we do, everything we say, everywhere we go. It must influence our priorities, our finances, our relationships, our actions and our reactions. The Christian must be more than just a "religious" person.

We do not have to "go in search of a mission". Following Jesus-is our mission!

How can we possibly hope to live an affective Christian life without a true understanding of this mission? God knew how much we would need to be instructed in the "way in which we should go" so He gave us His precious Word as our instruction manual. The more we "study to show ourselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of truth" the more we will come to a deeper understanding of God's purposes and plans for us here on this earth.

We are getting ready to participate in building a new church. But what would happen if we tried to do that without a plan? Without a set of detailed blueprints and explicit instructions, what kind of church would we build? Too often, Christians try to live the Christian life without a purpose-driven plan. The lives they build are flawed and a far cry from what God intends for them.

I am happy to announce to you that Bethel will be participating in the "Forty Days of Purpose" this spring! April 18, 2004, will be our launching date for this exciting adventure! Make your commitment right now, to participate in this life-changing event.

The schedule for the "Forty Days of Purpose" will be: April 18-June 6, 2004. We will be covering topics such as; "What on Earth Am I Here For?; You Were Planned for God's Pleasure; You Were Formed for God's Family; You Were Created to Become Like Christ; You Were Shaped for Serving God; You Were Made for a Mission".

Can you tell I am excited about this great opportunity coming our way? I have heard numerous testimonies from across this country of the great impact the "Forty Days of Purpose" has had on individuals and congregations. The tremendous spiritual growth reported is truly inspiring!

You may be wondering, "Why 40 days? What's so special about that time frame?" Pastor Rick Warren, author of the best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life", says, "The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days to be a spiritually significant time period. Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for His purposes, he took 40 days:

•  Noah's life was transformed by 40 days of rain.

•  Moses was transformed by 40 days on Mt. Sinai.

•  David was transformed by Goliath's 40-day challenge.

•  Elijah was transformed when God gave him 40 days of strength from a single meal.

•  The entire city of Nineveh was transformed when God gave them 40 days to change.

•  Jesus was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness.

•  The disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after His resurrection.

It's not just the duration, however, but the direction of 40 Days of Purpose that changes lives. This emphasis is designed to help you answer the most basic question of life: What on earth am I here for?

I am encouraging each one of you to make a commitment to participate in the entire "40 Days of Purpose" this spring. Embracing the mission of the Church is a deliberate action. As long as we are living in a fallen and sinful world-worship, discipleship and evangelism will not occur as natural byproducts of the Christian life. The Christian life is not a theory to be studied, it is a mission to be embraced.

We must choose the pursuit of God and His purpose. In so choosing, we find life abundant, purposeful, fresh, rewarding, challenging, and meaningful.

Harold Meaux shared the following with me:

•  Our Strategies need to depend on God.

•  Our Faith needs to be in God.

•  Our Eyes need to be on God.

•  Our Hearts need to be open to God.

•  Our Minds need to be renewed by God.

•  God is doing a new thing and we have to do His thing , not our thing.

I urge you to set aside the first week of January, beginning with Monday, January 5, 2004, for our "Week of Prayer." Please make sure this is not a "WEAK of Prayer", but a powerful "WEEK of Prayer."

The church will be open each morning for those who want to drop by and pray before going to work. We will also have a corporate prayer meeting each evening from 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. I ask you to make this a priority in your life.

Even though Sue & I will be out of town, we will be spending much of this week in prayer and fasting, also. The Lord has provided a time and a place for us to pull away, and seek Him. We will be gone from January 5-12th.

January 1-Happy New Years!

January 4-Men's Breakfast

January 14-22 Women's Costa Rica

Mission's trip.

January 23-Life Screening (at Bethel)

January 24-ETC City Bus Outreach

January 25-Newcomer's Lunch (at Bethel)

January 26-28 Pastor's Conference

February 14-Youth Party

Why not get off to a great start this new year? Bring your children to Sunday School as well as have them participate in Children's Church. It is our heart to make church a great experience for your child. There is nothing we like to hear more than to hear the enthusiasm in the heart of child, who is eager to come to church. Parents, you have a small window of opportunity to plant the powerful Word of God in your child's heart. Do all you can to expose them to the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Remember the Bethel Book Club. They meet on the second Thursday evening of each month at Barnes & Noble, at 7:00 p.m. For more information contact MaeAnne Balschweid at: 583-0564, or Christen Chipps, at 446-8411.

Would you help us with our Food Pantry?

We have many in our community who look to us for assistance with groceries.

Matthew 25:35 says,

" For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink."

Below is a list of items urgently needed for our Food Pantry Ministry.

•  Juice (all kinds)

•  Spaghetti ( l pound packages, please)

•  Spaghetti sauce (all types)

•  Rice (any kind)

•  Canned vegetables (all kinds)

•  Pancake syrup

•  Pancake mix

•  Jelly (grape is good)

•  Peanut butter

•  Hot dog buns

•  Loaves of bread

Bring your items to the kitchen, mark them FOOD PANTRY and leave them on the counter. Darla Farmer and Sue Brust will take it from there.

Thank you for helping with this vital

ministry!

Wow, what a great musical month we've just had! The adult Christmas presentation of "The Sounds of His Love" was a great success. Thanks to those who helped make the platform scene so beautiful. Thanks to all in the choir who sacrificed their time and efforts in practicing since the last part of September. Your efforts paid off! By the way, a DVD of the program should just about be ready by the time you receive this newsletter.

Contact the church office if you are interested in purchasing one.

The next Sunday, we were blessed by the little ones in our Children's Church. They came up on stage and sang three songs; "Go, Tell It on the Mountain," "Away In a Manger," and "Ring the Bells." Then Conner Chipps, six years old, recited to us the story of the birth of Jesus found in Luke 2:1-14 from memory. What a blessing. Then we followed that up with a stirring presentation at our All Church Christmas Dinner. Missions, and in particular, the Chinese Fire Bible, was the selected emphasis for this year's dinner. The choir sang two moving missions songs (and in fact repeated one of them a couple more times at the end!!!) complete with video footage demonstrating both the success and the needs of our missions program. What an incredible night.

The following Sunday, we were ministered to as our Children's Choir presented the musical, "Baby Jesus, We Love You." What an outstanding job they did! Thanks to all the kids (and parents who brought them) for your hard work on that music. You were fantastic. And a special thanks goes to Monica Peercy for the wonderful job she did in working with our children. Monica, it was great!

As we reflect on this past month, let us thank the Lord for His many blessings and especially for coming as a babe in a manger, knowing that He was coming to die for you and me.

Saturday, February 28 th will be the All Church Training Conference sponsored by our district office ministries. The conference we will be attending will be held at Lakeview Christian Center in Indianapolis. We had originally planned to attend our northern area conference, but that will be at Elkhart Calvary Assembly. Since it is much closer for us to go to Indianapolis, we've made that change - department leaders please take note of this change!

Virtually every area of ministry will be covered at this valuable conference. There's something for everyone. So no matter what area you work in or would like to work in, come along and be equipped and enriched to do the work of the Kingdom. Mark your calendars now for Feb. 28 th . Watch the bulletin for details on times.