|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||||||||||||
Pastor Ted Brust
I am so thankful for the missions heart that God has given to our Bethel Family. Our World Missions involvement has increased greatly in the year of 2004! By the end of this year, Bethel will have had over 40 individuals on foreign soil ministering in the Name of Christ. This is a little more than a tithe of our congregation. In January, eight of our ladies joined a team of women from across Indiana and went to Costa Rica to remodel the Cincel Language School. Nine of our men, led by David Dimmich, worked on the Teen Challenge Center in San Jose, Costa Rica. In February, Greg and Isaac Deere journeyed to Belize to help our missionaries reach out to the youth in that Latin American country. In August, our youth pastors, Jim & Robin Walsh, will take approximately 20 of our young people (ages 16 and older) to El Salvador to assist missionary, Don Triplett, in street ministry. In three weeks, Larry Colglazier and I will be going to China on a mission adventure. We will meet up with a large team of believers from Griffin, Georgia, in Chicago and fly to Hong Kong. We will be stationed in Hong Kong and take two train trips daily into the interior of China to assist house church leaders. What a privilege to minister to leaders of this great nation! We will be providing spiritual training materials that are desperately needed by the leaders of the house churches. The team will also spend 2 to 3 days in the Beijing area assisting our missionaries stationed there. China is the third-largest nation in the world in land area and the largest in population with over 1.3 billion people. It has the world’s longest continuously recorded history (a written history of over 4,000 years). China has also given the world some of the most significant scientific and technological inventions. They invented the compass, papermaking, gunpowder and printing. The Great Wall, Grand Canal and Karez irrigation system are three great ancient engineering projects built over 2000 years ago. Back in my college days, China was referred to as a “Sleeping Giant” or a “Sleeping Tiger”, but that expression is no longer used because China is now wide awake. It has become a world power and is increasing its economic and military influence. I firmly believe that China is a key player in end-time events. The “Sleeping Giant” is now awake and will make an impact (good or bad) upon the future of our world. At this time, there is a ray of light shining into that needy country. The gospel is being boldly proclaimed and the church (still under much persecution) is growing rapidly. Larry and I would greatly appreciate your prayer support as we endeavor to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. Some may be wondering why Bethel is so involved in missions. We believe that missions is the heartbeat of God and should be the heartbeat of the Church. The last words uttered by our Lord Jesus just before returning to Heaven are recorded in Mark 16:15-18. “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” What is required in order to carry out Christ’s mandate? One of the first things I see in this scripture is the need for personnel. The King James version says, “Go ye”. Who, then is “ye”? It is you and me! It is a command to every believer. We are responsible to obey our Lord’s directive. This command has been referred to as the “Great Commission”. It is a privilege for us to partner with Christ and together, reach His world. Yes, we have an awesome task when it comes to sharing the Good News. In order to get the job done, we must each take an active role in the process. The second thing I see in Christ’s command is that we are to “go”. Another quick look and we see “the place”. He tells us that we are to “go into all the world.” Yes, we are to go wherever there is a need, whenever the door of opportunity is open, and use whatever method we can that allows us to most effectively communicate the gospel. The Assemblies of God has accepted the challenge and obeyed the command “to go”. As a fellowship, we have almost 1,900 missionaries serving in over 190 countries. We have not only reached the lost but have made it a primary goal to train believers on the foreign fields so they can reach their own people. We have presently over 90,000 students enrolled in almost 1,900 Bible Schools and Extension Programs on foreign soil. The third thing I see in Mark 16:15 is, “What is ‘the plan?’” We are to go into all the world with the Good News, but how do we communicate that good news? We are to “preach” His Word! In the New Testament, preaching is “the public proclamation of God’s Word to the non-Christian world.” Proclaiming the Gospel to every person in the world is our assignment. The plan is for every believer to share the good news with everyone. One more thing to consider is, “How do we accomplish such an overwhelming task?” “The personnel” is “you and me.” “The place” is “into all the world.” “The plan” is “preach the good news to every person.” Now, “the power” needed to accomplish this command is found in the person of the Holy Spirit. God provides us with His Spirit to empower us to carry out this wonderful and awesome task. We must allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. Our Lord says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Lord will strengthen us for our mission. Trust in Him and in the power of His Spirit. I leave you with this little outline to help you remember your mission. Our mission requires: Personnel Place Plan Preaching Power Let’s make a fresh commitment to carry out the work of our Lord with a renewed commitment and a determination to keep on keeping on!
Annual Garden Party Join us on May 22 from 1-4 p.m. at Merlene Anderson's home for an afternoon of FOOD, FUN, FELLOWSHIP and FLOWERS. Our goal is to provide an environment where you can relax, enjoy yourselves, and fellowship with ladies from the church. This is a great time to bring a friend and get to know other women from the church.
Because of the success we had last year with the perennial exchange and the crafts, they will be back this year. If you would like to participate in the perennial exchange, please bring plants and flowers with you. Last year we had lots of fun discussing all the plants that were brought and exchanging them. We will have craft projects, too. Merlene Anderson, our resident flower arranging expert, will teach us how to create a beautiful arrangement in a teacup. If you would like to participate, please bring a teacup (not a coffee mug) and a few dollars to cover the cost of the fresh flowers that will be used in the arrangement.
Please RSVP with the church office or Cara Putman by May 19 if you will be joining us. We need to ensure we will have enough fresh flowers for the arrangements. We look forward to having you join us for a wonderful afternoon!
Kendall Coon is graduating from Tri-County High School. He plans to attend Ball State University in the fall and major in Criminal Justice.
Reece Eagin is graduating from West Lafayette High School. He plans to attend Purdue in the fall.
Chris Farmer is graduating from Harrison High School.
Kyle Kurfiss is graduating from West Lafayette High School. He plans to attend Purdue in the fall and will major in Electrical Engineering Technology.
Alisha Peercy is graduating from Benton Central High School.
Nathan Riggle is graduating from Central Catholic High School. He has been accepted into the School of Pharmacy at Purdue and will begin in the fall.
Stephen Smith is graduating from Harrison High School.
Katie Whitehead has completed her high school studies at home. She plans to attend Ivy Tech in the fall.
College Graduates:
Adam Peercy is graduating from Purdue with an Associates Degree in Turf Science.
Scott Peercy is graduating from Bethel College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Arts. He plans to work at the College during the summer while looking for a job in filming or theatre.
Dear Sirs, I wanted to write to say thank you for the wonderful Easter service that I attended at your church yesterday. It was a truly joyous experience. I was moved to an even deeper love of our Dear Savior. It never ceases to amaze me how He uses different people and circumstances in our lives to bring us closer to Him! I have read or seen reenactments of various parts of the gospels many times. Yesterday, Christ used your depiction of Him in the garden praying and Peter, John and James sleeping, to cause me to be even more thankful to Him! Seeing the agony that Christ was in and at the same time seeing the 3 disciples sleeping in such close proximity to Him made me think about how oblivious I can be sometimes toward all that Christ has and is doing for me. How many times am I "sleeping" instead of staying focused on Christ?! Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone involved in the service yesterday. Thank you for serving our Lord. May you each be strengthened in your own faith and may He continue to use each of you to reach others for Him! I attended your church with my niece, who regularly attends your church when she is at school. I look forward to attending your services again the next time I happen to be visiting.
It truly was an anointed presentation and we thank the Lord for the privilege of presenting it. Many people were a part of bringing this together and I want to say a big “thank-you” to each one. To our choir, drama, and technical crew – thanks for the many hours of preparation and sacrifice for this ministry. May God bless you beyond all expectation.
On Easter Sunday morning, our Christian Ed. Department hosted our second annual Easter Sunrise Breakfast. It was a great turnout with well over 200 in attendance. Thanks to Ginger Smith for organizing this tasty event again this year, and to all who so willingly stepped in to help with set-up, serving, and clean-up. God bless each and every one of you. It was one of the many points that made this Easter a wonderful time of celebration. Praise the Lord – He is risen!
|
|||
Copyright © Bethel Christian Life Center, All Rights Reserved Comments on this website may be sent to the Bethel Webmaster (765) 463-0956 • praise@bethel-life.org |
High School Graduates:
On Easter weekend, the choir ministered through a wonderful musical entitled, “The Resurrection and the Life.” We have had many comments about its impact in hearts and lives. Let me share with you one of the e-mail notes I received. 
