Bethel Baptist Church

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 23:1-14 We see in this story of David's flight from Saul an interesting and very significant dynamic.  David was doing everything humanly possible to elude King Saul, who was bent on putting an end to David's life.  He hid in the wilderness and in the hills (1 Sam 23:14) . . . he received information from Saul's son, Jonathan (1 Sam 23:16,17) . . . his men were carefull...

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 21:1-9 As David ran for his life from Saul's murderous anger, living in the hills of Judah, he naturally became hungry.  By the time David came to Ahimelech, the high priest, he had a few men accompanying him.  When David inquired if Ahimelech had any provisions, the answer was that the only bread available at that moment was the sacred bread displayed in the Holy Place...

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 18:10-16 After David killed Goliath, Saul saw in him the courage and skill that military conquerors are made of.  "So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war" (1 Sam 18:5). As we continue to read the story, it becomes clear why David had such great victories.  "And David was prospering in all his ways for the LORD was w...

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-33 In light of the multiplied and complicated problems of our world it is clear that what the world needs is a king … someone to rule in divine wisdom and perfect justice and holy compassion.  A king is exactly what God promised to David and through David, in what is usually called the Davidic Covenant. "When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will ra...

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 18:1-16 There is an interesting and significant study in contrasts in 1 Samuel 18.  The contrast is seen in two opposite reactions to David's successes and the reactions came from a father and his son.  One is the reaction of unselfish love and the other is the reaction of consuming jealousy.  King Saul's son was Jonathan.  As the son of the king, Jonathan was the heir...

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 17 The details of the story of David and Goliath are familiar.  Goliath stood about nine and a half feet tall ... his armor weighed 125 lbs ... the head of his spear weighed 16 lbs ... he was an undefeated champion in the kind of one-on-one battles he was suggesting with Israel's representative.  In stark contrast to the Philistine warrior, David had refused any armor a...

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 22:1-10 King Josiah was the 16th king of Judah and shone as one of the brightest stars in the galaxy of the kings of the southern kingdom.  He was the grandson of King Manasseh.  He ruled Judah for 31 years (640-609 B.C.) and the Biblical text gives him the following, rare, commendation … "And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of Dav...

Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 33:1-20 Manasseh was the 14th king of the southern kingdom of Judah and was the son of King Hezekiah.  His 55-year reign was the longest kingship in Judah's history, but it was characterized by a level of idolatry and corruption that exceeded the godless nations which God had driven out through the battles of Joshua.  "And he did what was evil in the sight of the LO...

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 18:1-8 Hezekiah was the 13th king of the southern kingdom of Judah, ruling in the last quarter of the 8th century before Christ (715-686 B.C.).  He was the most Godly king since David ruled, nearly 300 years earlier.  The description of Hezekiah is glowing.  "He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. . . . He trusted...

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 14:23-29 Jeroboam II was the 14th king of the northern kingdom of Israel.  He had a long reign of 41 years and enjoyed security, and even the expansion of his kingdom.  It was the most prosperous time in the history of the northern kingdom.  2 Kings 14;23-29 tell us of the material success of Jeroboam II, while Amos and Hosea … prophets contemporary with him … tell us of...

Two major subjects converge this Sunday, both with global significance and both governed by a sovereign God.  The first is the impending presidential election and the second is the persecuted church around the world.  There are many clear Biblical texts that say that when a person gains a position of authority (president, senator, judge, father), he is in that position because God put him there. ...

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:1-25 Is it really worth it to follow Jesus Christ? How does your faith in Jesus affect how you encourage other believers? Believers in the first century were being rejected by their families and even suffered the forfeiture of their property for the sake of following Jesus. Like us today, they needed assurance that following Jesus is worth it all. Unlike the Old Coven...

Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 16:13 - 17:6 Jehoshaphat was the 4th king in the kingdom of Judah.  The summary description of his life is given as follows:  "The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David.  He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel . . . His hea...

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 16:29-33 Ahab was the seventh king of the northern kingdom of Israel.  Much like the first king of Israel, Jeroboam, the name of Ahab became notorious as a standard of wickedness.  Subsequent kings in Israel … and even Jehoram, a king of Judah in the south … were compared to Ahab in terms of his wickedness. "Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two...

There are several references in the gospels to the fact that Jesus spent time in prayer.  Luke 5:16 indicates that as a regular course of action, Jesus slipped away from the crowds (which always seemed to be around) to pray. The account of the feeding of the 5,000 recounts that the hours preceding the miracle was filled with activity.  The multitudes had followed Jesus and His disciples and He "be...

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 12:25-33 Following Solomon's death, the tribes of the northern area of Israel withdrew from the rule of Rehoboam, his son.  No longer was there one, unified kingdom of Israel.  Now, at the hand of God, there would be two separate kingdoms … Israel, with 10 tribes, in the north … and Judah, with 2 tribes, in the south. The people of the northern kingdom chose a man named...

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 12:12-20 At the end of his life Solomon became idolatrous, having been influenced by his many foreign wives.  God was angry with him and the penalty was that Solomon's son, Rehoboam, would not be able to rule over all of Israel. The nation would, in fact, be divided into two kingdoms.  Rehoboam would be given only one tribe of the 12 Jewish tribes, namely the tribe of Ju...

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 11:1-13 In our modern vernacular, we would say that Solomon 'had it all.'  He had money.  He had fame.  He had power … and honor … and position.  He had the best food … the best clothes … women at his beck and call … a luxurious house … 4,000 horses … 12,000 horsemen … and a kingdom of peace. In Ecclesiastes 2:9,10, Solomon said, "I became great and surpassed all who wer...

Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:161-168 Saul was the first king of Israel and he ruled for 40 years, but on more than one occasion he was grossly disobedient to God (cf. 1 Sam 13:1-14;    15:1-33).  The result of this rebellion was that God gave the kingdom of Israel to David (1 Sam 13:14; 15:28; 16:1).  David is described in 1 Samuel 13:14 as "a man after God's own heart."   What it means to be a pe...

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 15:1-23 Saul was the first king of Israel and, though Israel's desire for a king was a 'great wickedness'      (1 Sam 12:17), Saul was chosen by God Himself (1 Sam 9:16; 10:24).  He was handsome and tall (1 Sam 9:2) and "there was none like him in all the land" (1 Sam 10:24). On more than one occasion, God had granted Saul divine empowerment by His Spirit (1 Sam 10:10;...

  Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 8:1-9 For almost 1,000 years, beginning with God's covenant with Abraham, there had been no king in Israel.  That is to say that there had been no human king.  God Himself had been their king (1 Sam 12:12).  During the end of the life of Samuel, the last great judge, the people clamored for a king, like they had seen in other nations (1 Sam 8:5).  This request was a "...

Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 1: 1-11 Bethel Baptist Church is privileged and delighted to host Reverend Ian Leslie while Pastor Cosand enjoys some well deserved rest and recreation.

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 16:10-24 Shakespeare wrote: "Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel."  Solomon wrote: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Prov 27:6) and "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Prov 27:17).  Our friends are crucial to the quality of our lives.  With good friends we are helped immeasurably; wi...

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 16:12-18 "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Cor 16:13,14).  The five commands here are not at all random.  They reflect some of the issues that Paul has written about in this letter.  So, these two verses form something of a condensed summary of this whole book.  Like a watchman in the imagery, t...

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-15 This Sunday Bethel Baptist Church had the pleasure and privilege of hosting Joel and Misti Diffenderfer at morning worship.  Joel and Misti are a missionary couple called to be church planters in Japan.  To learn more about their mission, visit www.diffnotes.com . You may also reach them via email at info@diffnotes.com .