Bethel Mennonite Church - Gladys VA

Ephesians 4:26-27 In the small country of Cameroon, there is a lake. This lake is known to be “the deadliest lake in the world.” This lake is an extinct volcano with the lake in the center of it. The lake is around 700ft deep. There is a small village there on the mountainside. On August 22nd, 1986 there was a man who was riding a bike towards the small village, he saw a dead antelope laying besid...

This may bring to mind the Old Testament story of Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh. As we look at this story of Moses let’s think of how it correlates to the season of Easter. This is a time of year that should be leading up to a really special and deep experience for the Christian. What do you think of when you think of Easter? Do you think of lent? A period of time beginning on Ash Wednesday when...

We sometimes take so much credit for ourselves that we forget where everything comes from. Everything is a product of God’s grace in our lives. 1 Corinthians 4:6-16 Defining God’s Grace Grace is – God’s unmerited favor Grace is – God’s sufficiency or God’s fulness in the life of the believer Grace is – Costly Grace is – exhibited clearly in the atonement of Christ on the cr...

If you want to be where God wants you to be and you want to serve him the best you know how… he will be faithful. Romans 10:14 – Paul tells us that we need some preachers. Some people need to be in a leadership opportunity, but we do all need to be teachers. God could get his message out in a lot of different ways, but he uses men and women to get the news out to the world. This thing...

Romans 15:5-6 – One mind and one mouth glorifying God. 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Philippians 1:27-30 – The church is to stand together, with one heart, one mind and one voice. United. We need to have one goal in mind as we move forward, to find leadership going forward, leadership that can lead us as God would have us go. How do we find the will of God as a congregation? No one person in...

We don’t always understand everything and we don’t always know what God wants. There are times when we need to trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are influenced by those people and things around us that we place importance on and value. Those are the things that have an impact on us. If we value the Holy Spirit and his impact on us, we will be influenced by Him. The worldly wisd...

Romans 1:18 When we stop and think about the volume of truth that is available as well as the amount of untruth that is available it is truly incredible. We have a responsibility to lead our children into truth, helping them to discern the differences between truth and the untruth. As parents we are specifically called to that role. By Example 1 Samuel 2:1-21 – This is Hannah’s prayer...

Tim Croft shares his life story with us. Simply put his life has had a lot of twists and turns that most of us have never had to experience. Throughout the entire evening he puts an emphasis on the wonderful grace and mercy of God that is the only reason any of us can have hope. “This is a work that God himself has done!” “Each one of us can give a testimony of a salvation that i...

Hebrews 12:12-17 There are two ways that our relationship with others can be disturbed. We can be offended. We can offend someone else. As God’s people, who are concerned about pleasing God, we want to follow peace with all men. Whether we have been offended or whether we have offended someone else, we have an obligation. If we have been wronged we are to forgive those who have done the wrong. Whe...

Psalm 34:1-22 We should praise the Lord because God hears us when we pray. God doesn’t always answer prayer the way that we want him to, but he does hear our prayers. 1 Samuel 21:10-15 David was experiencing great fear that the people of Gath would kill him. So he did something very strange… he pretended to be insane. God is near to those who have a broken and crushed spirit. God is in the busines...

Luke 2:1-52 The Jews were a very patriotic bunch of people. Many people came to rely on the Jewish religious structure. A lot of Jews traded their heavenly inheritance for an earthly religiosity. 2 Corinthians 12:9, 1 Corinthians 1:18-30 The day the casket lid closes… that isn’t the end of the tree. That tree continues to grow and becomes more and more beautiful. Luke 13:18-20 A person without Chr...

Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:12-16, Philippians 2:3-5 We, as Christians are to “have the mind of Christ.” Mathew 11:28-30 Jesus is the perfect model of humility. There is another model of “humility.” Isaiah 14:13-14 Ever since the fall of man, we have known about both models of humility. Both pride and humility. True humility begins with a bowing before God and acknowledging him. Humility a...

It’s the end of the year. For a lot of people it is a time that we do inventory, looking at the year that has passed and thinking about the year to come. Because Bible stories are true stories, we can definitely learn from Bible stories. Genesis 40:1-23 The Lord was with Joseph, time and time again throughout this story we are told that God was with Joseph. It seems like up to this time Joseph’s l...

If you could only see my commander and chief, you would not hesitate to enlist in his army. ~ Charles Spurgeon Jesus the Creator Genesis 1, Colossians 1:15-18 If we want to make something, or fix something, there is generally a lot of effort involved. Jesus spoke and created the world, the stars, the sun, the moon, the universe… Not only did God make the stars, he also put them in the exact perfec...

Mathew 4:1-4 Jesus was led into the wilderness. He was alone… except for God the father and the Satan was there. This was a time of deep communion with God. Besides fasting and communion in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted as well. After 40 days Jesus was understandably hungry. Satan came to Jesus and said, “if you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn to bread.” Satan’s temptati...

We all are all co-creators and rulers with God. There is a place for us in God’s kingdom to participate in whatever it is that He is trying to do in this world. This is true regardless of whether we are single or married. The kingdom of God is wherever God is working and moving. When we make choices that bring righteousness and joy and peace into “our space” – that is the kingdom of God. God...

Luke 13:6-10 The future of this tree is a bit uncertain. What is Jesus talking about? He is talking about people. The goal is to have a life that is fruit bearing. It is important for us and for those around us that we live a life that bears fruit. There is a temptation to cut the tree down. It’s quick and easy to cut the tree down. For us it is much easier some times to give up hope and cut ties...

Death is not something we are accustomed to dealing with. Especially not something we plan into our daily lives. It isn’t something we wake up and think about every morning. Life can end so quickly. Suddenly. In the blink of an eye. Hebrews 9:27-28 Each one of us has an appointment with death. It isn’t something that we have set up, its not one that we have asked for, it isn’t one that we can chan...

Thanksgiving 1456 BC… and Today Deuteronomy 2:7 It is good to step back and remember what all God has done for us. Thanksgiving is all about remembering. This week during our thanksgiving celebration we are remembering the goodness of God to us. As Christians we have a lot of extra things that we are and can be thankful for. Above all we have Jesus and all that he has done for us. Moses here is le...

Introduction Romans 12:1-21 Previously we looked some of the prerequisites to where we are God’s plan is in place We are God’s workmanship We are created to do good We are God’s – Psalm 100 We are eternally dead without Christ. However, through grace we can be saved, the gift of God, through Christ. Ephesians 2:8 The battle for the souls of men is raging. We and those around us are the “priz...

Paul Lives a Crucified Life – 2 Corinthians 4:8, Galatians 2:20, Romans 12:1 John 3:1-36, Mathew 26:36-75, Mathew 26:11-66, Romans 1 The crucifixion may be one of the darkest moments in the history of Man. A lot of the story happened in the dark. Jesus said that evil men like darkness more than they like light because they are evil. Jesus was hauled through the dark, the people who led him w...

There is no way that we can give a true presentation of God’s unreasonable grace, other than to get a glimpse through scripture and experience it ourselves. Ephesians 2:1-10 We are God’s workmanship Psalm 100:1-5 God created us and gave us the ability to choose. God has a divine purpose – man has a choice whether to fit into that divine purpose or not. In our natural state and due to our “si...

Psalm 85 This is a prayer prayed with “plural” language. David is praying not only for himself but also for all of God’s people. A lot of the prophets of old prayed in this manner… we should probably be praying in a similar manner as well. God is building a spiritual kingdom. God is building his church. We do know that God is building this kingdom from every tribe and every nation. We do not live...

This morning I want to talk about how to respond to “the gloom and doom,” that exists in this world. Romans 11:1-5 There will always be a remnant of those who reach out and embrace the grace that is offered to us. 1 Kings 19:1-21 Elijah here seems to be a man that is quite discouraged. In simple terms he was “wore out.” From his point of view he was only one left in all of Israel that was still fo...

The Way of Healing Psalm 91:1-2 We live in a world that is full of hurting people. People who have deep hurts and emotional baggage. We have the blessed opportunity of giving the good news of the Bible to those who are hurting. 2 Samuel 24:1-25 David did what he knew he wasn’t supposed to. Joab even tried to tell him that he shouldn’t count the people. The law said that the king was to trust in th...