Bethel Mennonite Church - Gladys VA

In Revelation 1, Jesus is revealed as a majestic, divine King, Judge, High Priest, and Overseer of the churches. Jesus intended those who heard His message to recall this vision of Himself. Ephesus was a church strong in truth and labor but had lost their love; they are called to remember their previous devotion and repent. Ephesus reminds us that doing well in some things doesn’t make up for crit...

The broken body and shed blood of Christ, which we celebrate when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, is God’s solution for sin. We read of two primary sin problems in the Bible: universal sin that is inherited by all the descendants of Adam, and individual sins. The Bible nowhere says that people are delivered from the condition they inherited from Adam, unless the statement in II Cor. 5:17 that eve...

Luke 2:8-14 – Angels gave the shepherds a wonderful message. God didn’t use angels to spread the gospel. For that, God used people. When the shepherds left the stable, “they made widely known” what they had heard and seen. The message of the angels had become the message of the shepherds. The core of the shepherds’ message was, “The Messiah, Christ the Lord, is born today in Bethlehem. We saw Him....

Most of us probably spend some time looking back, whether with negative feelings or positive feelings. When the children of Israel felt trapped at the Red Sea or when they were hungry or thirsty, they looked back with longing to return to slavery. But when Paul looks back in I Cor. 10:1-13 at these same events, he says we can learn the lesson of not lusting after evil things as they lusted and not...

Jesus as the Son of God: The Son is what His Father is—He is God. The Son has always been the Son—He is eternal. The Son is the only one who knows the Father—He is reliable. Jesus as the Son of Mary: The Son of Mary is also the Son of God. The Son of Mary assumed everything it means to be a man. The Son of Mary cherished an exceptional mother. Implications: Salvation involves everything it means t...

John the Baptist played a crucial role in the ministry of Jesus. He was a forerunner, a herald, one who went before and prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus. He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. He was a messenger, a voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” John knew he had a purpose, and he was used by God to fulfill that purpose. The prophecy in Isaiah 40 talks a...

In this sermon we take a look at God’s plan for redemption and how it stretches from the beginning of time through all of history and invites us to find our place in this story. Ricky begins by reflecting on the story of Noah, a man who walks faithfully with God in the midst of a corrupt and violent world. Noah’s obedience to build the ark, even under ridicule, mirrors how faith calls us to trust...

What happens when true forgiveness does not happen, and what does true forgiveness look like? When Jacob and Esau met, Jacob did not bring up his hurtful behavior in the past or apologize for it. Neither did he ask what he could do to make things right. Esau was comfortable with Jacob and wanted him to move near him. Jacob was not comfortable around Esau and had excuses for not doing so. Their rel...

God is the source of true contentment. The verses about contentment in Hebrews 13, Philippians 4, and I Timothy 6 all connect the idea of contentment with what God has to offer. Luke 10:38-42: Martha was distracted; Mary found contentment with Jesus. A contented person says, One thing is needed. Psalm 4: David found peace and rest in remembering God’s faithfulness. A contented person says, You alo...

Steve introduced his sermon with three texts from the KJV that share the same punctuation. All use a colon and parentheses at the end of a phrase… that looks remarkably like a smiley face emoticon! “We don’t want to be irreverent here, but this brings up a subject I’d like to talk about this morning!” Punctuation is used to help a reader understand the tone and feelin...

Forgiveness is not a one-time quick fix for trauma; that is the upfront message that John wanted to convey in this morning’s sermon. Forgiveness takes time and effort. Trouble between brothers is not a new phenomenon. We have Cain and Abel at odds soon after creation. In modern history, we have Rudolph and Adolph Dassler, shoemaking brothers who fell out and began manufacturing different bra...

This question was asked often during the presidential campaign. Even when things aren’t going well, Christians know God is in control and orchestrating world events. Christians are also concerned about their own hearts and their trajectory as pilgrims. Without — events out there — we believe in a bright and perfect future with Christ, but prophecies warn of hard times first. Regardless of what com...

To believe Jesus depends on knowing who Jesus is, and we learn who Jesus is in the stories of Scripture. According to John 1:7-13, to receive Jesus is to believe in Him. God gives those who believe Him the authority to become children of God. A person becomes a child of God by receiving Jesus. The phrases “God gave” and “born of the will of God” in Jn. 1:12-13 speak of the activity of God in a per...

Jesus states that He works as His Father works, and has come to do the Father’s will, not His own. Jesus’ sacrificial life shows that He is completely authentic and trustworthy; His life never provided a basis for suspicion that He had a hidden agenda or mixed motives. The Jesus of the Gospels is who God is; to see one is to see the other. Disciples need to imitate Jesus; we should live our lives...

Jacob had a lot of challenges in his life. His first challenge was with Esau, but then he left home and faced a similar challenge with Laban. It seems that God’s intention was to bless Jacob, but since Jacob didn’t seem to know that, he connived and deceived people in an effort to get ahead. In Genesis 32, after Jacob left Laban, we have the story of Jacob getting ready to face Esau. He sent messe...

History of Anabaptist/Mennonite singing: Some early Anabaptist/Mennonites expressed negative views of congregational singing, but by 1900, four-part acapella singing and singing schools were common among Mennonites, except for Old Colony Mennonites, Old Order Mennonites, and Amish. My early memories of singing and singing at Bethel: My earliest memories of singing are prior to seven years old when...

Genesis 31 opens with Jacob hearing Laban’s sons discussing how Jacob was stealing from their father. Jacob’s flocks had become very large, so he must be stealing. And Jacob also notices that Laban is not feeling kindly towards him like he did when he first came. Jacob has a dream, and in this dream, the Lord tells him to return to the land of his fathers. The Lord promises that he will be with hi...

I Corinthians 11:24 reads, “This is my body which is broken for you,” but in the Gospels, Jesus’ statement reads something like, “This is my body which is given for you,” and has the idea, “This is my body which is for you.” Hebrews 9 and 10 say that one difference between the Old Testament offerings of bulls and goats and Christ’s offering is that Christ’s body represents Christ’s willing person....

What kind of person was Jacob? In comparing him with Job, they were both very wealthy. Job was also very invested in his family and in his relationship with God. In comparison, Jacob seems more invested in material gain. He doesn’t seem to be around much with his family. The story as told in Genesis 29-32 tells us more about his wives and their feelings than Jacob. The story of Leah is one of the...

Psalm 36:7-9 – God wants to satisfy us with the fullness of His house, but we are often interested in a lot less. In the John 4 story of the healing of the nobleman’s son, Jesus was concerned about the shallow faith of the people of Galilee. The nobleman, however, exhibited the kind of faith that Jesus is looking for. In the John 5 story about the healing of the lame man, Jesus shows concern...

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Jacob was fleeing from his home, traveling to his Uncle Laban’s place in Haran. Officially, he was going to find a wife, but he was also fleeing from his brother’s anger. He stopped for the night under the stars, with a stone for a pillow, and as he slept, he had a dream. In his dream, he saw a ladder with angels going up and down. The Lord spoke to him in the dream, blessing him with many descend...

Life is filled with challenges; what kind of person does well during a crisis? James 1 tells us that those who have faith grow through trials, but those who are double-minded cannot rely on God. Daniel is an example of James 1 applied—he faced trials and received wisdom and strength. Daniel’s hymn of praise in Daniel 2 shows his personal experience with God—the result of his faith and faithfulness...

If you knew your life was about to change, would it make a difference? Matt 24:36-46. We don’t know when Jesus is coming again, but we’re told that normal life will be going on… and then the unexpected happens, and He returns! If we knew when Jesus was coming, would we do anything different? In James 4:13-15, we see that life is routine and mundane; we make plans for the future,...

Why do we do what we do? People around us may think we are weird. Even if the culture around us changes, that does not mean that we need to change. We must never elevate our practices to be equivalent with the Bible, but they can still be beneficial. Some Biblical mandates for Biblical practices: A Biblical style of worship which would include personal worship from the heart and focused on the Spi...