Bethel Mennonite Church - Gladys VA

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Genesis 24 begins with Isaac grieving his mother Sarah’s passing and Abraham realizing it was time to seek a wife for him. We see Abraham as a man of faith taking sure steps to make that happen in a Godly way. The complication was that there were no options locally, among the Canaanites. They were an idolatrous nation and Abraham wanted his son to marry a God-fearing woman. The solution was...

Our faith in God is built around the expectation that God will be fair. Good things should happen to good people. There are benefits to serving God. But what we know about God and His ways is overwhelmingly dwarfed by what we do not yet know about Him. We stand at the edge of the endless ocean of His eternal being, and all our present knowledge of Him is but a scant impression of the whole. Yet wh...

Milton Hostedler’s last sermon was entitled “Time is Running Out” with the emphasis that too many people live as though there’s no end to time. Hebrews 4:11-13, Romans 14:10-12 – we will all have to give an account someday. Imagine that it’s your turn next; what will you regret? What will you be glad for? The concept of a final reckoning or judgment was a major component of Jesus’ teaching;...

Creation, the Fall, and God’s response God’s purposes in creation: God created so Adam and Eve could experience his love; so Adam and Eve could grow to maturity; so Adam and Eve could exercise dominion over His creation. The Fall: Eve sinned out of her desire to experience more (a God-created desire), the lies of the devil, Eve’s doubts about the goodness of God, and Eve’s failure to trust God and...

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are all sinners and need a Savior. All the money in the world will not pay the price of sin. In the Old Testament, the sacrificial system was practiced. Hebrews 9:22 states, “without shedding of blood there is no remission.” But why was blood necessary? We cannot live without blood. Blood had to be shed for forgivenes...

What is spiritual and emotional heath? A brief answer is that a spiritually and emotionally healthy person possesses a healthy view of self as being created in God’s image and valuable; possesses a healthy view of self as broken and needy; possesses a healthy relationship with God and others. Every community of people has a culture of change. Every community has beliefs, attitudes, assumptions and...

Looking back – The whole Bible is a looking back. We look back at the realization that we were slaves to sin and now we are slaves to righteousness. The Old Testament had many laws and commandments. Jesus took the Old Testament commandments and made them stronger. His commandment is to love, and He demonstrated this by going to the cross for us. When God gives us new things, they are better....

Why was Jesus born at the time and place in history that he was? God had a plan. He has always had a plan. He was born in the fullness of time, according to Galatians 4:4. What does that mean? God’s timing is perfect. He does not operate on the same timetable that we do. God is outside of time. When God chooses to wait, He waits because of His mercy. Some reasons for the timing of the birth...

Jesus Christ is present in the Old Testament in at least three ways: preincarnate appearances (the angel of the Lord), prophecies (there are about 350), and types and shadows. We looked at four areas of prophecy: The Messiah will be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7). We might not recognize a statement in the Old Testament as a prophecy except that the NT identifies the OT statement. The Messiah will pro...

What we think matters. When asked by a lawyer what the greatest commandment is, quoting from Deuteronomy Jesus says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. We are to love God with every part of us, and that includes our minds. In that same response to the lawyer Jesus also says to love your neighbor as yourself. We cannot e...

A children’s lesson – Sometimes our parents ask us to do things that we do not want to do, but when we get older we are thankful that they made us do them. Is gratitude a talent? Paul instructs us to be grateful. Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit. It is hard to be joyful if you’re not grateful. In the story of the ten lepers, all were grateful but only one returned to express his gratit...

What drove Paul to serve? His life was one of obedience, but it wasn’t a have-to obedience. He had caught God’s vision & purpose for the world. Three motivations that drove Paul were: The fear of God, not the scared kind of fear but one of reverence and awe, worship and respect. He had a glimpse of the heart of God and understood it. He had an intense desire to fulfill God’s...

The church is under constant attack these days, which can be very discouraging. Matthew 16:13-19 states the beginning of the church. It was founded on Peter’s belief that Jesus was the anointed one and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar wanted his astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed and the interpretation. This was not possible. He ordered the...

There are qualifications for two groups of people in Scripture: bishops/ministers/shepherds and deacons. The four primary tasks of the bishop/minister/shepherd/pastor are preaching, pastoring/shepherding, leading/administrating, and working on a team. These tasks require qualified people. The qualifications for a bishop/minister/pastor (I Tim. 3:1-7): upright character, positive family life, able...

The most obvious good news or “Gospel of the Kingdom of God” that Jeus proclaimed and lived is that the Gospel is not only for Jews but extends to Gentiles, outcasts, people sick with all kinds of diseases and torments, and the worst of sinners. In fact, the good news is that Jesus bore to the cross every human condition that needs redemption. The Bible nowhere gives a one sentence textbook kind o...

Abraham was enjoying his life. There had been peace for a while, and he was probably hoping to live out the rest of his days in peace, but then God called him to a hard test. Go sacrifice your only son. Abraham’s faith was being tested. His love was being tested. Who does he love the most, God or his only son? God identified Isaac in 3 ways, your son, your only son, the one you love. There was no...

Reasons for headship order and veiling for women: This order was established at creation, and the veiling symbolizes this order. The order: God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man, man is the head of woman. The covered head implies subjection to some visible authority. The woman’s authority is the visible man. Christ, the man’s head, is not present; therefore, the man should not have...

The seven areas of vision are worshiping, teaching biblical doctrine, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, providing belonging and fellowship, making disciples, experiencing the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and identifying gifts and providing opportunities for ministry. Worshiping is a primary mission of the church. God is unique, the only one of His kind, in contrast to the many gods...

Lot meets the angels – Two angels came to the city gates of Sodom in the evening and found Lot sitting there at the gates. Lot, apparently, was an important man in the city. Lot invited them to his place for the night, but they said no, they would sleep in the open square. Lot insisted, so they agreed. He prepared a feast for them. He wanted to keep them safe from the wickedness of the city....

The Abrahamic Covenant: God reaffirmed his covenant with Abraham at various times over a 25-year span. But what about Ishmael? Abraham loved Ishmael and wanted him to be blessed. God did bless Ishmael with many descendants, but often we may be on the wrong path and are asking God to bless us on the wrong path. Circumcision: identified the Jews as Jews. They believed if they were circumcised, they...

When we participate in the Lord’s Supper, we are not merely going through a religious ritual. Instead, we are actively engaging in the blood and body of Christ. In Corinthians 10:16, it is stated that the cup we bless is a communion of the blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a communion of the body of Christ. The term “communion” comes from the Greek word “koinonia,”...

Our sermon today was taken from the story of Hagar in the wilderness, a story with many negative components. Amidst Sarai’s grief over being barren, yet her mistreatment of her slave, Abram’s passivity and frustration with God, we see Hagar, the forsaken one, stumbling on the realization that God is still watching over her! True servant leadership tries to understand those we are to lead. It...

The question is this: What should a church be and do, and what does Anabaptism offer that can result in a compelling vision to be and do these things? The church of Jesus Christ should be and do these things: worship, teach doctrine, proclaim the Gospel of Christ, provide belonging and fellowship, make disciples, experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and identify gifts and provide...

A Covenant is a commitment, a promise, and is only as reliable as the person who makes it. John illustrated by offering a dollar to anyone who could do 5 jumping jacks in front of the church. Hannah accepted and received her dollar upon completion. We trusted John to give her the dollar but a million dollars would have been iffy! God’s covenant is different because of who He is; there is non...