“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:9–10
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are getting ready to begin a five week sermon series called, “The Bigger Story.” As Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians he was hoping they would be able to see themselves as part of a bigger story, one that united them with other believers AND with Christ. Together we are able to do wonderful things pointing others to the wonderful gift of God through our Lord, Jesus!
Over the next five weeks we will look at the words in this wonderful letter to find how we are UNITED with Jesus and with others to be about reaching others with the GOOD NEWS (GOSPEL) of God’s grace and connection.
In the Constitution of Bethel Lutheran Church we read of our purpose:
The Church is a people created by God in Christ, empowered by the Holy
Spirit, called and sent to bear witness to God’s creative, redeeming, and
sanctifying activity in the world.
Our Vision Statement reads:
To spread the good news of Jesus Christ
by showing God’s love, compassion and mercy
through our every action as we encounter one another
and the community around us.
The purpose of Bethel is to bear witness to God’s creative, redeeming, and sanctifying activity in the world and our Vision affirms this very purpose. Are we blessed? Yes! Why? So we can carry the message of Christ to those around us! We are ALL a part of God’s Bigger Story, but there are times we aren’t quite sure what that means or just how we fit in. Though we at Bethel have been living this way for 73 years we sometimes forget that each of us are part and parcel of the calling to everyone who needs to hear of God’s “creative, redeeming, and sanctifying activity in the world.” And where is the world? Or who is our neighbor? The simple answer is everyone we come into contact with. We are “blessed to be a blessing”!
Many of you have already participated in God’s Work Our Hands activities and you were changed! Over the years our members have taught Sunday School, kept the church grounds clean and updated, reached out to our members, visited New Beginnings Prison Ministry, rang the bells for the Salvation Army, brought food in for Aurora Interfaith, helped with Aurora Warms the Nights, brought in backpacks for Lutheran Family
Services, served meals for the homeless, supported Wholly Kicks, made prayer shawls, worked on quilts for Lutheran World Relief, gave funds anonymously for someone who was in need… and the list goes on. Those who have participated have experienced great joy and change in their hearts.
I pray you come and participate in our series over these next five weeks. I pray you
carry it on when God’s Work Our Hands Sunday comes around on September 8. I pray you join in as we beautify God’s church for fall work days (from September 8 through the 14). I pray you take time to visit our Ministry Team Fair on God’s Work Our Hands Sunday and find a place to fit in. I pray you join our Bible Study opportunities. I pray you invite your family, friends and neighbors to be a part of “The Bigger Story.”
See just how you fit in and how important you are as you are “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Let’s invite others in to God’s Story and change the world around us!
In Christ,
Pastor Barb
If you have any pictures of different ministries at Bethel you have participated in OR of events over the years please email them to: pastor@bethelaurora.org
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