October 2021

“ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of
God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

1 Peter 2:9-10

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Purpose! We have a purpose! God has chosen to include us ALL in the plan! We are called, “the people of God.”
Do you feel important? Do you feel as though you are worth something? Do you feel as though you are needed? Well…….you are! God made a choice to include US in his plan. Each of us have been given the spiritual gifts and tools to work together for the sake of the gospel (GOOD NEWS)! Martin Luther described this concept as the “priesthood of ALL believers.”
In Luther’s time it was the ordained priesthood that was lifted up and glorified, everyone else were there, not to “do” ministry, but to lift up the priesthood. Luther understood and taught that those who had faith in Christ and were baptized were designated priests and shared in Christ’s “royal priesthood.” In other words, we all have
equal access to God and God uses both the ordained and non-ordained to reach into this world to make a difference for the GOSPEL!
ALL believers have an important role in the proclamation of the GOSPEL and in driving the ministry of the church. This means that each of you have a part in what happens in the ministry at Bethel. You are needed! You are important! You are worth something!
As things continue to open up around us we, as a church, would like to make move in a direction that is CHRIST CENTERED, SPIRIT DRIVEN and FULLY CONNECTED! This means that we want to include all of you in a process of looking forward, but most of all we want to invite the Holy Spirit to guide the re-direction of Bethel for the next step in our journey.
You all are invited to join us for our first meeting on October 6th from 6-8 P.M. as we begin the next step, by together opening ourselves up for God’s direction. Through PRAYER our hope is to begin laying out a plan for this next year, which will be set in motion on Sunday, November 28th (1st Sunday in Advent, which is the beginning of the Church Year)!

We DO have a PURPOSE! God has CHOSEN to INCLUDE us in the plan!
Each of YOU are IMPORTANT here at Bethel in helping to move our congregation.
Please mark your calendar to join us at the meeting on the 6th OR prayerfully ask God to lift you into the ministry at Bethel more fully!
In Christ,
Pastor Barb