For the past nine months, a growing team of Bethel attenders has been developing an exhibit to raise awareness about human trafficking, show the power of the gospel to address this evil, and to motivate participants to action.
Jessica MacFarlan, Krista Hanson, and I (Amber Bruce) came up with the idea last September. We were brainstorming projects about human trafficking that we could propose during the NExT Campaign. A lot of people have asked if we are partnering with a larger organization that has the exhibit and we are running it. Nope. We just made it up.
It’s been beautiful to see God working in and through people as this exhibit has been put together. He has given different gifts and talents to each team member to do each part. In the last couple weeks, all those different parts have come together into what promises to be an amazing experience.
It’s been a faith-building experience as we have reached beyond our capabilities and trusted God to show up. He has come through every time.
The journey has just begun. SOLD debuts this week in the Bethel Gym from May 9-20. After that, it will be available to travel to churches and events throughout the Northwest. There is still time to join the team!
May 9 and 10 from 4-9pm, Bethel attenders and their friends get the very first opportunity to see the completed SOLD: The Human Trafficking Experience! Hope to see you there.
CAUTION: Do the the mature content, this experience is not recommended for children under 13. Those with a history of sexual abuse may want to skip certain rooms, go with a trusted friend, or find other ways to help fight human trafficking.
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Children’s Ministry Coordinator 20 hours weekly. Click here for job description and application.
Position open until filled.
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Center Stage @ Bethel is producing a musical this summer called “Cotton Patch Gospel.” Up to two Center Stage @ Bethel Internships are available from late May through August. These paid positions ($2,500) will be expected to accomplish their tasks in a flexible schedule throughout the summer from auditions (May 20th, 21st) through the final performance (mid-August).
Application is due by May 31, 2012. Download application
Center Stage @ Bethel is a drama ministry whose purpose is to draw people closer to one another and God through each member’s unique gifting including many aspects of the creative arts. We locate, read, research and discuss plays, skits, musicals and other creative writings that depict God’s love, hope, grace and faithfulness. Members have a variety of gifts: hospitality, singing, discernment, sewing, carpentry, acting, administration, prayer, playing a musical instrument, painting, marketing… any gift that can be used in the process from play selection to production.
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Run For Rice is a race being held on June 2nd at Bethel Church with all proceeds going to Agape International Missions.
There will be a 1 mile, 5k, and 10k race and is open to men, women and children of all ages. Registration is $10 per person or a max of $30 per family. (children 5 and under are free) A downloadable sponsor sheet is available on the registration form.
Check-in for the race will be on Friday, June 1 from 6-7p in the Hospitality Room right off the Bethel’s Richland campus foyer. Check-in will also be available Saturday, June 2 from 7:30-8:30A.
For more info contact Hope Fox- hopefox@hotmail.com or Amy Purvis - thepurvisfam@gmail.com.
Register here!
Donate to AGAPE here!
Note: Donations to AGAPE and will not show on your Bethel giving statements.
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Church doesn’t end after a weekend service or small group meeting. Prayer, service, study and fellowship are important aspects of faith that aren’t restricted to a couple hours a week. That is why Bethel is preparing a special seat for everyone at the Table, a place where you can connect and put your faith into action – serving, sharing, and praying together – 24/7.
There is a seat at the Table for you. Stay tuned for more details. The Table is coming this Spring.
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Campaign for Marriage Promo from Bethel Church.
The Bethel Elders and Leadership Team have identified several areas for Bethel to grow in this year. One of these areas is to equip marriages to be Christ-honoring. Bethel’s Campaign for Marriage is designed to help us grow. The campaign includes three components: a focus on prayer (beginning now), a six-week small group study (beginning week of April 15), and the Love and Respect Marriage Conference (on April 20 & 21).
This week’s prayer focus: pray for marriages currently in a storm, for each spouse to trust Him, to think rightly, to be Spirit filled, and to draw near to God.
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February Memory Verse and Tween Activity
This is our final part of our Activity series involving the February Memory Verse and your Tween
2 Corinthians 5:21
New International Version (NIV)
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Tween Activity
The following story can be used as a dialog with your tween about how Jesus took our sin and we took his righteousness.
Imagine you are in school and you have followed all the rules of the classroom and all the expectations of the teacher. You are the only student who completes all the assignments and preparation for the upcoming test. You receive and A+ on your test. However the rest of the class has not completed any of the assignments, or followed and of the rules and many students actually try to cheat on the test. The rest of the students receive a failing grades on the test.
The teacher wanting to extend grace to the whole class decides to give the entire class your A+ grade while you receive their failing grade. How would this make you feel?
Explain that Jesus was perfect in every way and we are helpless in our sin. Jesus has so much love that he died on the cross. In doing so, he took our sin and gave us his righteousness. If we accept His free gift and confess on need for forgiveness then we will become righteous (clean) before God. Thank God with your tween for his great gift of making us righteous!
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In Part 1 of this two-part post, we humbly marveled at the glorious exchange of the Gospel as described in 2Cor. 5:21. Christ has no sin but ours. Christians have no righteousness but his. In the least, we know that everyone who receives this truth and trusts in Christ for his or her righteousness is a child of God (Jn 1:12). But does the Gospel accomplish more in us than initial adoption into God’s family? How is the Gospel relevant to Christians who have already believed it? How does simultaneously recognizing our sinfulness and our acceptance in Christ help us to address every obstacle and to grow in every aspect?
The gospel of mercy and grace shows us that our spiritual problem is not merely failing to obey, but is also relying on our obedience to make us fully acceptable to God, to ourselves, and to others. Our acceptability to God is based on the exchange we make with Christ alone. We are mercifully forgiven because our sins were credited to Christ, who was crucified in our place. In Christ, we are not condemned for our sins. AND, we are righteous because Christ’s perfect obedience is credited to us. Any attempt to do good and earn what we have already been graciously given is useless at best.
Every sin comes from a natural tendency to forget the righteousness that Christ gives to us and to strive to make ourselves acceptable. Tim Keller writes, “Pride and disdain can come from basing your identity and acceptance on your performance and thinking you are succeeding. Discouragement and self-loathing also come from basing your identity and acceptance of your performance and thinking you are failing.” Bringing the Gospel to bear on all areas of our thinking, feeling, and behaving is the key to overcoming obstacles and growing as a Christian. Receiving our acceptance in Christ makes it easier to admit our flaws and to be confident that we won’t be rejected. Obedience also becomes easier because it is no longer tied to the burden of obtaining God’s favor.
In my personal life, understanding the Gospel and the doctrine of justification, which is what we have been meditating on in February, has been absolutely vital for the sake of my marriage. Marriage can feel impossible at times because each spouse feels so self-justified in their partner’s failure to meet expectations. My wife and I call it “the death spiral” and it goes something like this.
“I’m so tired of telling you to do ________!”
“I’m sorry! I just forgot, OK? And what are you so angry about? You think you do all the things I ask?”
“Don’t change the subject. I’ve asked you over and over again. I feel like you don’t listen to me.”
“Maybe. But why would I listen to you when you are constantly on my case. I don’t even want to listen when you speak so disrespectfully!”
“Well, I could speak more kindly if I knew you cared enough to help out the first time I asked you!”
“Ugh! This is getting us nowhere! I’m tired of this argument!”
And so the spiral continues and leads to death. The cycle of self-justification, pity, and anger seems unbreakable. But, when one or both of us is overcome by the truth of justification by faith, and the particular truth that God has already accepted me in Christ as having fulfilled all his expectations, escape from the cycle becomes feasible. I no longer need to respond with defensiveness feeling that I have failed my wife. I know that I have! But, I know also that in Christ I am forgiven and accepted even as a failure. I am free to admit that I forgot to help out even though my wife has asked me over and over. I can ask her forgiveness knowing that doing so does not make me less in anyone’s eyes, especially God’s.
Moreover, I pray that my wife and I would be SO overwhelmed and mastered by the truth of justification that we would learn to see each other the way God sees each of us in Christ – perfect and complete. It will be possible for us to say, “For the sake of Christ, I will not think in terms of whether my expectations and hopes are met. I will love and serve and nurture even when I see shortcomings and failures.”
The Gospel saved you once and it saves you still. Walk in the forgiveness (i.e., mercy) and righteousness (i.e., grace) that are already yours in Christ Jesus.
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February Memory Verse
This our our second of our three part memory verse activites. We hope you will tune in tomorrow for an activity you can do with your tween!
2 Corinthians 5:21
New International Version (NIV)
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
School Age Activity
Use this activity to help your child understand that Jesus is the one who makes us righteous (clean).
Gather a old t-shirt or cloth towel, washable marker, scissors, tub of warm water with soap. With your child cut out a heart shape from the cloth. Using the marker draw spots all over the heart.
Talk to your child about our sin, how this makes our hearts dirty before God. Name some ways that you and your child sin. Place the heart in the warm, soapy water and swish it around.
Tell them that Jesus was perfect he had not sin just like the clean water but he makes us righteous (clean). Pull out the heart. Take time to thank God that he can do want we cannot. It is Jesus who makes us righteous.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for our last posting in this three part series.
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February Verse
Our scripture passage for February provides a wonderful opportunity for you to talk about Jesus taking our sin and making us righteous. The purpose behind these activities is for you to share the Truth found in 2 Corinthians 5:21. Before sharing pray that your child will have open ears to hear God’s word and that this opportunity will be one of the many that will bring your child to an understanding of God.
New International Version (NIV)
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Preschool Activity
Use this activity to teach your child that Jesus makes us right with God.
Gather a chalkboard and chalk or a white board (window, mirror, back of paper plate) and dry erase marker. Draw a picture of your child. Talk about how we all sin by disobeying God commands in the Bible.
Color in the body of your child. You can even name some ways we have disobeyed God’s rules. Taking a clean paper towel or cloth wipe away the marking inside the figure.
As you wipe them away explain that Jesus was perfect and took away our sin so that now we are clean for God. Show them the dirty cloth or paper towel and point to them being clean. Thank God with your child that because of Jesus dying on the cross we are now clean before God.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for an activity you can do with your school aged children.
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