Bethel Christian Center

Can you imagine coming to the city well by yourself in shame and returning to the village, leaving your water jar behind, proclaiming the Gospel to the people who rejected you? She had found it! She had had a drink of living water. Her life, her influence, her world was suddenly changed ... redeemed ... and made significant. Have you been blessed by the Christ? Have you received a drink from the Messiah? Then why not join this unnamed woman and invite those in your world to come meet Jesus so they can also find the Messiah!

Have we come to the place where we don’t expect God to miraculously intervene in the history of the church? Have we come to expect that God will not save people in unusual ways (such as dreams and visions) when, in fact, many Muslims are saved this way today? Have we come to expect God only to heal through doctors and hospitals, and not miraculously? The Book of Acts is the story of the disciples receiving what Jesus received in order to do what Jesus did. When we read the Book of Acts we should ask why we don’t experience God’s presence and power as those early saints did. We should believe that He is able (and willing) to intervene in human history in a miraculous way. And we should pray that God would accomplish His will and His work, in whatever way He chooses.

Storms aren’t fun, either at sea or in real life. Yet we learn lessons through storms that we never would learn if life were always calm. The Christian faith is not just to get us to heaven when we die. It teaches us how to live in the here and now, especially when life gets stormy. The short story in Luke teaches us several things.

“One ship drives east and another drives west with the selfsame winds that blow. ’Tis the set of the sails, And Not the gales, that tell us the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate; as we voyage along through life 'Tis the set of a soul that decides its goal, and not the calm or the strife.” ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

“One ship drives east and another drives west with the selfsame winds that blow. ’Tis the set of the sails, And Not the gales, that tell us the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate; as we voyage along through life, 'Tis the set of a soul that decides its goal, and not the calm or the strife.” ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.Enter Jehosophat, with some lessons to teach

Seeking the Lord, means seeking His presence. “Presence” is a common translation of the Hebrew word “face.” Literally, we are to seek his “face.” But this is the Hebraic way of having access to God. To be before his face is to be in his presence. John Piper May we experience the presence of God. Since God is present everywhere, when we talk about experiencing the presence of God we are really talking about the realization of God's presence, the perceiving of His presence, becoming conscious of His presence.

“One ship drives east and another drives west with the selfsame winds that blow. ’Tis the set of the sails, And Not the gales, that tell us the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate; as we voyage along through life 'Tis the set of a soul that decides its goal, and not the calm or the strife.” ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

“A kind of moral relativism has taken over. Nothing is really wrong. If I have a good reason to do it, it’s not sin.” That is the modern attitude toward the righteousness of God. I get the impression that the church in our day avoids at all costs the idea of sin and guilt and therefore tries to entertain lost sinners into heaven. However, there is no escaping the fact that when God became flesh so He could be with us He did so in order to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Will Pounds (c) 2006

A Tribute to the Christmas Song: “A Strange Way to Save the World.” Written by: Dave Clark, Mark Harris and Don Koch

Paul gave to Timothy a simple hymn or spiritual song which expressed a powerful truth in six statements. The hymn contains the confessedly great and wondrous revelation of Jesus Christ. The revelation begins in heaven, descends to earth, and returns to glory to heaven. The believer through its proclamation must hold up and support these truths in this generation. Joel C. Gregory

Habakkuk begins with complaint and ends with one of the most beautiful songs in the Bible. Habakkuk’s questions demonstrated the presence of faith, not the lack of it. For an atheist the question “Why?” has no meaning; for a believer the question “Why?” finds its ultimate answer in God. Let’s look at this conversation between God and the prophet.

Our lives should be lived intentionally. What relationships build you up, and who are you impacting?

Generally speaking, Americans are very bad about making solid commitments and following through on them. Why do two people decide to live together? In the 1960’s 1 out of 10 couples lived together. Today, 6 out of 10 couples live together. I believe the primary reason is that they want to experience all the benefits of marriage without any of its commitment and responsibilities. They want the benefit of a sexual relationship without having to make a permanent commitment. There are millions of people in America who “attend” church, but are not committed members of that church. They want to live with the Church, but don’t want to marry her.

Communism, Humanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, does not have the answer to the meaning of life. In the Bible, and there only, do we find the answers to: where did we come from, why are we here and where are we going?

Understanding the names of God is no quick study-after all; there are more than eighty names for God in the Old Testament alone. Initially, God was known as Elohim. The Hebrew word Elohim carries with it the meaning "strong one or creator" and appears thirty-one times in the first chapter of Genesis.

Understanding the names of God is no quick study-after all; there are more than eighty names for God in the Old Testament alone. Initially, God was known as Elohim. The Hebrew word Elohim carries with it the meaning "strong one or creator" and appears thirty-one times in the first chapter of Genesis.

Even the strongest among us become weary. We must be willing to admit it (not dwell on it) and do something about it. Understand “the Lord is the strength of my life.” Ps. 27:1 Here in Deuteronomy the meaning is obvious: Whatever your trials or difficulties may be, God will always give you grace to support you and bring you through them. No conjuncture shall arise, in which the strength of heaven shall not make us victorious.

One of the arch enemies of the Israelites was the Midianites. We learn in Judges 6:3-6 that every year about the time the Israelite farmers were about to harvest their crops, the Midianites would attack destroying virtually all of their harvest. This went on for seven years in a row, leaving the Israelites impoverished. After seven years of suffering at the hands of the Midianites, God rose up a judge, a leader named Gideon.

Evangelism is not a program, but a way of life. God has not left evangelism to chance. It works and is guaranteed to be successful when engaged in faithfully. Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. Our understanding of evangelism must be rooted in the reality of God's unquenchable desire to save, His ability to save, and His purpose to employ us in this mission. Successful evangelism is lay-centered, and is not seasonal (Acts 2:47).

In this statement, the apostle Paul is saying that everything he has tried to be, everything he is, and everything he looked forward to being pointed to Christ. From the time of his conversion until his martyrdom, every move he made was aimed at advancing the knowledge, gospel, and church of Christ. Paul’s singular aim was to bring glory to Jesus. The story of Paul is a story of redemption in Jesus Christ.