Bethel Baptist Church Vision - Razor...

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Bethel Baptist Church Vision For several years Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie hosted a pastors’ con- ference called Next Church. It was an excellent opportunity for pastors to gather and ex- plore the changing nature of the church. A theme verse for that conference was 1 Chroni- cles 12:32. “men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do--200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their com- mand; “ The context for that verse is David’s struggle against King Saul. Samuel had anointed David as the next king of Israel, but Saul was still on the throne and he wasn’t about to give it up. He pursued David with the intent of eliminating the competi- tion. Along the way David began to accumulate an army of his own. A ragtag band of warriors from every tribe of Israel found their way to David’s side. 1 Chronicles 12 catalogues each group who cast their lot with David. Among them was a small group of leaders from the tribe of Issachar. This small group stands out from the rest. All the other groups are described in military terms, but the men of Issachar were men of discernment. They understood the times and knew what Israel should do. Leith Anderson, the Senior Pastor of Wooddale, picked this verse because it speaks to the need for discern- ing leadership today. The world in which we live contin- ues to change at light speed. Richard Swenson in his book Margins makes the point that more change has taken place in our world since 1900 than all the years before that time combined. We live in a time of unprecedented change. The question is, will the church adjust or be left behind? If the church is going to be a trans- forming influence in today’s world then it needs people who understand the times and know what to do. Jim Collins in his book How the Mighty Fall highlights two important con- cepts for being vibrant in our ever changing world. We must never let go of our core values and we must be willing to change. If we fail to imple- ment either one of these im- peratives we will plunge down the path of decline and irrele- vance. There are certain theological beliefs that we will never compromise as a church: the deity of Christ, the authority of the Bible, salvation by grace through faith alone, etc. These are the foundational bedrock of our faith. Overlying these we have three core values that guide us on our journey. I want to take a look at each of these core values. First, we are commit- ted to connecting with God and with others. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he re- sponded by saying love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Our first responsibility as a church is to help one another enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ and connect with the larger body of Christ. The strategies we use to accomplish this need to be flexible. As we begin a new year we want to actively find more and more ways to con- nect people to God and (Continued on page 14) Pastor Dave’s Corner Special points of interest: Small Groups start again Cancellation Policy MIBC Family Gathering Bethel Annual Meeting Young Adults Film & Theology begins Ping Pong Tournament Philippines Team update Inside this issue: Adult Ministries 2 Worship Notes 5 Youth Group News 6 Young Adults Ministry 8 Children’s Ministry 10 Senior Adults 11 Missions Page 13 JANUARY 2011 Understanding the T imes

Transcript of Bethel Baptist Church Vision - Razor...

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B e t h e l B a p t i s t C h u r c h

Vision

For several years Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie hosted a pastors’ con-ference called Next Church. It was an excellent opportunity for pastors to gather and ex-plore the changing nature of the church. A theme verse for that conference was 1 Chroni-cles 12:32. “men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do--200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their com-mand; “ The context for that verse is David’s struggle against King Saul. Samuel had anointed David as the next king of Israel, but Saul was still on the throne and he wasn’t about to give it up. He pursued David with the intent of eliminating the competi-tion. Along the way David began to accumulate an army of his own. A ragtag band of warriors from every tribe of Israel found their way to David’s side. 1 Chronicles 12 catalogues each group who cast their lot with David. Among them was a small group of leaders from the tribe of Issachar. This small group stands out from the rest. All the other groups are described in military terms, but the men of Issachar were men of discernment. They understood the times and knew what Israel should do.

Leith Anderson, the Senior Pastor of Wooddale, picked this verse because it speaks to the need for discern-ing leadership today. The world in which we live contin-ues to change at light speed. Richard Swenson in his book Margins makes the point that more change has taken place in our world since 1900 than all the years before that time combined. We live in a time of unprecedented change. The question is, will the church adjust or be left behind? If the church is going to be a trans-forming influence in today’s world then it needs people who understand the times and know what to do. Jim Collins in his book How the Mighty Fall highlights two important con-cepts for being vibrant in our ever changing world. We must never let go of our core values and we must be willing to change. If we fail to imple-ment either one of these im-peratives we will plunge down the path of decline and irrele-vance. There are certain theological beliefs that we will never compromise as a church: the deity of Christ, the authority of the Bible, salvation by grace through faith alone, etc. These are the foundational bedrock of our

faith. Overlying these we have three core values that guide us on our journey. I want to take a look at each of these core values. First, we are commit-ted to connecting with God and with others. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he re-sponded by saying love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Our first responsibility as a church is to help one another enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ and connect with the larger body of Christ. The strategies we use to accomplish this need to be flexible. As we begin a new year we want to actively find more and more ways to con-nect people to God and (Continued on page 14)

Pastor Dave’s Corner

Special points of interest:

Small Groups start again

Cancellation Policy

MIBC Family Gathering

Bethel Annual Meeting

Young Adults Film & Theology

begins

Ping Pong Tournament

Philippines Team update

Inside this issue:

Adult Ministries 2

Worship Notes 5

Youth Group News 6

Young Adults Ministry 8

Children’s Ministry 10

Senior Adults 11

Missions Page 13

JANUARY 2011

Understanding the

Times

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Gifts for the New Year … Gifts that Do Keep On Giving …

• Promises that give life … 2 Peter 1:3-4

• Purpose that gives direction, meaning and joy … Eph. 5:8-20

• Presence that gives love, strength and joy … Matt. 1:23; 8:20

These are made possible because of the greatest gift of all – JESUS our

Savior.

So, I hope you will be enjoying these gifts, continually, in the days to

come.

Pastor Bruce

YOU ALL … that includes YOU … are invited and en-

couraged because …

Participating in a small group is one of the very best ways to …

• get connected with others • grow in your relationship with God

• care and be cared for in times of need • laugh and have a good time

• serve together with others • thrive and be a blessing to others

“Everyone is encouraged to

join in a small group in

2011.”

Adult Ministries

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All adults at Bethel (and your neighbors and friends too) are greatly en-

couraged to get into a small group early in 2011. Groups will begin meeting around January 30 and will basically meet every other week until Easter (April 24).This will be a total of six or seven times together interacting around a topic of Biblical truth and life reality.

Group hosts will be choosing the material that the group will use as a focus. Some groups will discuss Sunday sermons, some a book of the Bible, and some will use another book or DVD teaching as a resource. This will be a great blessing and encouragement in our journey of faith. Some groups may choose to meet more often for fun, food and serving others, but that will be up to each group. There currently is a display of small group curriculum re-sources in classroom #13. These are materials that we have on hand and so would not incur much expense.

Hosts, please get your group information (location, time, focus of the group) to the church office and/or Christian Kohs or Pastor Bruce by Wed. Jan. 5.

If you are interested in being part of a particular group, please sign up at church or on the church web site and/or give the host a call. Be watching January Sunday bulletins and the church website for notices regarding the small groups.

If you have questions or ideas about small groups, please e-mail or call

Christian Kohs [email protected] (507) 696-2286

Pastor Bruce [email protected] (507) 995-0206

Come at either 6:30 a.m.

or noon and bring your

own food. The coffee will

be on.

Please feel free to invite

someone to join you at the

Rewind.

Wed. Jan. 12

This month we will view

and discuss “When Lead-

ers Emerge: The Story of

W.L. Gore and Associ-

ates” an interview with

Terri Kelly …

Adult Ministries-Continued

“Mark your calendar for

January 12th for the next

Summit Rewind.”

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Our next semester of

DivorceCare begins on

Tues. Jan.25. Though we

typically have 5-10 in-

volved, there are very

likely at least 50 people

all around us who could

benefit greatly from the

support and hope that

are found in DivorceCare.

Will you please help us

get the word out so

more people can find this

solid, Biblical help?

If you have some place to

display a small flyer and/

or some brochures

(bulletin board at work,

community center, thera-

pist’s office, bar) please

take several from the

literature racks at

church and see that they

get placed. Also, you can

point people to some ex-

cellent information on

the internet at

www.divorcecare.org At

that site they can plug in

our zip code under find a

group and register for DC

at Bethel. Of course, if

they want more info you

can tell them to give Pas-

tor Bruce a call. You

should know that most

people who attend are

not from Bethel and also

that people can join the

group at any point along

the 13 weeks of the se-

mester.

Sunday Morning Services

If some or all services are cancelled due to weather or other reasons the information will be made available by 7 a.m. on Sunday morning through the following channels:

Web site www.BethelMankato.com

Radio stations: KTOE 1420 AM KJLY 107.1 FM

Television: KEYC 12 in Mankato

Church answering machine: 507-345-4011

Church Activities during the week

Youth or Children’s activities will be cancelled if public schools are cancelled. So listen and/or watch for school closing.

Other church activities and ministries – notification of cancellation will be made via the website and e-mail or phone messages to par-ticipants when possible.

“Notate our Cancellation

Policy in case of the next

snowstorm.”

Cancellation Policy

Adult Ministries-Continued

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Wow, 2010 is almost history and we have things to celebrate from this past year as well as challenges that we had to deal with or still are dealing with. How are you doing, how am I doing, and what are we look-ing forward to in this New Year?

Jesus says in Luke 10:27 that we are to “„Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind‟ and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” Many of us may struggle with loving ourselves or even that idea. I know growing up in the church I was always taught to “put others first.” This is a great teaching yet if we are out of balance, this can cost us dearly. When Jesus made this proclamation, He would have intended all of us to have a healthy “love” for our-selves. Note Jesus didn’t say hate your neighbor like you neglect and hate yourself. If we do not have a healthy love for ourselves we will struggle in our attempts to love and worship God as well as loving our neighbors and loving one another. I am convinced that we will better love God and those around us if we have a strong healthy love for ourselves. I would take this one step further and say that if I do not love myself the right way, it will negatively impact all the people in my life.

How do I evaluate this healthy love for myself in my own life, where do I even begin? What does honest and “real” self evaluation look like? Please seriously consider the questions listed below. We all need to be challenged and seek what the Holy Spirit may be asking us to do. This challenge is not intended to bring guilt upon anyone. The Lord wants us to be healthy and I am asking myself these same questions with an attitude that says Lord help me be the healthy person (heart, soul, strength and mind) that you want me to be!

Here are the questions we can all ask ourselves as we think about the New Year ahead:

Is my soul, body and mind healthy? Do I have a healthy love for myself?

Is my personal relationship with the Lord vibrant, strong and growing?

Are my relationships at home, school, work, church and my family healthy?

How I am doing relationally with those closest to me, spouse, parent, child etc…?

Do I have a plan to address what I need to do this New Year in areas of my life (negative habits, health issues etc…) that I always seem to struggle getting motivated to do?

Financially, is my budget in place, or is this just another area in which I don’t know where to turn, may feel overwhelmed, and need help with?

Do I have great hope and great expectations for the New Year?

Do the Joy and Peace of Christ live and reign in me today?

Am I willing to allow the Lord to help me with some tough conversations with people that I really don’t want to have?

If we have answered no to some or many of these questions, this may be the beginning of the Lord work-ing in us through the power of His Holy Spirit to renew our worship and transform us into the people He wants us to be.

And now for the final questions that matter most:

If I struggle in any of the areas listed above, will I go to someone or seek out a resource and ask for help? Who or what will that be and when will I do it? What is my plan of action, what adjustments or changes will I make in my life this New Year?

I am excited about the year ahead here at Bethel. I also continue to look forward to more people seeking to be a part of the worship and musical opportunities here at Bethel this year. Through all of this may we reach many more people for Jesus and see lives changed by our Lord forever.

God’s richest blessings to all of you this Christmas and for the New Year!

Pastor Glenn email: [email protected]

Bethel Worship Notes—”Renewed Worship” January 2011

“We all need to be

challenged and seek what

the Holy Spirit may be

asking us to do.”

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Youth All-Niter- Date: Sunday, January 16, 2011

Time: 6:00 p.m.-6:00 a.m.

Place: Bethel Baptist Church

Who: All youth, 7th-12th grade

Cost: $12.00

What to Bring: One-piece swimsuit, sweat pants or shorts, warm clothes, hat, mittens & coat, snacks to share, drinks for yourself

Details: There are three parts to the night: 1st is at the Hosanna Lutheran Church from 6:15 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. This time includes Mankato area youth groups watching the movie “ To Save a Life”, small group breakouts & performance by the Christian rock band The Cast & Crew. 2nd part is at All Seasons Arena from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. We will be playing broom ball, skating and maybe playing monster ball if they let us. 3rd part is at Bethel. We will eat pizza, drink soda and of course we will play diaper wars until our hearts content. Kinect on the big screen anyone? Invite all your friends now!!

Event

New Year’s Day

Senior High-Xplode!

Mystery Meal/Gift Exchange

Junior High-iMPLODE!

Senior High-iMPLODE!

Junior High-Xplode!

Mystery Meal/Gift Exchange

Youth All-Niter

Youth Worship Nite

Senior High-Xplode!

Service Project

Junior High-iMPLODE!

Ping Pong Tournament

Time

——

6-8 pm

6-8 pm

6 pm-6 am

6-8 pm

6-8 pm

9 am-noon

Date

1/1

1/5

1/12

1/16

1/19

1/26

1/29

“Mark your calendars for

the Youth All-Niter on

Sunday, January 16,

2011 starting at 6:00

p.m.”

January Schedule

Youth Group News

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Page 7 Vision

Mystery Meal- Don’t miss the chance to perfectly guess food items and utensils in a way that would make your mother proud. You will be given a list of names and you will have to guess what the food or utensil is and that is what you will be having for dinner. Along with the utensil you chose. Sometimes they don’t go together.

Unwanted Christmas Gift Exchange- Bring your unwanted Christmas gifts or a gift around $5.00 value to exchange. Make sure to fully wrap your gift so no one can peek before Santa shows up.

on what has hap-pened at Bethel over the past year and to hear goals for the new year. The 2010 Annual Report is available for you to take home and pe-

All of Bethel’s fam-ily is encouraged to attend our Annual Meeting. (You don’t have to be a mem-ber, only to vote.) This is a chance to hear from the staff

ruse at your leisure. It includes all the staff reports, 2011 budget and more. It will be held on Sun-day, January 30th at 6:00 p.m. We hope to see you there!

Youth Group News-Continued

Bethel Annual Meeting

Ways”. It will take place on Monday, January 17, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Lake Sarah Baptist in Slay-ton, MN. If you are interested in attend-

ing please RSVP by Monday, January 10th at the church office or calling 507-7 6 3 - 3 4 7 7 o r [email protected].

Get a chance to meet the Minnesota Iowa Bap-tist Conference staff and find out what they have to offer in “Connecting in New

“Connecting in New

Ways” MIBC Family

Gathering on January 17,

2011

MIBC Family Gathering

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by Christian Kohs

Young Adults Lunch January 9th!

Let’s all share a great meal together and take some time to chat and get to know one an-

other.

Who can you bring to church this month?!

Film and Theology is beginning at Bethel in

January! We are going to go to the theater

and then head back to church for some

pizza and discussion. Join us!

Let me know what movies may be of inter-

est for us to see as our first one, I have a

couple in mind, but feel free to email sug-

gestions to me at:

[email protected]

Christ. . . For each will have to bear his own load.” At first glance, this Scripture passage seems contradictory but it is not. It says that everyone, by himself or herself alone, should carry whatever load God has placed in his or her backpack. It also says that Christians should take some burdens out of the backpacks of some people and put them in their own packs and carry them out of love. That same love that Christ pours on us! Biblically, this looks like finding a job, paying the bills, reading the Bible, at-tending church, praying, sharing their faith, exercising, and look after themselves and their spouse and children if applicable.

The church exists in part to help lessen their burden by taking some of the practical weight out of people’s pack and carrying it for them, some people that truly need it. One key to our loving others is discerning what loads others are having to carry and what burdens we need to help them carry. Are you someone who is expecting too much time and energy from the leaders in church? Which loads do you need to just buck up and carry without whining until someone else does your job? How have you allowed concerns to become responsi-bilities and others’ loads to collectively be-come your burden? Find rest in Christ, He has promised to help us carry all that is in our backpacks.

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you who are weary and bur-

dened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke

upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and

humble in heart, and you will find rest for

your souls. For my yoke is easy and my bur-

den is light.”

How Full is Your Backpack?

One of the most important skills every Chris-tian, and ministry leader must learn is the distinction between a concern and a respon-sibility. The younger the Christian, the more likely you lack the skill of discerning concerns and responsibilities. I was recently reminded of this important distinction when I read the book Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro. As a Christian, we should lovingly and sin-cerely have concern for many people and their many circumstances. Our hearts should ache for the pain and trouble that others ex-perience in life. This concern should compel us to speak gospel truths into their life, which can include everything from pointing out sins, to giving wise counsel, or interceding for them before God in prayer. As created be-ings, there is only so much we can do and we must discern whom God has called us to help and how God has called us to help them carry the load.

Picture that everyone has a backpack with responsibilities that God has given for him or her to carry. Some people’s backpacks are big, and others are small. Nonetheless, God has called us each to fill up our pack with specific responsibilities. Some people may be lazy and try to take things out of their pack and get others to carry them instead. An example is the able-bodied man who lives with his mom, making her responsible for his housing and food, while he sits in his room and plays video games. Tragically, for many, the whole definition of someone being loving, Godly, and spiritual is that they are willing to carry the loads God has called oth-ers to carry. This is not helping them.

Scripture, of course, says it perfectly. Gala-tians 6:2–5 admonishes us, “Bear one an-other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of

“As created beings, there is

only so much we can do

and we must discern

whom God has called us

to help and how God has

called us to help them

carry the load.”

Young Adults Ministry

40 to 45% of American adult make one or more resolutions each year…Why not

make your New Year’s resolution to join one of the many Small Groups

at Bethel!

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Praise for the new born grand-daughter of Rich-ard & Rita Bebler

Praise for the newly adopted daughter of Ben & Jenna Ryan. Brielle Mae was born on Nov. 7

Pray for those struggling financially, physically & emotionally during the holiday season

Pray for Becky Nestegard who continues to have health concerns

Pray for Margaret Daw-son who is recovering from a fall

Pray for Ramer Streed who is recovering from heart surgery

Pray for Ramer & Barb Streed who will have special needs during his recovery time

Pray for our Missionaries of the Month: Dave & Amy Stene

Pray God‟s leading and blessing in our days of growth & change

Pray that Bethel will be a church that is culturally relevant and a transform-ing power in our commu-nity

Pray that we will see peo-ple coming to faith in Jesus at Bethel on a regu-lar basis

Pray that we all reach out to others & plant seeds of hope in Jesus

Pray that we as a congre-gation will be able to warmly welcome & incor-porate all of the new people God brings our way

Pray for our sister churches in Votlivka & Tenovka, Ukraine & Cadunan, Philippines

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Psalm 122:6

Pray for our troops around the world

Pray for a speedy resolu-tion to the crisis in Iraq

Family & Friends Serving Overseas:

Nick Berry - nephew of Shawn & Gwen Berry

Praise & Prayers

“Devote yourselves to prayer,

being watchful and

thankful. And pray for us,

too, that God may open a

door for our message, so that

we may proclaim the mystery

of Christ, for which I am in

chains.” Colossians 4:1-3

There is a prayer group that meets on Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. to pray for our attendees, their families & friends and those in our community. If you would like to be part of this group, contact Suanne Banfield at (507) 388-4432 or [email protected] or come and meet us at church on Wednesday.

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Date Time

Jan. 2 9:30

11:00

Jan. 9 8:30

9:45

11:00

Jan. 16 8:30

9:45

11:00

Jan. 23 8:30

9:45

11:00

Jan. 30 8:30

9:45

11:00

Infant

Matt & Kristi Borowy

Angie Cherney & Jodi Mansfield

Bryce & Jackie Anderson

Joey & Shannon Ruzic

Scott & Angie Hoffman

Mike & Kari Hennegar

Carol Edwards & Carol Krosch

Chad & Brooke Riley

Dawn & Natalie White

Candace Kolander &

Monica West

Shawn & Gwen Berry

Philip & Abby Bailey

Carol Anderson & Donna Nelson

Preschool

Nurseries Combined

Sandra Tambi & Sam Mansfield & Rachel Anderson

Carolyn Baker & Amber Lundsten

Sunday School

Jody Bryant & Family &

Ashley Anderson

Melanie Burton & Abby Cherney

Sunday School

Caryl Zernechel &

Jennifer Neufeld & Ally Kroehler

Michael & Nighi Anderson

& Lauren Daly

Sunday School

Sarah Ruggless & Jan Johnson

Kevin & Gwen Case

Sunday School

Claussen Girls

Meets on Wednesdays 6:00-7:45 p.m.

January 2011 Schedule

1/5 Regular Club Night 1/12 Root Beer Night

1/19 Double Points Night 1/26 7th Annual Talent Night

“Bethel’s nursery staff is

devoted to loving & caring

for your children.”

Awana

Children’s Ministry-Nursery

Londa Krueger is our Nursery Coordinator. If you are interested in helping out in the nursery just give her a call at (507) 385-1374.

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Page 11 Vision

Men‟s Bible Study- Mondays @ 9:00 a.m.

Senior Adult Lunch- Wednesday, January 19th @ noon

noon. Cost is $5.00, pizza will be served. Sign up in the ping pong room.

Attention all Ping Pong enthusiasts!! There will be a Ping Pong Tournament in the Bethel Fellow-ship Hall on Satur-day, January 29th from 9:00 a.m. to

Senior Adults

Ping Pong Tournament

Please let them know. They can check our web-site and/or give Pastor Bruce a call if they want more information.

Our sessions will run from January 25 to April 19, 2011. We will meet each Tuesday evening from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. To register contact the church office or go to our w e b s i t e www.bethelmankato.com.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness-Mankato offers the Connection Support Group every Thursday at 6:30-8:00 p.m. This is for anyone who lives with a mental ill-ness.

There is also a support group for family members. It meets the 2nd & 4th Thursdays of the month at 6:30 p.m. Both groups meet here at Bethel.

Do you know someone who is hurting due to marital separation and/or divorce?

It is very likely that they would be greatly blessed by some sound Biblical teaching and some caring support and encourage-ment from others who have also suffered loss.

“DivorceCare’s new

session will run from

January 25th thru April

19th, 2011.”

Support Groups

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Missionaries of the Month - Dave & Amy Stene

Dave and Amy Stene are staff members with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. They worked in Mankato at MSUM for a number of years and now live and work in Sioux Falls, SD. Dave and Amy and their 3 boys--Caleb(11), Isaiah(9), and Noah(4)--were an active part of our Bethel church family while here in Mankato. In Sioux Falls, Dave also attends seminary part-time and is a part-time pastor at a Covenant church.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) is an interdenominational campus ministry that works on over 500 campuses (with over 30,000 college students) across the U.S. An InterVarsity group seeks to "empower Christian students to influence their friends for Jesus and to offer a place for non Christians to explore faith in Christ." They do this through small group discussions, large groups meetings and outreach events, and vari-ous conferences throughout the year.

Dave, along with a staff partner, have been working with students from the University of Sioux Falls, Augustana College and Dakota State University, as well as some students from Madison, SD. They encourage and guide the small group leaders and the leader-ship teams for each campus. They have recently helped with student conferences in September and in November.

Some prayer requests for the Stenes:

Pray for Dave as he attends IVCF's triennial Natl. Staff Conference in St. Louis Jan.

5-9.

Pray for the mid-winter Breakaway student conference in Brainerd Jan. 28-30.

Pray for more InterVarsity chapters to be established on nearby campuses.

Pray for a small group of committed Christian students in Madison, SD, seeking to

reach their campus for Christ.

year olds - Cita and Angie. The kids will stay at the church for 2 nights and then their parents will be invited to the church on Sunday for a closing program.

3. Evening house-to-house visits with elders in the village

4. Teaching women about food preservation through canning - Cita

Cita Maignes and Angie Hoff-man are busily preparing to go to the Philippines Jan. 14-Feb. 1. Community members Jack McGowan and his son are also traveling with them.

Plans for the trip:

1. Establish a spring water reservoir for the village - McGowans

2. Weekend camp for 6-13

5. Assisting at Cita's nephew's wedding

6. Encouraging the small congregation of our sister church.

7. Some sailing!

PLEASE be in prayer for the team members, for all of the details for the trip and for family members at home.

Missions Page

Philippines Team Update

“InterVarsity Christian

Fellowship (IVCF) is an

interdenominational

campus ministry that

works on over 500

campuses (with over

30,000 college students)

across the U.S.”

Pray for safety, good health and effectiveness for the team.

Pray for each one of the chil-dren who will attend the camp, and for their families to see the love of Jesus.

Page 13: Bethel Baptist Church Vision - Razor Planetmedia1.razorplanet.com/share/510376-1853/siteDocs/January_2011.pdftribe of Issachar. This small group stands out from the rest. All the other

Senior Pastor: Dr. David J. Banfield

Pastor of Adult Ministries: Dr. Bruce Nelson

Pastor of Student Ministries: Harrison Musser

Pastor of Worship Ministries: Rev. Glenn Winch

Sunday Worship Services

Family 8:30 AM

Traditional 9:45 AM

Contemporary 11:00 AM

Sunday School 9:45 AM

Nursery is Available During All Services

BETHEL IS COMMITTED TO:

Connecting people to God and others

Equipping people to serve God and others

Engaging people in service for God and others

1250 Monks Ave. Mankato, MN 56001

BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH

accomplished must be shaped and molded to fit the environ-ment in which we live. This year we will continue to offer opportunities for people to become better equipped through things like the Lead-ership Summit, small groups, and training opportunities. Third, we are com-mitted to engaging in mean-ingful service for Christ. Giv-ing feet to our faith is an es-sential component of being a follower of Jesus. Jesus set the example and he expects us to f o l l o w . “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 (NIV) There are many ways in which we can serve. Genuine service is not a

others. We can do this through small groups, “YES” experiences, fellowship times, and many other ways. Second, we are com-mitted to equipping people to live godly lives. In Eph. 4:11-13 Paul writes this. It was he who gave some to be apos-tles , some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teach-ers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attain-ing to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. A core value of the church is to equip people to live out their faith in their world. The way this is

one-size-fits-all experience. We need to explore creative ways to use the gifts and talents God has given us both inside of the church and out in our community. This year we will be exploring some new ave-nues through which we can reach out to our community on a regular basis. We should never abandon meeting together for worship on Sundays, but that alone is not enough. As the body of Christ we need to find new and creative ways to reach out to those who have not yet begun their journey of faith. Let’s commit ourselves to being like the men of Issa-char who understood the times and knew what should be done.

Pastor Dave’s Corner Continued

Phone: 507-345-4011 Fax: 507-345-4008 Text: 507-291-9981

E-mail: [email protected]

Transforming lives through the love of Christ

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com

Bethel Baptist