September 2010 During the month of September, we will engage in a brief program concluding with Back to Church Sunday. The program is based on the idea that people stop attending church for a variety of reasons. A brief book outlines these reasons and provides simple, yet profound reasons the reader might want to return to church participation. The basic premise is that people may stop going to church, but continue believing in Jesus. However, when we lose our participation in church, we lose something valuable – our relationship with one another as the Body of Christ.
The program will offer a booklet to all members of Bethany. We will then ask you to share the booklet with people from three groups: 1) Friends who have not been at Bethany recently. 2) Friends and neighbors who are not currently participating in a church. 3) People in the community who visit us at the End of Summer Blast. Please help us make this a successful venture by inviting people Back to Church. August 2010
For more details about Back to Church Sunday, go to www.bethany-mp.org/BTC.
During the latter part of August and into the first part of September, Pastor Tom and I will be preaching toward a special event Sunday called “Back to Church Sunday”. During these weeks, we will be providing a short booklet for you to read and share with other people. The booklet outlines ten reasons why people stop attending church and encourages them to consider returning. We will be preaching about a number of these reasons culminating in a celebration of “Back to Church Sunday” on Sunday, September 26.
We hope you will enjoy the booklet and also find it relevant enough to share with someone who no longer attends a church. I was impressed with the idea for this Sunday and was also impressed with the booklet. I pray you will be also.
July 2010
As we begin July, Pastor Tom will lead us through a series of sermons on the transformational nature of the Christian faith. He will use a three week series to focus on how Christ transforms our hearts, our minds, and our lives. I am certain this will be an informative and inspiring series of messages.
June 2010
As May turns into June, we will have two sermons on the standard lessons for the day. On June 13th, we will welcome an LCMS pastor who is representing Food for the Poor. I am always happy when we can welcome pastors who bring us a message of hope for those people who need our love and support. Look for a new sermon series in June and July.
May 2010
During most of May we will be exploring a sermon series entitled, Help for the Hurried Life. During this sermon series we will hear about different ways our lives become hurried, the harm this can cause in our relationship with God and one another, and ways God has provided to help us live a less hurried and more focused life. There are many times when I have watched my life go from busy to hurried, seemingly without my control. I pray that this sermon series will be beneficial for all of us at Bethany.
April 2010
On April 11th we will welcome Rev. John Nunes as our guest preacher. Aside from being a wonderful preacher, we will be blessed to hear and see how our contributions make a difference helping people through Lutheran World Relief. After Easter we will begin a sermon series entitled “Help for the Hurried Life”. It is our prayer that you will take the time to hear these words about our lives and how we can slow down in the midst of our busy lives.
March 2010
The month of March will be filled with our preparations for Holy Week and Easter. We are following a series developed at the St. Louis Seminary. This series looks at the concept of Postmodernism and reflects on the words of Jesus from the cross. The word Postmodernism is difficult to define by itself. In this sermon series, we will define some of the attitudes behind the word and some of the attitudes that are pervasive in our culture. It will be interesting to see that the words of Jesus from the cross are helpful when we look at these attitudes and beliefs of our modern world.
February 2010
I hope and pray that you are being enriched by the sermons on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. If you are not participating in the Webinar Bible Study, I will probably be presenting it another time later this year. However, you can also purchase the book by Tim Keller, entitled, The Prodigal God. For me, this was an enlightening book that changed how I understood this well known story.
As we enter Lent, we will be adapting a sermon series created by Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. The sermons will be based on the words of Jesus from the cross and will lead us through some of the conflicts that arise in the lives of people who are not attending a church and who do not yet believe in the message of Jesus. There are many “stumbling blocks” to faith. We will explore these and see how the words from the cross illuminate these concerns and help us see the answers Jesus came to give us.
- Pastor Jon Coyne