Bethel Church (princeton, Mn)

This weekend we continue our message series on how involvement in community helps us grow. The series is called "Better Together." Tomorrow I'm going to be preaching from Acts 2:42-47 ... the passage that describes what the early believers did when the church got its start. I'm going to be looking at these verses in two separate sermons ... this first one will focus on their gatherings for public worship.

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 - Guest pastor from Pease Christian Reformed Church, Pastor Michael Ten Haken preached on "The Devil Made Me Do It".

This weekend we will celebrate our 40th Anniversary! This will include worship songs, communion, hearing stories of how Bethel got started, celebrating communion, and a message about the Biblical background to the name "Bethel." We're going to look at the story of Bethel in the Bible and reflect on what this means for our church -- our past and our future.

This weekend, we're looking at the phrase in verse 13: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." This week we're going to talk about trials and temptations -- what is meant by those words in this passage, and what it means to pray for them to be reduced.

Jerry VanSomeren preached on Matthew 6:19-24 on "A God Called More"

This weekend, we're looking at the phrase in verse 12: "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us" We'll also be looking at verse 14-15, which contain the challenging words that forgiveness of our sins is somehow tied to our willingness to forgive others. This week we're going to talk about forgiveness, focusing on the question: "What does it mean to forgive?" Part of the problem we have with forgiveness is confusion about what it means, and expectations about how it happens. We're going to look at how God's forgiveness informs and makes possible our forgiveness of others.

This weekend, we're looking at the phrase in verse 12: "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us" This week we're going to focus on praying for forgiveness. We believe that, because of Christ's death and resurrection, we are forgiven ... and it might seem like, since everything is taken care of through Christ, that we shouldn't have to keep worrying about and focusing on our sins. But there are also places in the Bible where we're asked to confess our sins ... in other words, bringing them up regularly. What is the place of confession in prayer?

This weekend, we're looking (again) at the phrase in verse 11: "Give us this day our daily bread" This week we're going to focus on how to pray for our needs. We instinctively understand this aspect of prayer, but there is still much confusion about it, and our practice of it is surrounded my mystery, doubt, and uncertainty. Hopefully by the time the morning is over, we'll all have more clarity about Jesus' instruction about praying for our daily bread.

This weekend, we're looking (again) at the phrase in verse 10: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This week we're going to focus on the question of God's Will -- How can we know what God's will is?" This is one of the most important issues for any of us a Christians ... knowing and doing God's will -- and for many, it's shrouded in mystery and confusion. Hopefully by the time the morning is over, we'll all have more clarity about these issues.

This Sunday, we're looking at the phrase in verse 10: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." I describe this part of the prayer with the phrase: "praying with God's agenda in mind." What does it mean to pray for God's Kingdom to come? And how do we think about God's will being done, in contrast to our own wills and desires? We'll be talking about these issues.

This Sunday, we're looking at the phrase in the first part of the prayer: "...hallowed be your name" What does it mean for us to be praying that God's name be "HALLOWED"? What does that even mean, to "hallow" someone's name? We'll be talking about the place of reverence and worship, and how that relates to our prayer life.

This weekend, we're looking at the opening phrase: "Our Father in Heaven" What does it mean for us to be praying to God as our FATHER? For some, this is comforting and helpful ... for others, it's confusing and troublesome, because our relationship with our earthly fathers has been problematic.

This weekend we start a new focus in our teaching through the Sermon on the Mount. We begin a new series: "Jesus' Teaching on Prayer." In these messages, we'll be looking at some of Jesus' general teaching about prayer, and then especially at the Lord's Prayer. This weekend, we're going to be looking at three important insights that Jesus gives about prayer.

This Sunday, we're going to be looking at what Jesus said about WHY WE DO what we do in service to God. Specifically, what is our motive when we give to help others?

This weekend, we're going to be looking at what Jesus said about taking revenge (or not), and loving our enemies. This is very intense, high level teaching. It seems almost impossible for us to do. But as we'll see, there is a way to do it, and an important freedom that it offers.

Bethel Church (Princeton, MN)

This weekend, we're going to be looking at what Jesus said about honesty and taking oaths. We are living in a time when trust in leaders and institutions is at an all time low, and honesty seems like a rare thing indeed. We'll talk about what Jesus says about this, in the context of making and taking oaths.

This weekend, we're going to be looking at what Jesus said about marriage and divorce. Marriages are a source of great joy for many, and also a source of great pain and suffering. And many people know the pain of marriage that ended in divorce.

This weekend, we're going to be looking at what Jesus said about sexual immorality. These are some of the most familiar verses in the Bible about sex, and are enormously important in our world today. They are also easy to misunderstand and misinterpret.

This weekend, we're going to be looking at what Jesus said about anger, in connection with Old Testament commandments about murder. This is an important issue for us today, because many people struggle with controlling their anger, and our society seems to be fraying with mass and social media fueling outrage and hatred.