Proverbs 29:18a KJV
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
READ WITH ME
Bethany’s Vision Statement
We are dedicated to promoting Christ-like love, deepening the Christian faith, and developing harmony among all people through our presence, our programs, and our commitment.
To accomplish this vision, we will:
Provide a church home for all people.
Introduce the unsaved to Jesus Christ.
Nurture and support converts in their Christian growth.
Provide support and organization for our work for the Lord.
Support a missionary effort into the broader worldInsert mission and vision statement
Read with me Bethany’s Mission Statement:
To know, to live , and to share Jesus Christ
I love the movie, October Sky. It is based on the autobiography of former NASA science engineer Homer Hickam, Jr. It is about four boys who embody the hope of a community. It’s 1957 in Coalwood, West Virginia,---I know the community well. It’s in McDowell County WV not far in miles from where I lived and grew up-but it takes an eternity to drive there. I spent a summer during one of my college years in McDowell County doing student missionary work. Will never forget doing VBS at a snake handling church-no snakes attended that week fortunately. My grandfather was a coal miner in McDowell County WV.
In the movie in Coalwood, WV, all the boys grow up to be coal miners and Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal) has no reason to think he’ll be any different. Even the public school furnishes no other vision beyond the town’s coal mine. Too small to earn a football scholarship, Homer has no way out of his predetermined life -- until the soviet satellite Sputnik flies over the October sky and changes everything. As Homer watches the satellite cross the evening sky he has one of those life changing ’eternal moments’ and Homer’s world got a lot bigger.
Though his father is mine superintendent and has no greater wish than to see his sons follow in his footsteps, Homer embarks on a mission to build and launch his, own, homemade rockets with the help of his loyal band of friends.
(show video clip of launch from “Cape Coalwood”)
I really responded to this film because of it touches so many common feelings and dreams that we all share. Most of us have dreams we would like to see fulfilled. Can they be? This film says yes!
All of us can identify with Homer because we get discouraged if we can’t see that we are making any progress in life..... We are all irritated if we feel we are not making any progress in life. What is true of us as individuals is true of churches.
Each local body of Christ is happier and more energetic and productive...
* ... if they know that their efforts are making an impact...
* ...if they know they are getting somewhere...
On this Sunday I want to help you, Bethany Church lift yourself above the fog of activity that surrounds this place so that we can see how far we have come.... After this annual time of self-evaluation we can then follow Paul’s example and
"Press on....to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us." -- Phillippians 3:14
The practice of measuring a church’s progress has a biblical basis.
In the book of Revelation Jesus spoke to seven churches, (reference) evaluating their work....
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:7
These seven letters of evaluation written by Jesus to local churches contained similar elements:
1. Churches were commended for doing a good job in certain areas.
2. They were also warned of condemnation for their shortcomings in other areas.
3. These churches were encouraged to do specific things....
4. And each church was promised a reward for "overcoming"
As I was preparing for this message on the state of the church.... this passage from Revelation kept coming to my mind and I began to wonder.....If Jesus were to write a letter of evaluation to BUMC on January 13, 2001 what would it say?
1. What would He commend us for?
2. What would he warn us about?
3. What would He encourage us to do?
4. What would He promise us if we persevered...if we overcame?
A. One would be the way we have begun to embrace outreach
It seems to me that in the past year our church has realized how important outreach is.
I have observed that more of you are inviting friends, relatives, and associates to church....including personal visits, phone calls, , and personal cards written to new home owners. This outreach mind set has yielded a lot of growth around here: attendance has increased in both worship services, and the increase in particularly noticeable in the early service. When we started this early service 2 ½ years ago in the Fall we started with 35 or 40 in attendance. Now on some Sundays we have a 100 or more in attendance.
We have broken the 200 barrier for our Christmas Eve service. In fact, the response to this past year’s Christmas Eve Service was awesome. I continued to receive calls for over a week from guests and members who all essentially said "That’s the greatest Christmas Eve Service I’ve ever attended." You expect attendance like that on Easter Sunday. But Christmas Eve---I think we broke a record for Bethany Church....Will you say PRAISE THE LORD with me?
New groups have been started. The Wednesday night Connections group was quite a success. Now we have this new class on learning what the Bible is all about. I’m grateful to Debbie Saufley and Lois Tucker who have been instrumental in getting these 2 new groups organized.
We had the class of parents last year. More is happening in ministry to families and parents and I appreciate what Yvette Weaver is doing in this ministry and the way she has recruited others to grow this ministry in our church. The monthly men’s prayer breakfast continues to be a strong group.
As always our summer Vacation Bible School was fantastic and I had a blast doing not one but two confirmation classes with our youth this past year.
New, gifted teachers have followed God’s call to teach His word to this body. Sunday School is growing and alive here!
Just one area of growth may be needed-Feedback: card from a visitor stated "No one introduced themselves to me"---Speak your name when you see someone you don’t know.
Embracing outreach has led --40- people to respond by joining this church in the last 2 years since I gave a state of the church address------ and 18--- of them were people coming forward to accept Christ as Savior and Lord.
Yet our work is not done-it’s ongoing
[Jesus] said to his disciples, "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields." Matthew 9:37-38
B. I think Jesus would also commend us for this past few years’ increase in giving
It all began in 1999 when we did Consecration Sunday for 2 years in a row. Your giving increased and for the first time in years we ended the year without having to worry about how we were going to meet our budget.
And look at what you did by being a part of the Time to Grow Campaign. Last year, you committed to giving approx $220,0000 to the campaign over a 3 year period and so far we have received over 50,000 in actual gifts. It’s not too late to get in on this great work. If for some reason you missed out on the Time to Grow Campaign or you weren’t here when we did that last Spring, you can get in on this good thing now. Just write on your response tab "I want to participate in TTG" and I’ll send you information about the goals of TTG.
Moreover, the congregation voted to sell the parsonage. The thinking of the leadership, to which the majority of those at the church conference agreed, is that our church can be about more mission and ministry if we do not have to worry about maintaining a residence for the Pastor.
With that sale and the commitments that you have made to give over the next two years to TTG, not only did we pay off the mortgage on the church addition of 1985---we ended with enough surplus to provide for over half of the cost of a long list of major capitol improvement needs that were a part of the campaign....such as expanding our A-V and multimedia capabilities for worship and programs, installing insulated windows in this old part of the building, repairing the roof, expanding parking and installing a security system.
In the year 2001 alone, you gave almost $250,000 to all causes through this church. That’s a quarter of a million dollars---record-breaking giving at Bethany.
For the first time in a long time we are not in "crisis" mode when it comes to money around here....and that feels so good... It is wonderful to not have to curtail vital ministry because of something as trivial as money! And we have put some cash in reserve in case we have a major problem with the physical facility here.
We become a Global Missions Partner Church—meaning that we gave $2 per member to support the establishment of a new congregation in Central America.... and best of all for the first time we had the Fall Festival to raise money for missions and not to pay off our building debt. That means of the $4200 we raised through the Festival—all of it goes to mission projects above and beyond our regular mission budget of $7990 and $6300 to the World Service thru our UM Church. In addition you gave to other special mission offerings almost $4000. So that’s $16,000 that you gave just to Missions last year. Say PRAISE THE LORD. My dream is that one day 10% of our giving each year will go to Missions and we seem to begetting closer to that each year. You are growing in your generosity—to give beyond these 4 walls here.
Jesus would have this say to you because of your faithfulness in managing the gifts he has given you: I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven. Luke 16:9 NLT
C. And I think Jesus would commend you because not only have you given to missions....you have DONE missions....
* Thanks again to Ruth Ann and Phil Mikesell for continuing to do your mission trip to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people in Kentucky. They have challenged you to go with them, I challenge you to go with the Mikesells or find some place where you can be in mission this year.
* Many of you volunteered at Equipping the Saints to help them pack supplies to send around the world to be use in bring the good news of Jesus Christ to those who do not know him.
· Pat and Lois Lamb went to Schetenedy, NY to do a missions program and they go on a regular basis to do programs with their puppets in nursing homes in the area.
·
· * Alan and Annemarie Yeo are our missionaries in residence at Randolph-Macon
Academy where they serve as Chaplains.
*
Your response to the call for donations for the victims of Sept. 11 was tremendous. Your gifts Red Cross and UMCOR
So I think Jesus would commend you for you have followed His command in Acts 1:8 to "...be His witnesses...beginning locally and going even to the remotest part of the earth."
D. Jesus would also commend us for the way we are beginning to emphasize lay-leadership
Ephesians 4:12 says that it is the task of pastors to "...prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up."
Ministering to this community is not just my job....it is primarily your job and it is my job to equip you to do it. I guess you could say that preacher’s are... paid to be good....you are supposed to be good for nothing.
In fact, another one of the great benefits of the TTG Campaign is that we had lay people visiting the households of our congregation. Those who did the visiting experienced the excitement of being lay ministers, listening to the joys and concerns of the people they visited.
We have learned this year how wonderful it is when the laity work side by side....I think the planning and preparation that went into the special service for the Bishop’s time with us this year demonstrates how the laity all worked together-we could not have pulled it off without so many people working together.
And again the Time to Grow Campaign was primarily the work of the laity. The events of Time to Grow were specially empowered because they featured not just the giftedness of one or two but of dozens.
The people we have volunteering in the music ministry is great. We have some gifted worship leaders who head us in our praise and worship music in the 8:30 service. And we have a fabulous choir who sings for us in the 10:45 service and did double duty during Christmas season. We have other musicians who have helped us out in addition to our paid staff. STAND---GIVE THEM A HAND—
I sense that this is something we all want to continue....our attendance at the Classes 301 and 401 in the past couple of years shows that many of you want to learn to use your unique giftedness in ministry around here. I’m planning to do a Class 301 soon—listen for details
Work at bringing others to Christ. Complete the ministry God has given you. 2 Timothy 4:5
And I know this attitude pleases our Lord.
2. Then in the second part of His letter, I think Jesus would warn us about a few things.......
A.
I think Jesus would also warn us to do whatever it takes to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ (WIT)-say it with me-Bethany is to be a "WIT"ty church
This is not a task exclusively given to the clergy....or missionaries...It is your job too.
People in your neighborhoods....in your workplace will pay more attention to your witness about what Christ means to you than they will to my witness....I am a minister. I’m the hired holy man. They expect me to speak about spiritual things....but you are one of them...you are a satisfied customer to use today’s vernacular. Your witness is much more powerful because people don’t expect it from you.
Remember all of us are commissioned to share our faith...in 2 Corinthians 5:20 it says, "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us."
"As long as there is one person in driving distance of our church who doesn’t know the Lord, we want to grow. Nothing is more important than reaching people for the Lord, yet it is easy to be distracted from our purpose. We need to stay focused on reaching one more for Jesus. " - Rick Warren
B I think Jesus would also warn us to give Children priority
Wonderful work has been done in ministering to children here.
* VBS, Bible Bunch, the Children singing at Christmas was great.
So great things are happening for children here...
We need to continue to improve our ministry and outreach to the teenagers in our church. Pray for our SPRC as we interview and look for a new youth director
I’d like to see our children and youth participate more in both of our services—in music and leading different aspects of our worship I have some ideas about how they can do this that I’ll be discussing with our Nurture and worship teams.
But it continues to be a struggle to find adults willing to work in the nursery on Sunday morning. This could be the most important ministry of our church as we try to reach out to families. And our current growth spurt will not continue until we rectify this problem.
Parents will not come to this church and study God’s word if there is not quality nursery care for their children.
Hear Jesus’ words to us about children:
(Jesus speaking) "Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God." 16Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. Mark 10:15-16 NLT
C. I think Jesus would urge us to pray for the church even as he prayed for the church (cite John 17---)
"My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me, so they are my glory!
READ what prayer partners can do for a church
äBelievers to experience worship
äBelievers will know and do God’s Word
äUnity in the church
äSeekers will become believers
äJoy in lives of leaders and people of the church (Maxwell’s book-pp. 104-105)
To that end, I am giving a call to establish in Partners in Prayer in this church-I’ve heard of other churches who have done it-including one in this area with great success. I kick off the prayer partner program during Lent when I begin the teaching series on the prayer of Jabez.
I will be recruiting a band of PASTOR"S PRAYER PARTNERS which I foresee as an expansion of our already existing groups-Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Women’s Prayer Chain, Tuesday morning Vision/Prayer Team.
Along with this I propose to do a Fall program called "40 Days of purpose"-you’ll be hearing more about this as the year progresses. Folks don’t get too comfortable now. We’re taking a wild ride this year.
3. In the next section of His letter to Bethany I think Jesus would encourage us to stop and take a good look at ourselves and our community.
In his book, Church, Why Bother, Philip Yancey says that all churches should do this. Each local body of Christ should look up, around, out, and in.
A. First We should come into worship by LOOKING UP
We look up so that we can realize that worship is not a performance....worship is not for us...it is for God.
So often Christians come into worship with the attitude that says, "Give me something I like....Entertain me...Play the songs I like...Preach the way I like" We are not the audience. In church God is the audience for our worship.
Could we learn that we should leave a worship service not asking ourselves "What did I get out of that?" but rather "Was God pleased with what happened?"
In worship, God, not the congregation, is the audience that matters most. The point of worship is to please Him. As Walter Wink says, "to worship is to remember Who owns the house." We are playing to an audience of one.
And God owns this one...this is His house so we enter worship by looking UP...
Here are the instructions Jesus gives us about worship:
For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."
Howard Hendricks once said, "the church doesn’t need more workers; it needs more worshipers." Could it be that too many worshipers enter here on Sunday on what they can get from worship rather than what they can give? What do you think?
John Maxwell asserts that when a church really worships, ... it draws nonbelievers like a magnet. The real value of the church is not in its facility, pastor, people or programs. It is Jesus-he brings his power with his presence.
Furthermore, I believe Jesus would challenge us to further develop our service to be a safe place to the unchurched. I believe everything we do is to be filtered through their eyes. In our community, most people have had some exposure to the church. So I want us to be sensitive to those who have been turned off by the church or given up on a church as not relevant to them.
This apparently was Paul’s strategy in trying to reach the people of his day:
I have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with the Jews, I become one of them so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with those who follow the Jewish laws, I do the same, even though I am not subject to the law, so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with the Gentiles who do not have the Jewish law, I fit in with them as much as I can. In this way, I gain their confidence and bring them to Christ. ...When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ. I do all this to spread the Good News, and in doing so I enjoy its blessings. 1 Cor. 9:19-23
To the extent that we are looking up in worship, then to that extent those seeking God but perhaps turned off my church in the past will be here to worship with us.
By the way, we could still need a coordinator for the 10:45 worship service. My fear is that this service will suffer if we do not have someone who generally attends that service and has a heart for the more traditional elements of that service to help our worship team plan and grow that late service.
B. Secondly We should LOOK AROUND at the wonderful diversity and talent we have here and realize that this is a good thing!
A healthy church is a diverse church.... Healthy churches are not churches where we look around and everyone looks like us, thinks like us---although we could use a few more people here with beards. Healthy churches are made up of different people with a variety of gifts and abilities and needs.
1 Corinthians 12 says " ... if the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?...if they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body."
So a diverse church knows that unity does not mean uniformity and diversity does not mean division. In the essentials of faith we have unity-in the non-essentials we show love. John Wesley-so put your hand in my hand and let us walk together in love.
* Remember the Christian church was the first institution in the history of the world to bring together on equal footing Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slave and free.
* Unlike most other religions, Christians welcomed men and women alike.
* The Greeks excluded slaves from most social groupings, while Christians included them.
* The Jewish temple separated worshipers by race and gender: Christians brought them together around the Lord’s table.
* In contrast to Rome’s mostly male aristocracy, the Christian church let women and the poor take leadership roles.
We have much to learn and GAIN from people different than we are.....so we must LOOK AROUND and realize this-especially if we are to become home for hurting, seeking people..
C. We must also LOOK OUTWARD at the unique needs of our community.
The people in this area are our reason for existence. Archbishop William Temple said, "The church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members." God calls us to look around and see where He is at work in our community and join Him.
I am challenging you this year to do a serious study of what the needs of our community are-this month I’ll be attending on a seminar on effective outreach and will be doing a demographic study of our area to see what fish are in the pond. I challenge you to think about how can get out into the community and among the people-like the New Year’s Eve event at the community center. What other events could we do at the Community Center or other places that could help us connect to people in our community?
We need to touch the unique needs of our community in some way, even if it earns us a bad reputation like it did Jesus:
Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. Matthew 9:10--The Message
Folks if you want to learn how unchurched people think, what their needs are you got to spend time with them. You won’t learn by hanging out at church all the time.
. Evangelist Luis Palau said, "The church is like manure. Pile it together and it stinks up the neighborhood; spread it out and it enriches the world."
Wouldn’t it be great if the churches of the Weyers Cave Community got together and worked cooperatively at determining the needs of the people of the community? We are called to spread out giftedness and talents all over the needs of this community. And as long as we do this, our church will remain healthy, happy, and growing.
D. But we must also LOOK INWARD and understand that all people need God’s grace
Our inward look reminds us that each of us is a sinner undeserving of the Grace of God. This leads us to be humble as we realize all humans are on equal footing before God....all of us rely on His grace. This self-examination reminds us that God’s love comes free of charge....with no strings attached. There is nothing I can do to make God love me more....or less.
This inward look equips us to see all people not through eyes of judgment but through what Yancey calls, "grace-healed eyes". Dostoevsky said, "To love a person means to see him as God intended him to be."
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. Titus 2:11
To love the people in our local mission field all of us need "grace-healed" eyes to see the potential in others because of the same grace God has so lavishly bestowed on us.
4 I think Jesus would close His letter to us by promising a reward for our faithfulness to Him
I think Jesus would say that He understands that life in our day is so fast-paced and hectic that often we feel like Homer Hickam who wondered if real life hopes and dreams could be turned into reality..
[In real life, the WV Rocket Boy Homer Hickam, was asked these questions in an interview:
What has been your biggest accomplishment?
A: I hope I haven’t accomplished it yet.
What has been the biggest downfall of your career?
A: I can’t put my finger on anything specific. There have been times in my life when things didn’t work out the way I wanted but I always did the best I could do. I’m comfortable with that. But I recall one time when I told Miss Riley, my wonderful physics teacher at Big Creek High School, that I was doing my best. In response, she summed up her philosophy with two words: "Do better!"
The life of Homer Hickam demonstrates the power of dreams, belief and determination. Jesus says to you that he wants you to be a somebody in this world and he wants to use you to fulfill your potential here at Bethany church. God wants us to catch the waves he’s sending our way here at Bethany church and wants us to ride them.
In our church I believe the vision God has given me can be fulfilled. I believe the Spirit of God is saying "Do better."
Proverbs 29:18a KJV
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
At one point in the movie, October Sky, Homer Hickam almost gave up on his dream. He got tired of the resistance he received from some people to his dreams.
We get tired and disoriented and want to quit...but Jesus says that if we keep going...if we tune our hearts and minds to His voice...if we following His leading... ...then He would remind us that He has, ".... placed before us an open door that no one can shut."
He would promise us...that He will do things through us here in Weyers Cave, VA, that would be miraculous....things that would obviously be impossible without divine power. He will bless us with the excitement that comes from being a vessel that God uses.
Looking forward I already see glimpses of many doors that God is opening to us-I outlined these in my letter to you in the January Echo, our church’s monthly newsletter.
Great things are behind us and even greater things are out there in front.
God is opening doors for us....but if we are to see them and go through them we must continue to bathe this church in prayer....we must continue to devote ourselves to Bible study so that we will be able to recognize the voice of God when He calls and directs....
And I want to thank all of you-those who have supported the vision and mission of our church. I know that this transition we are in is not easy for all of you. But I thank God for your faithfulness to the Lord and to the church. You are to be commended for you commitment.
I particularly want to thank those who have been with this church from the beginning. If you were apart of the Naked Creek Church and helped to establish Bethany-will you stand?
Thank you for being a part of this great church and helping to make it all possible-even what we are doing here today. Someday you will hear the Lord say to you, "Well done-----"
I believe all of you will be rewarded for your faithfulness.
This is my State of the Church address. But what about you? What is God leading you to do today...January 13, 2002....what is the state of your life?
I want to ask you to look at the Circles of Commitment diagram on your outline.
These circles represent your level of commitment and where that places you in our community and church.
Community—are those who live in the area—generally don’t attend church
Crowd—those people who show up on Sunday morning at least 6 times a year; attend worship but don’t really get connected to the life of the church
Congregation—those of you who regularly attend church, maybe Sunday School classes but don’t get involved in ministry and mission of church
Committed—those ones growing in their faith, attending a class or group on a regular basis, getting involved in ministry teams or committees, using your talents and gifts to do ministry through this church
Core—lay ministers of the congregation, those who are key leaders, and in each one’s own way articulate the mission and vision or support the mission of the church
Now evaluate yourself---looking at our mission and vision statements and this commitment diagram, honestly mark where you see yourself now.
Now mark where you would like to move to in this year 2002. Prayerfully ask yourself—do I want to grow in my level of commitment—or do I want to stay where I am?
Think about these verses as you evaluate yourself:
VISION AND HARD WORK
James 2:26 Message
The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.
What will it take to move you into the next circle of commitment?
To the extent that you move closer to the core of this circle, then to that extent this church will grow to the next level God has planned for it. So I invite you to make a commitment today to be here for the next two Sundays as I teach you about how to be used by God
On the perforated response tab today if you want to commit to growing spiritually here at Bethany, could I ask you to consider these commitments?
1-If you want to fully experience the grace of God today by committing to Jesus as your Lord, the manager, director of your life—check that choice on the tab
2—Or if you want to re-commit your life today as a response of gratitude to God’s grace in your life, would you check that and somewhere on that tab write at least one thing that you would like to commit to today:
OUTREACH
INCREASE IN GIVING
EXLPLORING MISSION OPPORTUNITIES
MUSIC
COORDINATOR FOR 10:45 WORSHIP SERVICE
HELP IN NURSERY
PARTNERS IN PRAYER
OUTREACH
And if you’ll commit to being here the next 2 Sundays to learn how to be use by God just write on your response sheet—I’ll be here!
Would you share that with me and drop in the plate or hand to me later after the service as we bow our heads and pray:
As we close in prayer, I want to ask you to consider what areas of your life do you need to make a fresh commitment. I’ve discussed my perception of the state of the church. How do you see the state of your life? Will you say, "Jesus Christ, I want to start giving You the first thought of each day." You can do that! "Jesus Christ, I want to start giving You the first thought of each day. Help me to start, thinking of You. Help me to train my mind to do that." Will you give Jesus Christ the first day of every week? "Unless I’m ill, I’m going to be at worship every week. I’m not going to put You second or third and worship You when it’s convenient. I’m going to be there rain or shine. The first day of every week belongs to You, God." Will you give Him the first ten percent of every paycheck and say, "God, I realize I’d have nothing if it weren’t for You. Jesus Christ, in gratitude for the past and in faith for the future and to show that my priorities are right, right now, right off the top, the first part goes back to You." You can do that! Trust Him. It’s an issue of trust. Will you give him the first consideration in every decision? Will you say, "Jesus Christ, from here on out I want to put You first in everything that I do." He will crown your efforts with success.
Dear Lord, thank You for what You’ve done for us here at Bethany church. Thank you for sending me to be the Pastor here at Bethany for the past 5 1/2 years. I look forward to many more years if it is your will. You made us, You love us, You gave Your life for us. We want to give our lives back to You in return. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
