Here at Bethel Church we are in the middle of our sermon series entitled “Memoirs of an Ancient Prophet: A Study Through the Book of Daniel.” Indeed, this coming Sunday, March 27, we will launch into the second half of Daniel 9. Our goal is to finish the Book of Daniel on Palm Sunday, just in time, of course, for Easter on April 24.
Past Easter we will be heading into a brief but very important series entitled “Crazy Sex: Embracing God’s Best in a World Gone Crazy.” The purpose of this series will be to contrast our broken world’s view of sexuality with God’s view, identifying the marvelous plan that God has for one man and one woman as they enjoy a lifetime of sexual fulfillment. During these five sermons we will be 1) unpacking the reality that God puts sexuality front and center within both the uniqueness and the unity established by him between a man and a woman, 2) acknowledge that as an expression of humanness, sexuality is a special gift designed to deepen the connection with the self, others and God, 3) come to understand that God built humans for sexual pleasure, and with that he created the family to ensure shameless balance regarding sexuality within a broken world, 4) and recognize that authentic, biblical sexuality with all of its depth overcomes a sexuality that is distorted and therefore broken; not to vilify, but to redirect toward God’s best for his children. Finally, 5) we will strongly affirm that our damaged ideas and dreams—indeed, our souls—may be washed and renewed through the blood of Jesus Christ. Your prayers regarding this sermon series are most welcome!
Summer will find us diving into a sermon series entitled “Old Guys Rule!” In this series we will be surveying the lives of a handful of the Bible’s most seasoned heroes, people like Moses and Caleb and Ana and John. Our aim is to acknowledge that being a senior saint doesn’t mean that you are useless. In a world that tells seniors that the best they should expect is some fantasy-life at The Villages in Florida, we want to affirm that making an eternal difference for generations they may never actually see is a thrill and is far more satisfying. We also want to extend an invitation to our younger generations to strive for something greater than they could possibly imagine.
Following Labor Day, God willing, we intend to head right into the Old Testament Book of Jonah, in a sermon series entitled, “Jonah and the World Beyond.” This will be a tremendous opportunity to understand anew God’s incredible missionary heart; a heart that calls us to love where we live—and far beyond where we live. And thinking even further ahead, we are planning on moving right into the Book of Galatians following Christmas 2011. But now I’m really getting ahead of myself!
Your prayers are deeply coveted, and for those of you who participate on our campus in Fargo, or for the many of you who watch online or listen through various audio feeds or radio, these details are shared that you might better prepare yourself for what God has in store. We are very excited at Bethel Church about just how it is that God will continue to grow us as disciples who live, love and lead like Jesus. And I’m incredibly honored to be on that journey with you!