CONNECT BETHEL CHURCH
WELCOME TO BETHEL Welcome to Bethel! We are so glad to have you here! As you look through this Connect Bulletin, we trust that you will quickly find that Bethel has something for you and your family. Our hope is that you will take the next step into our community and get involved. As you do, you will begin to see that Bethel is more than just a Sunday service, it is a family of everyday people following Christ to bring hope and change to the world one life at a time.
WWW.BETHELSARNIA.COM
FEBRUARY 2019
THIS MONTH
CHILDREN’S & YOUTH MINISTRY
HOW DO WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS TRUE? The best-selling book in history remains one of the most controversial. Revered by Christians as God’s holy Word, the Bible spans centuries of history, contains a variety of literary styles and culminates in the person of Jesus Christ. But how do we know the Bible is true? Isn’t it just a collection of stories and myths? Even if it contains some history, is there any way we can trust it completely? What is the Bible? Answering these questions requires that we understand what the Bible is. It’s not a book that arrived in complete form at one point in history. Instead, the Bible was written over a period of some 1,500 years by a number of authors. Although it is viewed as one book, it’s actually a collection of many books. It is called God’s Word even though God did not physically write it. Instead, God worked through everyday people, inspired by Him, to record what Christians accept as the Bible. The Old Testament is primarily a record of God’s dealings with His chosen people – the Hebrews or Jews. The New Testament continues the record with first century accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus and the struggles faced by new Christians in a hostile culture. The Bible Today: Miraculous or Not? Today the Bible is controversial for several reasons. For example, it is filled with miracles. In the Old Testament, God parts the Red Sea, allowing His people to escape a hoard of angry Egyptians. In the book of Joshua, the sun is said to have stood still, while Jonah records a prophet swallowed by a large fish. In the New Testament the blind receive sight, Jesus walks on water and is resurrected after being executed on a cross. In a largely naturalistic age, meaning belief only in the material world, miracles are often doubted. The supernatural – anything beyond the natural world – is dismissed or relegated to a second-class status. This often results in doubt about the Bible. Can we trust it to be true? Are we really expected to believe the supernatural events it records? This is a bias that defines miracles out of existence rather than reasoning that if God exists, then miracles are possible. Truth and the Bible Asking if the Bible is true, means that we need to have some understanding of truth. What is truth? While this question is often presented as a deep philosophical puzzle suitable only for the “brainy” to tackle, the answer is not so complex. Truth is what corresponds to reality. Consequently, what is real is true, what is unreal is false. The Bible makes some very distinctive truth claims. It claims, for instance, that God exists. It also claims that He has chosen to communicate with us through His creation, our moral conscience, and via the Bible. Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh and that the only way for human beings to be saved is through Him (John 14:6). Moreover, the death and resurrection of Jesus are also key to Christian theology. These claims the Bible makes either correspond to reality or they do not. Christians believe that they do correspond to reality, meaning that the Bible is true. God really exists, Jesus is not a myth, and the resurrection really happened. But how do we know this? Knowledge and the Bible Sometimes Christians quote the Bible to prove the Bible. Most skeptics are rightly cautious of this approach. Quoting the Bible to prove the Bible is viewed as being circular reasoning or illogical. After all, quoting the Bible to prove the Bible assumes the Bible is true, which is really the point of contention or discussion. But if the Bible can be shown to be a reliable document, accurately recorded and transmitted through history, from God to us, then we can build a strong case that the Bible is indeed true. Evidence for the Bible Evidence for the Bible can take many forms. There is, for instance, physical evidence. We have copies of the manuscripts and throughout history these copies show that the Bible has been transmitted accurately. Despite common skeptical claims that the Bible has often been changed through the centuries, the physical evidence tells another story. The New Testament records are incredibly accurate. There are minor differences in manuscripts, called variants, but none of these variants impact or change key Christian beliefs or claims. Other physical evidence includes archeological finds. The Archaeological Study Bible presents many notes and articles documenting how archeology has again and again proven that the Bible does correspond to historical reality. There are other kinds of evidence that the Bible is true. These have to do with internal consistency and coherence. Although the Bible was written over many centuries by different writers, the messages it contains are coherent and consistent. The Bible presents a coherent theology and worldview and presents this material consistently. Moreover, the Christian worldview is robust, reasonable and grounded in history. Jesus and the Bible Although there are other lines of reasoning to support the claim that the Bible is true, one of the most powerful is found in Jesus. If it can be shown that the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – present an accurate record of the life and ministry of Jesus, then Jesus Himself becomes an argument in support of the truth of the Bible. If the Bible has been shown to be reliable, this line of reasoning is no longer circular, but rational. In other words, what the Bible records about Jesus, including what He says about God, human nature, salvation and the Old Testament record, can then be trusted. What does Jesus say about God’s Word? He says, “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35, NIV), thus testifying to the authority of the Bible. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them,” meaning that Jesus believed and trusted in the Old Testament “Law” and “Prophets.” Jesus also said, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). Space does not allow a thorough investigation of the views of Jesus on the Bible, but it is sufficient here to note that He believed God spoke through the Bible, He overtly upheld belief in several Old Testament stories, and revered the Bible as holy and authoritative. The cornerstone of Christian belief is the resurrection of Christ. Even Paul the Apostle admitted that if the resurrection did not happen, Christian faith “is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). In this sense, making a case for the truth of the resurrection also makes a case for the truth claims of Jesus and, in turn, the reliability and truth of the Bible. Does Our View of the Bible Matter? Liberal theologians sometimes point out that our view of the Bible doesn’t really matter. So long as we gain strength and insights from it, they say, that is enough. Following this line of reasoning, they remove many miracles of the Bible or simply treat them as myths. This is a mistake, particularly when it comes to the Resurrection of Christ. Our view of the Bible matters immensely, especially if what it claims is indeed true. If it is, as we have argued, then our eternal destiny hinges on how we will respond to Christ and His calling. Will we reject Him or accept Him? There is much more that could be said on the matter of truth and the Bible. The rest of the articles in this series will address the Bible’s reliability, how we got it, how to interpret it, responding to its critics and suggestions for handling seemingly difficult Bible passages. Written by Robert Velarde for Focus on the Family.
FROM ME TO YOU
By Pastor Tim
SHPOLA UKRAINE
Bethel took a team to Ukraine in 2011. It was on this trip that we met Pastor Dennis, and his wife Oksana, from Smila Ukraine. We immediately felt a connection with this couple. They were pastoring a group of people that had no church building. They were renting a local theatre for their services. Smila has a population of approximately 70,000 people but not one evangelical church building at that time. We heard Pastor Dennis vision to purchase a house on a piece of property right in the middle of the city.
This has been one of our great success stories as the church has grown in the past 5 years. They are full every Sunday morning. People are coming to Christ. And the church has held regional conferences for youth, men and women.
Well, Pastor Dennis has had another vision. He has planted a church in Shpola, Ukraine - about a 1 hour drive from Smila. Shpola is a community of approximately 18,000 with no evangelical church. In this church plant, 20 people are now gathering each week for services. On December 22nd of this past year, 5 new Christians were baptized in water. We felt the Lord calling us to help. So in 2012, Bethel provided $20,000 to buy that house and property. Then in 2013, Bethel provided another $40,000 to contract a church building on that property. Today, the Smila church has its own building since 2013 with a seating capacity of around 150 to 200 people (they say 150 Canadians and 200 Ukrainians).
This church plant is being pastored by Pastor Tamara Troyan, under Pastor Dennis oversight. An opportunity has come to purchase a house and land for $6,000US dollars. The land the house sits on is about 80% the size of the Smila property Enough room to build a church building in the future. And this house is near the centre of the town.
This week, the Elders of Bethel made the decision to send the $6,000US through Loads of Love ministry (Ed Dickson) for Pastor Dennis to purchase this house. We will see how God will grow this church and look for the possibility in the next couple of years to do what we did in Smila and build another church building. If you would like to contribute in your offerings to this Missions project, please simply designate in your Missions giving “To the Shpola Project.�
FEBRUARY 2019 Sun SUN
Mon MON
3
10:30AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb “Old Testament Survey”
4
Tue TUE
5
9:30AM Prayer GroupPrayer Room
11
10:30AM Service Wayne Hilsden from Israel
10:30AM Service Les Paulsen
1
2
8
9
7:15PM Bible StudySanctuary
7:00PM REVO
12
13
14
9:30AM Prayer GroupPrayer Room
15
12:00PM Keenagers Lunch with Ken Powel
16
6:00PM Rescue
Marriage Enhancement Weekend New Life Assembly in Petrolia Friday 7-9:30PM Saturday 9-3:30PM
6:00PM Prayer-Boardroom
6:30PM Service Pastor Tim Gibb “Ruth-Part 3”
10:30AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb “New Testament Survey”
Sat SAT
Sarnia Sting Faith Day 4:30PM Pre-game Rally 7PM Game
6:30PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room
Bethel Café Lunch-$5.00
24
7
Fri FRI
6:00PM Prayer-Boardroom
10
6:30PM Service Pastor Tim Gibb “Ruth-Part 4”
6
Thu THUR
6:00PM Rescue
6:30PM Service Pastor Tim Gibb Communion “Ruth-Part 2”
Kids 17 Presentations
Wed WED
18 FAMILY DAY OFFICE CLOSED Family Skate 4-5pm Clearwater Arena Blue Rink
25
6:30PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room
7:15PM Bible StudySanctuary
7:00PM REVO
19
20
21
9:30AM Prayer GroupPrayer Room
22
23
6:00PM Rescue 6:00PM Prayer-Boardroom 6:30PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room
26
9:30AM Prayer GroupPrayer Room
7:15PM Bible StudySanctuary
7:00PM REVO
27
28
Neighbourlink Coldest Night of the Year Walk-A-Thon
March 1
6:00PM Rescue 6:00PM Prayer-Boardroom 6:30PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room
6:30PM Service Les Paulsen
7:15PM Bible StudySanctuary
REVO-Tubing
OUR PASTORS PASTOR TIM & KIM GIBB
Lead Pastor pastortim@bethelsarnia.com
PASTOR TRICIA GIBB Connections Pastor tricia@bethelsarnia.com
PASTORS KEITH & PATRICIA PATRICK
PASTOR JENNIFER WINKLMEIER
Pastoral Care pastorkeith@bethelsarnia.com
PASTOR BROCK & KIRSTEN WRIGHT
Youth Pastor brock@bethelsarnia.com
Children’s Pastor jennifer@bethelsarnia.com
CONTACT US
1565 London Line Sarnia, Ontario N7T 7H2
/bethelsarnia 519.542.7731 bethel@bethelsarnia.com
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