January CONNECT by Bethel Sarnia

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

JANUARY 2015

This Month

BETHEL NEWS Bethel Choir Bethel Choir will resume on Wednesday January 14 at 7PM. The choir will be preparing for some Sunday mornings and for Resurrection Sunday. New choir members are welcomed.

Tithing Envelopes Tithing envelopes for 2015 are available for pick up in the Lobby. If you have not used tithing envelopes in the previous year but would like to have envelopes for 2015, please contact the church office.

Giving in 2015 There are several ways for you to financially give and support the ministry of Bethel church including through online banking. An information sheet that outlines all the giving options is available at the Giving Kiosk or call the church office and speak to Wendy Bennett (519-542-7731)

Elder Nominations All official members at Bethel are welcome to submit nominations for the 2015 Elder Board. Nominations forms are available on the Connect Desk. Nominations must be submitted by Sunday January 25th. The Annual meeting will take place on Sunday, March 1st following the morning service.

Bless Sioux Lookout PAOC Churches across the Western Ontario are partnering together to bless the native reservation in Sioux Lookout. We will be collecting items until Sun Feb 15th that will be sent to Sioux Lookout. Items needed are: Canned goods, non-perishable foods, cleaning supplies, new toys for toddlers, colouring books, crayons, baby cloths, wipes, diapers, lotion, shampoo, toys, blankets, quilts, gift cards for Walmart & Sobeys (any value). Also teen girl supplies of new makeup, nail polish, purses, bangles, devotionals.

Days Of Prayer & Fasting

Jesus in Matthew 6 spoke of the open reward to those who pray, fast and give. Jesus said to His followers, not if you pray, but when you pray. Prayer is the foundation of our relationship with God. And history teaches us that the moves of God’s Spirit are always preceded by prayer. John Wesley is the one credited for saying: “God does nothing except in answer to prayer.” We have big plans for 2015 and a strong desire for the Lord to do “great and mighty things” in and through our church. It is imperative that we set apart a season of disciplined prayer to set the atmosphere for the coming year. I would strongly encourage you now, as you read these words, to determine in your heart how you will join with us for these days, both in your own individual time and disciplines, and with us for corporate prayer times. On the side of this article is a schedule of all the special church prayer times that we will have, as well as times that the Sanctuary will be open for your own personal prayer times. Please notice that on two Friday nights (January 2nd and 9th) we will have all night prayer from 6PM to 12Midnight. During these church prayer times, we will have 12 Prayer Banners for areas we will be praying over for 2015.

THURSDAY JAN 1 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM FRIDAY JAN 2 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 12 Midnight ALL NIGHT PRAYER

JANUARY 1 - 1 4

It has been our custom at Bethel over the last number of years to begin a New Year with days of prayer and fasting. Now we do not do this just to keep up a tradition, but rather because we know that prayer and fasting releases a blessing into our church and individual lives.

Schedule

WHAT ABOUT FASTING? Fasting is to be a discipline of the New Testament believer. The Bible teaches us that there is exponential power that is available to those who fast. At Bethel, when we set aside days of prayer and fasting, we always leave the decisions of how to fast to each individual. For some, you may decide to do a total fast (just water and juices). Others may fast a limited diet (sometimes called a Daniel Fast of vegetables and water or with some protein but no sugar or carbs). Others may choose to fast one meal a day or a certain time period every day. The important thing is that your motivation is toward the Lord and that it is intentional in seeking the Lord. Fasting not only has spiritual benefits but also some tremendous physical benefits. For some though, due to medical or blood sugar issues, fasting is not advised. Perhaps instead, fast an activity such as Facebook or television. If you have any questions about fasting and health, speak to your family doctor. I am very pleased that we will conclude this special season of prayer and fasting with 4 days of Encounter services with Jan Painter and Tracy Stewart. I am believing for a powerful release of the prophetic word in these meetings in response to our season of prayer. Your participation is important, necessary and valuable.

Pastor Tim Gibb

SATURDAY JAN 3 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM SUNDAY JAN 4 6:30PM - 8:00PM MONDAY JAN 5 Auditorium Open 9AM to 5PM 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM TUESDAY JAN 6 Auditorium Open 9AM to 5PM 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM WEDNESDAY JAN 7 Auditorium Open 9AM to 5PM 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM THURSDAY JAN 8 Auditorium Open 9AM to 5PM 12PM - 1PM 6PM -7PM FRIDAY JAN 9 Auditorium Open 9AM to 1PM 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 12 Midnight ALL NIGHT PRAYER SATURDAY JAN 10 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM SUNDAY JAN 11 6:30PM - 8:00PM MONDAY JAN 12 Auditorium Open 9AM to 5PM 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM TUESDAY JAN 13 Auditorium Open 9AM to 5PM 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM WEDNESDAY JAN 14 Auditorium Open 9AM to 5PM 12PM - 1PM 6PM - 7PM

Bible Studies in 2015

Young Marrieds Retreat

2015 MISSIONS Our Missions program is a big part of the ministry here at Bethel Church. We believe that we are to have a heart for both our local community and for the world. As you can see in the column beside, we have various missionaries we are supporting in 2015, as well as missions projects and local outreach.

interested in going on a Missions Trip in 2015? UKRAINE - MAY 27TH TO JUNE 10TH (TENTATIVE DATES) Led by Pastor Tim and Pastor Tricia. The purpose of this trip is to provide a Bible kids camp for an orphanage in Krivvy Rog. We will also be visiting the church in Smila where we helped to build their church building; as well as ministry in other area churches. We are also working to see if we can get Evangelist Nathan Morris into the capital city of Kiev for 3 or 4 days of evangelistic services. Our team would be assisting in this outreach and providing prayer and altar support.

BRAZIL - AUG 21ST TO SEPT 1ST (TENTATIVE DATES) Pastor Tim will be leading this team to Recife Brazil. We will be stationed at the YWAM base led by our missionaries Mati & Julie Gali. The team will be involved in receiving teaching every morning, then afternoons and evenings will be assigned to ministry in area churches and street outreach ministry. More info on both of these trips will be available towards the end of January. Speak to either Pastor Tim or Pastor Tricia if you are interested in either one of these short-term missions trips.

2015 MISSIONS BUDGET Foreign Missions Ed & Natasha Dickson

Ukraine

Ilya & Janet Bantseev

PAOC Siberia

Ray & Margi Bradbury

Argentina

Bob & Magda Emberley

YWAM

Mati & Julie Gali

YWAM Brazil

Restricted

PAOC Restricted

$2,000

Restricted

PAOC Restricted

$2,000

Mark Davy

Evangelist

$6,000 $6,000 $3,000 $2,000

$2,000

Mike Kerychuk

SouthEast Asia

Don Mann

PAOC South Africa

Darren McCrea

PAOC Columbia

India

$4,000

Uganda

$3,000

Huldah Buntain Watoto Orphanage

$2,000

$2,000 $2,000

Projects Pastoral Staff Missions

Ukraine/Brazil

$8,000

Bethel Missions Trips*

Ukraine/Brazil

$8,000

Orphanage Support*

Ukraine/Brazil

$5,000

Orphanage Cell Ministry*

Ukraine

$5,000

Church Missions Project*

Foreign

$6,000

local Pregnancy Centre $3,500 Neighbourlink $3,500 Lambton College Chaplaincy $1,000 Bethel Outreach to Lambton College

$2,000

Local Outreach $20,000

Total Missions Goal for 2015 $100,000 Bethel Missions Trips These funds will go to provide support to Bethel Missions teams. Each person is responsible to raise their own costs. But these funds will cover extra costs such as ground transportation and ministry materials. Orphanage Support These funds will be given to provide practical support to a local orphanage/s in Ukraine through the ministry of Loads of Love. Ie: Provision of beds, supplies, renovations. Orphanage Cell Ministry These funds provide salary of a Christian young adult, named Lena Taran, who is working for Loads of Love (Ed Dickson). Lena is going into local orphanages in Krivvy Rog, Ukraine providing Bible clubs to orphans. Church Missions Project These funds are to assist a church on the foreign field.

Loving Your Community As Yourself Bethel Pentecostal Church reaches out to community with massive party

CHRISTIAN WEEK a national publication did a story on our Family Fun Day Outreach we held this past September. The article was published this November. Here is the article.

SARNIA, ON—Sarnia’s Bethel Pentecostal Church is telling its neighbourhood that it is fully invested in the community and it is here to bless families. The church’s annual Family Fun Day has grown from a small outreach event to a community staple.

The first five years were funded entirely by the church, but as the event gained traction, the church decided to partner with local businesses to help cover the costs, increase public exposure and build bridges in the community.

“It started with a desire to make our community aware that we are here to be a blessing,” says lead pastor Tim Gibb. “We decided to provide a free afternoon of activities. Our first year we had about 300 people, but it has grown consistently every year.”

“We want this to be seen as a community event and the business sponsorships give it more legitimacy. The non-negotiables for me are that it is hosted at and by our church and that everything is free,” says Gibb. “We get very encouraging comments and people come away with a very positive view of our church.” Church member Dorothy Huebl says when she told her co-worker about the event, her co-worker was amazed at what the church was doing for the community—and especially that it was free.

More than 2,600 people enjoyed this year’s outreach, held September 20, which included pony rides, a petting zoo, a magic show, a Christian BMX and skateboarding team, a variety show, live music, a princess tea, and nine inflatable bouncy castles, slides and challenges. Everyone attending also gets a free ticket for the barbecue lunch. “It’s not an evangelistic event, it’s just a community event,” explains Gibb. “We do other things that are very evangelistic, but this event is just to bless. Families can come for an afternoon, watch a few shows, do activities, have lunch and it costs them nothing. The benefit for us is that we get public exposure.”

needed Jesus, but were very hesitant to set foot in a church. “There are so many stereotypes about churches that most people in our city will never give a church a chance. Some people are unwilling to step into a church to fix their own lives, but they’ll come if they think it’s going to benefit their children,” she explains. “I saw this as an opportunity to introduce my non-Christian friends to my church and ultimately to Jesus.” Another member of the organizing committee, Connie Berry, got involved for similar reasons. She loves the creative outlet all the planning gives her, but even more, she cherishes the opportunity to show love to hurting community members.

After attending this year’s Family Fun Day, community member Tovah Elliott told organizers, “My daughter and I had such a great time at your event. Everyone was so kind and friendly; from the shuttle bus driver to the food service staff. I look forward to learning more about your church and attending a service in the near future.”

“Love is a universal language and when people are on the receiving end of it, it really does change them,” she says. “Our town is full of lost and hurting people who need Jesus. They need to see that we, as a church, love them and care about them. These are the seeds we are planting as people come for Family Fun Day.”

Bethel student ministries pastor Tricia Gibb has been involved in all seven Family Fun Day events. She says when she moved to Sarnia, she saw many people who desperately

CRAIG MACARTNEY Senior Correspondent Christian Week Magazine

Greater Things Are Yet To Come 2015 promises to be a great year at Bethel. We are very excited about special guests that will be coming to Bethel in 2015. Returning to Bethel in January will be the prophetic ministry of Jan Painter and Tracy Stewart. Then returning for the 2nd time will be missionary legend, Huldah Buntain. Huldah and her husband, Mark, went to Calcutta, India over 60 years ago for a 1 year term. They ended up staying. Mark died suddenly of a heart attack in the 1980’s but Huldah remained. Her ministry, Mercy Ministry, includes a full hospital, a nursing school, school for the blind, several Bible colleges, and hundreds of churches. Huldah celebrated her 91st birthday this past November and still leads the ministry. She will be with us in March. Revivalist Rodney Howard-Browne along with his wife and ministry team will be at Bethel for special meetings we are calling Great Awakening. Rodney holds major meetings all over the world. In 1999, he rented Madison Square Garden in New York for 30 days and saw thousands of people come to Christ. Most recently, Rodney held meetings this summer at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C, right by the Capital building. Every major revival in the last 30 years has some connection to Rodney. We are so blessed that he has agreed to come to Sarnia. We are already receiving calls in the office from people, outside of Sarnia, desiring to come to these meetings. We are also very excited to have Caroline Barnett from the Los Angeles Dream Centre as our special guest for our Women’s Conference in October. Caroline and her husband, Matthew, took over a very small Assemblies church in Los Angeles. After a few years of struggle, the church exploded with growth. They were able to purchase a full hospital and now provide ministry care support to over 80,000 people every month. Caroline will be at Bethel to share their story. Local outreach and missions will be a big part of 2015. We are planning to again run our Family Fun Day in September. The outreach, Heaven’s Gate Hell’s Flames, will be happening the last weekend in October. In Missions, we are planning two short-term missions trips in 2015. One in May to Ukraine, and the other in August to the YWAM base in Recife Brazil. Let us know if you would be interested in participating in either of these trips. Lastly, but not of least importance, in the first quarter of 2015, we will be presenting to the church a plan for a major renovation to our upstairs area. The upstairs area of our church is in desperate need of repair. With the expansion of our building a few years ago, we have the room and are able to do a complete renovation of the upstairs that will allow for adequate space for all our children’s ministry and a dedicated youth area for their services and a place to hang out. This will also allow the Gym be restored to a full functioning Gym. Ministry to kids and youth should be a priority and this includes good space for teaching and ministry. All of the details (the plan, the costs, etc.) will be shared in the first quarter of 2015. Confident that Bethel best and brightest days are yet before us, Pastor Tim Gibb

ENCOUNTER SERVICES

January 15-18 With Jan Painter & Tracy Stewart

HULDAH BUNTAIN MARCH 29TH

GREAT AWAKENING CANADA APRIL 12TH TO 17TH

With Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne, Eric & Jennifer Gonyon, and the River Bible College Worship Team.

FAMILY FUN DAY SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19TH

WOMEN’S CONFERENCE OCTOBER 16-17

With Caroline Barnett, co-founder of the Los Angeles Dream Centre.

TED SHUTTLESWORTH Dates to be determined

HEAVEN’S GATES HELL’S FLAMES OCTOBER 24 - 25

JANUARY 2015 Sun SUN

Mon MON

Tue TUE

Wed WED

Thu THUR

Fri FRI

1 NEW YEAR’S

Days of Prayer January 1st-14th

3 Prayer 12PM-1PM

DAY

6 Prayer 12PM-1PM 6PM-7PM

6:30 PM Service Prayer Meeting

10:30 AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

12 Prayer 12PM-1PM 6PM-7PM

6:30 PM Service Prayer Meeting

10:30 AM Service Jan Painter/Tracy Stewart

10:30 AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

7 6PM-7PM

7:00PM Bible Study at Ken & Marti Steenwyk’s

Prayer 12PM-1PM 6PM-7PM

6:00PM Rescue

7:00PM Choir 7:00 PM Men’s Mentoring Group

7:00PM Encounter Service

7:00PM Choir

OUR PASTORS PASTOR TIM GIBB

Lead Pastor Ext. 228 pastortim@bethelsarnia.com

PASTOR TRICIA GIBB

Student Ministries Pastor Ext. 223 tricia@bethelsarnia.com

PASTORS KEITH & PATRICIA PATRICK Pastoral Care Ext. 226 pastorkeith@bethelsarnia.com

6:00PM Rescue 6:00PM Prayer 7:00PM Choir 7:00 PM Men’s Mentoring Group

10:30AM Intercessors Service-Open to All

7:00PM Encounter Service

7:00 PM Men’s Mentoring Group

6:00PM Prayer

7:00PM Encounter Service

9:30 AM Mom’s Group

9:30AM Prayer Group 6:30 PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room 7:00PM LIFE-Young Adults at Chris & Linda Guerette’s 7:00PM Bible Study at Dalton & Robyn Burke’s

6:30 PM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

1:00 PM Keenagers Movie & Pizza

6:30PM Cancer Support Group-Board Room 6:30PM ALPHA at Darwin & Angela Armstrong’s 7:00 PM REVO 7:00PM Bible Study at Ken & Marti Steenwyk’s

6:00PM Rescue

Prayer 12PM-1PM 6PM-7PM

9:30 AM Mom’s Group

6PM-7PM

All Night Prayer 6PM-12 Midnight

Prayer 12PM-1PM

6:30 PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room 7:00PM LIFE-Young Adults at Chris & Linda Guerette’s 7:00PM Bible Study at Dalton & Robyn Burke’s

9:30 AM Mom’s Group Prayer 12PM-1PM

6:30PM Cancer Support Group-Board Room 7:00 PM REVO

6:00PM Rescue

6:30 PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room 7:00PM LIFE-Young Adults at Chris & Linda Guerette’s 7:00PM Bible Study at Dalton & Robyn Burke’s

9 Prayer 12PM-1PM 6PM-7PM

6:30 PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room 7:00PM LIFE-Young Adults at Chris & Linda Guerette’s 7:00PM Bible Study at Dalton & Robyn Burke’s

9:30AM Prayer Group

6PM-7PM

All Night Prayer 6PM-12 Midnight

8 Prayer 12PM-1PM

9:30AM Prayer Group

6:30 PM Service Jan Painter/Tracy Stewart

9:30AM Prayer Group Prayer 12PM-1PM 6PM-7PM

Prayer 12PM-1PM

Prayer 12PM-1PM 6PM-7PM

10:30 AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb Communion

Sat SAT

6:30PM ALPHA at Darwin & Angela Armstrong’s 7:00 PM REVO 7:00PM Bible Study at Ken & Marti Steenwyk’s

Men’s Day Retreat Strathroy, ON Van leaves Bethel at 8AM

NEED A RIDE TO CHURCH? Need a ride to Church on Sunday morning? Just call the church office before 8:30AM Sunday morning & follow the instructions to leave a message.