March 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

MARCH 2014

This Month

BETHEL NEWS Daylight Savings Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday March 8th.

Special Business Meeting At our Annual Church Business meeting, proposed changes to our church constitution were presented. In order for these changes to be made, it requires a affirmation vote from our members. A special business meeting, for all official members of Bethel, will be held on Sunday, April 6th following our 10:30AM service to vote on the acceptance of these proposed constitutional changes.

Upcoming

NEXT STEP - BE PART OF ALPHA AT BETHEL New Alpha Group at the home of Pastor Keith & Patricia begins March 31st at 6:30PM. Discussion times, coupled with great social times. Contact church ofďŹ ce to join an Alpha Course or for location details and more.

Student Ministries Recently at Revo we spent a night teaching on purity in the area of sexuality. Our youth came to the discussion with a maturity that made me wonder… Have we danced too lightly around the subject because we are afraid of making our students uncomfortable? Perhaps they are more ready to have the discussion than we are. It’s important for us as parents and leaders to have honest dialogue with our students about sex on an on-going basis. If they don’t hear from us, where are they going to learn about purity and a Biblical approach to temptation? If you are thinking, “my teen is different, they aren’t even thinking about sex.” Studies tell us that… - 90% of age 8-19 year olds have viewed porn on internet - the average age of first internet porn observation is 11 years old - top consumers of online pornography are boys ages 12-17 In today’s world it is not possible for our youth to escape the sexual images surrounding them, but that doesn’t mean they have to invite temptation into their life. Here’s some things to keep in mind when talking to your student about purity: 1. Sex is not bad. God created it with the purpose and intention for marriage. 2. Sex starts with lust. Teach your student to control their eyes first. 3. Boundaries are important. In dating, in friendship with the opposite sex, with their computer/phone. 4. Love is a choice. Feelings should not always be our guide. 5. Purity has everything to do with our heart. Keep your heart focused on Jesus. Honest dialogue is the best way to equip your student for real life. Let’s not shy away from conversations that will help point our students to a life of purity.

REVO SCHEDULE MARCH 6TH Revo Service

MARCH 21ST Youth Rally in Bright’s Grove

MARCH 13TH Event Night: Tubing

MARCH 27TH Revo Service

This Is My Story Rob Spencer only my way; I decided my own fate. Well time passed and the party life was growing old and I wasn’t partying as much. After years of disappointments in broken relationships the pain of emptiness finally caught up with me. Were my parent’s prayers really working in my life? I returned back home realizing I needed to clean up my life. I stopped the hard drugs but enjoyed drinking. Fast forward, I married my long time girlfriend and was attending a Catholic church. I went to church on Sundays and lived like hell the rest of the week. Life

Amazing Love – How Can It Be? These are the words I repeated to myself over and over again in the early days of my salvation. It was the second Sunday in January 2006 that I was sitting beside my mom Yvonne in the same row of the church where she and my father Edmond sat for 15 years praying for me; believing that one day their son would come to know the love and everlasting life in Jesus Christ. My name is Rob and this is my story, my testimony that Jesus is real and only He can do what I am about to share with you. You might ask yourself why your parents would have to labour in prayer for so long for the soul of their youngest son. I attended church but never knew Jesus; I had no relationship with Him. My parents started attending Bethel in the early eighties when I was in my early teens and found all this Jesus stuff to be foolish. We had prayer meetings at our house, bible studies in our living room, full of church people. I was deaf to hear anything my parents preached to me because for me it was party, party, party! I was easily influenced by my friends; I was a follower and not a leader. Everyone at school was drinking, taking and smoking drugs and I was no different. As I became older the partying intensified, the drugs were harder and the drinking was heavier, that was my life. For me Jesus would be far off in the background and I knew what I was doing was wrong but it was my way and

was normal, just like everyone else around me, I thought. I graduated from college with a professional career and started working. I was blessed with two beautiful daughters but sadly my father went to be with the Lord before seeing his first granddaughter or the salvation of the son he was praying for. Well time went by and my marriage rode on life’s roller coaster and sadly crashed and I with it. Depressed and angry I fell into drinking again, believing that drinking would numb the pain. It led me deeper into a lie that now there was nothing left, it was my fault, I was a failure and nobody cares or loves me, nor ever would. My family was gone, my house was empty. Friend, we have an enemy who wants to kill and destroy you! The devil is real, he is the father of all lies and there is a dark side to this world. I was tempted to end my life, but that attempt failed. Would the prayers of my parents still work throughout the years so long ago? It was Christmas 2005, days after this attempt that I received a knock on my door; strange because I’m not expecting anyone. It is my born again nephew Ron. Really! I thought to myself, through my mother and sisters he heard of my situation. “Hi Rob!” he exclaims. “I just came from church (Bethel) and talked to an Elder of the church about you and he would love to meet you and talk. Will you meet him?” he asks. I thought OK, my mother might be behind this so I don’t want to disappoint her. So I went and we met with the man from church and he quickly took an interest in me, like I was important. He told me that Jesus loves me, He has a plan for me, He died on a cross for me and He can forgive my sins and give me life everlasting, full of joy and peace. He gave me a bible to read for

myself if I didn’t believe him. We then ended our meeting but not without inviting me out to Bethel. I thanked him and said “We will see!” Well, days passed and I was looking at my surroundings knowing I hit rock bottom. Drinking and such did nothing for me; it couldn’t take the pain away, it couldn’t make me happy and it couldn’t change my life. Maybe this Jesus can do it for me. It was time to let go and let God. So I thought of the invite to church and I phoned my mother and asked her if she had room in her car to bring me to church with her on Sunday morning. I sat next to her quietly balling my eyes out, streams of tears falling. Imagine that, the same seat in the same row of the church that she and my father sat 23 years ago. I confess that I felt something when I walked in the church that touched the inside of me. Pastor Tim gave an altar call at the end of the service for those who needed Jesus in their life and I responded. Friend, God has changed me. I don’t walk the same, I don’t look the same, I don’t talk the same, my mind has been renewed, my heart has been changed, I have a passion for Christ. I don’t swear, I don’t do drugs, I don’t drink, I don’t have depression or anger, I can forgive. I have a weight lifted off of me and I have happiness and a peace I cannot describe. I have been reborn! I have found what I was looking for. I have been giving a new life! I have been blessed with a beautiful wife and a church family. I am thankful for Ron, for caring enough to move on my behalf. I am especially thankful to my parents who never gave up praying for me. Dad I will see you one day and we will praise God together!! Friend, if you are reading this and thinking to yourself “good for you Rob, but you don’t know the things I’ve done.” Well let me tell you that Jesus can raise the dead! You have witnessed a miracle in me. He can do more for you in the next 30 seconds than all the king’s horses and all the king’s men! God loves you, he wants to heal you, forgive you of your sins, fill you with his Holy Spirit and give you victory. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Make Jesus centre of your life! Blessings, Rob.

Love Ukraine

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED FOR BRADBURY’S IN ARGENTINA England, Denmark and Mexico. Without question, God is doing amazing things! Our legal team tells us that the only way to resolve the problem with our

Dear Friends, Margi, Jeff and I take this opportunity to thank all of our friends for both your prayers and financial support of our ministry here in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Every day I remind myself that we are not alone and that the work here is not a one man show. We are a joint effort by everyone. The past year has had its many challenges as we find ourselves in an intense spiritual battle. The tension with our neighbour is increasing. Our legal team is very concerned and amazed at what is happening, especially when we were forcefully removed from our building on May 19th 2013 by the Federal police. Our legal team is dumbfounded that the rights of the congregation and their safety are so ignored. We are told that this problem with our neighbour will only escalate in our present facility because we are only renting. Furthermore, our present building is rapidly becoming too small as new people join us. In the middle of incredible times of facing threats and all kinds of opposition, God is still building His church. We have visitors and regular people attending from Argentina (of course), Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Germany,

neighbour is to become owners of our own building. We need God’s guidance to find the right building and His Divine provision so that this building can be paid for upfront with cash. We are praying for this to happen because we need God to step in and work on our behalf. Please pray with us that... 1. The Lord will guide us and provide us with the funds to buy our own building. 2. The Lord will give us wisdom in dealing with the public prosecutor and our own lawyers. 3. God will give us favour with the entire court system and people involved in this situation. 4. Pray for us that we will have unconditional love and complete forgiveness. All for Jesus. Ray, Margi and Jeff Bradbury (Missionaries to Argentina)

NOTE: Bethel is pleased to provide funding to the Bradbury’s through our Missions program. We encourage you to make this situation a matter of prayer for the Bradbury’s and we will keep you informed as to developments in this matter.

We will continue our Love Ukraine fundraiser through the month of March. At the end of February a total of $5,124.55 has been raised. We are believing for an additional $9,539 to be raised. These funds will go entirely to complete the building project in Smila, Ukraine. Bethel has already given over $50,000 for the purchase of the land and the construction of a 200+ seat church building. The walls and roof are up. But now we need funds for doors, windows and heating system. Pastor Dennis is doing a wonderful job leading this congregation and building project. He has our full confidence. In our Lobby is a wall of hearts with various donation amounts. We encourage everyone in Bethel to be a part of this great work and to select a donation amount and make that contribution. With everyone selecting a donation amount, we can easily see this project completed. We so appreciate your faithful support.

ILYA BANTSEEV Our Missionary to Siberia, Russia, Ilya Bantseev will be coming to Bethel on Sunday, March 23rd for our 10:30AM service to bring a report of the work he is leading. Bethel has been a partner with Ilya and Janet now for 10 years as our missionaries to Siberia. Their work not only includes a growing church but a major outreach through Teen Challenge to those struggling with substance abuse.

THE CIRCLE MAKER 40 Day Prayer Campaign March 5th to April 19th Beginning on March 5th, Bethel will begin a 40 day prayer campaign based on the best-selling Christian book The Circle Maker. Pastor Mark Batterson, senior pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C, is the author of this book. In The Circle Maker, Mark provides a fresh approach to prayer that teaches you how to pray in a new way by drawing prayer circles around your dreams, your family, your problems, and most importantly, God’s promises. In the process, you’ll discover this simple yet life-changing truth: God honours bold prayers and bold prayers honour God.

THIS CIRCLE MAKER PRAYER CAMPAIGN WILL INVOLVE 4 AREAS: 1. The 40 day devotional book called: Draw the Circle. This devotional book is based on the writings of The Circle Maker and will inspire through true stories of miraculous answers to prayer through this fresh approach to prayer. We are very encouraged at Bethel for the strong response of our church in purchasing this devotional book. At the end of February, 175 books have been ordered by members of our congregation. This tells us that participation is very high, as some married couples or families would only order one book to share. Now we encourage our church to follow our reading schedule so that each day we are all reading the same devotional. We will begin on Wednesday, March 5th and follow the LENT calendar. LENT is an orthodox church tradition that calls for participants to fast something for 40 days (excluding Sundays) leading up to Easter. This is done in recognition of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness of temptation. The reason Sunday is not included in the 40 day count is that Sunday is to be a day of celebration.

We will follow this schedule, beginning March 5th, with a devotional reading every day, except Sundays. This will take us to our last devotional reading on Saturday, April 19th (Easter Sunday is April 20th). 2. Pastor Tim will be, with the inspiration of The Circle Maker book, develop his own 6 Sunday morning messages to inspire each of us to form prayer circles around our faith, our family, our finances, our church and our city.

Sunday Messages: March 9th The Power of Bold Prayers March 16th Drawing a Circle around your Faith March 23rd Drawing a Circle around your Family March 30th Drawing a Circle around your Finances April 6th Drawing a Circle around our Church April 13th Drawing a Circle around our City 3. Each Sunday we will also include a collective prayer focus for that week. A prayer guide will be made available to assist in circling God’s promises over various areas of our lives. Each Wednesday night at our church prayer meeting, we will be praying together on that week’s prayer focus. 4. We will also announce special times of prayer where we will invite you to participate in prayer walks around our church and our city. Let us join together in this prayer campaign to draw circles around our biggest dreams and greatest fears….and see God move in our church in an even greater way than ever before!

MARCH 2014 SUN Sun

MON Mon

TUE

WED Wed

Tue

THUR Thu

FRI Fri

SAT

Sat 1 7:00 PM Encounter Service-John Wilkinson

10:30 AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb Communion

4 6:30 PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room

ANNUAL MEETING 6:30 PM Encounter Service-John Wilkinson

10:30 AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

6:00 PM Rescue

6:30PM DivorceCare

7:00 PM LIFE-Young Adults at –116 Paul Sloggett Crt

7:00 PM Choir

7:00 PM REVO

12 Circle Day #7

13 Circle Day #8

Circle Day #5

Circle Day #6

6:30 PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room 7:00 PM Community Groups

6:30PM DivorceCare

7:00 PM LIFE-Young Adults at –116 Paul Sloggett Crt

17 Circle Day #11

6:30 PM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

10:30 AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

Fellowship Hall

10:30 AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb 6:30 PM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

Circle Day #12

6:30 PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room

6:00 PM Prayer REVO- Event

19 Circle Day #13

20 Circle Day #14

6:30PM DivorceCare

7:00 PM LIFE-Young Adults at –116 Paul Sloggett Crt

7:00 PM Choir

24 Circle Day #17

25 6:30 PM Bible Study & Hymn Sing-Prayer Room 7:00 PM Community Groups

6:30PM DivorceCare

7:00 PM LIFE-Young Adults at –116 Paul Sloggett Crt

Circle Day #4

15 Circle Day #9

Circle Day #10

Circle Day #15

22 Circle Day #16

9:30 AM Mom’s Group 12 NOON– Keenager’s Luncheon

6:00 PM Prayer

26 Circle Day #19

7:00 PM 20/30 Young Adults Social Night– Lobby

7:00 PM Choir

6:00 PM Rescue

Circle Day #18

8 Circle Day #3

6:00 PM Prayer

6:30PM Cancer Prayer Support Group-Board Room 7:00 PM Community Groups

6:30 PM Service Pastor Tim Gibb 6:30 PM Foundation Course-

7 Circle Day #2

6:30PM Cancer Prayer Support Group-Board Room 7:00 PM Community Groups

6:30 PM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

10:30 AM Service Pastor Tim Gibb

6 Circle Day #1

6:30 PM The Solid Way

27 Circle Day #20

29 Circle Day #21

Circle Day #22

9:30 AM Mom’s Group 6:00 PM Rescue 6:00 PM Prayer 7:00 PM Choir

7:00 PM REVO

Restoration Retreat Weekend Friday 7-10PM Saturday 9-5PM

31 Circle Day #23 6:30PM DivorceCare 6:30PM Alpha (New) at –Pastors Keith & Patricia’s

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

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.