Bethel Baptist Church

Notices – May 13

admin — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:09:28 +0000

The notice sheet for May is now available. You can view as a PDF File or download to print off on your own computer. You can also check out the calendar page for up-to-date details on church activities.

Notices – Apr 13

admin — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:55:10 +0000

You can read the notice sheet for April as a PDF File or download to print off on your own computer. You can also check out the calendar page for up-to-date details on church activities.

Notices – Feb 2013

admin — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:25:06 +0000

You can read the notice sheet for Feb as a PDF file or download to print off on your own computer. You can also check out the calendar page for up-to-date details on church activities.

Sad news

admin — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 10:55:27 +0000

Our friend and longest-standing member of Bethel, Margaret Carpenter passed away last week. Margaret had been attending Bethel since she was a child and used to walk from her home in Court Colman every week with her family. She faithfully attended meetings at the church as her health allowed. She also served the church as organist and deacon for many years and will be greatly missed.

We offer our sincere condolences to the family at this difficult time. The funeral arrangements are as follows:

Tue, 15th January
1.45pm Service at Bethel Baptist Church, Laleston
2.45pm Service at Coychurch Crematorium
3.30pm Open invitation to the Court Colman Hotel for tea

Breaking WEST news

admin — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:19:52 +0000

Exciting things are happening at our local bible college, WEST! You might want to take a look at the new WEST website, but also have a read of this news item, soon to be published in Evangelicals Now, describing a new partnership between WEST and Porterbrook Network:

http://www.west.org.uk/porterbrook

There is also news about initiatives in the Welsh valleys that should be of interest to local people.

Jim

New look website

admin — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:16:34 +0000

We are undergoing a revamp of the Bethel website at the moment. The look and feel of the site may change over the next couple of months while we test out different designs. If there is something you would like to see as part of our website, get in touch and let us know.

We hope the changes will make it easier to navigate and find out more about the church.

Jim

Christmas 2012

admin — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:45:00 +0000

We would love to see you all at our Christmas services this year. Here’s the full schedule:

Sun 16th Dec:
10.30am Family Service
6.00pm Carol Service now at the SaRang Thomas Centre (WEST) with special guests, Trelales Primary School Choir
Please note the changed venue for this service!

Tue 18th Dec:
7.00pm Joint carol service with other local Baptist churches at Smyrna, Pen-y-Fai

Thur 20th Dec:
2.00pm Carol Service at Bridgend OAP Association, Evergreen Hall

Sun 23rd Dec:
10.30am Family Service
6.00pm Carols by candle-light – informal carol service
(refreshments following both services)

Tue 25th Dec:
10.00am Christmas morning service

And here’s the message in our Christmas leaflet that has been delivered around our local neighbourhood in Laleston:

What do you want for Christmas?

That is probably the most popular question as Christmas rushes towards us. It might be easier to ask, “What DON’T you want?” There are a whole load of items you might like to add to that list: putting on extra weight; the hassle and stress; all the shopping; The Sound of Music again! I would like to make a suggestion for a shorter list. Not “what do you want” but “what do you NEED?”

The Christmas story is about God’s answer to our greatest need. Jesus came into this world largely unwanted. His father Joseph was not sure he wanted him, given that he wasn’t even married to Mary. Herod, the king at the time was quite sure he didn’t want another king on the scene and tried to kill Jesus. The poor old innkeeper (who’s not even mentioned in the bible story) didn’t want any more people, especially someone who was about to give birth! Even Jesus’ own people, the Jews, in time showed that they certainly didn’t want him.

But Jesus came to meet your greatest need. What is your greatest need? To be healthy, happy, wealthy? You might like all of that, but your greatest need above ALL other things, is to be right with God.

The bible says that God so loved this world that he gave the greatest gift, his own Son, that whoever believes or trusts in him, might not be lost, but have eternal life.

God knows that whatever your desires might be, this is your greatest need. You might have all sorts of reasons for not wanting this to be true. Maybe you want to carry on being king of your own life, maybe you are too busy to think about this or maybe you are too proud to accept God’s help.

But God entered our world in the form of Jesus Christ to meet our deepest need. He was born in the poorest of circumstances, he lived and then died to pay the price for our sin and make us right with God. It was to a group of poor, humble shepherds that the angels announced:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”

The peace they sang of was peace with God, who made us and loves us

We would love you to join us at one of our Christmas services this year to celebrate God’s greatest gift to this world, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you come to know him, to trust in him, to believe in him, you will not only find that he meets your deepest need. You may find him to be all that you ever wanted!

RBT further reading – Joshua and Judges

admin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 23:54:29 +0000

Our RBT readings in Sept were the books of Joshua and Judges. The content of these books raised a number of issues which we didn’t really have time to explore in detail in our feedback sessions. I thought it might be helpful to post a few links to some helpful resources, particularly on the issue of God’s command to Israel concerning the inhabitants of Canaan. Or to put it more bluntly, aren’t Israel guilty of genocide in the book of Joshua? We attempted the beginning of an answer in our feedback session, remembering that God is holy and just and that we are sinful and deserve God’s anger against our sin. Also remembering that God had promised the land to Israel and so was being faithful to that promise. Nevertheless, the issue of the justice of God’s action (through Israel) was raised (how could it be right to kill all those people?). I hope that the articles below might be helpful to give a fuller answer to this difficult question,

regards, Jim (pastor)

A really helpful article on the Gospel Coalition site by Justin Taylor – How could God command genocide in the Old Testament?
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2009/09/25/how-could-god-command-genocide-in-the-old-testament/

A short blog post by John Piper on his site, Desiring God – What does the slaughter of the Amorites mean?
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/what-does-the-slaughter-of-the-amorites-mean

A thorough article on the Bethinking.org apologetics site that goes into the wider issue of the mass killings in the Old Testament
http://www.bethinking.org/bible-jesus/advanced/old-testament-mass-killings.htm

Repost of an Evangelicals Now article on the Bethinking.org site – Is God a monster?
http://www.bethinking.org/bible-jesus/beginner/unapologetic-christianity-is-god-a-monster.htm

Notices – Oct 12

admin — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:29:08 +0000

The notice sheet for October is now available. You can download it as a PDF file to view or print on your own computer.

For more information of what’s going on in the church, take a look at our calendar page.

Notices – September 12

admin — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:52:38 +0000

The notice sheet for September is now available. You can download it as a PDF file to view or print on your own computer.

We are continuing our bible reading scheme called RBT (Reading the Bible Together) and this month will be reading the books of Joshua and Judges. If you haven’t already started, you can still get involved. For more information please visit our RBT page.

For more information of what’s going on in the church, take a look at our calendar page.