We’ve been journeying through the Word from Genesis through 1 Samuel. It’s been a two and a half year journey thus far and we’re slowing down just a bit to dwell on one of the greatest and most well-known Bible stories of all time – David and Goliath. We’re going to spend four Sundays (all through March) talking about what it means to kill giants, to take on life’s biggest challenges and pursue the battle till victory for God’s very best. Join us in either of our Sunday morning services to hear the messages.

• The Word of God, in its entirety, is a sufficient guide for the church’s health and growth, teaching and message. It’s God’s whole counsel to us as a community of faith.
• The Word of God, in its entirety, is more than sufficient to grow us as God’s people into spiritual maturity.

We’ve dealt with the hard subjects of creation and the fall of humanity into sin and depravity. We’ve watched the formation of God’s chosen nation of Isreal in Abraham and the prophets. We journeyed with Moses and the Israelites through the wilderness and saw Joshua lead them with courage into the possession of the promised land. And we have seen their spiritual roller coaster ride through the book of Judges, paralleling in many respects our own times.

Now, we’ve come to a major transition in the Bible. We’re changing from judges to kings and watching the entire leadership structure shift. We’re going to see how God worked behind the scenes to bring some of history’s greatest leaders to the forefront of His stage.

This is the historical section of the Bible and one of my own beliefs is that history is his story. It’s all of Him, the Author of Creation, time, and eternity. Everything you’ve experienced in your life to this moment is history for you – the story of what God has been doing behind the scenes and what you’ve been doing in cooperation with Him (or in rebellion against Him). What does the next chapter look like for you?

God gave His Son that you might be redeemed from lostness and live a life full of promise and purpose. I want to invite you to join us in our journey through the Word this Sunday, but I also (and more importantly) want to urge you to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ if you don’t have one now. Turn from your sins and trust Him as Savior, and please contact us to let us know how we can help you!

Also check out Pastor Brandon’s notes on Our Most Precious Commodity.

And see Pastor Brandon’s notes on this message at his blog.

This Sunday, we need to give to Haiti in a significant way. I have copied a letter below from Bill Moore, a member of our church who heads a relief organization that has been in Haiti more than a dozen times and is putting a trip together as soon as going there becomes a possibility (as soon as next week). We’re going to do all that we can to send them, and I’d like to challenge all of our people to pray about how much they can give and get involved.

Brandon,

I am sending out a call for help. We are putting a team together to go to Haiti as soon as we can. This event is changing (for the worse) by the hour. Many people are asking me what can be done. So many that I am no longer tracking the number of calls we are handling but it is heavy. What I can tell you now will be different soon. However, we have heard from some of our partners and we have offers of everything from satellite phones to medical clinics. Water and food will be the most important resource that we can provide. Renita, and I should have a team of people put together by Thursday to go to Port Au Prince. The most important resource that we can have now is money. I do not say this to be crass, but we may have to purchase items where we can when needed. We will have to make these decisions on the fly.

From our previous mission trips, we have a lot of friends in country that we will rely upon as we arrive. I have had limited contact, but as they get more communications we will be able to check on our associates. Please be in prayer for Bro. Francois Norcilus, our local missionary. He has not been located yet. (note above) Jean Claude, his family, Emanuell Samuel, Theodore Trusaunt, and many others that we have not heard from. Right now search and rescue is paramount, but we will soon have to deal with the dead and living. PLEASE keep these in your prayers. I will try to keep you informed as often as I can. Please feel free to pass this along to as many people that you know.

May God give strength to those in the field.

Bill Moore, President,
Aid for Developing Countries
A 501 (c) (3) Public Charity
EIN # 26-0483101

Send donations to:
502 Northeast A St
Bentonville, AR 72712

Contact AFDC
Phone:479-426-3029
Fax: 479-927-2459
Email: wdmcel@msn.com or
Bill@afdc-haiti.org

We don’t know exactly how we’re going to meet the needs or what specific actions we’re going to take yet, but it’s a time for action. Pray with me. Give with me. The people of Haiti need us.

On a related note, Pastor Francois Norcilus, whom we support regularly in a variety of ways, was in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit, but is now known to be safe for the moment. We have other ministry leaders whom we support there about whom we don’t have that assurance yet, so please pray for them.

photo credit: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

All of Bethel is invited to celebrate the wedding of Matt Powers and Leah Hall this coming Saturday, January 16 at 2:00 pm at Bethel with a reception following in our Fellowship Hall. We’re proud of Matt and Leah and look forward to the great life they’re going to enjoy together!

They had called us last week to ask that we bring our church van to their parking lot this evening to await the delivery of some food items that their teens would be collecting in neighborhoods as part of their DiscipleNow weekend. We were blown away as their 37 teams made drop after drop to bring in a total of at least 11,173 food items!!

We had to call in some reinforcements to meet us at the church to unload everything. You can watch the slideshow to the right to see pictures of the whole event. Our Fellowship Hall is filled!

Thanks so much to Studio412, FBC Bentonville, and especially to our awesome God who has so richly provided for the Storehouse. Know someone in need? Send them our way on any Tuesday, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon.