BETHESDA NEWS A community caring for all God s people, being transformed by Christ's love, serving others as a witness of God s grace and peace. Bethesda Mennonite Church www.bethesdamc.org January 11, 2015 Today we celebrate Pastor Andrea Wall's ordination! It is a special and significant occasion for both the congregation and for Pastor Andrea. Today's event not only signifies the affirmation of Pastor Andrea's gifts for ministry, but also serves as an example of the congregation's faithfulness in nurturing a life of faith and trust in Jesus. For the last 34 years, Bethesda has played a substantial role in nurturing Pastor Andrea's faith and today we celebrate and acknowledge the many more lives that have been transformed by Christ's love through Bethesda over the last 140 years. Ordination is a high point in the life and ministry of a pastor. It is a life-shaping and identity-giving moment (Mennonite Polity) and it places a pastor into a special office of ministry. Ordination is an act of the church (congregation, conference, and denomination). It is a time when the congregation calls and appoints a person to ongoing leadership in ministry in the life and mission of the church. The ordination rite includes the covenant between the church and the minister being ordained. Today is a time for the congregation and the wider church community to rejoice as we call Pastor Andrea Wall and affirm her gifts for ministry. Bethesda Bible Series is scheduled for January 2015! Featured speaker is Michelle Hershberger, chair of the Bible and Ministry Division at Hesston College. She joined the faculty in 2000 after receiving a Master of Arts degree in theological studies at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, and has been a frequent speaker and playwright for Mennonite youth conventions; a youth pastor with her husband, Del, in Hubbard, Oregon; author of God s Story, Our Story: Exploring Christian Faith and Life, a catechism resource for Mennonite Church USA; the project associate for The Giving Project; a renewal speaker/preacher; and a college and high school teacher. She has assumed additional leadership roles in youth ministry and drama and written several other books as well as curricula and articles for periodicals and academic journals. She will present one session January 23 and three sessions on January 25. Reserve these dates! More information to follow in the coming weeks.
WEEK AT A GLANCE SUNDAY, January 11 8:30 A.M. Deacons 8:55-9:15 A.M. Prayer Time 9:30 A.M. Worship Service/Pastor Andrea Ordination Service 10:40 A.M. Sunday School 12:00 P.M. Meal of Celebration! TUESDAY, January 13 8:30 A.M. Staff Meeting 9:00 A.M. Bethesda Women s Ministries all day sewing 5:00 P.M. Sunday School Committee 7:00 P.M. Board of Deacons and Pastors WEDNESDAY, January 14 7:00 P.M. Adult Bible Study and Prayer 7:00 P.M. Mission:Possible Midweek 7:00 P.M. CORNERSTONE 7:00 P.M. Powerhouse 8:00 P.M. Chancel Choir Next Sunday, January 18 Sermon Pastor Jim Voth Offering Central Plains Mennonite Conference Music Powerhouse Pianist Marilyn Kroeker Reminder Saturday, January 31, 2015, at 9:00 a.m., the Pastors, Board of Deacons, Church Council, office staff and committee chairs will be meeting for a Strategic Planning Retreat at the Leadership Center in Aurora, Nebraska. Each group will share their strategies and together determine who will work on each strategy for 2015. The meeting will conclude with a lunch at noon. Please call the church office if you know of any changes of address before the 2015 yearbook is printed. Reminder: If you are participating in a Sunday morning worship service, please arrive at the church office early enough (preferably by 9:00 a.m.) to receive instructions from sound personnel and to receive your microphone.
OUR CHURCH FAMLY Please pray for those with health concerns, grief or family needs. Hospitalized: Kazutomo Epp, son of Ray and Akiko Epp, continues to be hospitalized part-time but has been allowed to go home for a few days each week. Prayer: Deloris Rempel Change of Address: Marie Siebert Henderson Care Center, Henderson, Nebraska Birth: A daughter, Sadie Elena, was born to Scott and Christa Janzen on January 1, 2015. Local grandparents are Royce and Carol Janzen, and great grandparents are Elva Janzen and Walt and Anna Rempel. Congratulations to the parents, sister Norah, grandparents and great grandparents! The family resides in Goshen, Indiana. We are excited to welcome baby Rosie Elizabeth into the church family! To help show our love and support, we are coordinating meals for the family. If you are interested in preparing a meal for Jay, Elizabeth, Amanda, Grace and Leo, please contact Kara Janzen at 402-723-5683. Deaths: Dinah (Peters) Siebert, 84, died on January 3, 2015. Survivors include her husband, Carl Siebert, daughters Cynthia and Alan Friesen, Karen Kroeker, GayAnn Wagner and Shelly Albers; sons, Byron and Lynette Siebert and Kevin and Teresa Siebert; grandchildren Michele and James Steckelberg, Amy and Ron Runyan, Andrew and Mindy Friesen, Jennifer Regier, Traci Kroeker, Andrea and Glenn Stys, Hannah Siebert and fiancé Ben Glaser, Cole Siebert, Jason Siebert and fiancé Celia Crane, Ben and Jessie Siebert, John and Ashley Siebert, Katie and Jeff Maas, Alex Scheidemann, and Jacob Becker; 28 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Other family members include sisters-in-law Viola Friesen, Lillian Mierau, Leanna and Jerry Kroeker and Velma and Phillip Kroeker, brothers-in-law Ralph Kroeker, Marvin and Kathryn Siebert, Roger and Arlyce Siebert and Robert Siebert. Funeral services were held on Wednesday, January 7, at Bethesda Mennonite Church. We extend our sympathy to Carl and his family.
Clara (Huebert) Thieszen, 92, died on January 3, 2015. She leaves to mourn her passing, daughter Verlene and Donald Sebes; sons Elmer and Donna Thieszen, Leroy and Jo Thieszen, Dennis and Diane Thieszen and Larry Thieszen. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren include Kevin and Christy Shunn-Sebes and Kate of North Newton, Kansas, Allen and Jennifer Sebes and Jeffery of Wichita, Kansas, Karen and TJ McBurney of Kingman, Kansas, Melissa and Phil Goertzen, Maelyn Huebert, Parker Goertzen, and Lane Huebert of Bradshaw, Malaina and Brandon Schlautman and Sophie of Madison, Wisconsin, Mark and Tanya Thieszen and Nicholas of Henderson, Jenna and Bobby Hubbard, Morgan, Easton, Maci and Layton of Decatur, Arkansas, Brooke and Gibbon Friesen, Cale, Adrik and Maylie of Hampton, Braden and Jenna Thieszen of Seward, Andrea and Matthew Unruh, Ashley, Caleb and Hannah of Hesston, Kansas, Steve and Molly Thieszen, Tori and Landon of Henderson, and Danelle Thieszen of Wichita, Kansas. Funeral services were held at Bethesda Mennonite Church on Thursday, January 8, 2015. We extend our sympathy to the family. Harland Pankratz, 90, died Wednesday, December 31, 2014, in Kearney, Nebraska. Pastor Jim Voth presided at his funeral on Saturday, January 3, 2015. Survivors include sisters, Cleola Franz and Allegra Pankratz (Gunn), all of Henderson. We extend our sympathy to the family. Susie Epp passed away January 7, 2015. Services are pending at this time. The Prayer Board, located near the church office, is a place to post prayers that come to the office. If you wish to have a prayer matter posted, please call the church office, Pastor Jim Voth, or email him at jim@mainstaycomm.net. These may be prayers of praise, thanksgiving, or intercession. If you wish to post a prayer for someone other than yourself, please request their permission. Thank you! Thank you to all who donated Infant Care Kits at the Christmas Eve service. Ninety-five kits were received and will be delivered by Mennonite Central Committee to families displaced by war or disaster and are also used in a number of other settings to help support mothers who lack the supplies they need for a new baby. Last year, MCC shipped 11,902 Infant Care Kits to Ethiopia, Lebanon, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan, Syria, El Salvador, Serbia and the U.S. Thank you for your generosity! Sign up on the east bulletin board for the Backpack Program. The Backpack Program helps families meet the nutritional needs of their young student so that they can study and learn without hunger getting in the way. It s a great way to minister to local needs right here in Henderson!
Information sheets are located on the east bulletin board. If you have any questions, please contact Gary Buller at 402-723-4808 or at gary@bspray.net. Coming Events: The 3 rd Annual Souper Bowl family fun night will be held Sunday evening, January 25, at 6:00 p.m. A free-will offering will be taken with proceeds going to the youth for their attendance at planned summer conferences. There will be no cook-off contest this year, however, anyone wishing to bring their favorite soup to share can sign up on the poster provided in the Fellowship Hall. Special entertainment will be provided by the M & M Puppeteers from Hampton Lutheran School. It s going to be a fun night for the entire Bethesda family! KC2015 We are excited as we get closer to seeing all our friends and family members in Kansas City at the Mennonite Church USA Convention! Check out the website at http://conventionmennoniteusa.org/. When you read through all the information, you ll be able to see all the great things that are in store as things come together for KC2015 (June 30-July 5, 2015). Instructions for registration, which begins January 15, 2015. Information about programming for people of all ages. Helpful tips for fundraising and an out-of-the-box idea from Goshen College to help your youth group get to KC2015. A listing of convention worship speakers. At its core, convention is a faith formation event. It is about gathering together for worship, work and play, and about seeing the ways that God is transforming lives across our church. Our prayer is, that as we gather together, we too will find our hearts burning within us, just like the disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. AMBS-Kansas Center will be hosting a Rural Ministry Course January 20-24, at Whitestone Mennonite Church in Hesston, Kansas. This course will be taught by S. Roy Kaufman, author of Healing God's Earth: Rural Community in the Context of Urban Civilization. You may contact registrar@ambs.edu to register for the course or more information is available at http://www.ambs.edu/academics/interterm-courses.cfm. The Church and Poverties is a four week class exploring factors affecting interactions with the world s poverties. Each session will run 40 50 minutes and will meet in the Powerhouse room February 8 March 1, 2015, during the Sunday school hour. The class will be led by Erin Sams. No sign up is needed. Please bring your Bible.
The Central Plains Mennonite Conference Ecuador Partnership is organizing a work team to travel to Ecuador late February-early March, 2015, to work on a church building located two hours outside of Quito, Ecuador. There is still room for you to join this work and fellowship group! For more information contact Doyle Roth at 402-761-2847, 402-641-0266 or by email at doyleroth@hotmail.com. SHINE Sunday School Curriculum Parents, grandparents and friends of our children: Each Sunday we will list the story, Bible verse and thoughts for the week to discuss with your children. Ages three through junior high will have the same Bible stories and verses for memorization. Please support your child by helping them learn the verse. Thank you! Bible Verse: O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. You have turned my mourning into dancing: you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever. Psalm 30:2 & 11 Jesus has now chosen his disciples and begins his ministry. He has been traveling around the region preaching and healing the crowds who come to see him. Today s story is about the healing of a paralyzed man and his amazing and ingenious friends. Because Jesus was becoming well known, crowds came to hear him and be healed by him and it was difficult to get close to him. These four friends went up to the roof, dug a hole in it and lowered their friend down. Jesus saw their great faith and healed the man as well as forgave his sins. The scribes cried Blasphemy, but the people glorified God. This story again emphasizes that the kingdom of God seeks the healing of the whole person; mind, body and soul. Jesus recognized the faith of the friends. We need to remember that we have great power in prayer and a responsibility to pray for others. This week talk about intercessory prayer and what it means to pray for others. Read The Enormous Potato retold by Audrey Davis or Saving Strawberry Farm by Deborah Hopkinson. Do a YouTube search on the story and look at the differences in the houses from Jesus day.
Bethesda Preschool has a Facebook Page! Be sure to like us for preschool updates and happenings at https://www.facebook.com/bethesdapreschoolers. Please remember Bethesda Preschool in your giving! Bethesda Preschool serves children between the ages of 3-5 at Bethesda, in the community and in surrounding communities. The Preschool Committee is continuing to raise funds for some larger items on our list. Your help would be most appreciated! 1. A handicapped rail is required, per our license, and will go on the cement ramp just inside the west door to the preschool courtyard. Cost is approximately $3,000. 2. We would like to add one more play item to the playground, perhaps a climbing wall or stationary riding toys. Cost is around $3,000. 3. To follow the guidelines of our play structure for safety reasons, we still need to add two inches of mulch throughout the playground. Cost of the mulch is $800. If you would like to give to any of these projects, please label your offering envelope Bethesda Preschool Special Projects. Thank you for your support!! Bethesda Preschool has openings for January! If you have a child who is ready for preschool (a child who turns three by January 1 and is potty trained), contact director, Kori Lewis, at bethesdapreschoolers@gmail.com for enrollment information! Space is limited, so contact us soon! Challenge yourself and serve with Service Adventure! Invest a year to learn about God, life, and yourself, while serving others. Ages 17-20 can apply at MennoniteMission.net/Serve. Service Adventure is also looking for unit leaders. Live with young adults and mentor them while they are growing and serving in the local community.
Bethesda Women s Ministries 2015 Welcome to the 2015 Bethesda Women s Ministries!! Sewing and project days will take place on the second and fourth Tuesdays in January, February and March from 9:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. January 13, 2015 First Sewing and Project Day Meal served at 12:00 p.m. Meal soups and breads, cost $5.00 A short devotional and announcements around tables will take place at 12:30 p.m. Those unable to attend the entire day are welcome and encouraged to come for the fellowship meal! The January birthday party will be held in the Crossroads Coffee House on Monday, January 19, 2015, at 7:00 p.m. If you have a January birthday, please sign up on the east bulletin board. Shirley Buller and Leanna Kroeker will serve as hostesses for the evening. First Tuesday Gathering will be held on February 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. The theme for the year is Practicing Presence with Bible lesson by Florence Friesen and feature by Ann Peters.
FINANCIALS Worship Offering Sunday, January 4, 2015 Worship Attendance 224 Sunday School Attendance 122 Temporary Holding Accounts Mennonite Church USA... $3,368.00 Dayspring Ministries... 50.00 Dayspring Thailand... 150.00 Reach International Sam & Sherri... 150.00 Benevolent Fund... 230.00 Sunday School Offering... 152.00 General Operating Receipts....4,981.00 Worship Offering... 9,081.00 New Year s Eve Offering Benevolent Fund... $1,615.00 General Operating... 6,720.00 $8,335.00 Powerhouse (high school) will meet this week, Wednesday, January 14 at 7:00 p.m. to prepare to lead worship on Sunday January 18. CORNERSTONE (junior high) will meet this week, Wednesday, January 14 at 7:00 p.m. in small groups. Visit www.bmcfaithformation.com for calendar updates for 2015. Swan Lake Christian Camp Schedule 5 th & 6 th Grade January 16 18, 2015 Junior High Winter Retreat January 30 February 1, 2015 Senior High Winter Retreat February 6 February 8, 2015 Check the bulletin board for more details or call 605-326-5690. You may also register online at www.myslcc.com or campoffice@myslcc.com.
SERMON NOTES