Dear Members of Bethel Lutheran Church, As you know, on December 29, 2013 Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault, MN called me to be their Senior Pastor. Over the last three weeks my family and I have sought God’s guidance in choosing whether to remain at Bethel in St. Paul or to accept the call to … Read more
Dear Members of Bethel Lutheran Church, In our church body, congregations looking for a pastor can choose to have a pastor assigned from one of our seminaries or consider “calling” a pastor who is serving another congregation. This process is facilitated by our District who helps congregations to find qualified pastors who best fit the … Read more
In Jesus’ great commission, he tells his disciples to be “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:20). So, over the last year, we have paid close attention to Jesus’ commands in Matthew so that we can be disciples who make disciples. It’s amazing how Jesus teaches us everything we need to … Read more
Have you ever set a New Year’s resolution? Have you set a goal to be a better version of yourself? Maybe you’ve decided to quit smoking, give up cheeseburgers or even read your Bible everyday. The truth is we all desire to do better, to be better. So how well have your resolutions gone in … Read more
The prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is perhaps the greatest. It is a very moving prayer. Our Lord Jesus Christ asked His Father in Heaven that the cup of crucifixion which was about to be pushed on Him might be taken away. But then in His next prayer He said “nevertheless, not … Read more
As it turns out, the conclusion of our GodSpeak series in Matthew coincides with Advent and Christmas. The irony is not lost on me. The crucifixion occurs during Holy Week, not Advent. Resurrection is for Easter, not Christmas… or is it? For as long as I can remember, the Christian church has complained how America … Read more
Jesus said we should be pure in heart. Why? Because our heart is the root of all our actions. From our hearts we have our motives, our desires, our goals and our emotions. So if our hearts are not right, neither will our actions be right. Mark 7:21-22 says this, “For from within, out of … Read more
On November 16th, a group from Bethel Lutheran headed over to the Phillips Neighborhood to serve a meal, have a cross-cultural experience and hear about what God is doing in the neighborhood. We were hosted by Chris Zemple a DCO Intern and Kurtis Smith who serves as the Director of Community Outreach at Trinity First. … Read more
As many of you may know, I was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease. It seems my body attacks my small intestine when it finds gluten in my system. Over time, the damage results in malabsorption and all sorts of other bad things can happen with that. Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye. So, … Read more
Do you wonder where you can go for encouragement and motivation? Go back to that moment when you first saw the love of Jesus Christ. Remember the day when you were separated from Christ! You knew only guilt and confusion and then, a light. Someone opened the door and light came into your darkness and … Read more