Friends of Bethel,
Each year we ask a random sampling of people from Bethel to write devotionals to make the Lenten season a more meaningful and reflective time for our congregation. Again this year, 40 people (male and female, younger and older, some new members and some long time members, etc.) were asked and responded, and this is the result of their work.
We are truly grateful for the time, talent, and personal sharing they have put down on paper for us! (It’s no easy task for most of us!) I think you’ll agree, they have done a wonderful job. There is a special word or thought in this devotional booklet to speak to every one of us in some way. We are proud of their hard work and willingness to share.
I hope you’ll use this booklet as part of your devotional time during these 40 days of Lent. I also hope you’ll take the time to thank our authors for their words and work, andlet them know how they have challenged, encouraged or inspired you.
A Blessed Lenten Season to each of you!
Pastor John Lestock
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Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is...
Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven...
Humility is not an easy thing to talk about in the twentieth century. Nor was it in the sixth century, I’m sure. Patriarchy was an institution of divine right. Slave and free were sharply divided. Roman citizenship was the passport to the good life. There was no room for...
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. ...
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my...
Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of God, his holy mountains. It is beautiful in his loftiness, the joy of the whole...
Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive. Matthew 21:22 As for many girls, my dad was my hero. When he was diagnosed with cancer, it completely rocked my world. One Sunday morning, months after his initial diagnosis, I met him...
In many cultures there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of each year’s income to some holy use. For Christians, to observe the forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth of each year's days. After being baptized by John in the river Jordan, Jesus went off...
Cast your burdens upon the Lord and He will sustain you. Psalm 55:22 On 2/2/15, I was “relieved of my duties” at a job I had been at for almost 17 years. In an instant, my income dropped and I was going to lose my family’s health...
Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15 Maybe I picked this verse for the Lenten devotional because I love to travel the world but I...