Adoration is declaring what is true of God to Him. I think we naturally understand our need to confess sin to God, to respond in thanksgiving to God, and to present our requests to Him. But “adoration” is an aspect of prayer we may struggle to grasp. What is it and what purpose does it serve?

Let me give you at least two reasons it is important to include prayers of adoration in our prayer life. 1 It orientates our hearts to whom we are speaking and  2 it stirs our affections for God. When we tell God, “You are holy and awesome” we are humbled. When we praise God by saying, “You have loved me with an everlasting love” we grow in our love for Him.

So, the remainder of this spring, we will aspire to memorize Psalm 8 which begins with these words of adoration, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Putting words like this in our hearts gives us a deeper vocabulary to draw from in our own conversations with God. Let’s grow in our adoration of God together.

Early registration will be April 15 through April 30. The cost will be $215 per camper. Talk to Jason Sears and/or Tarrah Ledford about scholarships that are available through our youth programs. Registration opens to everyone else on May 1. In previous years, camp quickly filled up once open registration began. 

Camp is for students entering grades 3-9 and will be July 27-31.

Visit IFCA Indiana online to learn more.

Titus 2:3-5 charges older women to teach and encourage younger women to live in a way that is pleasing to God. What a beautiful thing that God never intended us to figure out life, motherhood, and marriage or singleness on our own. Here at Bethel we provide the opportunity and resources to help ladies have a thriving mentor relationship. Our prayer is that ladies would take advantage of the opportunity to connect with a more experienced lady and tether herself to her to be able to weather life's storms, to grow roots deeply planted in God's word, and have a confidence that can only come from knowing Christ. If you are high school age, single, married, or a mother needing prayer, wisdom and guidance, we would love to connect you with an amazing more experience lady who is ready to walk along side you. We have a simple form you can fill out to match you with the right mentor and establish goals and availability. Women's mentoring is done on your time and on your schedule and the book we provide is merely meant to guide you and help go deeper as mentor/mentee and can be very versatile in use. Please contact Amy Miller or Tarrah Ledford with any questions.

It was a great Missions Conference fellowshipping, singing, learning, and praying together. I was struck by the longevity of the partnerships we have had with our visiting missionaries, Jim and Karen Getz and Ryan and Melissa Williamson. These partnerships span decades of gospel partnership around the world. Praise God for this! Let us continue to keep our eyes on Jesus and be faithful to His mission He left us. Consider re-listening to the two sermons, The Necessity of Partnership and The Joy of Partnership. Also, if you missed it, Ryan Williamson led a workshop entitled, From Comfortable Church to Commissioned Church during our Sunday School hour. Be sure to check that out! (All of these can be found on our church’s YouTube Channel).

A special thanks to the Missions Committee who planned the weekend and those who helped in the kitchen and decorated. It truly was a wonderful weekend. Grace and peace, Pastor Matt

First, thank you so much for the pastoral appreciation gift of a couple of extra days off and expenses paid toward a trip for Evangeline and me to take together. We went to Traverse City, Michigan and went snowshoeing. It was an amazing experience, and we both came back refreshed and thankful for you – our church family. Now, to snowshoes. These are not your ordinary shoes. You strap your feet in boots that are attached to long and wide frames that keep you on top of the snow. The bottom of the shoe has spikes to give you grip so you can trek up and down hills without slipping. While it still required effort to go on a snowshoe adventure (trust me, I was sore the next day) it made the journey a little easier. The sights were saw on the trails were absolutely amazing. Quite woods gave way to steep slopes. The top of rolling hills looked out over beautiful orchards and vineyards covered in fresh fallen snow. The view was breathtaking!

Second, this past Sunday’s sermon included a portion discussing what the Bible clearly teaches about Satan and demons. Paul makes it clear that God provides everything Christians need to stand firm in the Lord. Some of those things are, “shoes for your feet” - the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). Isn’t that interesting?! Similar to snowshoes, the good news of Jesus keeps us from sinking and slipping and takes us to places in the world to herald the news! The very message that sets people free from the dominion of darkness takes us into the darkness with the light of Christ.

Third, this next Sunday we kick-off our annual missions conference. The theme is Partnership in the Gospel. I would encourage you to read Romans 10 ahead of time to prepare your heart for the ministry of the Word. I will preach from verses 13-15 highlighting the necessity of partnering together to get the gospel to the nations. You will notice, once again, the gospel is associated with feet – “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.”

Let’s summarize: Thank YOU Bethel for your generosity! God has given us everything we need to stand firm in Jesus! Let’s wear the gospel on our feet and go into the world partnering together. - Pastor Matt

Now the Bible is not merely art. But since the Holy Spirit carried the human authors along so that it is divinely inspired through human language and literary style, it comes in a form that is beautiful and can be (and should be) appreciated. Each book of the Bible uniquely demonstrates this.

I say this to my shame; Mark had been my least favorite of the four gospel accounts. To me it seemed dry, cold, and disinteresting. I am glad I was wrong. The more I have been reading Mark, whether for sermon preparation or personal Bible reading, I have grown to appreciate how Mark uniquely and in captivating ways presents Jesus as the Son of God. For instance, this Sunday we begin a new section in Mark. You may recall, from 1:16-4:34, Mark records Jesus by the sea calling disciples to follow Him four separate times. Now the storyline moves from the shore to the perils of the sea with three sea crossings (4:35-8:26). What a brilliant way to communicate that following Jesus is never easy or safe, but we can be sure that Jesus will be with us through it all.

So I invite you to join me in growing in your love and appreciation of the Scriptures and of the Savior it proclaims. If you haven’t already, join the rest of the church in reading through the New Testament this year (It will be easy to catch up since each day is only one chapter of reading…and we are still in Mark!). Let’s ask God to continue to transform us as Jesus’ disciples.

So, as you pray today, put God at the center and pour out your heart to Him.

View a sample of A Praying Life here: (view a sample)

Reaching the nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the church’s marching orders. While we want to keep this in our view all year around, we what to emphasize missions at particular times in our church’s life. One of the ways we do this is our annual Missions Conference. Let’s look back to last year’s and look forward to this year’s.

Last year, guest missionaries, Carl and Pat Lendermon joined us for breakfast and shared about the Slavic Baptist Institute in training church leaders in Ukraine. They described how God is working in lives even in the midst of war. People are scared, more aware of finiteness of life, and seeking for hope. Many are hearing the gospel and responding in faith in Christ. The Lendermon’s trip this spring was canceled and the trip they plan to take this month is still unsettled. In their most recent update, they rejoiced that two pastors who graduated from SBI witnessed 8 salvations and 2 baptisms. Continue to pray for the Lendermons and for the Ukrainian church as they bear witness of Jesus – the Prince of Peace.

This year, mark your calendars for the week of February 8-15. Jim and Karen Getz, with Navigators, will join us Saturday morning, February 14. Ryan and Melissa Williamson, with Word of Life, will be with us on Sunday morning, February 15. Strengthening our fellowship and partnership with our missionaries is a good thing and it also sharpens us to keep our marching orders in front of us. Keep your eyes opened for more details about the 2026 Missions Conference.  - Pastor Matt

In February 2012, Will and his wife, Kay, attended A Praying Life Seminar taught by Bob Allums, and the rest is history! Will has led several A Praying Life Seminars and Cohorts over the years and enjoys getting a firsthand look at the Spirit showing up in a meaningful way in prayer stories.

Will serves as A Praying Life Cohort Coordinator on the see Jesus ministry staff. He previously served as an associate pastor for 17 years. Will and Kay live in Lafayette, Indiana and have four kids, two sons and two daughters.