July 28, 2024
Sunday Worship Service: 9:45 a.m.
501 4th St SW
Madelia, MN 56062
Church Office (507) 642-8162
Pastor Tim (515) 603-9049
Bethel Kids (K-6th Grade): Wednesdays at 6pm
Connection Groups: Various Times - all adults are welcome. Kids can come too.
Start Here If You Are New
If you are visiting and want to know more, this is the place to start. We'll try to answer some questions you may have. We would appreciate the chance to contact you. You can click on this link to help us contact you or you can write down your info on a piece of paper and drop it in the offering plate or put it on Pastor's desk.
We are a part of the Evangelical Free Church of America (click here and look around) and are currently working with Bethel Free Church in Fairmont. We believe what God's Word says and we try not to add to or take away from it. (click here for what we believe). For a summary of the Evangelical Free Church, here is a video and document that summarize our denomination.
We want to reach our community with the Gospel and be a part of planting churches in other small towns. Our hope is that every believer will be involved in the disciple-making process. Change is usually slow and we are convinced it will happen one relationship at a time. It is vital that we reach the lost.
So stick around and get to know us. Ask questions. Fill out the online visitor form or simply contact Pastor Tim (515) 603-9049 (or email at [email protected]).
Church Family Night
In our house, we sometimes call it "Forced Family Fun." Whatever the name is, we need to be together and get to know each other. This night won't fix all your problems or even cause you to get to know everyone perfectly. It is a step in the right direction. So live on the edge and join us each month.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
We had a great week! Thanks for all the help and prayers!!!
Kids Program
Kindergarten - 6th Grade on Wednesday nights from 6:00-7:15.
We are done until next year.
VBS is June 24-27
Wednesday Nights
6:00-7:15
Junior High Youth Group
6:00-7:15 Wednesday nights
For those in 6th-8th grades
May 15 is our last Youth Group of the year
Fighter Verse
We hope the whole Bethel Church Family will be memorizing these verses. We do one verse chunk a month. If you are learning them, we'd love to have you lead us in saying it on Sunday during our worship service.
Women's Coffee Hour
All women are invited.
We meet once a month usually at 10 a.m. on a Saturday usually the first of the month
Next Time:
Plan on joining a Connection Group
All are Invited
Join by just coming to it
We take a break from this for the summer now. We will pick up again in the Fall.
Meet most weeks for 75 minutes
Pursue Jesus Together
Most groups meet on Sunday, but we are open to meeting at other times. We could use people to let us use your homes.
At Olson's at 4pm on Sundays - (105 Gage Ave SE) Kids are welcome! (starting in October)
At Church @ 8:30 am on Sunday mornings - Mike and Amy Sheplee are leading it
Your Contact Information, Please
We want to be ablet o update you with information about Church life. We'll try not to flood your inbox or messages. What is the best method to contact you? Please tell Tim by filling out the form here or by contacting him (515) 603-9049.
Please click on this link and fill out the contact info. We want everyone that comes to church to get this filled out - even your kids (we have to know their birthdays). It will only take a few minutes.
If you don't fill this out we'll have to chase you down to get it filled out.
Songs For Sunday
My Lighthouse
Do Not Fear
Ask, Seek, Knock
This I Believe
His Mercy Is More
Remembering Creation – Work
Sabbath 1
Genesis 1
Genesis 2
Genesis 3
God’s Work
Colossians 3:23
So What?
Missionary Support
We support two missionaries, both work for the EFCA. We also support District Church planting and hope to bring on more missionaries in the future. We tithe 11% of giving to missions.
Scott and Laura Carter
They work with Pathways - They want to train the 6 million untrained pastors in the world (average of a 6th grade education) to study, teach, and apply God's Word effectively. It's done in 3 years with 9 courses - going through a Book of the Bible - not to teach them that book - but to build on how to study God's Word. Not so they can study God's Word. Not just so they can study God's Word and pass it on. But so they can learn to study the Word and train other pastors to train other pastors to study and apply God's Word.
Pathways is the group Pastor Tim went with to Rwanda in 2023. Ask Him questions. He could talk for hours.
Steve Erickson
He is an EFCA North Central District (that's our District) Church Planter. He was one of the trainers for the church-planting class PT took. He is planting Micro Churches - in the Highland Park Area. A micro church is an extended spiritual family, that seeks to live an everyday Gospel Community, led by ordinary people who own the mission of Jesus in a particular network of believers, contextualizing the Gospel to make and multiply disciples of Jesus. Basically - it's a group of house churches that work together.
Here is an article about what he's doing and why.
ONLINE GIVING
We believe that giving is worship of God and something for all members to participate in. There is an offering plate in the back. We also offer a chance to give online.
If you want to share online you can use this link - Giving Link. You'll then have to make a few decisions. You can give once or choose to have a reoccurring gift. You'll need to choose the right place to give from the "Fund" drop-down menu (Madelia). Then you'll choose the Sub Fund category which will be "general fund". Then you can designate the amount. It's pretty easy, really. Ask if you need help.
What Is The EFCA
What Is The Evangelical Free Church Of America (EFCA)?
There are a lot of answers. This link gets you to what we believe and you can search around that website and find out so much more.
Don't hesitate to ask PT anything about the EFCA.
Men's Bible Study
We are taking a break for the summer. We will meet periodically to hang out.
Normally we meet Tuesday nights from 8 to 9. All men are invited.
Winter Blast 2024
Junior High Retreat At Hidden Acres
January 26-28
We had an amazing weekend at Winter Blast. Thank you for supporting us and praying for us.
We Hosted the If: Conference at our Church
It was a wonderful day for everyone there. Thanks to all who made it happen.
Tim Used to have a manly beardA Note From Tim
Dear Bethel Family,
It's a privilege to Shepherd God's flock and I'm amazed when I look back and see how God has worked to bring me to this point. He's still working on me.
Let me point you towards purposeful, Holy Spirit dependence, especially as we care about the lost around us. Being purposeful means you live with the goal of sharing Christ and his love wherever and whenever you can. Being purposeful means that you regularly think about how you can unconditionally love those God has placed on your heart. It's not hard to make cookies and share them. Depend on the Holy Spirit by daily praying for the lost by name. While it's great to pray that they will trust Jesus, real purposeful prayer will come from time spent with them. Through that, you'll find all sorts of things to pray for. Truly be in prayer for those things. Some day when they share a challenge in their lives you can tell them you've been praying for other challenges and you can ask them to pray for this current challenge - out loud, in front of them. And don't just love and pray for them. Look for opportunities to share your story - how God changed (is changing) your life. Look for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus.
One simple thing I'm learning to do is to talk to everyone like I think they too trust Jesus. So I throw in comments about God whenever I normally would, rather than holding back. I don't try to be pushy or rude or abrupt. A few examples: I might share a little story about how God has provided or taken care of my family - just in passing. "We were trying to come up with a place to go on vacation and out of the blue God provided a family in our church who invited us to their cabin." I might talk about God's blessing and give him credit. We were at Minneopa and I was just amazed at the beauty of God's creation.
All around us people are living in despair, without hope. We have to be people who share Christ's love. I'm not great at it but I am trying to purposely depend on the Spirit in loving my neighbors and sharing my faith. Join me.
Minneopa State ParkPlease interrupt pastor Tim. He loves it.