Weekly Greeting - February 16, 2024
Dear Bethlehem Family,
I met with the Omni class this past Sunday. We had a great discussion on the importance of listening to God, and how God listens to us.
We also discussed some of the ways God has blessed us. I can’t even begin to list all the good things that God has done and is doing for me.
In the book of Genesis, the people of Israel had been led out of Egypt and on toward the Promised Land. God blessed them in more ways than they could count. However, sometimes when the journey got tough, they forgot all the ways that God had blessed them. There were times when they complained and even longed to go back to Egypt.
It is easy for us to be critical of their stubbornness, but many of us find ourselves questioning God when circumstances don’t turn out the way we had hoped.
One of the things Stephanie and I have done here at the beginning of 2024 to try to cultivate a spirit of gratitude and to remember all that God has done for us is to place a “gratitude jar” on our dining room table. We write something we are grateful for every day on a slip of paper and drop it into the jar. At the end of the year we will take all the slips of paper out and read them.
God has done so many things for us. We cannot even count them. Sometimes it is helpful to take a moment and think about all of the ways God has blessed us.
I am certainly grateful to be part of such a wonderful, loving congregation here at Bethlehem. Thank you for the honor of allowing me to serve you as your pastor.
Blessings,
Craig
This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. We are beginning a new worship series Unbounded Love based on the great hymn by Charles Wesley: Love Divine, All Loves, Excelling.
This week we will explore the baptism of Jesus from Mark chapter 1:9-11 and how God’s love comes to us all.
What a blessing to have the honor of gathering in God’s house, and celebrate our identity as the children of God! See you on Sunday!