Preaching at Bethel Franklin at 10:00 a.m. this Sunday. First in a four-part series about Bethel. Here’s the January schedule at Bethel’s Brentwood and Franklin congregations:
Jan 4 Who We Are
Jan 11 Why We Exist
Jan 18 What We Do
Jan 25 How To Get Involved
My topic Sunday: Who We Are
My simple answer: We are BETHEL
But what is Bethel?
The first time Bethel is mentioned in the Bible—Genesis 12:8
From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
1. Bethel is a place of consecration and dedication – Abram built an altar
2. Bethel is a place of prayer – Abram called on the name of the Lord
Eventually, a famine hits the land, stocks crash, and Abram heads to Egypt to get better health coverage. In order to save his neck, (not-so-honest) Abe claims Sarah is his sister, and she is taken as one of Pharaoh’s mistresses. The Lord threatened Pharaoh’s life, so he decided to return Sarah to the Great Man of God.
Abram returned from Egypt a “very wealthy” man (Genesis 13:2)—with a bad testimony and a messed up marriage.
God did not call Abram to Egypt. He went anyway because he could make more money. This is the only part of Abe’s journey that he did not build an altar to the Lord. And it is the only time where God did not speak to him or appear to him. It is possible to be out of God’s will and experience “prosperity” and be in God’s will and experience trials.
After a season of “prosperity” with no altars, no calling out to God, and no hearing from God, Abram returned to Bethel.
3. Bethel is a place to return to the Lord – After being away from God, Abram returned to where he had first built an altar (Genesis 13:1–4)
I believe God has called all the Bethel congregations in Middle Tennessee to be places where thousands of people
– Dedicate their lives to the Lord
– Cry out God in prayer
– Return to God’s will
All for now. Hope to see you Sunday @ Bethel Franklin.