Bethlehem Lutheran Church – Aloha, OR
Congregational Bible Study
In this six week study, we will be looking at the foundational description of God’s attributes found in Exodus 34:6-7 and talk about how we experience these attributes of God as individuals and a congregation.
Join a study!
Sundays @ 9:45am | 5:30pm | The Inn
Wednesdays @ 10:30am | The Inn and 7:00pm | Online
Habakkuk: Where Are You God?
New Sermon Series Begins December 31st.
Pastor Allen Bauer from Texas will be with us doing a three-part sermon on the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk was a prophet of God who lived 600 years before the time of Christ. The nation was facing many of the same problems that we are facing today. The prophet brings comfort to the people of God even amid all the troubles they are facing and gives advise how to live their lives in difficult times. He taught that the people needed to wait and trust on the Lord God for His timing in bringing justice and peace.
Week One.
Habakkuk questions God. God doesn’t seem to be fair and there seems like there is no justice in the world. God responds to Habakkuk’s questions and tells him that He is not slow but patient and will bring about justice in His way and His time.
Lessons-
Habakkuk 1
2 Peter 3:8-10
Matthew 13:24-30
Annual Blood Drive
Bethlehem in partnering with the American Red Cross to host a Blood Drive in our Community Center Wednesday, January 22nd from @pm until 7pm.
The start of a new year is the perfect time to make a resolution to become a regular blood or platelet donor in 2025. Know that January can be a challenging time to collect enough blood to meet patient needs due to weather & illness. Bethlehem members helped save many lives–Will you step up to help? Sign up for our January 22nd drive now to ensure your choice of appointments.
Donors can sign up on-line at RedCrossBlood.org using or using the Red Cross App using the sponsor code “bethlehemaloha” or contact Greg Geist
Advent 2024
Come to Bethlehem and see…
Advent marks the beginning of the Church Year. Advent is made up of the four Sundays that come right before Christmas. In other words, the deeper into Advent you go, the closer you get to Christmas Day. For Christians, the First Sunday in Advent is kind of like the “New Year’s Day” of the Church Year calendar.
The word Advent means “coming.” During Advent, we prepare for the coming of the One who was born that first Christmas in a stable. We prepare for the One who saved us from sin, death and the power of the devil: our Lord Jesus Christ! What a wonderful and exciting time of preparation!
Bethlehem has many wonderful events throughout the Advent and Christmas season. We hope that you will join us as we celebrate the coming of Emmanuel, “God with Us”.
Every Time I Remember You
“I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my prayers…”
I felt it was appropriate that I should quote Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:16 from the version of the Scriptures that I first read completely, Genesis through Revelation. Do you remember, “Good News for Modern Man?” That was the “trendy” name for what is now known as the Contemporary English Version—although, I don’t really know how contemporary the English is, since it was first published in 1966. My pastor suggested that, since I was considering the seminary, I should have read the Bible before I got there.
Since my “career” in the ministry sort of began in the CEV, I thought I would let it conclude there as well. Ephesus was a special place for Paul. He was there for two years and three months. That’s longer than he was in Corinth or Philippi. Ephesus had such an important place in Paul’s heart that, as he was taking the collection for the believers in Jerusalem to Jerusalem, he risked his own safety to visit the Ephesians elders nearby.
As I consider what words to say to you, dear Bethlehem family, Paul’s words speak better than my own. Since I first spoke with Mark Temme in 2012 about your call list and asked where Aloha was, I have not stopped remembering you in my prayers or giving thanks to God for you.
I felt, in 2012, that our Lord was preparing my heart for a change. My heart investigated several possibilities but did not find rest in them. I have felt that my ministry skills are set to help congregations discover “what’s next” for them, so when your call came to me by the Holy Spirit, my heart was confident this was the change our Lord had in mind for us.
These eleven years have been such a blessing for Anne and me. We have loved your “mission heart” as you continue to work with Love, INC and began to work with Family Promise and the
different programs that supported school children. We have appreciated your warm welcome into the family of God in this place. Most importantly, we have enjoyed partnering with you around the Gospel and looking for ways to be pointed and point others to Jesus. And now, our time together ends in Aloha.
We will not forget where Aloha is. Every time we remember you, we give thanks to God for you.
Now, you are ready for “what’s next.” What that will look like, I don’t know—but it will, and should, be different than these last eleven years. I will continue to pray for you—that the Lord will continue to hold you close to Himself in His Word; that the Lord will lead you to that shepherd who will lead this flock into “what’s next;” and that the Lord will continue to keep you in His favor and give you His peace.
Pastor Jeff and Anne Shearier
Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Aloha, OR 