Abundant Life:
Loved, Included, Forgiven, and Empowered
Loved
Included
Forgiven
Empowered
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10
In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises his followers abundant life. That’s quite a bold claim! He is not just promising a good life or even sufficient life, but true abundance.
The larger culture around us has a much different message. We see it whenever we turn on the news or scroll through our social media feeds; the message is there is never enough. Never enough time, money, security, popularity, talent, knowledge, respect, and on and on it goes…
The promise Jesus makes isn’t about any of that stuff, though. It’s about faith. Because when you know and trust in your heart that God Loves you, Includes you, Forgives you, and Empowers you to be who God made you to be, then you have what you need for real abundance! A lot of the challenges in our lives get much easier when we know we have abundance like that. And when we have abundant life, we can’t help but share abundantly with others.
We are called to boldly proclaim this promise today. For over 79 years, Bethel Lutheran Church has been sharing this message of God’s abundance, and this message matters now more than ever!
Every day, new neighbors are moving into Windsor, Severance, Timnath, and our surrounding region. Over the last decade, we have seen rapid growth in our community, with new schools, new businesses, and so much traffic! Bethel is the only ELCA church in the middle of all this growth. God has given us an incredible opportunity to share the good news of abundant life with so many who have not yet heard they are loved, included, forgiven, and empowered by Jesus.
Bethel is growing! More and more people are coming to hear about and experience the abundant love of Jesus in this community. Through inspiring worship, welcoming fellowship, and engaging service opportunities, folks are experiencing what it feels like to have abundance in their lives.
As we evolve with our community, it could be easy to believe we don’t have enough space or people to meet the needs of our growing congregation. But we have everything we need right here at Bethel, because you are here! God has richly blessed the Bethel community with folks like you who make abundant ministry possible every day.
As we prepare to share the abundance of God’s love in 2025, we will focus on continuing the great things that God is already doing at Bethel, while also exploring new ways to share the abundance with our neighbors and with one another in community. Our goal is to increase generosity by $50,000 next year. These offerings will allow Bethel to boldly share God’s abundance through three initiatives:
Abundant Excellence $20,000
When people walk through the doors of Bethel Lutheran Church for worship or any other event, we hope they feel loved, included, forgiven, and empowered by Christ. That happens because of the incredible people God has called to serve the church and be good stewards of this beautiful building. As the demands on our people and property increase with our growth, so will our need to invest in them. In 2025 Bethel will keep up with rising costs and these increased demands by investing in staff and facilities.
Abundant Outreach $25,000
God has called us to share abundance with others. At Bethel, there are many ways we already do this: Food on the Fourth, God’s Work Our Hands, quilting and knitting ministries, mission trips, ongoing support for Sky Ranch Lutheran camp, and more. In 2025 we will launch a new team called the Faith in Action team who will help this congregation reach out to even more neighbors with God’s abundant love. We will serve the whole church by becoming an internship site for seminary students who are preparing to become pastors and deacons in the ELCA.
Abundant Connection $5,000
We find abundant life in Christian community where people connect and share life together. People are yearning for deeper and more real connections in their lives. In 2025, Bethel will offer more ways to gather intentionally with one another. We will invest in opportunities to gather for events and retreats as well as strengthen the ministries that already bring folks together.
You are invited to help share the abundance of God’s love through Bethel!
You are invited to help share the abundance of God’s love through Bethel!
In the coming weeks, you will receive a letter from the Stewardship Team asking you to consider an increase to your offering for the coming year to support the mission and ministry of Bethel. Please pray about your response to the letter. Pray for our shared ministry as we celebrate Abundant LIFE together!
