Some of our young children waiting patiently for church today!!

Yesterday Mt Bethel delighted in the adding of five new members to the church!

We are so blessed that Paul and Jenell Keller, Herb Leon, and Ryan and Liz Wivo made the decision to join Mt Bethel and make us their church family. We look forward to their involvement with the church and to witnessing God work through their lives!

Happy Easter!

What a beautiful day here at Mt Bethel! We were blessed to have the opportunity today to celebrate the joy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today began with a delicious breakfast put on by the men of our church; what a blessing to be able to gather and congregate before our Easter sermon! A big thanks to the guys for putting this all together. 

Here's a little glimpse:

After breakfast we headed into the service where we were greeted by the most beautiful display of flowers upon the altar. (A special thanks to Pam for keeping the church looking so lovely!)

Spring is a new beginning for our flowers, trees, and animals of the earth, much like the resurrection of Jesus marked a new beginning for us. What a perfect choice for the altar.

One of our greatest blessings of the church today was the many new (and regular) visitors and  members of the church; it is always a great day to see the pews of Mt Bethel overflowing and FILLED! An even greater joy is to witness the love of the Lord seep through our future generations and witness our children growing and learning about the story and joy of Easter.  A special thanks to Shirley Scramlin for sharing the story of Easter with our children today!

Whether you had the opportunity to be with us today or not, we hope that you had a beautiful day celebrating the resurrection of Christ Jesus, our Savior, and hope that you have welcomed Him into your heart so that you, too, can enjoy the forgiveness of sins and the promise of everlasting life.

Happy Easter again!

As we do every year, this Christmas Eve was spent with our beautiful 9 o'clock pm Christmas Eve service. Though the weather kept some people home, the church was filled with comfort as we welcomed the celebration of the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.

We lit the final candle on our advent wreath.

During each Sunday of the Advent season, we lit a candle to represent one of the four virtues Jesus brings us: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace.  The Christ candle (the center candle) was lit tonight, and serves to remind us that Jesus is the light of the world and is the purity that was sent to wash away our sins.

The Christmas Eve service also included our magical candle light service. If you've never attended a candlelight service, you really are missing out on something beautiful. As a congregation,  we passed the flame from person to person until the only light in the building was from the glimmering candles of those old and young.

As we left the buidling, we were greeted by a beautiful blanket of freshly fallen snow-- the first we have had in weeks!!

If you weren't able to make it this year, we hope you will be able to join us next time!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and best wishes for a wonderful New Year!

This afternoon we had our annual church conference to review this last year, and plan for all of the wonderful things we will do in the coming year!

Thanks to those of you who have volunteered your time to be a part of this meeting, and a BIG thanks to those who have stepped up to take on a role in the church in 2015!!!

To close our meeting, Rev. Dr. Tara Sutton gave a beautiful sermon on the 2015 plan for our church family to "Encounter the Holy". As we look forward to next year and work on living a Godly life and loving thy neighbor,  we will also take the time to remember an important lesson that Jesus taught.

I, your Lord and Teacher,  have washed your feet. So you also should wash another's feet. I have given you an example.  You should do as I have done for you. 
--John 13:14-15

Jesus used footwashing to illustrate the importance of caring for and serving others; it also represents the cleansing of our sins that we experience as we walk through and engage in worldly experiences.

Looking ahead to 2015 we have been challenged with the task of serving others in our congregation...through footwashing!  Rev. Sutton paved the way by selflessly washing the feet of Pastor Scott and one of our long-time members, Hazel Voorhees.

How will we do?

Well....you'll have to come to church and see!  ;)

This Saturday is the Harvest Dinner and once again the menu is awesome. Baked turkey, sweet and mashed potatoes, spice cake for dessert. Can't wait.

We're having a lot of fun learning about the great characters of the Bible. Next week it'll be Jacoband he gets a name chang. What would you change your name to if you could choose it?

This summer has been one filled with love! Pastor Scott married two beautiful couples this summer.

On May 31, 2014, in Davisburg, Mi, Lisa Scramlin and Grant Riff became one. The weather was perfect with a beautiful, warm, 78 degree day.

On August 2nd, 2014, Elizabeth (Liz) Hope Scramlin and Ryan Wivo also tied the knot in a ceremony in Holly, Mi. As a child, Liz had dreamed of a wedding on her family's 104 year old farm; you can tell by the picture that she is delighted to have that dream come true.

Our community at Mt Bethel is excited to watch these marriages blossom and grow! For Grant and Lisa, and Ryan and Liz, we hope that you continue to surround your marriage with the Grace, Love, and Peace of God.

 "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:12

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to enjoy one last weekend with beautiful weather! Our church members were overly generous in bringing delicious dishes to pass, so we got to fill up our bellies with some homemade yummy food while spending some time outside.

The burger and hotdog assembly line was great!

We enjoyed some mingling!  (Who doesn't like their picture taken while they're eating?!)

And we had a great time watching the kids play some yard games. Everyone went home a winner!

The kids found all sorts of candy and pennies!

And they played the clothespin drop game.

And what kind of picnic would it be without a sack race?!

We had a wonderful time congregating and celebrating the wonderful blessings that God has bestowed upon us!