Bethany Community Church

Spiritual Discipline: Prayer

Joseph, a righteous man, almost missed his opportunity to care for and parent Jesus, our Lord and Savior. It was his willingness to listen to God and obey that opened up this great calling on his life as Christ’s earthly father. When we spend time in prayer, we can make our requests know to God, and we are also invited to see situations and events through God’s eyes. As we grow in our prayer life, we can move from talking at God, to talking to God, to listening to God, to being with Him, aware of His presence in every part of our day. His presence teaches us His way of responding to what happens, so that, like Joseph, our righteousness and graciousness is empowered and directed by His revelation to us.

Practicing Prayer
1. Pick up a devotional book that focuses on prayer and contemplation. Commit to reading from it once or twice a day throughout Advent.

2. Write out a prayer to God. Then prayerfully write a response. What might God be trying to say to you?

3. At the end of the day, prayerfully consider the following questions: For what moment today am I the most grateful? For what moment today am I least grateful? Give these moments up to God in prayer.

4. Start a prayer journal. You can make a simple one by labeling four columns on a sheet of paper: Date Requested, Request Made, How Answered, and Date Answered. Below there are downloadable samples of prayer journals.

Verse to Memorize: Psalm 25:4–5
“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

Prayer List for Everyday
Prayer Journal Sample One
Prayer Journal Sample Two

Watching the Wall, December 2009

Advent has a way of sneaking up on me, especially when it starts the Sunday after Thanksgiving. As I gear up, my first thought is to cut corners. Do I have to put Christmas lights on the outside of the house this year? I know we have the friendly competition with our neighbors, to be the first house lit, if not the best, but can I let it go this year? What about the Advent Calendar? And which of the red/green boxes on the high shelf is it in?

The Advent wreath was another shortcut I wanted to take this year. “Would it be okay if we just read the advent stories, but didn’t light candles?” I asked my son. He looked at me in disbelief and suggested I stop by the thrift store and pick up some inexpensive solution to the problem of no Advent wreath. Yes, it mattered to him.

We all want to take shortcuts in our life. Especially during busy times, like the holidays, we are tempted to give up anything that seems extra so that we have time for the urgent to-do lists. Unfortunately those things that seem extra are often, in reality, the most important.

Prayer may be one of those things. God knows our hearts. He knows our desires before we speak them. But there is something that occurs in our hearts when we name those desires, so that they are out there on the table before God. Our nagging sadness in spite of the celebration of the season. Our fear regarding an uncertain future. Our addiction to some substitute for intimacy with God. This prayer of confession before God draws us into His presence in authentic ways, as His spirit speaks to our spirit, reminding us that regardless of our circumstances, we belong to Him.

Prayer for others may be lost as well, as our focus narrows to our close family and friends and the details of preparing for gift-giving and feasting together. Yet our own planning should remind us of those around us for whom the holidays may not be so filled with joy. Loss, uncertainty, and grief may overshadow this time of year for them. Praying for them renews our own humble gratitude for God’s provision and may reveal to us concrete ways that we can reach out to those around us.

This December, as we prepare for Christmas, and celebrate with friends and family, may we not shortcut our time in prayer, so that we will carry God’s presence with us into all our activities and events. Blessings to you all during this Advent season.

In Christ,

Nancy Eckardt
Director, Discipleship and Leadership Development

This Week:

Pray for Pastor Richard throughout the month of December, as he spends his time in Europe. He will be teaching at two different Bible schools during his time, as well as vacationing with his family during Christmas. Pray for health and refreshment, and a renewed focus for the coming year.

Pray for staff as they share the teaching and ministry load while Richard is away. Pray that God will anoint their hearts as they prepare.

Pray for all the volunteers and staff who are a part of the Advent celebrations here at Bethany. Pray also for the hearts of the congregation as they listen and participate in the events. Pray that this season will be a powerful time of drawing people to Christ as we reflect on the profound and loving expression of God becoming flesh.

Pray for Shonnie Scott and Scott Sund, who have been identified as the ones to lead our first two church plants. Pray that God would give them a vision that reflects His heart and the hearts of those who will plant the church with them. Pray that we will all see ourselves as a part of this effort, and that we would be willing to hear God’s voice for our own lives in this area, and be obedient.

Pray for those in our midst who are looking for work. Pray that God would give them peace and direction in their search, and that He would provide all their needs and the needs of their families.

Pray for those who are mourning the loss of loved ones this season. Pray for those who will attend our Longest Night Service on December 21, that they will experience the comfort of God’s love, and the hope that comes from our faith in Christ.

Pray for those who live around Bethany who are struggling financially. Pray that we will be able to help them in tangible ways through our Benevolence Fund.

Pray for our missionaries who are away from family and friends during the holidays, some for the first time. Pray that God will fill up their loneliness with his presence, and provide a new “family” for them to celebrate with. Pray that they will be renewed in their sense of God’s power in their lives and ministry in this new year.

And finally, pray that we would take this time of Advent to grow more deeply in love with Jesus, and that the love he has poured out on us will spill into our homes and communities, and that we will give God the glory.

Come Lord Jesus.

Once again the Christmas season is upon us and the search for the perfect gift for loved ones has begun.  If you would like to try something different this year, consider purchasing gifts that support various causes.

Gifts of Hope: Women’s Enterprises International
Women’s Enterprises International is dedicated to creating opportunities that equip women in developing countries to overcome poverty and transform their lives and communities.  Gifts of Hope provide for the basic needs of women both young and old this holiday season.

Krochet Kids
Buy a Hat.  Change a Life.  Krochet Kids international works in developing nations to empower impoverished communities to rise above poverty by employing this generation through the creation of products, and educating the next through their sale.

Living Water International
Living Water International exists to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water, and to experience “living water”—the gospel of Jesus Christ—which alone satisfies the deepest thirst.  LWI gift cards allow you to charge a gift amount to the card and your loved one will get to decide  what projects the gift will fund!

Advent Conspiracy
The concept behind Advent Conspiracy is simple: Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All.

Agros
By choosing to give a gift from Agros in honor of someone you love, you are enabling families across Central America and Mexico to break out of crushing poverty.

World Vision
World Vision “must have” gifts are precious because they are genuinely needed. They are the charity gift of hope, dignity, health and in some cases life itself. Thanks to you, your friends and family will know that they’ll be making a real difference to some of the world’s most vulnerable children and families.

World of Good
Wish you could shop and support what you value?  World of Good allows you to choose what you support with your purchase.  Eco-positive, preserving tradition, enabling education, and animal-friendly are just a few you can choose from.

Better World Books
Better World Books is a for-profit social enterprise that collects used books and sells them online to raise money for literacy initiatives worldwide.

Fair Trade Sports
Fair Trade Sports is excited to bring North America the world’s first line of sports balls for soccer, football, basketball (and more!) that are certified green and certified Fair Trade.

Watching the Wall
Prayer Guidelines for November, 2009

I’m finishing up teaching on an island in Canada this week. The time has been full of both teaching and opportunities for personal ministry with students, for which I’m profoundly grateful. Meanwhile, back at Bethany Community Church…

1. We’re getting ready for our annual meeting, which will happen Monday, Nov. 9. This is a critical time in the life of our church as we briefly look back, once again grateful for the provision of Christ, but also look ahead, confirm the next year’s key leaders, and pray for our future. Please pray that God will continue to both shepherd us, and provide for us as we seek to follow the Lamb.

2. We’re beginning our work for the filling of two very important positions at Bethany. Pray for us as we search for the Children’s Ministry Director Position, and for our Director of Worship and Music. Being confident that both of these positions are important to the work of God at Bethany, we’re confident that God has people in mind for these roles, and are praying that God would lead them to us.

3. Please pray for Brian and Ted, as both of them seek God’s will for the next and future steps for their vocations and calling. We’re grateful for both of these men, and continue to pray that God would guide them into His perfect calling.

4. Megan is making plans for various mission trips for our college students and others. Pray for her, as she seeks God’s direction regarding those trips.

5. Nancy and I are working on plans for the Winter as we seek to build a culture within Bethany that makes intentional practice of a rule of life a central piece of discipleship. We’re asking that God will give us wisdom to structure this, and that His hand would be upon us as we move into more widespread and intentional practices of Bible reading, prayer, service, and generosity.

6. Many of our team will be attending a conference in November related to the subject of beginning satellite campuses and planting churches. Please pray for us as we continue to learn and seek the Lord regarding these things.

7. We’re happy to say that we’re very close to being able to announce key leaders for not one, but two satellite locations! Pray for us as we continue to seek God’s wisdom and provision for these key leadership roles.

8. I’ll be writing a book on the subject of hope over these next months. Please pray that God anoints both the study time of learning, and the writing time of articulating truths, to the end that people would learn how to get on with the calling of imparting hope to our world—right now, in the midst of life’s messes and uncertainties.

9. Many of us are particularly grateful for health in these days, mindful in this time of flu, that our strength is a daily gift. Take time to give thanks for that, and to pray for those suffering with afflictions.

10. This time of economic uncertainty continues to be a time of struggle for many families, and fallout of economic hardship often stresses marriage and family relationships as well. Please pray that God will shepherd each family through seasons of vital and visible need.

11. We were blessed to hear from our friend Doru and his ministry in Romania. Pray for him and his team of leaders as they serve faithfully in that country.

12. Continue to remember the special classes that have begun well this fall: Alpha, Mothers of Pre-Schoolers, and Phil’s Spiritual Journey class. Pray that each one will complete their fall course strong, and that the result of the huge investment of time and resources will result in changed lives.

I’ll close with the personal observation that this Fall we’ve taken on, under the guiding hand of Christ, the challenging task of running simultaneous services in two locations. We’ve certainly needed the space, and while this new format hasn’t been without hiccups and challenges, it’s clear that we’ve turned a corner. I want to offer a personal word of gratitude to the Lord Jesus, for it’s perfectly clear to me that none of this would have been able to happen without the hard work and dedication of two special groups:
1. The staff team of Bethany, both on the ministry and administrative side, who have worked tirelessly and sometimes very long days, in order to fulfill this mission, and have done so with grace and joy.

2. The hundreds of volunteers who fold bulletins, drive buses, make coffee, teach classes, greet attenders, help people cross the street, lead worship, run cameras, fix broken tech stuff, bring snacks, run sound and lights, sing in the choir, and so much more.

God has been good to us, but it’s these people who have made Christ visible. Thank you. May we each know the blessing of Christ and, as we move into this glorious and beautiful season, cling to Christ as our source of all we need.

Yours in Him,

Richard Dahlstrom

Things have changed quickly over the past few days, as we’ve gone from sleeping on top of the sheets with the windows up, to closing up the house and tossing a down comforter on the bed! Just as quickly, it seems, we who are on staff are looking back at what was already a very busy summer as a time of relative leisure, compared with the pace of things at Bethany right now. New services, new locations, lots of new volunteers, and new students returning all mark the beginning of a mission-critical ministry year for Bethany.

I’m praying for several things, and I’m happy that you’ll be praying with me for each matter:

1. Staff transitions. We’ll be welcoming our Director of Small Groups later this month (an announcement will be made this Sunday regarding the “who” of this position), and we are continuing to look for a Director of Missions. Both of these matters fall under the category of staffing, and I ask that you’ll be praying with me for the transition of our new staff member, and that God will guide us to the right staff member for Missions.

2. Along these lines, I’d like to emphasize how important it will be for Bethany’s future for us to grow in our intentionality to be like Jesus, “the Word becoming flesh” in neighborhoods, including the Aurora corridor, if we’re to be effective in building a community that testifies of Jesus’ power to knock down walls of division. Pray that God will pour out His spirit on our church so that we might be captured more fully by God’s heart for our neighbors and city.

3. Pray for the many ministries that are beginning this month, such as MOPS and College Student Ministries, as well as those that began during the second half of September and are still in their early stages, such as the Alpha Course. Pray that the many classes that are occurring would collectively be used by God to shape us as a community and that individual lives will be challenged and equipped.

4. Pray for Nancy Eckardt and me as we begin planning winter events related to creating a rule of life community within Bethany: a group committed to the disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, service, and generosity.

5. There are many in our community continuing to feel the effects of the difficult economy. Pray that people will find work, and that, equally important, all of us will be teachable regarding how best to steward our resources according to God’s purposes.

6. As always, pray for marriages, knowing that there are couples who are being robbed of genuine intimacy through wrong choices and roadblocks. Ask that God would bring them the help they need.

7. We’re praying for leaders, as we ponder who it is that God would want to be the ministry leader for our new work in West Seattle. Pray that God would give us clarity regarding this matter.

Finally, in these very opportune and challenging times, it’s vital that we who are shepherding the church be people who are serving out from intimacy and rest in Christ, rather than compulsion, ambition, fear, or longings for human approval. The habits that nurture intimacy are often, when things get busy, the first to go. May our Lord keep us near to Him in the midst of all that is unfolding.

Thanks for standing with me in prayer.

Richard Dahlstrom

Brian Hallberg, Children’s Pastor

I need  more sleep.

Do you remember the last blog I wrote that started out that way? It was when we added our newborn son to our family, with one day’s notice, five months ago. This entry starts with a phone call as well.

During the month of May, the phone rang. This time it was not a social worker who changed our lives; it was a young man named Martell who I had been mentoring for several years. Early in the mentor relationship, my wife and I had invited Martell to move from his current foster home into our home. He was calling to see if the offer was still open. We were humbled by the courage that it took for him to call, and of course, we said YES!

On July 1, Martell moved into our house and became the older brother that Kaleb has always wanted. My wife used to always say before Jacob and Martell came home that “our family is not all here yet.” Within four months, we have added a newborn and a 17-year-old, and we are all home. Our house is certainly full; full of love, full of laughter, and full of true living. Jacob is five months old and sleeping through the nights (when it is my turn to watch him). Becky is five years old and just started kindergarten. Kaleb is seven years old and has begun first grade. Martell is trying not to let his senioritis start too early as he begins his senior year at Shorewood High school.

Karmin and I spend our time feeding, cleaning, doing laundry, helping with homework, giving driving lessons, changing diapers, etc., in what we call our beautiful, crazy life. We have never been so tired, but we’ve never been so happy. Thank you God that Your vision for our lives is so much more beautiful that could have dreamed. Thank you for writing such an awesome story for our family.

Is God calling you to use your spiritual gifts and skills in one of the following ways?

Worship

• Greeters (8) – 11am Chapel
• Power Point Slide Managers (5) – All Morning Services
• Sound Board (3) –  9 & 11am Chapel

Bus Ministry

• Back-up Shuttle Drivers (7)– All Morning Services)
• Crossing Guards (4)– All Morning Services

Children’s Ministry

• Small Group Leaders (2)– 9am, K-3rd Grade
• Small Group Leaders: 4th-6th Grade – 2 (9am)
• Small Group Leaders: K-3rd Grade – 4 (11am)
• Classroom Aid: 4th-6th Grade – 1
• Childrens Greeters – 5 (9am & 11am)
• Group Storytellers: K-3rd Grade – 2 (9am & 11am)
• Preschool Music Leader for 5-10 minutes – 1
• Music Leaders: K-3rd Grade – 3 (9am & 11am)

From Pastor Richard Dahlstrom:

Let’s begin, before talking about anything else, by thanking God for some cloud cover and cooler weather.  The crazy weather patterns of this summer, all around the globe, serve as a healthy reminder that, in spite of the vast technological advances we’ve made over the past millennia, we still can’t make it stop raining in Louisville to the tune of 6 inches an hour, or prevent the normally mellow city of Seattle from reaching 103.  All this would be meaningless except for the fact that every shred of food we consume comes to us because the weather patterns of our world sustain life.  Since God controls those patterns in spite of best efforts to do it ourselves, we remain, as always, dependent on His provision!

Closer to home, August will be anything but a quiet month at Bethany, and we who serve on staff covet your prayers on the following fronts:

1. We’re in the midst of searching for God’s choice of the person to fill newly opened position of small groups ministry director.  Pray for us as we interview finalists and seek God’s right choice for this very important decision.
2. We’re also in the midst of budgeting, and as always, there’s healthy tension between our human projections and the vision of where we believe God is leading us.  We tug and pull at these various numbers, utilizing prayer, conversation, consideration, reconsideration, cuts, additions, more prayer, more conversation… you get the picture.  Pray with us that the final product is a representation of God’s heart.  Of course we want to avoid selfish ambition and presumption.  Just as much, we want to avoid any sense complacency or conservatism that is rooted in doubt rather than faith.
3. Pray for me as I teach in Canada this coming week.  I’ll be both plowing through Exodus, and preparing for Philippians 3 for the Sunday that I return.  I’m excited to be with my family (and a family with Bethany) at this conference, but also excited to continue the study in Philippians and preparation for the fall.
4. There are more newly married couples this summer than any in recent memory and literally every one of them that comes to mind fills my heart with gratitude for the love for the Lord, their creativity, and their desire to be a blessing in the world.  Pray for the new marriages in our midst, asking that God would strengthen them.
5. We’re in the middle of preparing for some vast changes this fall, as we become a church with multiple sites.  I’ll be writing and talking much more about this in coming weeks, but the short prayer request for now is simply that Bethany Community Church would be obedient to the voice of our Lord as He invites us to write yet another chapter in the book of Acts; God’s continuing story of His work in the world.
6. Pray for the Tabitha volunteers as they begin ministry again to the women who stay in the shelter here at our church.  Pray that they would be refreshed and renewed, and ready women to continue to serve the women who are here Tuesday through Friday nights.
7. Pray for those in our congregation who are feeling the financial pressure of an uncertain economy.  Pray that God would give them peace and would provide for their needs.  Pray that those who are out of work would find jobs quickly.
8. Pray for the ministry leaders as they begin to prepare for a new ministry year.  In the next month, we will be starting Boundaries, Alpha, and Financial Peace University and more.  Pray that our ministry offerings would be a context for transformation in the lives of those who attend.Pray for our high schoolers as they spend next week at camp in Leavenworth.
9. Pray for safety and a pouring out of God’s spirit in the lives of the youth that will plant in them a desire to follow Christ into the school year and build a foundation for the rest of their lives.  Pray that God would bless the leaders who so faithfully encourage and guide these kids.

Ted Trigg, Worship Director

Children provide the greatest insight into our relationship with Christ. There is a good reason Christ calls us to be as little children.

The other day when I got home, my kids came running and screaming to me. They grabbed me and hugged me. My daughter kissed me. It was wonderful. My wife came into the room, and, with a smile of mischief on her face, raised her arms in the air and screamed, then kissed me, laughing. (This isn’t something she does every day!) This was the best way to come home.

How often in life do we receive such a reception? Maybe at our wedding, maybe on the day we are born, or when we graduate, but it’s not something that is a common everyday occurrence. (Indeed if it was, it might grow stale?)

Perhaps the more pointed question here is this: How often do we give Christ this reception?

As the director of worship, I think about the idea of running to the arms of Jesus, screaming with joy. We have a tendency at Bethany to be sober in our worship. The reasons for this are many, of course. We are educated, we are reserved, we are Norwegian (or fill in any other nationality that may apply); other churches spend too much time on celebration and not enough time on confession and renewal, so that is what we should focus on…whatever the reason, we hold back.

What if the problem is that we have a trust issue? A vision issue? We tend to see ourselves in the darkest of ways: broken, torn apart, unworthy. It’s true—we are these things and more, but be careful of false humility. In Christ, we are not what we think we are. The truth is that in Christ, our sins are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. To understand that, realize that this isn’t New York City to Seattle. Neither east nor west are fixed points; it is an infinite distance between the two. So when we come to Christ, it should be as children who are pure and free from what we think is entangling us. (It’s like we have an imaginary monster holding us back.) This is how it is with my kids. When they are running to me, I don’t remember that yesterday morning they couldn’t share or Nora wouldn’t eat her fruit; instead, it’s with the sense of how beautiful they are and how much I love them.

Consider the words of Derek Webb from the song “Wedding Dress”:
I am a whore, I do confess
I put you on just like a wedding dress
And run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
I put you on like a ring of gold
And run down the aisle to you

Pardoning the language if need be, this is typical of how we see ourselves, and it is true. We are prodigals and we are whores that give ourselves over to every whim and fancy. Yet within this context, Christ gives us everything. He still marries us. He gives us His signet ring and trusts us with His kingdom. He puts robes on us that are symbols of His love. He washes our feet. He gives us His very life. In Zephaniah, it says that He rejoices over us with singing.

So why do we hold back? Cynicism, fear, looking bad—I know all the reasons. I don’t have a biblical basis for this really, but I wonder if Christ isn’t waiting for us to come running and screaming to Him. If we can’t do that, then we need to at least ask for a vision of who He is and why we are hesitant. Yes, He will address your issues. Yes, He will correct you when needed. Yet the invitation is to come and feast, come and taste and see the Lord is good. It’s not a snack, it’s a banquet. We don’t have to be on a diet for this one. We can eat and be filled and pass the love of Christ on to those that are hungry and thirsty. If we had a sense that there is plenty to go around, I think it would change how we worship. If we had a sense that Christ’s arms are wide open and His heart is full of laughter, I think it would change not only how we pray and sing but how we treat one another. After all, Christ is in us. That is another entry I suppose.

Run to Jesus.

God’s call to excellence extends to all aspects of our lives.  Our testimony to the watching world often consists of being the best teacher, carpenter, lawyer or parent possible.  We also recognize excellence in others, taking pleasure in the way God has uniquely equipped them to be part of His ongoing creation.  How great, therefore, that the firm of Kirtley Cole, Inc. has been honored for its construction of Bethany’s new sanctuary.  Kirtley Cole was awarded the 2009 Eagle of Excellence award, the industry’s top honor.  Check it out.