Video of August 24 Traditional Sermon: “The Shack Revisited: What’s Poison to the Soul?”

Minister: Dr. Randy Mickler
Scripture: Romans 12:14-21
Length: 22:37
More information and discussion area

Video of August 17 Traditional Sermon: “The Shack Revisited: The Holding Patterns”

Minister: Dr. Randy Mickler
Scripture: Deuteronomy 32:11-12
Length: 25:52
More information and discussion area

Prepare for this Sunday’s message

This Sunday in our Traditional Worship Service, Dr. Randy Mickler will begin a six-part series discussing “The Shack”, a very popular Christian fiction book.  This series will cover many of the themes from the book including grief, anger, redemption, Heaven and foregiveness.  Don’t miss this powerful series for an in-depth look at how God is using this novel to show us His love.

Video from the St. Philip VBS

St. Philip recently hosted a week-long session of VBS.  Read all about it, or view some of the photos.  We now have a short video as well.  Check it out!

Live it Live returns August 17th!

Hello Everyone,

As most of you know, we have an interactive childrens worship service every Sunday at 11am in the Fellowship Hall throughout the school year called “Live It Live!“. As the beginning of the school year approaches, we wanted to take this opportunity to show you some highlights from this past season of the show. Below is a video to help bring back the memories of this past year!

Don’t forget that “Live it Live!” returns for it’s third season on August 17th at 11am in the Fellowship Hall. New friends will join us as we continue to have fun while learning more about Jesus.

“Live it Live!” appears on the ION network at 4:00pm each Thursday.  This is channel 12 on Comcast, channel 11 on Charter and channel 14 on DIRECTV.

If you’re interested in volunteering for “Live it Live!”, click here.

If you are in 6th grade and above, you can audition to be a member of the “Live it Live!” Worship and Drama Team. The auditions are August 4th and 5th from 1:00-3:00pm in the Fellowship Hall. We hope you can make it!

We look forward to seeing you on August 17th!!

Camp Hope pictures and a video

Here’s a bunch of fun stuff to recap last week’s Camp Hope.  First, here are 622 various pictures from camp, and the 223 cabin (and camper/counselor) pictures that we took.

Also, we have the video that was shown on Friday morning at camp.  You can view it below, or download it for your iPhone/iPod.

What’s all the fuss about?

This Sunday, I will begin a 3-week series on “What’s all the Fuss About a Jewish Carpenter?”  The first in the series is titled “Did Jesus rise from death?” (John 11:25-26).  Each week, I’ll provide thought-provoking questions and statements printed in the bulletin.  These questions will be available online as well in PDF form for group discussion.  Please join me  as we explore what the “fuss” is all about…

Jody

More from Camp Infusion

To go along with our recaps from a few weeks ago, here are some more thoughts from Camp Infusion (and a video!).

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We are BACK! Camp INFUSION was great. GOD MOVED throughout the week in the kids, leaders, band and speaker.  WE ARE PRAISING OUR GOD FOR A WONDERFUL WEEK, GOD IS SO COOL! We also appreciate the support of all the parents and volunteers who gave of their time and prayers.

The first night of camp we all hung out, met our “UNITS” and then rocked out with SERAPH (the band). The excitement was contagious as everyone headed back to the cabins to try and get some sleep. In cabins 11& 12 (my cabins), it was tough to go to sleep with all the stories being told, laughter, and energy that was still reverberating from the band’s amazing kick off.

We started each morning off the right way, with our focus on Jesus!  We discussed the importance of quiet time and then had some quiet time where we read lyrics and sat and listened to what God might have to say to us through those lyrics. Later we met again with our UNIT to create an army cadence to show our team spirit. The afternoon consisted of extreme blobs during free time, a hike to the waterfall, etc. That night was our first time to experience the message from Rob. He challenged us to lose our survivor mentality and let God take control.

We kicked off the next two days in similar fashion, except this time we were able to listen to songs during our morning devotional. Fierce UNIT competition continued with shaving cream pictionary and egg creek crossing. At night Rob went into the armor of God (Eph. 6: 10-17) and he went into detail on how we need to use the defensive weapons to stand up for our faith.

Thursday was sadly our last and final full day at INFUSION but the Big Red Ball made a smashing appearance! UNIT competition was intense, with the bananas squeaking out a victory in an epic relay race. The Mt. Bethel staff/ adults proudly brought home a win against the camp Winfield staff. But the day belonged to the ORANGE team (OJ the Christian way) who won the UNIT competition and were crowned champions! Rob concluded his series with a message on the offensive weapons of God, prayer and the bible. After the message the campers were sent to their cabins to write two “love” letters to people who have had an impact on their lives.

Our prayer for all our youth that came to camp is that they will continue to grow their faith and they will know that the leaders pray for them still. Thank you parents for trusting us with your children. I know that I personally did not have any problems with my cabin or unit which is a testimony to how they have been raised. I hope that I have helped give a little insight to our camping experience and I hope your student or students had fun fellowshipping with each other and growing their faith.  Thank you again, to God be the glory!

- Drew Peters (Middle School Intern – aka Captain D)

See our nursery

Take a tour of God’s Zoo from the privacy of your own home!  MBUMC’S nursery, God’s Zoo, is finally in the 21st century.  Watch the video below, which highlights all the amenities our nursery offers your precious little ones.

God’s richest blessings to you.
Cindy

One A-Chord on Tour — Soli Deo Gloria!

What a trip!

This year’s summer mission/music tour took 42 high schoolers (and 10 adults) to Louisville, Indianapolis and Chicago.  (You can check out our itinerary on Google Earth!)  We left Friday morning for Louisville, enjoying the fellowship of a truly special group of high school students.  Believe it or not (and I know you won’t believe me)…I never heard one complaint from this group…ever!  They were positive and appreciative and easy-going.  Just a joy to work with!

Here are some highlights from our trip:

• In Louisville, we provided lunch, sang and played games with the children from Wesley House.  What a blessing it was to see their faces light up when our youth spent time with them!
• Orchard Park Presbyterian church in Indianapolis…Sunday morning.  We sang two services.  In the traditional, we were up and down the stairs to the choir loft all morning…it was like singing while using a Stairmaster.  They were so appreciative of our songs and really made us feel welcome.  In the contemporary service, the band could barely hold themselves back from playing along!
• Sunday evening…A beautiful old Congregational church in Crystal Lake, IL. A very tasty dinner, followed by the first full concert presentation of our tour.
• Sight-seeing on Monday…a perfect day!  Bike ride along Lake Michigan, deep dish pizza, Chicago’s wonderful museums, Michigan Avenue malls and the lights of the city seen from the Hancock Observatory.   What a city!
• On Tuesday, we cooked a full breakfast for the residents of the Eckhardt Senior Apartments, a subsidized housing unit for the elderly in Chicago.  Eggs, sausage, biscuits, bananas, coffee, oj…prepared and served by our fabulous youth…with some help from a great team of chaperones!  After breakfast we simply spent time with each resident, talking and listening.  Then we went up to their 20th floor rec room and sang a concert with a great view of the city all around us.
• Dinner at Ed Debevics!  Don’t talk back and watch what you ask for!!
• If you’re ever in Chicago, you need to check out the Chicago Temple!  This skyscraper church has an amazing sanctuary…as if an old traditional church has been encased in a high-rise.   Every Wednesday, First Methodist Chicago (aka Chicago Temple) has a noon-time communion service.  For many people who work in the city, that service is their “Sunday.”  We provided music for the service, then ascended 20 floors and 173 steps (whew!) to the Sky Chapel, a small chapel with panoramic views of the city and a rich history.
• Wednesday night, we celebrated our time in Chicago.  The seniors had a special dinner cruise on Lake Michigan that was lots of fun…despite the thick fog.  (Hey seniors…Lola misses you already!)  The rest of the crew enjoyed the evening at Navy Pier.
• We left Chicago for the drive back to Louisville.  Thursday evening, we presented our last full concert for the trip at Friendship House, a senior assisted living home.  In a packed, standing room only, oppressively hot room, One A-Chord sang their hearts out…and the crowd responded with enthusiastic applause, lots of smiles, hugs and kisses.  It was a fantastic end to the musical part of our journey.  Of course the fun didn’t end!
• Friday…Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.  Roller coasters and water rides that afternoon.  Friday evening…choir banquet at the Hard Rock Café, followed by our annual superlative awards handed out riverside.

I’ve outlined the main stops, but couldn’t begin to tell you about all the moments in between.  Students led wonderful, thoughtful devotions each night.  Our wonderful college interns led the group in singing praise songs.   “Family” groups who may not have really known each other before tour, spent time praying, talking, and supporting each other.  And of course all the fun…movies on the bus, tossing the Frisbee in the park, climbing trees, crawling the malls, cookie dough in hotel rooms and lots and lots of laughter.

Mt. Bethel…you should be very proud of this group.  I certainly am.  They represented you in fine fashion!  I hope you were all in worship last Sunday to hear One A-Chord present their Homecoming Concert.  If you weren’t…you really missed something!

And if you’re a high school youth not participating in One A-Chord…join us next year!  You don’t know what you’re missing.  Check out 56 pictures from the trip, or watch the video below for a recap!

Suzanne