Pastor's Blog

Dearest Members of Bethlehem, “In that region there were shepherds in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” -Luke 2:8 Have you purchased your turkey yet?  How about set a time for Thanksgiving dinner? I included the quote from the Gospel of Luke in this morning’s devotion because in some ways we very much find ourselves in a similar position as those faithful shepherds. There they are going about their work.  Day by day they see to the tasks that are before t

Dearest Members of Bethlehem, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” -Psalm 122:1 I am not getting any younger, and yet, each week my enthusiasm for worship persists.  And in fact, I might be more excited about being in worship than I have ever been!  Why? Well, there are several reasons… 1.      Worship reminds me that I am not the center of the universe.  The worship space itself is designed to draw us beyond ourselves and into the Divine p

From the Pastor's Desk: November 2025 A Place at the Table Recently, I was invited to enter into a very powerful moment of contemplation.  A group of pastors were asked to draw a table on a piece of paper, we could draw any shape that we might like and any size that we preferred.  Next, we took a deep breath, prayed for a bit, and… began to fill the chairs.  I deliberately wrote the names of each person in their respective spot.  Interestingly, location around the table matt

Dearest Members of Bethlehem, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” -Hebrews 13:8 This Sunday our congregation will be celebrating its 95th anniversary.  95 years… you know, a great deal can change in 95 years. In October of 1930, the Philadelphia Athletics won the World Series, have you ever heard of them? The first, yep very first, American football game was played indoors. And much more seriously, our country was deep in the throes of what would come

Dearest Members of Bethlehem, “This world, as a glorious apartment of the boundless palace of the sovereign Creator, is furnished with an infinite variety of animated scenes, inexpressibly beautiful and pleasing, equally free to the inspection and enjoyment of all his creatures.” Travels and Other Writings, William Bartram The words that appear above were not written a few weeks ago by a recently trained conservation biologist.  The words that appear above were written in our

Dearest Members of Bethlehem, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.” -Philippians 3:10 A fancy new restaurant has...

Dearest Members of Bethlehem, “The next day, the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So...

Dear friends in Christ, I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “April Showers Bring May Flowers” before. I’m so looking forward to creation...

From the Pastor’s Desk July 2024 “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” –John 14:5 You’ll be receiving this...

Dearest Members of Bethlehem, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his...