Bethel Community Church Orlando

20/20 Vision: What's in a Name?

The local church is more than its name. It is the people that make up the body of Christ. The pastors of South Creek discuss the church's name, its locations, type of church government, and organization of its leadership in order to the lay the foundation for where South Creek has been and where it is going in the coming years. 

Resolved: Output

There is a difference between making a resolution and being resolved to do something. Resolutions tend to sound like a to-do list for a small slice of our lives, while resolve speaks of a new mindset that affects the course of our daily lives. We want to be resolved with how we handle our "output"- that is the discipline of sharing our faith, or something called evangelism. We often overcomplicate the idea of evangelism, but it is simply this: communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ to people who are far from Him.

Resolved: Input

There is a difference between making a resolution and being resolved to do something. Resolutions tend to sound like a to-do list for a small slice of our lives, while resolve speaks of a new mindset that affects the course of our daily lives. We want to be resolved with how we handle our "input"- that is, the practice of reading and applying God's word to our lives. God's word is God's plan for a transformed life.

Advent - The Change

As the Christmas season rolls into the New Year, we want to remember what Jesus birth means for us. Each of us has an incredible need to be forgiven of our sins. Jesus paid an immeasurable price to meet our need with grace. God has provided this grace in order to change us. As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we become more like him as we begin to sacrifice for the good of those around us.

Advent - The Blessing

The word “blessed” gets thrown around a lot in Christian circles. Many times it means we’re rich in something (like money or friends) and at other times it means things are going well for us. The greatest blessing- the blessing that makes all others appear insignificant in comparison- is that Jesus is ours. Being blessed and highly favored does not mean living a life without suffering. It means having the presence and promises of God in all of those situations.

Advent - The Gift

We all love to receive gifts! But there will be no gift you open and nothing significant that will happen this season like the reality that God came in the flesh and dwelt among us as Immanuel- God With Us. This Advent season, there is nothing that compares to what we’ve been given in the coming of Christ who dwelt among us, who becomes our righteousness and absorbs from us our sins. The invitation to all of us is to enter into the forgiveness of God made possible in Christ- to be fully forgiven, freely forgiven, and forever forgiven.

Advent - The Void

As we approach Advent, we start by looking at the ultimate purpose of Christ's birth. As humans we have a void in our heart that was designed to long for eternity- to long for God. But God did not abandon us in our sin. Instead he provided the only way to fill this void and restore our relationship with Him. Now he reorders all around us in such a way that all of our
rejoicing should roll up into the ultimate rejoicing: that Christ has come, and that he is coming again.

Team Sunday

For Team Sunday we want to see what it is like to be on Jesus' team. When we unpack the attitudes of Jesus’ first team and the effect they had on the culture around them, we see our game plan: When we gather together we will grow, give and
go with the gospel. God wants the team to follow His plan, and He has always used ordinary people doing ordinary things to accomplish than plan. We could say it like this: When ordinary people practice obedience, God does extraordinary things through the power of the gospel. That is the power of begin on Jesus' team.

Tasks vs. Relationships

Chad Braymer, our missionary to Costa Rica, is our guest speaker this week. During his initial time in Costa Rica, Chad's biggest takeaway has been the emphasis placed on relationships by the Costa Rican people. Teaching from Ephesians 5:15-16, Chad's challenge for us is to make the best use of the time God gives us as we build relationships with those around us. By avoiding a task-driven mentality, we can focus on the people we interact with and introduce Christ into the relationship as we seek to change lives with the gospel.

What is a Christian?

What is a "Christian"? The word “Christian” today means many things to many different people. Sometimes it obscures the fact that a lot of people who call themselves Christians are not actually disciples. “Disciple” is much clearer—terrifyingly clear, in fact—about what you actually become when you believe in Jesus. This week we’re going back to Matthew 4, the calling of the 1st disciples, to see what a disciple actually was.