Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost
Graduation Day for Holy Spirit School
October 29, 2023
| Pastor: Ralph Wrightstone | Bulletin Insert Photos | Music Director: Travis Oaks |
On this Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost we are having the "Graduation" for our
School of the Holy Spirit, 17 weeks after it began on July 2. Click
here
for a convenient listing of the 16 previous "lessons" in the school. Today's message
"Baptism in the Holy Spirit" provides a foundation for receiving it.
This also brings us near the end of the "common time" between Pentecost and the beginning of the new liturgical year with the "1st Sunday of Advent", just 5 weeks away. We do encounter a few "special" days during this time, in both the church and civil calendars...the first being "Halloween", Tuesday. With an ancestry of terms including: Hallowe'en, Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve and All Saints' Eve, it is a direct "descendant" of the Christian festival day of All Saints Day which is always celebrated on November 1. In some traditions, the three day period from Oct 31 to Nov 2 is a season called "Allhallowtide". Methodists join with others in designating the Sunday after All Saints Day as "All Saints Sunday"...that will be next Sunday.
Today also has significance on our church calendar as "Reformation Sunday", the Sunday on or before Reformation Day, commemorating the October 31,1517 date when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, marking the beginning of The Protestant Reformation. Though Methodist and other denominations in the Anglican tradition are not part of that particular movement (see The English Reformation) we do join with them on this day to remember our separation from the restrictive access to God that the Roman church had become.
Click on the "Bethel United Methodist Church" script above
for links to some Resource materials for today's service.
Thank you for coming. Our prayer will be that we will soon all gather again for worship in
Bethel's Sanctuary, but until then we'll be here for you on Sunday morning.
This also brings us near the end of the "common time" between Pentecost and the beginning of the new liturgical year with the "1st Sunday of Advent", just 5 weeks away. We do encounter a few "special" days during this time, in both the church and civil calendars...the first being "Halloween", Tuesday. With an ancestry of terms including: Hallowe'en, Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve and All Saints' Eve, it is a direct "descendant" of the Christian festival day of All Saints Day which is always celebrated on November 1. In some traditions, the three day period from Oct 31 to Nov 2 is a season called "Allhallowtide". Methodists join with others in designating the Sunday after All Saints Day as "All Saints Sunday"...that will be next Sunday.
Today also has significance on our church calendar as "Reformation Sunday", the Sunday on or before Reformation Day, commemorating the October 31,1517 date when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, marking the beginning of The Protestant Reformation. Though Methodist and other denominations in the Anglican tradition are not part of that particular movement (see The English Reformation) we do join with them on this day to remember our separation from the restrictive access to God that the Roman church had become.
for links to some Resource materials for today's service.
We are also having a service at 11:00 this morning in Bethel's sanctuary.
For those unable to attend the services at the church, a new service will be available here online
before 10:00 am each Sunday morning, using the same format as the on-site service. So you may
"gather" here for an "Early Service" at 10:00 or the traditional service at 11:00...actually it
will be available here at any time all week. We hope that you will find it a refreshing place to
come into God's house.
NOTE: Each part of this online service consists of an audio file and, for most, a
Link to a pdf file of "projection slides". Click on the 
symbol to play the audio file under a separate browser tab or in a new window. Then select the
"Bethel 10/29/23 Service" browser tab or return to this window to open the Link to
the "slides". It is best to stop the playing of one Audio segment and close its tab or window
before starting another.
We hope that you will fully participate in the service provided here, taking the time to raise
your voice or read along with the hymns and responses, and listening to the recorded messages and
songs that have been prepared for you. Realize that, though not meeting face-to-face, you are
virtually gathering with many others for this time of worship, celebration and spiritual
refreshment.
symbol to play the audio file under a separate browser tab or in a new window. Then select the
"Bethel 10/29/23 Service" browser tab or return to this window to open the Link to
the "slides". It is best to stop the playing of one Audio segment and close its tab or window
before starting another.
We hope that you will fully participate in the service provided here, taking the time to raise
your voice or read along with the hymns and responses, and listening to the recorded messages and
songs that have been prepared for you. Realize that, though not meeting face-to-face, you are
virtually gathering with many others for this time of worship, celebration and spiritual
refreshment.
- .
Verse - Prelude/Processional - "Sing Alleluia to the Lord"
In a return to Pre-Covid practice, acolytes are bringing light to the candles on the altar to open this time of Worship. - . Slides -
Welcome and Announcements . (03:46)
- Opening Hymn
.
Verses .
"Holy Ground" . (TFWS 2272)
:
(Let us know if you have a favorite hymn that you would like to have included in an online service.) -
.
Slides - Call to Worship, Affirmation of Faith and Gloria Patria .
(02:48)
We hope that you will participate privately or communally in this responsive reading as part of your worship service. - . Proverb for This Week:
"Proverbs 2:1-8".
(02:11)
......consider following along with a favored translation of your own. - .
Slides - Pastor's Thoughts, Prayers and Lord's Prayer .
(16:12)
The slides here include a list of those for whom prayers have been requested. - The Message
. Scripture:
"Acts 2:1-4" .
(01:11)
You may wish to follow the reading of the scripture in your own Bible.
:
. Message: "Baptism in the Holy Spirit" . (21:47)
:
The conclusion of the sermon provides four prayers for receiving Spirit Baptism. The next segment introduces and recites those prayers.
. Text .
The 4 Prayers for receiving Spirit Baptism . (04:46)
:
(The "Church" message on this day, with the same topic, will be on the "Sermons" page of Bethel's web site later this week.) - Closing Hymn
.
Verses .
"Spirit Song" . (UMH 347)
- Benediction and Closing Chorus:
. Verse - "Bind
Us Together"
Please let us know of any problems you have with or suggestions about this site by
sending an email to "bumctlh@gmail.com". If you have any announcements or prayer concerns you
would like included next week you may contact Pastor Ralph Wrightstone directly at: 850-591-
9785