Bethel UMC: Sermons and Special Music

Sermons and Special Music

This page provides audio recordings of sermons and special music from services at Bethel during the pastorate of Ralph L. Wrightstone.
NOTE: Because of restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic, formal sevices in Bethel's sanctuary were suspended after March 22, 2020. After that, "virtual" online services using pre-recorded audio segments were provided with links from the "Service Page" of this web site. These continued even after unrecorded "open- air" and later inside services began at the church. The following recordings are from services held in the church during the year 2021.

From Bethel UMC Services of
January 3, 2021 thru December 26, 2021

Click on the symbol to begin playing an audio recording.

December 2021

26 - 1st Sunday of Christmas
...... (03:24) - Text . Introduction and Scripture: Luke 2:41-52
...... (14:20) - Message: "The Favorite"
...... (00:59) - Closing Remarks
24 - Christmas Eve
...... (01:52) - Text . Introduction and Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3
...... (21:15) - Message: "We All Need Hope"
19 - 4th Sunday of Advent
...... (01:20) - Text . Introduction and Scripture: Luke 1:39-45
...... (11:16) - Message: "Shared Promises"
...... (03:44) - Closing Remarks
12 - 3rd Sunday of Advent
...... (03:11) - Text . Introduction and Scripture: Luke 3:7-18
...... (19:39) - Message: "The Art of Fruit"
...... (01:11) - Message: "Closing Remarks"
05 - 2nd Sunday of Advent
...... (01:33) - Text . Scripture: Luke 3:1- 6
...... (21:06) - Message: "Touchdown in the Wild"

November 2021

28 - 1st Sunday of Advent
...... (02:32) - Text . Introduction & Scripture: Luke 21:25-36
...... (08:10) - Message: "The Readiness Potential"
...... (03:18) - Closing Remarks & Prayer
21 - Christ the King and Thanksgiving Sunday
...... (02:53) - Text . Introduction & Scripture: John 18:33-37+
...... (01:34) - Commentary "What is Truth?"
...... (14:31) - Message: "King of Nobody's Castle"
...... (02:37) - A Message for Thanksgiving
...... (02:53) - Closing Remarks: "Planting Seeds"
14 - (02:10) - Text . Introduction & Scripture: Mark 13:1-8
...... (22:43) - Message: "Shake it Up"
...... (02:40) - Message: "Closing Prayer"
07 - All Saints' Sunday
...... (03:07) - Text . Introduction & Scripture: Mark 12:38-44
...... (19:19) - Message: "Sustaining Faith"

October 2021

31 - Reformation Sunday
...... (05:12) - Text . Introduction & Scripture: Mark 12:28-34; Deut 6:4-8; Lev 19:17-18
...... (14:41) - Message: "To Love"
...... (00:41) - Closing Prayer
24 - Laity Sunday - Lay Leader Tina Oaks brings the message today
...... (00:57) - a "Holy Humour" story
...... (01:27) - Text . Scripture: Mark 10:45-52
...... (09:46) - Message: "Cry out for Jesus" (Part 1)
...... (03:04) - Musical Selection: "Bring it All to the Table"
...... (05:12) - Message: "Cry out for Jesus" (Part 2)
...... (01:18) - Closing Prayer
17 - (04:49) - Text . Commentary and Scripture: Mark 10:35-45
...... (19:55) - Message: "Impetuous Faith"
...... (00:21) - Closing Prayer
10 - (02:14) - Text . Introduction and Scripture: Job 23:1-9
...... (01:24) - Text . Scripture: Mark 10:17-22
...... (14:08) - Message: "Exposed and Expunged"
03 - (02:48) - Text . Scripture: Mark 10:2-16
...... (21:33) - Message: "Empowering the Powerless"

September 2021

26 - (02:48) - Text . Scripture: Mark 9:38-50
...... (17:33) - Message: "Briny Faith"
19 - (02:10) - Text . Scripture: Mark 9:38-50
...... (22:47) - Message: "Hope Rises" (There is a 14 second audio problem at about 10:26 of this recording)
12 - (The message in the church was not recorded. This is the message from the online service.)
...... (03:11) - Text . Scripture: Mark 8:27-38
...... (12:36) - Message: "God Thinks!"
05 - Pastor Ralph was unable to be in church for this service so he recorded these audio segments to play during the church service. The same recordings were used for the online service today.
...... (02:11) - Text . Scripture: Mark 7:24-30
...... (01:15) - Text . Scripture: Mark 7:31-37
...... (10:42) - Message: "Uncontainable Faith"

August 2021

29 - (04:17) - Text . Scripture: Mark 7:1-23
...... (13:33) - Message: "The Heart's Deceit"
...... (02:05) - Closing Prayer
22 - (03:26) - Text . Introduction, Scripture: John 6:56-69 and Commentary
...... (04:25) - Text . Intro story and Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20
...... (19:26) - Message: "Sword of the Spirit"
...... (00:48) - Closing Prayer
15 - (02:27) - Text . Scripture: John 6:35,51-58,59
...... (23:06) - Message: "Abiding in the Word"
...... (03:35) - Closing Remarks and Prayer
08 - (02:48) - Introduction
...... (03:12) - Text . Scripture: John 6:35,41-51
...... (18:03) - Message: "Seeing with Eyes Closed"
...... (00:42) - Closing Prayer
01 - (03:31) - Text . Intro and Scripture: John 6:22-35
...... (18:52) - Message: "Feasting on Love"

July 2021

25 - (04:12) - Text . Intro and Scripture: John 6:1-21
...... (15:06) - Message: "The Gospel Ship"
...... (02:10) - Text . Final look at "The Old Gospel Ship"
...... (03:25) - Closing Prayer
18 - (01:43) - Scripture: Mark 6:30-34,53-56
...... (20:53) - Message: "The Magic Cloak" (This message is affected by a problem with the microphone from about 4:45-11:30 of the recording, though the message is still quite audible.)
...... (01:29) - Closing remarks and Prayer
11 - (03:07) - Introduction - a "ghostly" story
...... (03:01) - Scripture: Mark 6:14-29 (another "ghost" story)
...... (20:17) - Message: "The Oath"
...... (01:55) - Closing Prayer
04 - Independence Day
...... (02:29) - Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10
...... (20:36) - Message: "When We Are Weak"
...... (00:50) - Closing Prayer

June 2021

27 - (04:46) - Introduction and Scripture: Mark 5:21-43
...... (15:49) - Message: "Faith Power"
...... (02:07) - Closing Prayer
20 - Father's Day
...... (22:14) - Message: "The Forgiving Father" (scripture: Luke 15:11- 31)
...... (02:05) - Closing Prayer
13 - (01:57) - Introduction
...... (02:05) - Scripture: Mark 4:26-34
...... (23:34) - Message: "The Organic Gospel"
...... (02:06) - Closing Prayer
06 - A Baptism - this service featured the baptism of little Alice Lanier Bell. The Message was in the form of a now and future "conversation" with Alice.
...... (02:09) - Scripture: Proverbs 22:6 and Luke 2:21-24
...... (16:02) - Message: "What Did We Do to You Today, Alice?"
...... (00:42) - Closing Prayer
...... - Photos and audio recordings from the service in the church.

May 2021

30 - Heritage Sunday - the service "at the pond" was not recorded but the online message had the same content and is provided here, with the Scripture and Message in separate segments.
...... (02:05) - Scripture: Acts 13:44-52
...... (13:42) - Message: "What Are We About?"
23 - Pentecost Sunday
...... (02:29) - Scripture: Acts 2:1-12
...... (12:23) - Message: "Walking with God"
16 - (02:55) - Scripture: Acts 1:1-11
...... (19:08) - Message: "The Power to Witness"
...... (01:49) - Closing Prayer
09 - (02:13) - Scripture: John 15:9-17
...... (16:11) - Message: "Chosen and Appointed"
...... (02:13) - Closing Prayer
02 - (01:49) - Scripture: John 15:1-8
...... (16:43) - Message: "The Vine"
...... (00:45) - Closing Prayer

April 2021

25 - (04:45) - Introduction and Scripture: 1 John 3:16-24
...... (16:43) - Message: "Tales of the World"
18 - (04:22) - Introduction and Scripture: Luke 24:36-48
...... (16:35) - Message: "Written in Stone"
...... (02:16) . - Closing comments about Planting Seeds
11 - (03:13) - Introduction and Scripture: John 20:19-31
...... (20:27) - Message: "I Doubt It"
...... (01:19) - Closing Prayer
04 - Easter Sunday
...... (02:44) - Scripture: Mark 16:1-8
...... (16:26) - Message: "All Wrapped Up"

March 2021

28 - Palm Sunday
...... (02:31) - Scripture: Mark 11:1-11
...... (21:14) - Message: "Eye of the Storm"
21 - (04:05) - Scripture: John 12:20-33
...... (16:47) - Message: "Holy Hydration"
14 - (02:07) - Scripture: John 3:14-21
...... (02:37) - Commentary on John 3:16
...... (20:54) - Message: "The Law of the Serpent"
...... (01:14) - Closing Remarks
07 - (03:50) - Introduction
...... (03:02) - Scripture: John 2:13-25
...... (19:43) - Message: "Soul Soup"

February 2021

28 - (04:31) - Introduction and Scripture: Mark 8:24-31
...... (24:23) - Message: "Fortress of Hope"
...... (03:45) - Concluding Remarks and Prayer
21 - (02:40) - Scripture: Mark 1:19-15
...... (19:09) - Message: Untamed
14 - (38:22) - Message: "My Stinky Closet", speaker today is Tina Oaks, while pastor Ralph and Judy are taking a few days away.
07 - (02:33) - Scripture: Mark 1:29-39
...... (01:34) - Commentary on the Scripture and Prayer
...... (14:38) - Message: "Fever Pitch"

January 2021

31 - (05:35) - Introduction: Mushrooms
...... (02:03) - Scripture: Mark 1:21-28
...... (17:13) - Message: "Sanctified?"
...... (01:05) - Closing Remarks
24 - This service featured Missionaries speaking of their work in Southern Asia
17 - (02:14) - Introduction & Scripture: John 1:42-51
...... (19:37) - Message: "Under the Fig Tree"
10 - (04:27) - Introduction
...... (01:29) - Scripture: Mark 1:4-11
...... (18:21) - Message: "The Sign of Noah"
...... (00:45) - Closing Prayer
03 - (02:48) - Introduction and Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
...... (01:17) - Comments on the scripture
...... (16:23) - Message: "Where Is He?"

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