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Theme by Stijn
May 10th
8:31 PM
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BCCWS children and the Lord’s table.

Chi-RhoThis coming Sunday, BCCWS children will be at worship with us during communion. We anticipate this will be a new experience for several children (and their parents!) but we’re excited to come to the Lord’s table as an intergenerational community, and we’re confident it will prompt wonderful curiosity and spiritual conversations amongst our body.

Bethany Community Church is a bit of a melting pot in terms of attenders’ past church experiences and traditions. And we like it that way! But in recognizing that, we’d like to provide a little background on how Bethany views children and the Lord’s Table.


Bethany Community Church West Seattle is a nondenominational church community guided by the attitude “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”  We do not offer a “confirmation” or “first communion” class for children.  Instead, we leave it to parents to determine when their children are ready to receive Christ’s profound, transforming gift of the bread and cup at the Lord’s table. We strongly encourage parents to seek God, search the scriptures, and trust their own sense of their child’s faith in Jesus, as simple as that faith may be. Take time to talk about communion with your children before Sunday (find some great tips here). If you are unsure if your child is ready to take communion and would like help with this decision, contact Pastor Shonnie (shonnies@churchbcc.org).


Finally, we encourage all our worshiping community to exemplify Jesus’ attitude toward children: “Let the little children come to me…for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 10:14

May 5th
4:02 PM
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Psalm 122

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together. To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.” For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

12:00 PM
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Picasso - Long Live Peace

Picasso - Long Live Peace

12:00 PM
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April 24th
11:36 AM
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Here’s a video with one of the speakers we heard at the conference, Michael Frost. He’s a pretty well-known current missiologist. What do you think?

April 17th
11:17 PM
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The BCCWS staff is headed to the 2012 Inhabit Conference this weekend. Check it out at www.inhabitconference.com

April 8th
6:23 AM
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Easter Sunday Romans 8.34-39 Who then can condemn? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:    “For your sake we face death all day long;    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Easter Sunday

Romans 8.34-39

Who then can condemn? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long; 
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

April 6th
10:40 PM
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Good Friday Psalm 22 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?    Why are you so far from saving me,    so far from the words of my groaning? 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,    by night, but I find no rest.  3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;    you are the praise of Israel. 4 In you our ancestors put their trust;    they trusted and you delivered them. 5 They cried to you and were saved;    in you they trusted and were not disappointed.  6 But I am a worm, not a human being;    I am scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me;    they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 8 “He trusts in the LORD,” they say,    “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him,    since he delights in him.”  9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;    you made me feel secure on my mother’s breast. 10 From birth I was cast on you;    from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11 Do not be far from me,    for trouble is near    and there is no one to help.  12 Many bulls surround me;    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions that tear their prey    open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water,    and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax;    it has melted within me. 15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;    you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs surround me,    a pack of villains encircles me;    they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display;    people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them    and cast lots for my garment.  19 But you, LORD, do not be far from me.    You are my strength; come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver me from the sword,    my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;    save me from the horns of the wild oxen.  22 I will declare your name to my people;    in the assembly I will praise you. 23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him,    all you descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or scorned    the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him    but has listened to his cry for help.  25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;    those who seek the LORD will praise him—    may your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth    will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations    will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the LORD    and he rules over the nations.  29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—    those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Posterity will serve him;    future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness,    declaring to a people yet unborn:    He has done it!

Good Friday

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 
   Why are you so far from saving me, 
   so far from the words of my groaning? 
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, 
   by night, but I find no rest.

 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; 
   you are the praise of Israel. 
4 In you our ancestors put their trust; 
   they trusted and you delivered them. 
5 They cried to you and were saved; 
   in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

 6 But I am a worm, not a human being; 
   I am scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 
7 All who see me mock me; 
   they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 
8 “He trusts in the LORD,” they say, 
   “let the LORD rescue him. 
Let him deliver him, 
   since he delights in him.”

 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; 
   you made me feel secure on my mother’s breast. 
10 From birth I was cast on you; 
   from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 
11 Do not be far from me, 
   for trouble is near 
   and there is no one to help.

 12 Many bulls surround me; 
   strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey 
   open their mouths wide against me. 
14 I am poured out like water, 
   and all my bones are out of joint. 
My heart has turned to wax; 
   it has melted within me. 
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, 
   and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; 
   you lay me in the dust of death. 
16 Dogs surround me, 
   a pack of villains encircles me; 
   they pierce my hands and my feet. 
17 All my bones are on display; 
   people stare and gloat over me. 
18 They divide my clothes among them 
   and cast lots for my garment.

 19 But you, LORD, do not be far from me. 
   You are my strength; come quickly to help me. 
20 Deliver me from the sword, 
   my precious life from the power of the dogs. 
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; 
   save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

 22 I will declare your name to my people; 
   in the assembly I will praise you. 
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! 
   All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! 
Revere him, 
   all you descendants of Israel! 
24 For he has not despised or scorned 
   the suffering of the afflicted one; 
he has not hidden his face from him 
   but has listened to his cry for help.

 25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; 
   before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. 
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; 
   those who seek the LORD will praise him— 
   may your hearts live forever! 
27 All the ends of the earth 
   will remember and turn to the LORD, 
and all the families of the nations 
   will bow down before him, 
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD 
   and he rules over the nations.

 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; 
   all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— 
   those who cannot keep themselves alive. 
30 Posterity will serve him; 
   future generations will be told about the Lord. 
31 They will proclaim his righteousness, 
   declaring to a people yet unborn: 
   He has done it!

March 28th
9:42 AM
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ASBO Jesus - 788. This probably happens.

ASBO Jesus - 788. This probably happens.

March 27th
11:54 AM
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Brooke’s reflection.

Lately I’ve been thinking about what it really means for Christ to be “enough”.

As a broken person, I’ve always had this notion that my faith was something like superglue or spackling paste, something to piece my soul back together and fill the holes that have patiently been eroded away after years of living out a sinful life in a sinful world.

But recently I came to a new realization, a new metaphor. My faith is not a chore on some list of rainy-day DIYs, nor is Christ meant to fill the empty spaces left for Him as an afterthought.

He is meant to CONSUME us. To reside in every part of our mind and body and soul. When we talk about Christ being “enough,” the real problem (at least for me) is not in making an effort to live out our lives with Him (John 15:4, “Abide in me, and I in you,” is a verse that comes to my mind) but to somehow find a way to disregard everything else that distracts us from Him.

Sometimes I feel guilty for how strongly my heart reacts to the view outside my window, or to a particular song, or to the face of someone I care for. And all the while I forget that Christ is greater than all these things. He is meant to be our single source of refuge, strength, hope, and love. So why then is it so much easier to try and find that in the flesh and blood of another broken person, or some kind of creature comfort?

Logically, it makes no sense.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

As I struggle with this new realization, I am reassured by the idea that each day presents me with a new opportunity to put Christ first in my life, to accept all that He wants to give me, and to turn myself away from the distractions of the world.

I just need to allow Christ to be enough, and hope from there.

Simple enough, right?…

BrookeBrooke Snyder is a Visual Communications student at Seattle Pacific University, brings quite some artistic talent to Bethany WS, and happens to have her own tumblr.
March 16th
8:06 AM
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The Pretzel: Brought to You by Lent - Busted Halo

Have you enjoyed a pretzel during Lent? There’s more to a pretzel than meets the eye!

March 5th
7:00 AM
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“disturb us, O Lord”

Disturb us, O Lord

when we are too well-pleased with ourselves
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,
because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O Lord

when with the abundance of things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the water of life
when, having fallen in love with time, 
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.

Stir us, O Lord

to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas
where storms show Thy mastery,
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes
and invited the brave to follow.

Amen
A Lenten prayer attributed to Desmond Tutu

March 3rd
8:05 AM
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During Lent, Bethany West Seattle will be collecting the following most urgently needed apartment furnishings for newly arrived refugees. Bring the following smaller household items to worship Sundays until Easter:Bedding (twin or full-sized) Pots, pans, and kitchenware (do NOT bring bakeware, baking is uncommon amongst refugees) Dishes and utensils Rice cookers  Let Shonnie (shonnies AT churchbcc DOT org) know if you can donate these large furniture items. A van pick up can be arranged to come to your home for the following:Beds (twin or full-sized) Kitchen tables and chairs Lamps 

During Lent, Bethany West Seattle will be collecting the following most urgently needed apartment furnishings for newly arrived refugees. Bring the following smaller household items to worship Sundays until Easter:
  • Bedding (twin or full-sized)
  • Pots, pans, and kitchenware (do NOT bring bakeware, baking is uncommon amongst refugees)
  • Dishes and utensils
  • Rice cookers
     
Let Shonnie (shonnies AT churchbcc DOT org) know if you can donate these large furniture items. A van pick up can be arranged to come to your home for the following:
  • Beds (twin or full-sized)
  • Kitchen tables and chairs
  • Lamps 

      March 2nd
      1:32 PM
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      "Whether we gaze with longing into the garden or with fear and trembling into the desert, of this we can be sure—God walked there first! And when we who have sinned and despoiled the garden are challenged now to face the desert, we do not face it alone; Jesus has gone there before us to struggle with every demon that has ever plagued a human heart. Face the desert we must if we would reach the garden, but Jesus has gone there before us."
      —  James Healy, from A Lent Sourcebook
      March 1st
      7:02 AM
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      He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

      – Matthew 13.33