Welcome to the First Presbyterian Church of Bedford Indiana.

Established 1819

     The First Presbyterian Church of Bedford is a community of believers in Jesus Christ who seek to know God's will through worship, scripture, and prayer, and who feel called to share God's love through community and global ministry.  We are committed to providing a caring, welcoming and inclusive environment to fulfill the mission of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Worship time change!  Please join us for worship at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday morning.

Friday Email, October 12

My friends,

I pray you are all doing well this nice fall day.  What beautiful days we have been having!  A bit chilly in the mornings but perfect in the afternoons.  God is so good and blesses in many ways we so often take for granted.

Gary Hunter will be back in our pulpit this coming Sunday.  The scripture he has chosen this week comes from Luke 17:11-19.  This passage tells the story of the ten lepers Jesus met on the road.  They cried out for pity and Jesus healed them. But only one, a Samaritan, came back to thank Jesus.  Gary's sermon is entitled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Jerusalem.  I'm looking forward to this message.

Since the Treasure Sale has been moved until springtime, the Women of the Church will be meeting tomorrow, Saturday, October 11, at 10:00 a.m., in the Fellowship Hall.

The session will be meeting next Tuesday, October 14, at 5:30 p.m.  Committee chairs need to get their reports to Betsey as soon as possible.

In most of my Friday emails, I'm always encouraging you to pray for our church.  But maybe I'm asking you to pray for the wrong thing?  I was really moved by a meditation I read yesterday.  It was written by Pastor Jack Graham and rather than paraphrase, I'm pasting in the whole thing.  It's short and I ask to to please take a minute and read it:

"One of the great preachers of yesteryear whom I truly admire is a man by the name of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was the pastor of one of the great churches of the 19th century in London, England, called the Metropolitan Tabernacle. That church was so known for introducing people to Christ that many people called it a “soul trap.”  So one day, a man came to visit the church and began talking with Spurgeon. He asked him, “What’s the real secret behind the success of this church?” Spurgeon led him down into the basement where he showed him a prayer room with several church members praying for the salvation of the city. “That’s the secret,” Spurgeon said. Every church can be a soul trap. But it has to first realize that the power to win people to Christ comes not from great programming or dynamic preaching, but from the very power of God. He’s the one who truly saves. So instead of relying so much on the technique of reaching others, focus first on trusting God to do a great work through you. Pray for your lost friends and be obedient to God’s calling to share Christ with them!"

I think much of the time we are praying, "God, please save our church!" when maybe we should be praying, "Dear God, make our church a 'Soul Trap!'"  Wow!  Is that even possible?  But isn't that what God calls all of us to do.  We need to be more trusting that God will enable us to do unbelievable things!  

I pray all of you have a wonderful Saturday and I hope to see many of you in worship.

Peace and Hope,

Mike

Faith and Prayer are invisible but they make impossible things possible!

Contact Information      First Presbyterian Church of Bedford,   1504 L Street, Bedford, IN 47421

 Phone: 812-275-5853

 Email: office@bedfordpresby.org

 Clerks of Session:  Betsey Makximenko, vbat62@comcast.net

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