Bethel Lutheran Church

Welcome to Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church!

A community growing deeper in faith and wider in love!

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Welcome Statement

As followers of Jesus, we are called to love God and one another, practice liberating hospitality and serve others with humility and generosity. We strive to welcome everyone: believers, questioners, and questioning believers. We commit ourselves to welcoming people of every race, culture, age, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, socioeconomic position, marital status, family structure, citizenship and veteran status. Likewise, we commit ourselves to embracing the work of racial equity, social and economic justice, and environmental care.

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Advent Devotions

2025 Daily Advent Devotions

Isaiah 9:6

Brian Hiortdahl

It’s for us! The child to be born, the son to be given, the bread to be broken, the wine to be poured, the face and feast of grace—it’s all for us. Teaching about Holy Communion, Martin Luther emphasized the words “for you.” God’s healing, renewing, empowering presence in the world is a gift for us.

“Advent” means arrival. On my way to visit Bethel a month ago, I sat in the Las Vegas airport impatiently, eager to see the Young family. Which one would arrive to pick me up at Dulles, and when? Would my flight be delayed? (Yes.) Would traffic slow down our reunion? Anticipation can make time stretch long and crawl slow. We track packages and count days. We are waiting for Christmas, later this month and also at the end of history when Jesus returns. Wonderful gifts are on their way—to us, for us. Someone loves us very much!

Generous and loving God, thank you for the many gifts you have already given us, and the gifts you give us today, and the gifts that will arrive for us in the future—especially the gift of Yourself, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen