Faith - a short story 

Joshua and Caleb were puzzled, Moses had sent them, along with the other 10 scouts from each of the tribes of Israel, into the Promised Land. The land which God had told them they could have. But the other scouts could only focus on the negative thing; they saw only the size and wealth of the people living there and their heavily fortified towns and they were terrified. When they got back they told Moses that it was too dangerous. No matter what Joshua said about the lovely fruit and good land and the rivers and valleys of beautiful crops they wouldn’t listen. They were simply surrounded by negativity and lack of faith. The people even asked to go back to Egypt, back into slavery and threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb to death.
 
Of course God heard all of this and at last, losing His patience, He said to Moses “How long will these people reject me? Will they never believe me even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation far greater and mightier than they are.” But Moses in his extremely loving, unselfish and kind way, pleaded with God for the people; he had a great personal relationship with God because he was always totally honest with God and told Him everything. So God relented for Moses, Joshua and Caleb sakes. But because of the peoples extreme lack of faith and trust in Him, He sent them back into the wilderness for another 40 years and eventually the only two of that faithless generation to enter the Promised Land were Joshua and Caleb.
 
After Moses died Joshua became a great leader and led the new generation into the Promised Land where they had many amazing adventures when the Lord worked powerfully among them. The full story of Joshua is in the Bible and this particular incident is recorded in Numbers chapters 13 and 14. Actually a whole book of the Bible is named after Joshua and records his adventures after he led the people into the Promised Land.
 

                     - By a sinner touched by Jesus

 

Glenys
Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello 


We know meeting someone for the first time can be intimidating and going to a new church for the first time can be nerveracking. We want to help make your first experience at Bethel a great one.

Where and When

We meet at the Chapel (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10:30am.
For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early.  As we don't have our own car park, you will have to find a spot in one of the many public car parks around town.  Don't worry, there is always loads of parking as it's Sunday morning and its.a very short walk.
When you arrive, you will be greeted by one of our welcomers at the door, who will show you where to sit and provide you with a "Contact Us" sheet should you want to us to contact you after the service.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the church hall.

We see our services on a Sunday like a family get together.  We like to laugh and have fun.  Life can sometimes be very challenging, whether you are young or old; it helps to have support and a place to belong; so on Sundays we do just that.  

What you can expect on a Sunday morning at Bethel is:

A warm, friendly community of people
To be welcomed and included.    
To be supported.
To be given a chance.
To sometimes laugh and sometimes cry.
To be challenged and also to have fun.
To experience the presence of God in us and in creation.
To sing, because music is probably the best way we have of expressing our emotions and gratefulness to God.
A love for the Bible and the truths in it.

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What about my kids?

We have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Creche (0 months to 3 years). Children under 6 months are welcome but must be accompanied by their parent/grown-up at all times.
Sunday Club (4 -11 years)
Young people (11+ years) They have a group meeting one week and the next join in the service in the Chapel. 

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, a song or two songs, notices and an all age reflection. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the notices someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups.  We suggest that on your first visit, you go along with your child to drop them off and meet the leaders, before returning to the Chapel. 

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.


Getting Connected


Home Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Small Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team. 

Other Ministries

We also run the following ministries:

Men's Ministries
Women's Ministries
Youth Group
Foodbank
Renew Wellbeing Cafe
 

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.
 
Name:
Telephone:
Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.
 

Leadership 

Phil    
Phil Hibbert    
Pastor    
 
We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.