Bethel Baptist Church Bessemer

10/21/2026

10/21/2026

The world watched the news in horror as the sightseeing helicopter flying over the river tore into pieces. As the main rotor and tail broke off, the cabin plunged into the waters below, with the pilot and a family of five trapped inside. Just days after the tragedy that had taken the lives of his sister, brother-in-law, niece, and two nephews, the brother was at the site honoring his loved ones. “They left together,” he said.
Life can change in a moment, leaving us reeling from loss we can’t explain. Job also suffered unspeakable loss and sorrow. One tragic day, messengers told Job that his servants had been killed and his livestock were stolen or dead (Job 1:13-17). Then Job received even more devastating news. While his seven sons and three daughters were together, a mighty wind caused the house they were in to collapse, killing them (vv. 18-19). “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship” (v. 20). In anguish, Job said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (v. 21).
Job didn’t know why he had to suffer, but even in his darkest hour he worshiped God. Breaking His silence, God reminded Job of His great wisdom and power, and he was able to trust God’s sovereign plan (chs. 38-42).
We may never understand why tragedies strike, but we can take our pain to God, who comforts us.

Dear God, please help me trust You even when I’m suffering.

10/20/2026

In September 1963, Welsh artist John Petts heard the news that a racially motivated bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, had killed four African American girls. Wanting to help, he offered to replace the church’s shattered stained-glass window. The people of Wales soon raised the funds.

Petts’ striking replacement window shows Jesus on the cross, His right hand pressing against the frame to signify His pushing out hatred, and His left hand open, offering forgiveness. Along the bottom of the window run the words, you do it to me. One wonders who Jesus is talking to in those words—the racist group that killed those three young believers or the Welsh people who donated the window?
Maybe we don’t have to choose. Before his conversion, Saul persecuted Jesus’ disciples (Acts 9:1-2). Yet, when Christ appeared to him, He said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (v. 4). Jesus identifies so closely with His people that to harm or bless them is to harm or bless the Lord Himself.
As Saul discovered, Jesus pushes out hatred by offering transforming forgiveness (9:17-20). His right and left hands always work together—and are never taken off the shoulders of His suffering people.

Dear Jesus, I want to serve You by serving Your suffering people today.

10/19/2026

“You have to be careful about the snakes, insects, jaguars and everything else,” said archaeologist Ivan Šprajc. Wielding chainsaws and machetes, he and his team slashed through thick jungle to try to reach the lost city of Ocumtún. The ancient metropolis had disappeared along with the rest of the once-vibrant Mayan civilization on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. No one knows why.
“The study of history is, in large measure, the study of ruins,” says author George Will—an apt testimony to our human inability to do things that last.
In the Bible, we read a prophecy about a thriving city. “They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers,” God said through His prophet Ezekiel (26:4). “Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets” (v. 5). Tyre had been “a power on the seas” who put “terror on all who lived there” (v. 17). They’d also celebrated Jerusalem’s fall (v. 2). A companion prophecy says of Tyre’s destruction, “The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor” (Isaiah 23:9). Tyre fell because of its pride.
Working hard to create new things is one way we reflect God’s image. But beware the fatal trap of pride. Whatever we do, let’s do it for our eternal God and in His strength. He promises us “a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28).

Dear God, please help me serve You well as a citizen of Your kingdom, which can never be shaken.