Bethel Hill United Methodist Church

06/21/2026

06/18/2026

Thoughts for Thursday, from Kelli Durling:

By Lindy Thompson

𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗
Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.
- Acts 17: 22-27
I am aware that Acts was not written in English but oh how I love the translation “fumble about for him.” So spot-on. Makes me think of me feeling around for my glasses in the dark. I can’t see, but I can’t even see how badly I can’t see because I can’t see. Noodle on that one for a second. :)
God is not far from us, not at all. More properly stated, God is within and around us, closer than our very breath. Why fumble then? It should be easy to find God.
And it is! And it very much isn’t. We are busy people – not only busy with work and church and driving and the everyday requirements of life, but also with constant inner construction – making meaning out of this, compartmentalizing that, resisting this, explaining away that. If you are like me, it’s not quiet in your head, and you don’t always take the time to do something about it, despite the fact that the busyness within and without will make us fumble for God.
God is with us.
We might fumble for God, but God never fumbles for us. God knows right where we are – safe in the palm of God’s hand.

Prayer – Thank you that we are safe in your hand, God. Help us remove the noise in our head so that we are not always fumbling for you. Amen.

06/11/2026

Thoughts for Thursday, from Pastor Sue:

From a colleague’s page, by Cheryl “Pepper” Tettmar:
BREATHING WITH GOD
Breathe in His stillness,
Breathe out your cares.
Breathe in His peace,
Breathe out your fears.
Breathe in His compassion,
Breathe out your pain.
Breathe in His infinite love,
Breathe out your reluctance to receive.
Breathe in the infinity of His presence,
Breathe in the smallness you feel.
Breathe in The Incomprehensible,
Breathe out all ideas of your self.
Breathe in and receive all from God,
Breathe out your heartfelt thanks.
Breathe in and receive all of God,
Breathe out and give all of you.
Just breathe! Sometimes we just have to take a step back and breathe!

Prayer: Lord, teach us to embrace the good in you. Help us breathe it all in. And help us breathe out the stuff that gets in our way of loving you and following you more completely. Thank you. Amen.

06/05/2026

Thoughts for Thursday, from Pastor Sue:

Last Sunday, I checked my email before church. All was good. After church it is my job to send out the Facebook Live link to everyone. I opened my laptop. It was off. OK, maybe it had done an upgrade and needed to restart. I pushed the ‘on’ button. Nothing. I pushed again. Still nothing. Tried unplugging & re-plugging. Still NOTHING. My laptop had died. Frustrating as it is, I am trying to see the bright side. It didn’t happen BEFORE worship, where it might have bothered me all through both services. My ‘techy’ husband did some research and we found a replacement that will be delivered on Wednesday. In the meanwhile, I can use Gerry’s desktop to get my work done. Transfer should be fairly easy as I have everything backed up on Carbonite. Blessings amidst despair. Positives among the negatives.

I can honestly say I am not always so quick to look for the good in the middle of the bad. But I am trying to be a good learner, a good reflection of Jesus attitudes and characteristics. How about you? Can you look for the positives today and give the rest to God?

1 Peter 5:7: 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. Let’s try and trust in that today!

Prayer: God, show us how to see the good in every day, even when things are not going our way! Amen.