Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Bethlehem Lutheran Church Sunday morning services are at 8:00 & 10:45 am. The 8:00 service is live streamed to Facebook. Fellowship Sunday is twice a year with 1 service at 9:30 am.

Our mission comes from Matt 28:19-20:
"We seek to save the lost and strengthen the saved."

06/23/2026

The verse for today, 6/23, is Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Today's verse is probably the biggest no-brainer we've had this year. This verse is such a powerful, clear, and concise expression of Law and Gospel. There's no mistaking the simple and straightforward message that sin leads to death. No matter how much it may make us feel alive at the moment, sin ultimately kills. It separates us from God and from other people, squeezing the life out of those it entangles in its ever-tightening grip. There's likewise no mistaking the clear proclamation of the Gospel, that in Jesus Christ we have the promise of eternal life. In Jesus we can be truly alive, so truly alive that death becomes irrelevant; it no longer has any power over us. Beyond the blessing of living forever itself, being freed from the fear of death gives our lives right now a peace and joy that we could never have by any other means.

There's also a very significant contrast between the expressions of Law and Gospel. Sin and death are associated with wages, what we earn or deserve for our actions. Life and Christ are associated with gift. Eternal life is not given based on merit, which is good because we could never earn or deserve it if it were. Our worthiness, our decisions, and our actions have no place as the basis of eternal life; we can only receive it as a gift with humble gratitude. Romans 6:23 is so clear, powerful, and complete it's rightly cherished as one of the landmark verses of the Bible. It's a great reminder of what God has given us and what God has saved us from. Perhaps even more than that, though, it's a great verse for sharing those truths with others so that they too can know the blessing of eternal life!

06/22/2026

The verse for today, 6/22, is Ezra 6:22
"For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel."

Now that's a party! This celebration was so particularly filled with joy because it was the first time in a generation that the people were able to celebrate the Passover. God had just brought them out of exile in Babylon and returned them to their homeland. Those people must have felt a deep connection to the original celebration of the Passover, when God brought their forefathers out of captivity in Egypt, and were filled with the joy of God's mighty deliverance.

God's deliverance of His people was indeed a mighty one. By changing the heart of the heathen king of a vast empire to serve His purpose, God showed that He was the true King of Kings, and all people in every corner of the world are under His power. This deliverance showed not only His power, but also His love and faithfulness to His people. Although they had broken His covenant, He would not desert them forever. After they had been humbled and repented, He restored them.

We can celebrate with just as much joy today because God is still the same powerful and loving God, who is faithful and strong for us just as He was for the Israelites. He has delivered us from sin, death, and the devil through the sacrifice of the final Passover lamb, Jesus Christ. Now in the Lord's Supper we can celebrate every week the greatest deliverance of all time, with a joy that is greater even than that of the Israelites in Ezra!

06/21/2026

Divine Service: 21 June-2026

Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ! We pray God’s word will enrich and encourage you this day.

Let us know you’re here with a "Good Morning" comment and virtually “greet” your brothers and sisters.

An order of service is available in the Document Library of our website at https://www.bethlehem-raymore.org/connect/document-library

06/20/2026

The verse for today, 6/20, is Daniel 6:20
"As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, ‘O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?’"

We know the answer to this was a resounding "YES!" God sent His angel to shut the mouth of the lions and keep His servant Daniel safe in the most dangerous of circumstances. It's so popular a story because it's such a great illustration of God's care for His people.

It also points out the opportunities we're given because of God's care for us. We can apply this text to ourselves just as much as to Daniel. "Has your God been able to deliver you from the lions?" You probably weren't in much danger from lions this week anyway, but what about everything else going on in the world?

When folks ask how you're dealing with the difficulties in life, or even just toss out a casual "how are you doing?" That's an opportunity to give a witness to the greatness of God, giving Him credit for your safekeeping. Just as Daniel's witness ended up swaying the heart of King Darius, you never know what an impact it might make.

06/19/2026

The verse for today, 6/19, is 1 Corinthians 6:19
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?"

Of course. Every Christian knows that we have been given the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts. The Corinthians knew that too. The Apostle Paul wrote to remind them of the significance of this fact for their behavior.

Sometimes we find ourselves acting during the week in a way we would never act in church, don't we? What if we remembered that our bodies are really a kind of church? Our bodies are places of worship, filled with the Holy Spirit, for all our actions to show the praise of God and honor Him.

Right on top of this, Paul lays on us another powerful expression of our relationship with God, that we are "not our own." This thought continues into the next verse with this very clear application, "For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." Jesus bought us, body and soul, by giving His own life to ransom us from sin, death, and the devil. Sometimes we think of ourselves as open for any kind of business, as if we were perhaps owned by God but unoccupied by Him, or even as if we were unowned and only volunteered ourselves occasionally for God's use. The truth is that we fully belong to God, the Holy Spirit is always with us, and everything we do we are taking Him along with us. Keeping that in mind would probably make most of us a lot more thoughtful about what else we occupy ourselves with, wouldn't it?

06/18/2026

The verse for today, 6/18, is Genesis 6:18
"But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you."

God's covenants are a terrific reminder of His love and faithfulness to take care of us, and it's so great to be reminded that our relationship with God is based on His love and faithfulness more than our feeble obedience.

God graciously provided salvation for Noah and his family through the ark, eight people in all, beginning a new day for God's creation. That foreshadowed our new creation in Christ through baptism and the ultimate fulfillment of the new creation on the last day.
1 Peter chapter 3 makes this connection between the flood and baptism, the ark and the church very strongly. Just as God established His promise of protection for Noah, He also established His covenant with YOU in your baptism, inviting you to find sanctuary in the fellowship of Word and Sacrament, the Church.

God's promise and ongoing provision of the spiritual food that nourishes true life does provide us the perfect sanctuary from all the catastrophes and upheavals around us in the world. Come and receive this great blessing, and take the example of Noah by bringing your family with you!

06/17/2026

The verse for today, 6/17, is Jeremiah 6:17
"I [God] set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’"

Today's verse is an important warning not to turn a deaf ear to God's Word. In Jeremiah's day, God had sent prophet after prophet telling the people to repent, but the people refused to pay attention. The result of the people's willful waywardness was the inevitable result that always comes from not listening to God. They became easy prey for worldly powers to take advantage of. In this case they were conquered by foreign armies, just as they had let themselves be conquered by false gods and sinful desires rather listening to God and following after Him.

There are many reasons people today don't want to listen to God's Word either. It may be hard to hear, telling us to give up sinful pleasures, even though "everyone else is doing it." It may be even harder for us to hear the call to action that makes us uncomfortable, like loving our enemies and standing up for the weak. Or we may just feel too busy to listen to God, distracted by all the other voices and all the other demands and opportunities for our time and attention.

Today's verse is a trumpet call to refocus our attention on God's Word, which we ignore at our own risk. God's Word isn't just the best and most beautiful message to fill our ears with (though it IS that too), it's also the ONLY message of life, the NECESSARY message to keep us on the track that leads from death to life. God has spoken to us in Scripture, and we need to pay attention!

06/16/2026

The verse for today, 6/16, is 2 Kings 6:16
"[Elisha] said, 'Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'”

Today's verse is another great example of how God is at work watching over us even when we can't see it. The full story is in verses 8-23 and tells how the Syrian king sent a great army to capture or kill Elisha, but God defended him.

It's easy to imagine the panic that gripped Elisha’s servant when he woke up one morning to see the city surrounded by soldiers and chariots. He might have been even more stunned, though, at Elisha's view of the situation, "don't worry, we outnumber them!"

Say What? But then Elisha prayed for the servant's eyes to be opened, and "the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."

God's power surrounds us as well. Even when our troubles make us feel alone and outgunned, the reality is we've got reinforcements beyond our ability to imagine. Whether we can see it or not, God is always protecting us.

06/15/2026

The verse for today, 6/15, is John 6:15
"Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself."

The more you think about this, the less sense it makes. It's easy to see why people would want to make Jesus king; that part makes perfect sense. Jesus is good and powerful and wise, everything you want in a king. Beyond that, though, it really falls apart. How do you make someone be king if they don't want to? What if they refuse? For that matter, if you're forcing your king to do what you want, isn't that kind of missing the whole point of having a king? It seems like the crowd's plan here was perhaps not thought out as fully as it could've been.

Of course, they never were able to get beyond the planning stage because Jesus wanted to no part of their plan. He didn't come to raise an army, storm the palace, and then raise taxes. He came to serve, not to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for the world. His mission was sacrificial not domineering. The even greater fundamental flaw in the people's plan, though, was that Jesus in fact already was king. He may have not been the kind of king they wanted, or He may not have acted the way they wanted Him to act, but that didn't change the fact that He was king because He was the promised Heir of David, the Son of God Himself.

Even though it doesn't make any sense, we sometimes try to make Jesus the kind of king we want Him to be too. When we put Jesus in a box and expect Him to do exactly what we want Him to do and nothing else we're really making the same kind of mistake as the crowds by the Sea of Galilee 2,000 years ago. Calling Jesus Lord means that we submit to His will, and follow His lead, even when His way of humble servanthood challenges our preferences and expectations.

06/14/2026

The First Sunday after Trinity, June147, 2026
Divine Service, Setting One

*** Remember to join your fellow parishioners at our congregational meeting today at 1pm! ***

Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ! We pray God’s word will enrich and encourage you this day.

Let us know you’re here with a "Good Morning" comment and virtually “greet” your brothers and sisters.

An order of service is available in the Document Library of our website at https://www.bethlehem-raymore.org/connect/document-library

Address

310 Johnston Pkwy
Raymore, MO
64083

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm
Sunday 8am - 12pm

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