Bethlehem Connect January 2018 | Page 2

ON THE COVER: John Speaks My Language by Pastor Ben Cieslik I know you’re not supposed to have favorites, but I do. I can’t help it. I try to love them all equally but I just don’t feel the same way about the others. The oldest does hold a special place in my heart. I love his earnestness and his intensity. He comes in a close second for me, but at the end of the day it’s the youngest who always delights and challenges me. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t fit in with the other three. His stories are a little quirky, they’re almost otherworldly sometimes, and yet there are these moments when he can cut through the ethereal and find a way to really connect with me. I just feel like he gets me. Try as I might, I’ll just never have the same kind of relationship with Matthew or Luke, even Mark. John speaks my language. Between now and Easter we’ll be making our way through John’s gospel. At times we’ll be moving pretty quickly through big sections of the book. At other times, particularly in Lent, we’ll be diving deeper and exploring the richness of John’s witness to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. All along the way I expect we’ll be confused, challenged and, hopefully, delighted by the God we encounter in these stories. We’ll encounter a brilliance, a genius that defies our expectations of how things are supposed to work and invites us to take a look at the world around us from a different perspective. We'll encounter As I think about the world we’re living in, I think there’s nothing that could be more necessary, a willingness to let go of our certainty and perhaps begin to see things differently. a brilliance, a genius that defies our expectations of how things are supposed to work. Starting on January 4, I’m going to be offering a time to engage with this book of the Bible that I love on Thursday nights. We’ll gather at the Minneapolis campus from 7:30-8:45 pm. We’ll read and laugh. We’ll ask questions and wonder about this odd little book. At the end I hope you’ll begin to love it as much as I do. Please register online at bethlehem-church.org, or call 612.312.3400. I look forward to encountering the genius of Jesus who comes to us in this story over the next few weeks. SAVE THE DATE! Bethlehem Lutheran Church Twin Cities ANNUAL MEETING Saturday, February 3, 9:30 am at the Minneapolis campus Join us as we celebrate the past year and hear about what's to come in 2018. Ministry reports, financials and budgets will be reviewed and approved. 2 God spoke once and all creation came into being. God spoke again, writes John, and the Word became flesh. The angels may have thought it a strange idea but God’s creative genius knew it was the best way for us to encounter the Holy in our midst. Beginning in January we’ll work our way through the Gospel of John, learning from Jesus and listening for God’s Word for us in this moment of time. The genius of... January 7: John 1:19-34 Baptism January 14: John 1:35-51 Invitation January 21: John 3:1-21 Surprise January 28: John 4:1-42 Worship Next CONNECT deadline: January 10, 2017 [email protected] CONNECT newsletter online bethlehem-church.org