Preaching at Bethany is Biblical
Bethany’s pastors always preach from a Bible text so that what you will hear is not man’s ideas but God’s word.

Preaching at Bethany is Christ-Centered and Cross-Focused
St. Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:23 that we are to preach Christ-crucified. What does that mean? That means the heart and core of each sermon ought to be the eternal truth that Christ has forgiven us of our sins through his death on the cross. Many churches today have given up on this scriptural mandate and are preaching and teaching life skills such as effective money-management, communication skills, parenting skills and the like. These are all important things but they are not the eternal, life-giving word of God that fuels our daily Christian battle against Satan. The good news (gospel) of Christ’s death on the cross is what forgives our sins and gives us the new life that we need each day to thrive spiritually. We preach God’s law also. We make sure that every member of the congregation knows God’s ten commandments and we also preach the law so that we become aware of our sin, confess it and receive God’s daily forgiveness. (Click here to learn more about confession and absolution in our regular worship.)

Preaching at Bethany is Varied and Comes from all Corners of the Scriptures
Rather than having the pastor preach on his pet topics over and over again, we follow a three year liturgical calendar that brings to our people four different Bible readings each Sunday (Psalm, Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel reading). The pastors choose their sermon texts from these readings which guarantees that over the course of three years the congregation will have heard sermons from every nook and cranny of the Bible. (Click here to see the three year cycle. In Advent 2009 we will be on year three.)

We often look for a theme in those readings and focus on it for the year. Click here for our current and past themes.

Ask the Pastor about his sermons
All members and visitors are encouraged to ask the pastors about their sermons particularly if they think the pastor might have erred. Our pastors love to talk to members and visitors about the Bible and welcome questions.