Our mission "To worship God as a loving community that grows in faith and shares the Gospel of Christ."

BLC Family News & Events

Pastor's Letter

I believe in God...

“I believe in God, the Father…” You know it’s hard for some people to say that? When they picture their father they might feel pain or loss or grief or even just an absence. I tried to explain this to our confirmands the other day: God is like the perfect father that some can only wish they had.

Then, I looked around the table and I saw their dads sitting there, listening in to the lesson as they worked hard on their laptops. And, I assume they’re not always perfect. But, I still summarized, “You have good dads. And, I had a good dad too.” God is like that, but perfect—always providing, always loving, always caring.

Sure, we should be intimidated by His strength and His power and His might—He is worthy of fear—but, at the same time, He would never use that power against us. He hates the sin in the world and inside of us and would do anything to save us from it. These are the moments that we see His anger flair up--when He knows our sin is hurting us and may condemn us forever.

That is why He sent His Son.

God could see what we needed even before we did. And, He faithfully provided although it cost Him everything.

He still provides for you today.

How?

I see many ways:

You have clothes, food, and a home.

Whether or not you realize it, people love you. You have friends and family; coworkers and peers; and especially the members here at BLC. I would surmise that most of them would do almost anything to help you.

Through His Spirit, God gives you faith. He strengthens that faith through both moments of gratitude and various trials. In faith, you depend on God in prayer and by reflecting on His Word. It is only through faith that we can learn to love and forgive each other.

God cares for you because you are family to Him.

Like a family with a strong and good father, we look to Him for guidance.

Starting on Ash Wednesday, March 5^th, and continuing on Wednesdays at 6pm until Holy Week, we will be looking at “These Ten Words.” They are God’s ten ways of showing you what it means to be family to Him.

If you are God’s family you put Him first; you cherish that name that He has put on you; you spend time with Him and honor those He chose to care for you; you help those around you in bodily need and support their relationships with each other; you don’t need to steal or lie or covet anymore because you have and you are enough.

These Ten Words are often referred to as “The Ten Commandments.”

Beginning March 4^th and continuing every Tuesday at 3pm until we have exhausted the catechism, you are also invited to our Membership Class in order to seek God’s guidance in His Word. This class will be provided on Zoom only.

But, even if you can’t make the services or join the class, I am still proud to call you brother and sister through the gift of God’s Son on the cross,

In His holy name,

Pastor Josh Schmidt

These Ten Words



“We never outgrow the Ten Commandments because we never outgrow God.

Despite our sophisticated pretensions toward self-sufficiency, each of us knows our own desire for the comforting reality of God’s presence. Whatever the reason for our frequent indifference to Him, deep within we hear the continual voice which reminds us that we need Him.

Each of us longs to rise above life’s swirling and conflicting clouds into His realm of life.”[1]

We desperately yearn to reach that mountaintop.

This Lenten Season, we will reflect on “These Ten Words” given to the man who had made it there:

[1] Roy L. Honeycutt, “These Ten Words.”

President's Report

Where There Is No Vision The People Perish – Proverbs 29:18

Creating a clear vision and/or strategic direction for the future is one of the key aspects of leadership.   Earlier this month, the board and Pastor Josh met for a retreat.  The question before us was, “On December 31, 2025, what will this look like and what is our plan for getting there?  Of course, we have the other significant things that we do as a board, financial management, policy development, human resource management, etc.  However, Pastor Josh and the current board understand the need to chart the course for a stronger and more sustainable future.  We need to do everything possible to ensure that we, and the generations that follow us will continue to to serve this community in faith and love at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

Prior to the retreat, board members and Pastor Josh put in a lot of work on what is called a SWOT Analysis. This identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for BLC.  We were seeing some recurring themes and were able to have some really important conversations around those key themes.  It is important to point out that we could all agree that our number one strength is you!  

As part of our process, we said that everything we do must be in alignment with our mission: 

“To worship God as a loving community that grows in faith and shares the gospel of Christ.”

From there, after much deliberation, the board created the following Vision Statement for 2025:

“By the end of 2025, Bethlehem Lutheran Church will be an even more united congregation, embracing worshippers and encouraging all to be part of an engaged, loving community that is worshipping, socializing, and volunteering together.”

To achieve this vision for this year, the board members and Pastor Josh created five goal areas, which Pastor shared in an earlier newsletter.  We all agreed that all goals must be measurable and that we would be checking our progress throughout the year.   I am happy to report that we are already in the process of achieving some of the goals.  We will continue to ask for your help (your puzzle piece!) and we will inform you of the progress throughout the year, because we are all in this together!  It takes the whole village at BLC to make things happen at BLC!

Patti Johannsen

Upcoming Events

Financial Report

Youth Ministry

“The Youth Room” - March 2025

E3 Youth Ministry Update

This month’s update will be fairly short and sweet. 

This new chapter of youth ministry at BLC is off to a slow, but exciting start. While we have not had any youth from Monterey High visit us for FTW as of yet, we have had some great fellowship time with our own youth, enjoying board games and hanging out. We will definitely be ready when the Monterey High students are ready to come join us. 

If you know any families that have kids at MHS, or live in the surrounding area, please share about FTW, First and Third Wednesdays from 3-5. No pressure, no bible teaching, just hanging out getting to know our community.

E3 (our youth program) has now had two meetings with the Anchored Curriculum. The first few lessons focus on Worldview, what it is, why it’s important, and how to build a biblical worldview. This is great foundational stuff for learning how to actively live as a Christian in our world, and build a faith that is Anchored in the Word. 

As always, I would appreciate any and all prayers for FTW, the students at Monterey High in general, our youth ministry program, and for wisdom and discernment for me and for Pastor as we look at the best ways to be a resource for the youth and families in the Monterey area. 

We do still have some items on our Amazon wishlist. Please take a look and see if there is anything you would like to help us with.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3MJQRDQCJZKKP?ref_=wl_share

We have some fun events coming up as we finish out our fundraising for NYG. I really hope to see you there! 

May 10 – Mother’s Day Paint and Sip Tea Party 12-3p

June 14 – Father’s Day BBQ 3-6p

VBS Is coming! June 29-July 3



This year’s theme is Magnified! Proclaim the Lord’s greatness with me; Let us exalt His name together. 

From the vastness of the ocean, to the tiniest ant in the yard, and everything in-between, God has created it, He loves it, and He takes care of it.

Registration is OPEN for students and volunteers! If you, or anyone you know, would like to participate as either, please share this info with them! 

https://vbspro.events/p/blcmontereyvbs

Also, for all those who are far more creative than I am, if you have anything lying around the house that you think would be great for making our spaces feel like a backyard garden, please let me know what you have! 

By His grace,

Crystal Lesher

Announcements

MEMBERSHIP CLASS



Starting Tuesday, March 4th, at 3pm we will have a Membership Class. If you would like a refresher on what we believe; time to reflect on God's Word; or just an extra moment with our faith community during the week. This is for you!!!

Here's the link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81143940803

You can also add it to your Google Calendar here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/tZUsc-qhqjsiGtdoWUdVlXJXMMWQhluEUd7D/ics?icsToken=DN6DRaX1wErtTOTPCAAALAAAADbtGDhaCBa_50EEBhxbTjqhOO-zFnVLOurizfiWgOh8EZ1ni1hUfVQUOKlPpKr5RcKyBkb5-oFeSMamBjAwMDAwMQ&meetingMasterEventId=l-WWNzD4TDyHqPB0L44D_w

CENTENNIAL YEAR CELEBRATION

Bethlehem’s 100 th Anniversary Committee is looking for people to invite to join our celebration. If you have names and contact information for past members or friends we should invite,

please get the information to the office or Pastor Josh.

In Gratitude ...

American Water charitable fund presented I-HELP with a big check for $5,000 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. A big thanks to pastor Josh Schmidt who extends a warm welcome to the I-HELP men and women more than once each month and to Lori Glenn who applied for this donation for I-HELP.

In closing...

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