Sunday Worship Schedule
Worship at Bethel Arcadia is at 8:30 AM
Worship at Bethel Galesville is at 10:30 AM
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"Peace to you!" from
Pastor Jon Cox
Thank you for visiting the Bethel website!
Bethel is a family of believers in the one true God. He has done all that the world needs to be saved from sin.
Jesus Christ, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Through faith in his life, death, and resurrection, all people may have forgiveness of sins and life in heaven.
No matter what troubles may confront us in this life, God promises to provide for all life, to care for his believers, and to work through all circumstances to bring about good for those who love him.
I have been a pastor since 1992, and have had the privilege to serve many people in various situations. I want to serve you too.
If you would like any spiritual or pastoral care from me, questions answered, prayers prayed, or just a listening ear, please call me on my cell phone or send an email message to me.
Pastor Jon Cox
608.582.9998
jon.nathan.cox@gmail.com
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Forward in Christ
| Parent conversations: How can I let the gospel shine?
 In my opinion, this is the toughest part of being a Christian parent—letting the gospel shine in how I deal with my kids. It just seems to come naturally to me to be law-oriented. You sin. You experience a consequence. So logical. What isn’t logical is how God deals with us as his children. It’s […]
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Faith Related Q and A
| We are going to have Wine, Women and the Word meetings in church. Is there a recommendation that discourages alcohol use (other than Communion wine) in a church dedicated to the Lord?
Your question is one that the Bible does not address directly. Because that is the case, congregations will want to ask and answer questions like the following: How can we best use our Christian freedom? (1 Corinthians 10:24) If a practice is permissible, would it be wise and constructive to adopt and implement it? (1 Corinthians 10:23) Might the exercise of our Christian freedom cause confusion and/or lead people to stumble in their faith? (1 Corinthians 8:9) Will our actions bring glory to God? (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Congregations determine and implement facility usage policies such as the one in your question. God grant wisdom and love to your congregation.
| I am aware that the Bible lays out different leadership responsibilities for men and women. However, I feel like this is taken too far in the WELS. There is no biblical basis for women not to be allowed to vote in congregational meetings. If a single woman is expected to give her money to the church, it is not fair that she has no say in how that money is used. It also feels as though the leadership roles women are allowed to take up are cherry-picked. A woman leading the congregation in song as an organist or cantor is in much more of a leadership role than passing the offering plate. So my question is, since the biblical basis for women not having any leadership in the church is not strictly followed in the WELS (women having leadership as organists, Sunday school teachers, choir directors, cantors, altar guild, etc.), why are women kept from other positions where their talents could be used to further God's message?
Our church body makes these confessions in This We Believe: “We believe that every Christian is a priest before God (1 Peter 2:9). All believers have direct and equal access to the throne of grace through Christ, the mediator (Ephesians 2:17, 18). God has given the means of grace to all believers. All Christians are to declare the praises of him who called them out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). In this sense all Christians are ministers, or servants, of the gospel. God wants all Christians to share the message of salvation with other people (Matthew 28:19, 20; 10:32).
“We believe that women may participate in offices and activities of the public ministry except where that work involves authority over men (1 Timothy 2:11, 12). This means that women may not serve as pastors nor participate in assemblies of the church in ways that exercise authority over men (1 Corinthians 11:3; 14: 33-35).
Women can certainly exercise leadership roles in the church in relation to other women and youth. Congregations do well to encourage women to use their gifts and talents in keeping with the biblical principles listed above.
You may find value in reading Male and Female He Created Them: A Bible study on God’s loving gift of the interdependent and complementary partnership of male and female. I commend it to you for your reading.
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