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“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’” Psalm 122:1
How glad we were to be in the Lord’s House called Bethlehem Lutheran Church on October 18th, as we dedicated new rooms for the ministry of Christ’s Kingdom among us! How glad we were to see the results of our labor in the Lord come to completion after many years of planning and work! As we approach our nation’s annual Thanksgiving observance this month how thankful we are for this additional building space that doubles our ministry facility!
God, of course, does not “need” earthly structures in which to live as do we, as He told the prophet Jeremiah: “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” [Jeremiah 23:24] Yet it has pleased God to lead His people to construct buildings that are reminders of His presence among His people. That was true for the ancient people of Israel, who experienced it first in the movable Tabernacle and later in the Temple at Jerusalem; it is also true for we who are Christ’s people in the New Testament Church.
That is why we who have been brought to faith in Jesus Christ gather in congregations and construct buildings to provide facilities for the Church’s ministry of Word and Sacrament. A Church building really serves two purposes. First, like the Old Testament Temple, our Church building is a visible witness to God’s presence among us; it is “sacred space” set apart here on earth for the preaching and teaching of God’s Word—the Gospel about His Son’s work of redemption as well as the administration of His Sacraments; and second, building facilities provide a location and focal point for the many varied activities of fellowship that take place among Christ’s people of faith.
Throughout the sixty-seven years since the first Lutheran service was held here in Palestine on July 12, 1942, the location for the worship and fellowship activities of Bethlehem congregation has varied. Our congregation had small beginnings meeting in a courtroom of the Anderson County Courthouse; it also actually met for a time in the building of a Jewish synagogue, which was then located at the corner of South Magnolia and Dallas Streets. In 1947 the congregation moved in and renovated an Army Chapel at the corner of Neches and Bowie Streets; then in 1969 our present location was purchased and the initial structure was completed in 1971; a first building addition to provide more space for fellowship and Sunday School rooms was constructed in 1978. Yet in all locations the message has remained constantly focused on God’s grace and mercy shown to the whole world in the gift of forgiveness for sin and life given through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The additions and changes to our structure over the past twenty-eight years are a reminder that God desires for us to grow in our ministry together. That was reflected in the recent Building Project theme: “Rooted in God’s Word… We Grow!” Each new day is an opportunity to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ with the people to whom the Lord puts us in contact. Now that we have additional building space, we are called to be ready to share and serve together in moving forward with Christ’s ministry to the greater Palestine and Anderson County area through Bethlehem congregation.
Out of love for God and with grateful hearts for His abundant blessings of the past and present, we celebrate Thanksgiving this year with our eyes of faith on the future which the Lord is preparing for us—not only here in this world, but especially in the life to come in heaven, where we will dwell and worship in “the house of the Lord” forevermore!
See you in Church as we “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!”
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