WORSHIP

Schedule

Education Hour

Sermons

Baptism

COVID

Worship Schedule

We hope you will join us in worship this Advent and Christmas Season!

Advent 1—There’s Room for Every Story
Nov 27—Worship at 9:30am

Advent 2—God Meets us in Our Fear
Dec 3—Worship at 5:30pm
Dec 4—Worship at 9:30am*

Advent 3—Advent Music Festival
Dec 11—Worship at 9:30am
Join us for a Service of Word and Song featuring scripture, music, bells, instruments, and singing! Worship will be followed by an Advent Celebration in the Fellowship Hall where we will enjoy a bite to eat and create an Intergenerational Art Project.

Advent 4—We See God in Each Other
Dec 17—Worship at 5:30pm
Dec 18—Worship at 9:30am*

Dec 24—We Tell This Story
2:00 & 4:00pm—Impromptu Nativity Worship
These will be shorter services planned with our children in mind. All ages are invited to participate in the impromptu nativity. We’ll also have music, candlelight, and Holy Communion.

6:00, 8:00, & 10:30pm—Traditional Candlelight Worship
These services will include festive music, candle-lighting, and Holy Communion. All are welcome!

Dec 25—Christmas Day Worship at 9:30am

Jan 1—Lessons & Carols at 9:30am

*Worship is followed by Education Hour for children, youth & adults

Worship With Us

We worship every Sunday morning at 9:30, as well as the 1st, 3rd (and 5th) Saturdays of each month at 5:30pm.

Our Sunday morning services are also livestreamed on YouTube. You can listen to past sermons and adult education foruams on Spotify. We hope you will join us!

    Worship at Bethlehem follows the same basic liturgical pattern: gather, word, meal, send. 

    We celebrate first that God gathers all kinds of people together in this place. Then we listen to God’s Word––a word that comforts and challenges us with the good news of Jesus Christ. We share in the communion meal, and then we send each other into God’s world, equipped to be of service.

    We look forward to seeing you at church!

    We hope you find worship at Bethlehem engaging, spirit-filled, and meaningful! If you have questions about our worship services, we’ve put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions that you may find helpful. You’re also welcome to email us at office@bethlehemluth.org.

    To learn more about additional programming and upcoming events at Bethlehem Lutheran, please check our church calendar.

    Education Hour

    Sunday School

    Our Sunday School program begins when children are just 3-years-old, allowing even our youngest disciples to explore God’s love. We have classes at 10:45am on Sunday mornings from September through May each year, where children will learn about Bible stories and God’s love through songs of celebration, crafts, and play. For any questions please contact Pastor Paisley at pastor_paisley@bethlehemluth.org or Leslie Blount at leslie@bethlehemluth.org. 

     

    Sunday School Ages 3-3rd Grade (Education Hall)
    Register here.
    This year we will begin using the Spark Rotations curriculum. The curriculum as a whole has 46 units that cover the Bible from front to back! Children age 3 – 3rd grade will spend 4-6 weeks in each Bible lesson, learning about it through theater, art, bible skills & game, science, videos, cooking, and more! Students will be broken up into three groups: preschool, kindergarten & 1st grade, and 2nd & 3rd grade. Each week we Gather as a large group for an opening along with music, we break into small groups to Open the Bible and Activate Faith through rotation workshops, then we Send us out into the world! 
     
    Preteens’ Connect 4th-5th Grades (Room 401) 
    Register here.
    New this year we will separate out our 4th & 5th graders for their own space to grow in faith! The hope is this program will begin to prepare them to transition into the confirmation program, come middle school. Scripture & Service focused, the Connect curriculum offers relevant conversations with good humor along the way! Students will also have the opportunity to go on a winter retreat and participate in service opportunities alongside the confirmation students! 
     
    Confirmation 6th-7th Grades (Ekstrom Hall)
    Register here.
    A program for 6th and 7th graders will learn Scripture and Lutheran Confessions in preparation to affirm their baptism at the end of the 8th grade year. We do this by using a curriculum based on Dan Erlander’s Manna and Mercy: A Brief History of God’s Unfolding Promise to Mend the Entire Universe. This resource provides a wonderful and very accessible overview of the Bible – Genesis to Revelation – in words and images handwritten by Dan himself, all while engaging the Small Catechism and conversation points to make the text relevant to us today. This program is oriented towards service, with several opportunities to serve our community together, and has a fall retreat at Camp TimberLee. 
     
    Confirmation Capstone 8th Grade (Ekstrom Hall) 
    New this year we will separate out the 8th graders from the rest of the program to allow them to dive deeper than the foundational exploration of the first two years of the program. This time offers scriptural immersion, the service project, and faith testimony. Capstone offers youth to begin to claim who specifically their faith is calling them to be and serve. As a transitional year, we’ll begin our year with some Manna & Mercy. Students will have the opportunity to go on a spring retreat and will occasionally be invited to join Youth Group. The hope is this will bridge the gap between the Confirmation program and our Youth Group. 
     
     
    Youth Group 9th-12th Grades
    Sundays 6-8pm, bi-monthly (Youth Room, 401) 
    Register here.
    Our High School ministry gives youth a safe, faith-centered group to talk about the Bible and how it relates to our lives today. We’ll have discussion nights focused around topics that matter to teenagers like mental health, relationships, life after high school, etc. We’ll learn prayer practices, strategies to deal with stress, and also have a lot of fun together with game nights, retreats, movie nights, and holiday celebrations. This year we’re looking towards a Mission Trip and Leadership Lab for Summer 2023! 

    Adult Programming

    Sunday mornings are a great time to connect with your fellow BLC disciples, spend a bit of time nurturing our faith, and engage in thought provoking conversations! The coffee isn’t half bad either!  

    Below are our fall offerings—Adult Education will be located in the Overflow Room, this room is located right behind the sanctuary.

    Embracing the Prophets in Contemporary Culture 

    October 23: The Promissory Language that Breaks Despair 

    Christianity: What’s Under the Hood, and How It Got There 

    A survey from Pre-History to the Council of Nicaea  
    November 6 November 13 November 20  

    Come and join fellow BLC disciple Mike Weible as he leads us on a journey of pre-Christian history straight through to the gathering of the Council of Nicaea!  

    We will discover new insight and understanding of what lead to this gathering and the impact it had on Christianity. Council of Nicaea was the first council in the history of the Christian church that was intended to address the entire body of believers. It was convened by the emperor Constantine to resolve controversy around the issue that Christ was not divine but was a created being.

     

    Sermons

    At Bethlehem Lutheran Church, we have in person worship services available on Saturday and Sundays. If you are unable to join us in person you can watch the service on YouTube. 

    online worship
    Watch Worship On YouTube Now
    Listen to Worship on Spotify
    baptism
    baptism

    Baptism at Bethlehem

    Baptism joins us to the body of Christ and to the mission we share as followers of Jesus. At Bethlehem, we always celebrate baptism within the context of worship, as baptism is the sacrament that binds us to God and to one another! 

    We tend to baptize infants and children, but baptism can be celebrated at all ages and stages of life. If you’re looking to have yourself or your child baptized at Bethlehem, please plan on attending our next baptism class on October 16, 2022. This class takes place after worship at the front of the sanctuary and lasts about 40 minutes. Children are welcome and encouraged to attend!

    To sign up for our upcoming Baptism Class, please call the church office at 630-584-2199 or email melody@bethlehemluth.org.

    COVID Safety Protocols

    It is our responsibility to continue to take care of one another during this ongoing pandemic. 

    Kane County is currently at “medium” risk level and we want to do everything we can to reduce community spread. If you have had recent exposure to COVID-19, we recommend following the public health guidelines to stay home until five days have passed without symptoms. If you do choose to attend in-person gatherings in this timeframe, please wear a face mask while inside the building. If you are feeling ill or have tested positive for COVID-19, please stay home until you have recovered. This will help us keep our community as healthy and safe as possible!

    We continue to encourage everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated and boosted. This is the single, most effective way for us to protect ourselves and each other during this pandemic.

    If you don’t feel comfortable gathering indoors with others at this time, we understand, and invite you to join us virtually for worship via our livestream on YouTube! And if you miss our livestream event on Sunday mornings, you can always access past worship services by searching the “past live streams” section.

    Thank you!