Our Story
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Fairview Bethel Church of God has been rooted in our community for over 150 years. Our desire is to share the life-changing message of Jesus to every person in Fairview Township as we serve our neighbors in practical ways.
Our congregation is multi-generational--you'll find everyone from babies to seniors as a vital part of our church. This is important to our loving family environment. One of the most frequent comments that we get from our guests is how warm and friendly we are. That feeling only deepens as people become a regular part of our church family. As people walk through the inevitable challenges of life, it's common to hear people share how the love and support of their church family helped to sustain them. We also realize that we are here not just to care for each other, but to care for those who aren't yet a part of our congregation. We'd love to be able to serve you and your family, and be able to love and encourage you through whatever life brings. We've found the encouragement that comes from our deep community, combined with the deepening foundation of faith in Jesus and his way of life, gives us the strength that we need. One |
As part of the Churches of God, our desire is to return to the powerful movement of God that we see in the New Testament. We see in these writings that Jesus invited ordinary people to do extraordinary things through the power that God provides.
We read and teach from the Bible with a belief that its message has the capacity to change our lives in wonderful ways. With the belief that the way of Jesus is the best, most joyful way of life, we challenge each other to follow Jesus boldly. The wonderful thing about Jesus as we encounter his story in the Bible is that people with issues (like all of us) were drawn to him. Jesus didn't discount or reject anyone because their lives were messy, and neither do we! Our church lives in that wonderful combination of grace and truth. We love and accept each other as we are, but we also challenge each other to respond wholeheartedly to the invitation of Jesus to find the abundant life that he indented by surrendering ourselves to his will for us. We'd love to be able to share that beautiful invitation with you. It's the path that we are all walking together. |
Good News
There's a word that's all over the New Testament - Gospel. It's a Greek word that means 'good news.' When a nation was victorious in battle, a messenger would return with the news. When a nation's king had a child, the good news was announced across the kingdom.
The primary story of the Bible is a story of good news about Jesus. God has fulfilled all of his promises to his people by sending Jesus, who is called 'God with us.' Jesus taught us the way to live and even though he was innocent of any wrongdoing, he was humiliated, tortured and killed. In his death, he both taught us a self-sacrificial way of life and offered his own life for our sins. When he was buried, even his closest friends thought that it would mean the end of this Jesus revolution.
But it was only the beginning. Three days later, God raised him from the dead, defeating the power of death and giving us a real reason to believe that we too can live beyond physical death. After being seen by many people, Jesus ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to empower those who place their trust in him.
This is the good news, and it's good news for us because if we turn from our independence (sin) and trust in him as our King, all of our sins are freely forgiven and we're promised all of the blessings of being adopted as God's children - life everlasting.
That's the central message that we share, the forgiveness we've experienced and the way of life that we pursue together.
See 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, 2 Timothy 2:8, Romans 10:9, Acts 2:36-39.
The primary story of the Bible is a story of good news about Jesus. God has fulfilled all of his promises to his people by sending Jesus, who is called 'God with us.' Jesus taught us the way to live and even though he was innocent of any wrongdoing, he was humiliated, tortured and killed. In his death, he both taught us a self-sacrificial way of life and offered his own life for our sins. When he was buried, even his closest friends thought that it would mean the end of this Jesus revolution.
But it was only the beginning. Three days later, God raised him from the dead, defeating the power of death and giving us a real reason to believe that we too can live beyond physical death. After being seen by many people, Jesus ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to empower those who place their trust in him.
This is the good news, and it's good news for us because if we turn from our independence (sin) and trust in him as our King, all of our sins are freely forgiven and we're promised all of the blessings of being adopted as God's children - life everlasting.
That's the central message that we share, the forgiveness we've experienced and the way of life that we pursue together.
See 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, 2 Timothy 2:8, Romans 10:9, Acts 2:36-39.