ONEWORD drops today!

Really excited about this new project from Bethel.

Starting today and running each weekday from now until Christmas Eve, we're posting short, daily podcasts called "One Word." Each episode is three-to four minutes long and features our pastor explaining/examining/teaching one specific word as it relates to Christmas.

Here's three reasons why we're doing this project.

PODCASTS ARE THE NEW FRONTIER
Head over to iTunes and you'll quickly learn that podcasting is a robust, ever-changing landscape. As a staff, we realize that while the culture is embracing the customization and focus of all the benefits that podcasting offers, the church has yet to do so. Most every church podcasting these days does so in only one way: the sermon download. There's tremendous value in the sermon download, but we wanted to take a stab and making our podcast an extension of the whole church and not just newer, updated "tape ministry." We don't have some long-range, detailed plan with our podcasts, but we want to be active in finding more ways to support and encourage our listeners.

SOMETIMES A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE IS GOOD
We've joked a lot about whether or not our pastor could actually contain himself to four minute talks, but the reality is that our congregation rarely gets to hear Ross Strader speak in more off-the-cuff, casual settings. Those who have heard Ross in this way know that's he's a compelling speaker and does a great job of connecting with his listeners. This new podcast venture gives us a forum where we can celebrate and share that particular gifting.

THIS MAY BE OUR FUTURE
Most any teacher, preacher, pastor or communicator of any kind will tell you: there's never enough time. Once the Christmas season is over, we're excited to see if this sort of podcast would give our teachers and preachers an additional place to get more specific with their word-study or mid-week encouragements from their scripture texts. Consider this first One Word series an experiment!

I hope you'll consider subscribing to our One Word podcast. You can find us at 'Bethel Bible Church' at iTunes, or if you'd like to get email updates specifically for this particular series, you can click here.