Bethel Christian Assembly
Bethel Christian Assembly* began in 2004 as simply a small group of Christians meeting in a home in Chilworth, who were seeking to live out the reality of the Christian faith in their everyday lives.
During this time, as a group we felt that God was making us into a body of believers and that He wanted us to be a local church with appropriate leadership. When we sought Him for a name to give the church, the Lord drew our attention to a Bible passage in the book of Genesis 28: vs 10-22(see below).
These verses refer to Jacob’s ladder and the angels ascending and descending from heaven. It is from this passage of Scripture that the name Bethel, (Hebrew for House of God) was taken.
We are now a thriving and growing independent church with a congregation of over a 100 people from all backgrounds, ages and nationalities and meet on a regular basis. We also have links with other churches and ministries locally, nationally and abroad.
*We are not associated with Bethel Church, Redding, California, USA.
Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give you and your descendants. “Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously, Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and all of that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
Genesis 28: v10 – 22 (NKJV)