It 's good to come together and to celebrate God's presence in our lives and His desire for us to be students of the word. We are thankful for Bethel Bible Institute, a learning center that has a time-honored tradition of preparing people to do the work of the ministry; and we have people who are demonstrating their power to minister all over the world, who matriculated through the Bethel Bible Institute. So it is truly an international learning center.

I would say that this is a new beginning. Every semester is a new beginning because we are embarking on new territory, new things to learn, new experiences to have and to encounter and we’re thankful that they are available to us to enable us to be more effective. We are iron sharpening iron, and we have an obligation and a commitment to be at our best as we represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Being our best means that we are well-equipped, and well-prepared to do what God has called us to do, and we've taken 2Timothy 2:15 to the maximum idea of studying to show ourselves approved unto God workman who need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. This is our desire. This is our objective. This is our goal and we have the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to complete it and to achieve success in our venture.

We are living in a day where everybody's claiming some kind of spirituality. When I talk about being spiritual, I have to define it and I mean to say Godly spiritual, and I'm not ashamed of God, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I'm not talking about the man upstairs. I'm not talking about a wish or an influence. I'm talking about the God that created the Heavens and the Earth; the God that sustains us each and every day, and we have to teach people to be godly and to be spiritually-minded, so they will also know how to walk in the truth that has been exposed to them. Let's take seriously the experience we have as instructors and let's take seriously the experience we have as students.

I will say what I've often said, we are all students of the word and we are students continually. The fact that we have graduated and have a piece of paper that says we have arrived, does not mean that we have learned it all and we don't have to study anymore. To be a true student of God, we have to study daily. We have to study each and every day so that you might be sharper in the knowledge you have concerning the things of God and be better at the craft that God has called you to. We're living in challenging days and challenging times when we have to learn for ourselves. We cannot learn vicariously through other people. We have to rely on our own experience with God ultimately. We are living in an age where truth is a lie and a lie is truth. We have to see to it that we stand up for the absolute truth, which is in the word of God. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and a life, no man gets to the Father unless he comes to me”. We have to believe that and to continue to preach it and to live it. If we're willing to do that, we will be good representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage you as students, to engage in study. Make it a discipline of yours. Adjust your schedule to give it time each and every week so that you will be prepared to address the class and the teacher in the new lesson on a weekly basis. Get involved in the teaching experience. Don't just sit there and be a picture on the screen, but actually open your mouth and talk and share. Let them see that you have studied during the course of the week and you're knowledgeable concerning the lessons that you have to learn, and if we're all willing to do our part, at the end of the semester, you will be able to matriculate to the next level and continue the process of studying and learning the things of God. The Lord said “learn of me my yoke is easy and my burden is light” so learn of me and that's what our responsibility is – to learn of Him so that we can tell others of His goodness and grace and His mercy.

So I congratulate you and I welcome you into the Fall 2025 Semester of Bethel Bible Institute. I want you to know that we are here to help you, to assist you in any way we can, to see to it that you are the best possible student that you can be. We work together, we labor together and we achieve together. Greater things are yet to come in your life, I often say the best is yet to come. Take it to heart and believe it. Don't just let it be an expression, let it be a reality – knowing that the best is ahead of you, and if God is for you, then no one can stand against you.

So God bless you. Let's put our shoulders to the wheel. Let's labor together. As we work together, we will achieve together the things that God has in store for us. God richly bless you at this time is my prayer.