FPC Bellingham

FPC Bellingham
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Sermons, interviews, music, stories, seasonal content, worship service excerpts and more, from First Presbyterian Church in Bellingham, WA. See more at www.fpcbellingham.org.

  1. Big Belonging: Jesus and Passover [March 8, 2026]

    3D AGO

    Big Belonging: Jesus and Passover [March 8, 2026]

    In 2026, we are celebrating Big Belonging: that we belong to God, we are beloved by Him, and that He delights in us. Message by Doug Bunnell, recorded live March 8, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Efton Park. Jesus and Passover Passover is about liberation and this is our key to understanding Jesus. What does “holy ground” teach us about God’s presence?Why might Moses have felt inadequate for this task?What “holy ground” moments have shaped your faith?What does God’s promise “I will be with you” mean for you personally?Why was the blood on the doorposts necessary?Why is it important to pass faith down to the next generation?Exodus 3:1-12 1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” Exodus 12:21-8 21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. 24 You shall observe this as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. 25 When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this observance mean to you?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites went and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did.

    26 min
  2. Big Belonging: Heroes [March 1, 2026]

    MAR 4

    Big Belonging: Heroes [March 1, 2026]

    Message by Doug Bunnell, recorded live March 1, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Ashton Schmidt. Heroes Heroes have the courage to do the right thing even when it is hard. Why do you think fear played such a major role in Pharaoh’s decisions?What does this chapter teach about how oppression often begins?What does the courage of the midwives teach us about fearing God versus fearing authority?Where do you see fear influencing leadership decisions in today’s world?When have you had to choose between obeying God and obeying people?How can we remain faithful during seasons of hardship or injustice?Exodus 1:8-22 8 Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians subjected the Israelites to hard servitude 14 and made their lives bitter with hard servitude in mortar and bricks and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them. 15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

    24 min
  3. Big Belonging: Wrestling [February 22, 2026]

    FEB 25

    Big Belonging: Wrestling [February 22, 2026]

    Message by Doug Bunnell, recorded live February 22, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Brent Allgire. Wrestling We are invited to wrestle with the almighty, but we may emerge with a limp. What might the wrestling symbolize in Jacob’s life at this point?What does this passage reveal about God’s character and His relationship with Jacob?In what ways do people “wrestle” with God today?Why do you think Jacob limps away rather than being healed immediately?What hope does this story offer to those who feel worn out from spiritual struggle?Genesis 32:24-3224 Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.

    25 min
  4. Big Belonging: The Stranger Seen [February 15, 2026]

    FEB 19

    Big Belonging: The Stranger Seen [February 15, 2026]

    Message by Kerrie Bunnell, recorded live February 15, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Ann Hinz. The Stranger Seen God sees and hears the ones who are pushed out. God’s vision for belonging is bigger, broader, more expansive than we imagine. Read Genesis 12:10-16 - How might this experience have impacted Sarai?When you read Hagar’s story with Sarai’s experience in mind, how do you understand Sarai’s behavior?Why do you think God tells Hagar to go back and endure suffering “under Sarai’s hand”? What reaction does this stir in you?What emotion do you sense in Hagar’s response to being seen? (16:13)When have you felt seen by God or another person? What response did it move in you?In Genesis 21, God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah and send out Ishmael and his mother. God assures Abraham that God will provide for Ishmael. How have you seen God work through self -protective choices you have made that may have caused harm to others?What transformation do you see in Hagar in verses 21:15-21? What agency is she given?Read Lev 19:33-34. How does the law of Moses address Hagar’s story?Genesis 16 1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from having children, please sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” Abram did what Sarai told him. 3 So after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! I gave my servant into your embrace, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised me. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your servant is under your authority, do to her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar harshly, so she ran away from Sarai. 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring of water in the wilderness—the spring that is along the road to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai.” 9 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority. 10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the angel of the Lord added, “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 11 Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “You are now pregnantand are about to give birth to a son.You are to name him Ishmael,for the Lord has heard your painful groans.12 He will be a wild donkey of a man.He will be hostile to everyone,and everyone will be hostile to him.He will live away from his brothers.” 13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. (It is located between Kadesh and Bered.) 15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 16 (Now Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.)

    34 min
  5. Big Belonging: Laughter [February 8, 2026]

    FEB 11

    Big Belonging: Laughter [February 8, 2026]

    Message by Doug Bunnell, recorded live February 8, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Efton Park. Laughter Nothing is too wonderful for the Lord!What might the three visitors represent in this passage?What does Sarah’s laughter reveal about her faith and experience?How does this passage deepen our understanding of God’s faithfulness to His promises?What promises of God are hardest for you to trust right now?What encouragement does this passage give to those waiting on God’s promises?Genesis 18:1-15 1The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground. 3 He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. 9 They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I be fruitful?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “Yes, you did laugh."

    20 min
  6. Big Belonging: Blessed to Bless [February 1, 2026]

    FEB 5

    Big Belonging: Blessed to Bless [February 1, 2026]

    Message by Doug Bunnell, recorded live January 25, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Laurie Bunnell. Blessed to Bless We are a blessed people, and we are to be a blessing. Why do you think God asked Abram to leave his country, people, and father’s household?How does this passage connect to God’s larger plan for humanity?Is there an area where God is asking you to trust Him without giving full details?In what ways has God blessed you so that you can bless others?How does Abram’s obedience challenge your understanding of faith?Genesis 12:1-7 12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

    27 min
  7. Big Belonging: Exile [January 25, 2026]

    JAN 27

    Big Belonging: Exile [January 25, 2026]

    Message by Doug Bunnell, recorded live January 25, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Fred Hartsook. ExileThere is something broken about God’s good creation that causes broken connections. Seek renewal. How does the serpent distort God’s word and character?What does the sudden awareness of nakedness symbolize/ How do judgment and mercy appear together in this chapter?How does sin affect relationships—with God, with others, and with creation?What hope is offered despite the fall?Genesis 32 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die, 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,    cursed are you among all animals    and among all wild creatures;upon your belly you shall go,    and dust you shall eat    all the days of your life.15 I will put enmity between you and the woman    and between your offspring and hers;he will strike your head,    and you will strike his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great;    in pain you shall bring forth children,yet your desire shall be for your husband,    and he shall rule over you.” 17 And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife    and have eaten of the treeabout which I commanded you,    ‘You shall not eat of it,’cursed is the ground because of you;    in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;    and you shall eat the plants of the field.19 By the sweat of your face    you shall eat breaduntil you return to the ground,    for out of it you were taken;you are dust,    and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “See, the humans have become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now they might reach out their hands and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent them forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken. 24 He drove out the humans, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

    29 min
  8. Big Belonging: Brokenness [Jan 11, 2026]

    JAN 20

    Big Belonging: Brokenness [Jan 11, 2026]

    Message by Doug Bunnell, recorded live January 11, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Laurie Bunnell. Brokenness We are created to be people of relationship and connection. What is the significance of God forming man from dust and breathing life into him?Why was it “not good” for man to be alone when everything else was good?What does Genesis 2 teach about God’s personal involvement with humanity?What does work look like before the fall? How does this shape a biblical view of work?What does the phrase “one flesh” imply spiritually, emotionally, and physically?Genesis 2 : 1-25 1 And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their heavenly lights. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. 5 Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6 But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there as well. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 2 1So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “At last this is bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called ‘woman,’ Because she was taken out of man.” 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

    29 min
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Sermons, interviews, music, stories, seasonal content, worship service excerpts and more, from First Presbyterian Church in Bellingham, WA. See more at www.fpcbellingham.org.

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  • Creator
    FPC Bellingham
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    289
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © FPC Bellingham
  • Show Website
    FPC Bellingham