Mark Bemenderfer

Mark Bemenderfer (119)

Mark served as pastor of Lafayette Salem Evangelical Church from January 2023 until August of 2025.  He and his family have served overseas for 30 years.  His wife, Rachel, is a local gal from Whittier, IA.  They met while serving in East Asia.  As of September 2025, they returned to the foreign field.

Mark Bemenderfer Mark Bemenderfer

Marriage

Marriage. It can be the hardest of relationships. Surely there's a way out when things go bad. Even God wouldn't make me endure with this impossible person. God's Word is restrictive; in some cases, to obey would be tragic. So we seek to follow the…

Continue reading...
Mark Bemenderfer Mark Bemenderfer

Forgiveness

God hates sin. But He also hates unforgiveness with an equal passion—and consequence! There are brothers and sisters who are caught in sin that we need to correct, and we may have to escalate it to the point of cutting off fellowship with them. But…

Continue reading...
Mark Bemenderfer Mark Bemenderfer

Not One Lost

Earlier in Matthew 18, Jesus shares the parable of the lost sheep. In it He says, "If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away...." What would make a sheep wander away? What would make a believer leave the church? Jesus…

Continue reading...
Mark Bemenderfer Mark Bemenderfer

An Advent of Joy

There are many joys of Christmas: gatherings of family and friends, festivities, music and lights, food and fellowship, giving and receiving gifts. As wonderful as these are, the real joy of Christmas isn't any of these things. The real joy of Christmas is that babe…

Continue reading...
Mark Bemenderfer Mark Bemenderfer

An Advent of Peace

Over the centuries from the beginning of time, the Lord has sent promise after promise, prophecy after prophecy, of the Seed of the Woman who would deliver us from Satan, Death, Sin and Our Own Heart. In the fullness of time, a baby is born…

Continue reading...