Midweek Message 5/27/2020

MIDWEEK MESSAGE 10

Who’d a thunk it, right? When this whole mess started who would have thought it would still be ongoing and looks to continue in some form for months to come.  I’m going to continue with doing the Midweek Message until I deem it a moot point. I don’t know if that is cause for celebration on your part or not, but there you have it. 🙂

I am so excited for this coming Sunday! I have been looking forward to it for several weeks now.  I hope you are as excited as I am. To finally be able to see people in the flesh, at a worship service, will be like having a big bowl of ice cream. Satisfying but wanting more. To be perfectly honest, I am under no delusion.  I listen to several different podcasts and read a number of leadership blogs and they all say pastors are in for a great fall.  They almost all, to a “T”, say the anticipation of opening will not meet the expectations of the pastor and leaders.  That may be so, but I am prepared for it. I have told Jo I am “cautiously optimistic.”  My philosophy is when I stand up to preach whether there be 1, or 100, or 1000 (never been there), I need to preach as though it may be the last time I preach, or the last time someone has a chance to hear the message of the gospel. Some folks have asked me during this Covid mess how I feel on Sunday morning preaching to maybe 3 others in the room. I told them that every Sunday morning after I have made my notes in my Bible, I preach to an empty auditorium for practice. I jokingly say I preach to the mice but they all scatter. 🙂 Perhaps all those Sunday mornings of preaching to an empty auditorium have prepared me for this. (What it didn’t do is teach me to preach into a camera-for which there is no preparation). Anyway, if you come, no matter the size of the group, you will hear the same thing as if you were listening to the livestream. Will it be good to see people? Sure. But I only want you here if you feel safe.

I can tell you one thing I have not regretted about my actions during this lockdown: my drive-bys.  I can honestly say that was a “God-thing” for me. I have had so much fun doing that. There have been some who have been home, have acknowledged my texts, but have not come outside. There have been some who have and I have stayed safely away to respect them. One family asked me to come onto their porch and we sat at the four corners of their porch and visited for something like an hour. Other than freezing the back of my head off (I forgot to wear something with a hood), I had an absolutely fantastic visit! We laughed and told stories like nothing was wrong. One family, the Chambers’, stood inside their door (due to Alexander) and talked to me through the screen. I got to visit with the kids and then prayed for Alexander’s surgery the next day. But for them to take time out of their busy schedule to let me do that was special to me. I visited some folks yesterday (Tuesday) and we sat out on the porch and talked.  On one I had no choice. That downpour hit and I noticed that even though I was trying to get up under the eaves of their porch by backside was getting wet.  🙂 So I was invited onto the porch and visited. The next house was the same way. As I write today, I should finish off the whole directory of people.  I’m guessing maybe my next move will be a drone with a remote voice saying, “Hi! I want you to know I love you.”  Nah. I don’t have a drone. Besides, some of you might think that is kind of creepy. LOL Anyway, thanks to all of you who have taken time to say hi or to text me and let me know you were sorry to have missed me.

Sunday I believe you are in for a real treat. My series on Colossians was finished last Sunday and so I had one Sunday for a transition. Ryan was scheduled to preach but his schedule changed big time, so instead of him preaching, he asked that I preach since it is the first Sunday back. I thought it would cool to have him involved with me so I worked up four questions and we will be answering them.

  1. What we observed
  2. How we felt
  3. How we filled our days
  4. What’s on the horizon

 

Sounds like it will be about us, but I believe you will be surprised. Whether you are here or watching the livestream I think you will welcome what we will be sharing.  Relax and enjoy.

Thanks again for allowing me into your home/computer/phone. I do appreciate you doing that. Have a great rest of the week. And maybe see you Sunday. And if you come, please read again our guidelines. They are on the church’s website as well as our FB group/page. Speaking of which, we now have two FB accounts, the group (private) and page (public).  The group is Owen Valley Christian Fellowship and the page is Owen Valley Christian Fellowship-Spencer, Indiana.  We needed a new page for our livestreaming. Plus this will allow others to watch who are not a part of the closed group. Never forget you are loved.

Pastor Bill

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