MIDWEEK MESSAGE #30
Well, good morning! Welcome to MM #30!! You may be wondering how in the world I can find things to say and keep this going. If you think that then you don’t know me! 🙂 Jo says I have no trouble not saying things or finding things to comment on. And she thinks she knows me. *shoulder shrug*. Anyway, I have some really important things to share with you this week so I hope you will hang in there with me to the end.
I am totally stoked about this Sunday. It is OVCF’s 16th Anniversary as a church family. A lot has happened since 2004. I’m sure those who are still here from its beginning would concur. But this Anniversary will be different than years past. In past years we have tried to view it as a celebration followed by a pitch-in. The latter is a no-go due to current circumstances, but I also have decided to take a different approach for the morning. In the past it has usually been Ryan and me tag-teaming the morning and talking about our Mission and Vision. But Covid has changed a lot of things, one of which is the church scene. So with the title of “What about OVCF?” I decided to do more of a State of the Church Address. Where does OVCF stand currently? What are some of our plans? How has God blessed us? What are the plans for the Connections Women’s Ministry program? What about Operation Christmas Child this year? What are the young people doing and how is the youth program going? Obviously, I am not able to answer all those questions so I have enlisted help. So you are actually going to hear from several different people during the morning. (And they have promised me to stay in the 3-5 minute range. J But you can put those stopwatches away).
My thoughts will be centered on the phrase I mentioned to you in MM #27: “If you can explain what’s going on, God didn’t do it.” I’m excited for what God has on the horizon for us. Obviously, I have no idea what that is. But I want to be prepared for it as best as possible. Here’s the kicker: while we can wait and pray and pray and wait for God to do His work, it is also important for us to put forth some effort. So I’m going to use my time to present (in short order) some church growth strategies that cost zero dollars. ZERO dollars!! Believe it or not there is such an “animal” and I can’t wait to share them with you.
There are also some things we will be doing which benefit our community. B-u-u-u-u-u-t you will have to wait for Sunday to hear what one of those ideas is. But here is another: Let me preface it with this. Every week Sarah Hicks, one of the administrative assistants from the Owen County Chamber of Commerce (OCCC), takes this MM and posts it on the Chamber website. I did not ask her to do that; she volunteered from the very beginning. So I’d like to turn it around for a moment. The OCCC of which I am a board member works hard for the Spencer community and Owen County. Covid has taken a bite out of several ideas but they have worked hard to get around them. For example: the Back to School Expo was always held at the Middle School. This year it was held at the OC Fairgrounds and was a rousing success with over 600 backpacks filled with school supplies given away (and OVCF donated money for supplies). The Chamber is all about Owen County. Every October an annual banquet is held where the participants have a ton of fun but also honor some local heroes. The banquet also offers a silent auction, but that is not possible this year. In fact, the banquet is at the Tivoli and limited to 150 patrons. So to make up for the lack of a silent auction, they are sponsoring a Super Hero 5K from October 1st -November 20th. You sign up and then you have the time between those two dates to complete walking, running or biking your 5K. For more info or to register online go to myowencounty.chamber.com.
Monday night, the 12th, the Building Team met. I have some exciting news to share with you at the anniversary. So does Wayne, one of our elders. You WILL NOT want to miss his presentation for sure! I think you will be humbled by God’s goodness to us, just as I have been.
Finally, an FYI for you: I will finish my Q & A series on November 22. I’ll then begin a series focused on the Christmas story. Amazing isn’t it? Christmas is in about 2 months!! Due to the strange year we have had it sure seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas. Then again…maybe you feel like it has been forever. I will begin 2021 (please hurry up and get here so we can shut the door on 2020) with a series on Ecclesiastes I’m calling Life Matters. Following that I’m preparing to preach a series from the Gospel of Mark. But as they say in commercials: the Mark series is subject to change. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to read this MM. I seriously appreciate you doing that. I hope it keeps you up-to-date. I’ll look forward to seeing you this week-in person or online. Never forget: you are loved more than you know.
Pastor Bill
