MIDWEEK MESSAGE #64
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message (MM) #64. As I write this it is Monday afternoon and I understand it is supposed to be a hot one this week. Some rain possibly on Wednesday. What can I say? We live in Indiana!! 🙂 I’m going to enjoy it since I know in about 6 months or so we will be wondering where the warm weather went!! Yikes! Did I just say that?
If you were here this past Sunday or watched online you heard me make an announcement (I’m sure you pay attention to announcements) about the Serving Owen County Together event which was postponed due to the flood waters. It has been rescheduled for July 10th, which is a mere 2 weeks away. We sure could use your help again, so if you are able to do so, please sign up again at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/owencountyevent. I can say that if you don’t sign up, but just show up, a spot will be found for you to help. This is a tremendous opportunity for our community and I plan to be there (I’ll leave off the bells and whistles).
I was reminded why we do what we do as I have been studying for this new sermon series on Mark. I have given it the title of The Servant King because Jesus shows us to a “T” what it means to be a servant. We are definitely like Jesus when we serve others.
Speaking of the sermon series: please read Mark 1 for this Sunday. That will be one of the beauties of preaching through a book like this. I can ask you to read ahead by simply reading the chapter. And you can read it multiple times a week and really get familiar with it. It has been several months since I preached through a book, and a long time since I did it this way. I preached through Ecclesiastes but it was more topical and I left out some passages. There are 16 chapters= 16 weeks. There will be one big break in our study. On August 29th, Lord willing, Mike, Trisha, and Ryan Laws will be with us sharing their testimony of God’s phenomenal grace, love, strength, and answered prayer. Mike donated his kidney to Ryan a few months ago and we had been praying for them. Ryan is now playing soccer. Truly remarkable. Mike is slower recovering (I’m thinking his age might have something to do with that-LOL) but they have seen God do amazing things in their lives. They will be here to share what He has done in an interview-type of format. You won’t want to miss that Sunday! So I’m asking you to put it on your calendar now. That is also our 5th Sunday of the month so the young people will be in with us.
If you have a young person in Junior/Senior High then you won’t want to miss this next announcement. On July 17th, Pastor Ryan is planning a ROOTS RECONNECT event by taking the youth group kayaking, exploring and enjoying a picnic at Sugar Creek. Just one day but it will be a whole lot of fun. The cost is $20/person and this is a whole family activity. They will be stopping on the way home to eat. If you want your child to go but don’t have the funds please let Pastor Ryan or Diana know. The church can help!! There is only one catch, he needs you to RSVP by July 5th. You can call the church office at 812-828-9840 to register since Pastor Ryan is at Hilltop Camp for Wilderness Week. For those who may not know: ROOTS is the Sunday night youth program for Junior/Senior High youth. They take a break for the summer but this is a way for Ryan to “reconnect” with them.
Speaking of the youth group, Deeper will resume on July 7th and will meet at Ryan and Hope’s house. They meet Wednesdays from 4-5:30 in his garage. And yes, they have snacks! And a whole lot of fun and learning from the Bible. This will the first week back since the end of school.
As many of you know, I try really hard to avoid politics in person, and especially from the pulpit. In fact, I can promise you that nothing political will come from the pulpit. But with July 4th coming up this Sunday I would like to add some thoughts to this MM. The most recent display of disrespect given by an “athlete” sort of raises my ire a bit. A female hammer thrower, who may have been ticked off more because she placed 3rd (who really knows?), turned her back on the flag during the playing of the National Anthem. That kind of disrespect does not sit well with me when several things are considered. One, we still live in the greatest country on the planet. This country isn’t perfect but it is still the best place to live. I sometimes wish those who threaten to leave if they don’t get their way, would. Let them go where they don’t even have the freedom to say what they are saying about the U.S. Second, their actions disrespect all those who served, gave up their families and even their lives, to give us the freedom we enjoy. Third, it says that all those who fought for our initial freedom in 1776 were misguided. It spits in the eye of great men like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and others who saw a new horizon for us. It puts down all the men and women who served. It says to all the great African Americans like Martin Luther King, Jr, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas and others that they wasted their time and efforts to make a difference. Fourth, if they are so disgusted by the USA why are they competing for a place in Olympic history? This July 4th I hope you will take the time to celebrate living in a land of freedom. Are we perfect? No, of course not. Neither is the church, but I celebrate it anyway. Be proud of living in a free nation, made free by the blood of all races, colors and nationalities willing to serve and sacrifice. Okay…off my soapbox. 🙂
Have a great rest of the week. I celebrate the freedom I have in Christ. I celebrate the freedom I have living in this nation. And I celebrate you.
Pastor Bill
