MIDWEEK MESSAGE #111
Hello! Welcome to Midweek Message #111. It has been a couple of weeks since I wrote a MM.
I hope you missed me. If not, please don’t tell me. I’m not sure my ego could handle that.
Whether you missed me or not, I’d like to let you know why I was AWOL when it came to the
MM.
The first week of missing was Memorial Day weekend was busy and with the church office
being closed on Monday (Memorial Day), I knew Tuesday would be a big catch up day. I
normally tend to write the MM on Monday and Tuesday; Diana proofs it on Tuesday; we make
improvements to it; then it gets published on various platforms and sent to you on Wednesday.
That is our goal. Knowing the week would be short put a crimp in my plans. I decided to take a
break for both of us.
The second week Jo, Tami, and I went to Ohio to see Braden play ball and to visit Janna. Every
time we have visited this Spring, except for once, it has rained and the games have been called
off. The one time we were able to watch him play it was so cold my face froze off. One time we
went they rescheduled a game for that Thursday and then no umpires showed up. (Face palm)
The next day was the regularly scheduled game and…you guessed it…rained out. Our thinking
this trip was it is June and surely they will play. NOPE! We dropped him off for his game and the
coach stopped me to say the game had been cancelled by the league, only they failed to tell
him. The other team? Yes. So he said they were going to practice until 7:00 or the rain came. It
rained like cats ‘n dogs for about 30 minutes so we made our way back to wait.
So here I am three weeks later. Knowing the “zoo” of a week I have coming up, I decided to
start this on Saturday, hopefully having it ready for Diana and I to make corrections on Monday.
We have a staff meeting on Monday morning and with Ryan having been gone to Wilderness
Camp all last week, I know it will be a lot of catch up. So the staff meeting will be busy.
Plus, many of you will remember about a month ago I told you why I was having to sit a lot
during my sermons. By the time you get this, I will have had my back surgery yesterday
(Tuesday) morning. This will be more extensive that the one I had in 2017 but much like it.
Instead of one vertebrae to be drilled, there will be three. I have some spurs closing off the
nerve routes and he will be opening up the space so the nerves will not have that pressure.
That is the simplified version. Please don’t ask about the medical version. I may or may not
stay overnight depending on how I do with the surgery and recovery. It had been scheduled for
11:30 but a cancellation of the previous one moved me up to 8:00. I’m okay with that! I would
appreciate your prayers for my recovery and for Jo’s patience with (whom she says) is a very
poor patient.
Enough of that! I am super excited about Father’s Day Sunday. The Mother’s Day special
program was so well-liked and appreciated (many of you told me), that I decided to see if I
could get some men to talk about their hero from the Bible. One caveat: it had to be someone
other than Jesus. I asked a total of 15 men and 9 of them said they would. 9 men! I was super excited to have that many. I did have to change the way it will be done. My original thought
was to have it similar to the ladies by having them sit on chairs and share their thoughts. But
the stage isn’t big enough and I also know you want to go to lunch that day! So, each man will
speak about 3 minutes to give their hero and why. You will need to be here or watch online to
see who the men are.
*****ONE VERY IMPORTANT ITEM TO REMEMBER: there is only one service on Father’s Day at
10:00***** The nursery will be available and children’s programs will meet at 10:00, too.
I started a new series this past Sunday called 7 Cancers. Sunday’s sermon, “Whatever Became
of Sin,” was a prelude to that series. The series really gets underway on the June 26 th . Here is
the list of sermons for that series:
-
- The “Queen” of Cancer
- The Green-Eyed Cancer
- The Explosive Cancer
- The Lazy Cancer
- The “Gotta Have It” Cancer
- The Respectable Cancer
- The Hidden Cancer
Lord willing, unless He changes things or something comes up, that series will take us to August
14 th . My plan at this point is to follow that up with a series I’m calling 8 CURES. I figure we
would look at the cancer and then at the cure. Immediately following that series I might be
doing one on “What is the Church All About?” That is not the title of the series but it is the
contact point of what I am considering. November and December are months which are pretty
typical in their focus. Look for next week’s MM for a special request I will have.
I’d like to remind you to pray for Pastor Ryan and his faculty for the Senior High Wilderness
Week at Hilltop camp. It starts this coming Sunday.
One more item before I close this MM. June 25 th is the date for the Serving Owen County
Together (SOCT) event. SOCT is a joint effort of many in OC and some outside organizations to
meet the needs of citizens of OC and surrounding areas. There is a shoe tent, clothing tent,
game tent, diapers and toiletries, furniture and other items. Volunteer help is needed. You can
sign up on the sheet at the information table. We really need your help! There are 4 separate
time slots: 7-9 (Set up). 9-12:00. 12-3:00. 3-5 (Tear down). Even if you can’t stay for the whole
time slot, any help would be appreciated.
Well, my space is up. I have babbled on some, I’m sure, but what else does a preacher do who
hasn’t had a chance to be in contact for a couple of weeks? But just know I love you.
Pastor Bill
