MIDWEEK MESSAGE #120
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #120! Thanks for including me in your day. I hope this week has been a pretty good one for you so far.
First, I need to apologize and make a correction. After last week’s MM and my summary of why I began writing it, I had a member of my family (I will not mention Tami’s name) who corrected me on my timeline. Sadly, I have to admit I needed corrected. I mentioned that we limped into 2021 after a bunch of people got COVID and then we had to shut down when Governor Holcomb asked that we do so or reduce operations. We had actually reduced what we did during the summer of 2020 and had just begun getting back to “normal” in August by starting to worship in person again. I should have remembered because Jo and I went to Alaska in September of 2019 and almost decided to put it off (until your generosity). That would have been disastrous since we would not have been able to go if we had. Anyway, I started the MM in early 2020 after that first major shutdown. I stand corrected. J
Second, a big tip of the hat to Dave & Heather Keith. When word reached Jack White, the director for Disaster Relief (FEMA) in Spencer, about the need for folks in Kentucky impacted by the flooding in recent weeks, Dave offered his help. He and Heather were leaving for vacation to Tennessee and offered to drive a trailer filled with supplies to those responsible for overseeing the operations in KY. In less than a week, Owen Countians came through. A trailer soon became a U-Haul that left this past Monday morning. The church reached out to help and purchased fans, totes, shovels, rakes and more to the tune of $400+. I also know several church individuals who gave some needed supplies. So thank you for being so generous, which allows the church to do what the church is supposed to do: reach out in Jesus’ name to help others.
Third, please remember to pray for Rhonda Schafer this week. Rhonda is our educator of the week. She is in charge of the Patriot Student Center which helps the students learn a trade that could serve them well in the future.
Fourth, I know I sound like a broken record, but I just “gotta tell you” this. Sunday afternoon I went to the store and had planned on getting out onto Morgan Street, but the line coming at me was a string of motorcycles and then a ton of cars, so I turned around and went out the back way. As I turned onto a street someone from the church family was out walking their dogs. I stopped to talk and one of the things this person said was, “I am so glad for the live stream.” As we talked further, I knew why live stream was so important to them and said so. While I miss seeing people, it makes my heart happy to know people are watching online. I finished talking and on the way home I received a text from someone. Here is her text: “Still thankful for the live stream you continue to do. (Child’s name) has been snotty and feeling a little bad so we stayed home, but I didn’t have to miss church completely. Prayers she gets over this soon, especially the fussiness.” {Note: this mom most definitely has my prayers}.
My point to you is the same point I made to the “dog walker.” We live in a hybrid world. That is no more apparent than in the church and our approach to ministry. COVID changed a lot of things, some good and some not-so-good. I believe going to live stream is one of the benefits we were able to take advantage of then and it is still serving us now. Again, I’ll ask you: if you would like to be a part of this vital ministry, not just for our church folks, but for others who tune in, we could use your help. Please see Pastor Ryan or me and we will get you in touch with Joe Pavich, who will be glad to “show you the ropes” on how to help us run our live stream.
Just a couple of reminders for you:
- The church office will be closed on Labor Day, September 5th in honor of the holiday.
- “66” will be restarting on September 14th from 6:00-7:00 in the youth addition. For those who aren’t sure what that is, it is a journey through the 66 books of the Bible. We will be resuming our study at I & II Samuel. Even if you haven’t come before you are more than welcome to join us.
One of the hardest things for me to do is to stay out of trouble…because of my mouth. If I was a betting man I would bet I am not alone! J I read an interesting devotion the other day about our words and how important it is for them to be timely. Proverbs 15:23 says, “A person has joy in an apt answer, and how delightful is a timely word!” Included in the devotion was a story of golfer, Graeme McDowell on the eve of the 2006 British Open. He was in trouble with his swing and knew he needed to make a correction if he had any chance of winning. The evening before a man, who was an avid golf fan, recognized him and commented about a flaw in his swing. Most professionals would take offense at a suggestion like that, but Graeme figured what could it hurt? The next morning on the driving range he listened to the fan and lo and behold he was right! He finished the first day in first place.
Words are like that. We all know they can be used powerfully for good or bad. We can use them destructively or constructively. To put it more simply: they can build up or tear down. The verse in Proverbs says just that. A well-timed word is often what someone needs to make it through the day or to even see the light through a dark tunnel. Instead of using our words for weapons, let’s learn to use them to build others up.
One last thing: September 14th at 5:00 Wayne Akerson’s small group will be opening up the group to others by having it in the youth addition for that evening. If you are interested, please set aside that date. I’ll tell you more next week.
I hope you have a great rest of the week. Thanks again for reading. I love you all and look forward to seeing you Sunday when I’ll be preaching on “Easy to be Hard.” Included in next week’s MM will be my proposed preaching schedule for the rest of 2022 and into 2023. Notice I said “proposed.” I always have to include a word like that since God has a way of showing up and saying, “Not this time Bill.” I’ll defer to Him. J
Pastor Bill
