MIDWEEK MESSAGE #128
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #128. I hope you had a restful Fall Break (if you had the opportunity to enjoy it) and that getting back to the “old grind” wasn’t too bad.
Let me first remind you to pray for Beth Sewell and Bonnie Richmond, guidance counselors at OVHS. They are our Educators of the week.
There are some other folks you can pray for as well:
- Paul & Marilyn Hill. Paul’s sister, Alma Marshall, passed away last week.
- We had been praying for Robert Wells, a friend of Dave Tarrence. He lost his battle with cancer.
- Melvin Bault was experiencing chest pains on Sunday, the 9th. A visit to the ER showed he had suffered a heart attack.
- Bob Kropack has asked prayers for his grandfather, Fred Mueller, who is in the hospital with pneumonia.
- Kris Owsley, a friend of mine and Jo’s, is battling stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Kris has just finished her second round of chemo and has asked prayers for relief from the symptoms. Dan & Kris are the managers of Wonder Valley Christian Camp near Salem.
- Maverick Pendleton (4 y/o) is home, but they took him to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital on Tuesday to talk about radiation treatments that just target the tumor. Please continue praying for Maverick, for his parents (Josh and Becky) and his four siblings.
- Keep praying for the Wainscott family-Chris, Kori, Gracie, and Mollie as Chris continues his recovery and physical therapy.
- Please continue praying for all our Law Enforcement and Military personnel. Only a casual glance at the news will tell you there is a crisis with both branches of service.
It is unusual for me to start out with a list of prayer requests. I chose to do that because I wanted to follow my own advice from Sunday’s sermon. It is the urgent or the important. The other items in the MM can be labelled Urgent. Prayer should one of those things which are of first IMPORTANCE.
Now to “stuff” of other importance.
Our 18th anniversary celebration is quickly approaching. Remember the date of October 30th. Quick recap for you: Two services (9 and 10:45). Pastor Ryan and I will be tag-teaming the message that morning on OVCF’s Mission and Vision. The leadership has spent the past 6 months or so reworking and tweaking both. We are excited about sharing it with you. Immediately following the second service we will have an all church pitch-in. (Have you signed up to bring a food item?) During the meal we plan on honoring our volunteers and also hope to present some ideas to you about the proposed building addition. As a reminder, all giving that day (unless designated) will go to our Building Fund.
Speaking of volunteers, I read the following and wanted to share it with you: But first, a question. I suspect all of you know what Mount Rushmore is. But do you know the name of the South Dakota state historian who conceived of the idea? Didn’t think so (unless you are a super smart trivia buff who likes obscure history info). While millions know of Mount Rushmore with the heads of four US presidents, relatively few know the name Doane Robinson. He is the South Dakota state historian who conceived the idea of the magnificent sculpture and managed the project. The monument is admired and appreciated, but he is the forgotten man behind the masterpiece. His name is either largely unrecognized or was never even known by some. I see our volunteers in the same light. Week in and week out we have a ton of volunteers doing a lot of behind the scenes “stuff.” They get little recognition due to the fact that they are serving where few see them. Our recognition of them is an attempt to show how much we appreciate them. We know, of course, God sees them and that is good, and it is the best applause. But it is also good that they receive human thanks. We want to do that and would love to have you join in with us.
Three special events are coming up that I hope you will consider taking part in. I’ll just list them here for you and fill you in with more details in the next MM.
- Starting this week we will be participating in the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child ministry. We have taken part in years past and feel this is a good thing to put on our “Christmas list.” The date to have the shoeboxes back to OVCF is November 13th. Shoeboxes & packing lists are available! Please see Diana if you have questions. ☺
- Thanksgiving lunch for the community is at the Lions Club on November 24th from 11:00-1:00. Five ladies have volunteered to steer this meal. As I said, I will tell you more in an upcoming MM.
- Our December “gift” to the young people of our community is going to be different this year. Instead of the Giving Tree, we are going to collect food for Backpack Buddies (BB). BB is preparing bags for 206+ children in the S-OCS school system. They are running low. We want to help. More info coming.
Well…I have bent your ear and hurt your eyes long enough. ☺ Thanks again for taking the time to read the MM. I don’t know how it helps in keeping you informed, but I certainly hope it does. I look forward to seeing you Sunday as I continue preaching on the church. The sermon is “On Being Contagious” (and no we won’t be talking about masks and COVID). ☺ Love you all.
Pastor Bill
