MIDWEEK MESSAGE #135
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #135. I always consider it a privilege that you allow me to “invade” your inbox with my ramblings. So, thank you for being so accommodating. ☺ I have important things to share with you in this MM so I hope you will take the time to read it and not delete it immediately. Then again…if you did that there was no sense in writing that last line. See how my mind works…or doesn’t? Anyway…
Please let me encourage you to pray for Tami Grandi this week as our Educator of the Week. I happen to know this one a bit better than the others, but I’m not sure why. ☺ I send a note to all of our educators and after she got hers she came knocking on my door at home and said, “You could have saved a stamp.” I told her, “Yeah, but I know how you like to get good mail.” Tami teaches Kindergarten at SES.
This past week I received an email from someone (she has asked to remain anonymous so I will honor her wishes). Here is what her email said: “After Thanksgiving I was exploring on my cell phone and ran across some comments from a couple of ladies in a senior housing project in Cunot. They were excited and thankful that ‘someone brought me a lovely Thanksgiving meal and I didn’t feel so alone.’ A third one chimed in and said she wished she knew where the wonderful meal came from and I remembered you (referring to me) saying that one of our drivers slipped up there. I just typed in ‘Owen Valley Christian Fellowship’ and left it at that. They all typed back how grateful they were, not only for the good food, but the thought of being remembered.” This person then finished her email saying, “Sometimes we don’t get to see or hear how our actions affect people. And then other times we get a glimpse of how deeply a plate of food can cheer a lonely heart. Just thought I’d share that with you.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Jesus once said, “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.” (Mt. 25:35-36 NASB2020). When asked by His disciples when they did that He said, “When you have done it to the least of these, you have done it unto me.”
There is so much truth in Jesus’ words (as you would expect me to say). But just think about it for a moment: by receiving one meal these ladies heard of a church in Spencer who was the hands and feet of Jesus for them. They may never darken our church door, but that is not the point. The fact that we reached out to them made a difference to them. And we followed Jesus. Thanks again to all who helped with the Thanksgiving meal. You were part of this email. And thanks to the anonymous person who made my day by sending it to me.
Let’s switch gears for a moment. Okay, let’s switch celebrations. From Thanksgiving to Christmas. We have been telling you for a couple of weeks about our plans for the Christmas weekend. Here they are again:
- Christmas Eve (CE) service from 6-7:00 pm
- Christmas Morning service from 10-11:00
I have a few more details I can share with you.
- Both services will have singing, Communion, a short message/devotion from me, and a closing candlelight ceremony.
- Terrie MacMorran will be leading the singing on CE and Sunday morning will be the regular worship team leading our singing.
- The exciting part is that young people will be participating in both services. Some details still need to be fleshed out so I don’t feel as though I ought to spill the beans at this time. In fact, I guess I should just simply say, “Come to one of the services and find out what the young people are up to!” ☺ I think you will be glad you did.
- We will close with a time of candlelight and song.
The last time Christmas was on Sunday, Spencer had a paper. That meant we could advertise that we were offering a Christmas Eve service. We had several visitors that evening, and even though they did not come back to worship on any given Sunday, it gave some an opportunity to worship and not feel like they left something out of making sure they had a meaningful Christmas and were able to look in the mirror and know they honored Christ in this most beautiful season. We, unfortunately, do not have the paper to do any advertising this time around, however, you can be the “mouthpiece” about our Christmas Eve service. If you know of someone who is looking for a Christmas Eve service to attend, please invite them.
One more thing before I close: I have often told you how honored I am to be your pastor. The past 17 years have been the highlight of my 50 years in the ministry. Monday I was speaking to someone and he talked about the church. I’m going to capsulize what he said since it was said in our conversation and it was a long one (imagine that!). He said, “Bill, your church has done some pretty big things in our community. Your church has been the hands and feet of Jesus to many people and you have shown what it means to walk the walk and talk the talk.” I share that with you, not so we can get big heads and think “we are all that and more.” I share that with you because I find words hard to come by when expressing my joy to hear that about OVCF. My continual prayer is that we will never rest on our laurels; that we will never sit back and say, “We have worked hard for years and now it is time to take a break”; that we will always see our community as a group of people who need Jesus; and that we will never get weary of doing good (I Cor. 15:58). Thank you again for allowing me to pastor you for these past 17 years.
Lord willing, I will see you Sunday as we talk about The Unexpected Birth.
Pastor Bill
