MIDWEEK MESSAGE #151
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #151. I anticipate this being a shorter MM than normal, but even as I write that, I am not taking for granted the welcome you give me in your inbox. ☺
Remember to pray for Rachel Keith this week. Rachel is one of S-OCS’s corporation nurses. I’m sure Rachel, and all the school nurses would appreciate your prayers as they navigate taking care of our students.
This coming Sunday is Resurrection Sunday! Of all the Sundays I look forward to, this has to top the list. The excitement the day generates among families and the meaning it brings to mind for all who follow Jesus simply cannot be topped. Please keep these thoughts in mind:
- This Friday, Good Friday, the church office will be closed.
- As we have been relating to you, we will offer two worship services AT OVCF at 9:00 and 10:45. If you are concerned about space, I’d suggest you consider attending the 9:00 service. The 10:45 service will more likely be the one most attend, especially since that service offers the children’s programs for birth (Nursery) up to 6th grade.
- All monies given this Sunday (unless designated) will to go the missions we support. I am not sure when we started the practice of giving our Resurrection Sunday offering away to missions but it is a good one. (We normally give our anniversary offering to the Building Fund). God has blessed OVCF in a tremendous way and the leadership believes this is one of the tangible ways we can say, “Thank you” to God for His goodness. Whatever is given is divided among the missions we support on a monthly basis:
Chi Alpha, Derek Britt & Luke Furr families
Freedom International Ministries, Jacob & Mia McCall
Hilltop Christian Camp
Int’l. Friendships, Jesse Cook
New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center
Revive Liberia Missions
Serge, Will & Theresa Reed
Weekday Religious Education
Youth for Christ, OVHS Campus Life/Cassie Linville
For more information on these missions, please see our bulletin board! ☺
- Above all, please pray about this Sunday. On the cross, Jesus defeated Satan’s plans. On Resurrection Sunday He drove the nail in his coffin because He once and for all showed Satan definitively that He (Jesus) had the power over sin, death, hell and the grave. His enemy/our enemy does not like that he lost, so he will do whatever it takes to bring us down. Pray for God’s power to be at work in your life and in the life of all those who listen or watch.
Antony Flew was a prominent atheist and professor of philosophy. He once said, “If Jesus rose, you have an intellectually feasible argument that everything Jesus said could be true. If He didn’t, all of Christianity falls.” He also said, “The defining and distinguishing characteristic of true Christianity is accepting the Resurrection did literally happen.” Let that sink in. You see, even men who claim to be intellectuals must reason with the resurrection of Jesus. They cannot disassociate it from truth-the truth that the resurrection of Jesus is the most important fact in history. If somehow-SOMEHOW-they could disprove it really happened (and they have tried), it gets them off the hook of having to reckon with a God who will ultimately judge them in the end. Poor Stephen Hawking, the brilliant scientist (but one who could not understand a God who loves him) on his deathbed was adamant when we he said, “There is no God. No one directs the universe.” I now suspect he is finding out there was and is and he is not liking it very much. Call me simple-minded, but I’m willing to stake my claim on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
I will see you Sunday, Lord willing. Throughout this week, ponder the powerful events which took place between this past Sunday (the entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey) and the end of the week (the crucifixion and resurrection). Can anything say “I love you” more than the love of a Savior who died in our place? I think not.
Have a great rest of the week. I love you.
Pastor Bill
