MIDWEEK MESSAGE #167
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #167. Thank you for taking the time to read this communication from me to you in the middle of the week.
Remember to pray for our military person of the week: Jessica Parmer. Jessica is in the Air Force, and with her son, Jackson, is stationed in Colorado.
School begins Thursday in the Spencer-Owen school system. Can you believe it? Didn’t we just attend graduations and parties? Beginning Sunday we will be praying for school personnel. I’ll just ask you to pray for all the leadership, teachers, helpers, and students this week.
Man, Sunday was just a super day!
- I presented Matt, Mary and Akaydia Beckwith with their baptism certificates and a gift from the church at the beginning of the second service. They were all baptized on July 9th at the Y. Pastor Ryan baptized Matt; Matt baptized Mary; then they both baptized Akaydia. It was a beautiful sight to witness.
- Terrie MacMorran did a marvelous job with the Move Up Sunday program! Recognition was given to all the teachers and helpers involved in children’s ministry on Sunday morning, from the Nursery, Preschool, Early and Late Elementary teachers/helpers to the Youth Worship Team and Youth check-in desk/registration team. Seven of our young people will be moving up from the Early to Late Elementary class. Special recognition, which included crosses made by Jerry Standeford, certificates, and a charge were given to Trevor Floyd, Bella Madorin, Tessa Pashley, and Charli Wood as they move up from the Late Elementary class to “Big Church.” I was honored to close the Move Up Sunday ceremony with prayer.
- The highlight of the day for me was taking the confession of faith of Julian Carson, Cooper Wood, and Don VanDerMoere. Their baptisms which followed were a special event. Mike Edwards, Julian’s “Pappy,” baptized him, and I was honored to baptize Cooper and Don. Special thanks to Bob & Tiffany Kropack for the use of their pool since the Y therapy pool where we normally baptize folks is closed for now.
ALL IN ALL A TRULY SUPERB DAY!!
I paused my series on Revelation with Sunday’s sermon geared to the young people. This week I will be back on schedule with a sermon from Revelation 8:1-13 called Heads Up! All four weeks of August will be on Revelation. That will take us to chapter 13. On Labor Day I’ll be preaching a standalone sermon called “It’s Off to Work I Go.” Then I’ll be starting a new series called The God We Worship. Even though it is hard to get back to a series like the one on Revelation after taking a break, I think it is essential, given the difficulty of the topic. The way it looks right now, though, I may actually be carrying Revelation over into 2024.
∙ Roots Reconnect event!
∙ Water games, ice cream, popsicles & fun at OVCF
∙ Open to OVCF youth, their families & friends!
∙ Please contact Cassie Linville with any questions:
812-821-8077
Monday morning during my Encounter Time I read the following story from a devotion book by Pastor Greg Laurie entitled Everyday With Jesus. Here is the story:
A homeless man was standing on a street corner, asking for money, when a well-dressed attorney came walking by. They recognized each other from third-period English class in high school. The homeless man admitted he had fallen on hard times.
The attorney wrote him a check for $500, to get cleaned up, and get a new set of clothes. With check in hand, the man went to the bank but when he saw now nicely dressed the people were and how clean and tidy the bank was, he felt unworthy and didn’t go in.
The next day, the attorney saw the same man in the same condition. So he asked him what he was doing there. The man said, “I felt ashamed. I didn’t feel worthy to go into the bank and cash your check.”
The attorney said, “That check has my signature on it. You take that down and cash it. It’s not based on who you are. It is based on me. My signature is on it, and it is good. Cash it.”
That is what God has done for us. God’s grace has been extended to us. We are wrong when we think we have to do something to somehow earn it. {Story edited to fit}
That is a good way to end this MM. I pray you realize how much God loves you and made it possible for you (for all of us) to receive His salvation. I love you all as well.
Pastor Bill
