Midweek Message 4-1-2026

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #286

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #286! By the time you get this we will be  right in the middle of what is considered the final week of Jesus. I hope you have taken the time to contemplate what this week means in the life of the Christ-follower. Stay tuned later in this MM for special information about Resurrection Sunday events.

Pray this week for Robert Boltinghouse and Jake Steinmetz, principal and assistant principal of OVHS as our educators of the week.

Here is something I don’t get to tell too often:
I typically spend some time each MM telling you about our young people and some of their awards, exploits, etc. Very seldom have I had the opportunity to share with you about a college student. Here is one straight from her mom:

Annalei Dow dives for the University of Minnesota. During her sophomore season she earned qualifying scores to attend the NCAA Zones (there are 5 of these Zones competitions across the country) at Texas A&M a couple of weeks ago to compete at the NCAA Division 1 National Championships. Only 11 girls qualified to move on in the Platform event from this meet. She earned that privilege! This past weekend (the weekend of the 15th) she competed in the NCAA championships held at Georgia Tech. The stage HUGE. She was one of only 81 divers from across the US to quality for this event. The talent was amazing and it was incredible to watch. Unfortunately, as a sophomore, she let her nerves the get the better of her. Although she didn’t accomplish her goal (finish in the top 25) she still performed well and placed 38th in the nation! At the end, she told us her goal was just not to finish in last place. 😊She walked away from her memorable week with an amazing experience, fun memories with her teammates, a huge accomplishment and great learning lesson to work towards next year! We are so proud of her dedication throughout these years. She has spent countless hours practicing, managing her time and learning to deal with pressure of being a D1 athlete. Oh, as well, she does a great job of balancing her schoolwork. She earned a spot on the Big 10 All-Academic Team with a GPA of 3.94! Although the result was not exactly what we hoped for, we are so proud of her and her accomplishments.

I bet you couldn’t tell that Chad and Terri are proud of Annalei.😊 Well done Annalei! I’m excited to see her GPA! That is phenomenal work!

Here is another of our young people to notice!

• • Congratulations to Meilynn Hess! She is the 2026 Owen County Art Guild Scholarship recipient! She is being honored at the Art Guild this Saturday, April 4, from 2:30-4:30. Refreshments will be served. Take a few moments to honor Meilynn this Saturday.

Here is another event worth celebrating! Congratulations to Abigail Clausman and Cole Brown upon their baptisms at the YMCA this past Sunday. Abigail has been attending ROOTS and is the sister to Elijah and Aaron. Sonia is her sister-in-law.

HERE IS YOUR SOURCE FOR ALL THINGS RESURRECTION SUNDAY!

• • We are excited to tell you that our Resurrection Sunday services will be in our new addition.
    There will be one service at 10:00.
  • The children’s programs (Nursery through Grade 6) will meet as usual in their current classrooms.
  • We want you to know that Sunday will be “rough.” The addition is not finished. Carpet is not on the floor. The HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work is not finished. The stage is not finished. (See what I mean by “rough”?) We will have a screen but not TVs for better viewing. So we are going to need your patience and understanding to make this work.
  • We will have some propane heaters to warm the building but please dress appropriately.
  • There will be Power Point and a live stream.
  • HERE IS WHERE YOU CAN HELP!
    • • We will need help moving 150 chairs from Abram Farms to our building. We will start at 10:00 on Saturday at Abram Farms.
      • After Sunday’s service we will need help taking them back.
      • We will need help moving chairs from our current building and setting them up in the addition on Saturday morning (again at 10:00).
      • We will need help moving worship equipment to our new addition and taking it back afterwards.
      • Because our parking space is limited, if you can help by parking at either Henry Holsters (building to the north of our property) or Abram Farms, that would be appreciated.
      • We will also need help shuttling people from Henry Holsters and Abram Farms and then taking them back after the service. If you are willing to help, please talk to Pastor Ryan.

ABOVE ALL WE ASK THAT YOU BE PATIENT WITH LESS THAN IDEAL CONDITIONS. LET’S JUST CELEBRATE THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS AND PRAISE GOD THAT WE CAN DO THAT IN OUR NEW ADDITION.

• • One more important item: for the past several years we have been giving our Easter offering to the missions we support. That will NOT change. Unless designated, all offering this Sunday will be given to missions. God has blessed us tremendously and this is our opportunity to say thanks to Him by blessing others. God has always been good to us and has always provided for our needs. This also gives us a chance to bless others who are taking the message of Christ to people we will never be able to reach.

As expected, my message Sunday will be on the Resurrection of Jesus, entitled The Surprising Savior from John 19:38-20:10. I look forward to celebrating with you this Sunday. Until then, know you are loved more than you realize.

Pastor Bill