Midweek Message 8-26-2026

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #301

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #301. Diana will be taking some much-needed and well-deserved {emphasis mine 😄} time off and will be gone next week from the office. So I’m going to make this a two-week edition of the MM. I hope your week is going well so far and the rest of this week is even better!

Our school related prayers for the next two weeks:
 Andy Cline-Superintendent of S-OCS

• Matt Taylor-Curriculum Director of S-OCS
• Pray for each of these men as their position presents unique challenges. Pray for wisdom and guidance for them.

FROM THE “FANTASTIC NEWS” DEPARTMENT:

I almost called this FROM THE “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” DEPARTMENT but decided to just state the facts for everyone to see. It has not gone unnoticed or unmentioned about the number of babies born to our church family or relatives of our church family in 2026. Here is the list I compiled just you can see:
‣ MARCH-

• • Brielle Eve welcomed by Aaron and Sonia Clausman
  • Archer Patrick welcomed by Logan and Lexie Britton
  • Archer “Archie” Dane welcomed by Keaton and Lily Zufall

‣ APRIL-

• • Carter David welcomed by Billy and Beth Allen (Julie Allen’s son and daughter-in-
    law)

‣ MAY-

• • Bowen Matthew welcomed by Brayton and Zoe Wyatt
  • Henry Lee welcomed by Will and Sarah Schneider
  • Eliza Claire welcomed by Adam and Cecelia Fox (daughter and son-in-law of Scott
    and Heather Herrington)

‣ JUNE-

• • Oaklyn Mae welcomed by Westin and Cassie Linville
  • Selah Mae welcomed by Caleb and Gabrielle Corder
  • Ellie Darlene welcomed by Jacob and Katie Manyik
  • Hayden Ryan welcomed by Justin and Stevie Chandler (Jason and April’s son and
    daughter-in-law)

‣ AUGUST

• • Oliver (no middle name) welcomed by Bob and Tiffany Kropack
  • Macklin Isaiah welcomed by Chris & Jenn Zigler

‣ OCTOBER

A son is to be born to Robert and Hannah Herrington (Scott & Heather Herrington’s son and daughter-in-law)

Isn’t that a hoot seeing them all in one place? WOW! To top it off, Becca Anderson told me that the OVCF church family provided nearly 50 meals to families between February and August. Combine that with several that were done apart from the Meal Train and that’s a lot of meals! You are to be commended! The Baby Care Team also provides something special for each birth. I love it when the church is a family! 😄

FROM THE “KEEP THESE IN MIND” DEPARTMENT:

Here are some miscellaneous items to keep in mind:

• This Wednesday, the 26th, is our church family pitch-in starting at 6:00 PM. I look forward to seeing you there.
• This Saturday is the SPROUTS get-together. They will be meeting at the church building from 6:30-8:00
• The church office will be closed Labor Day Monday, September 7th. And speaking of the office, with Diana being out of the office next week, please be patient with the two dudes who will be around here. 😄Hannah is here off and on (mostly Wednesdays), but she is the better of the three of us when Diana is gone.

FROM THE “PAR FOR THE COURSE” DEPARTMENT:

Leave it to me to leave someone out:

• Winston Zigler is playing hockey this winter for the Bloomington Blades.
• Am I missing anyone else? Please let me know.

FROM THE “BOOKS TO STRETCH YOUR HEART AND MIND” DEPARTMENT:

I have placed books in the church library for your use. Books which have been included are those on Special Needs Ministry, Suicide, Memory Loss/Dementia/Alzheimer’s, Depression, Anxiety, Miscellaneous, Loss and last week I introduced some books on LGBT. I’m going to continue that list is this week’s MM.

• Born (Again) This Way by Rachel Gilson. Rachel was a practicing lesbian who came to Christ but continued in her lifestyle until someone lovingly said, “You have to end it.” This is her story of “Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and what comes next.” This is a great book!
• Transformed by Kyla Gillespie and Transgender to Transformed by Laura Perry Smalts. Two stories of transition that show when a person meets Jesus they can be truly transformed.
• Does the Bible Affirm Same-Sex Relationships? by Rebecca McLaughlin. She looks at 10 of the most common reasons used to claim that the Bible affirms same-sex relationships. A short and to-the-point book with great insight!
• Check out the church library for more on this topic.

My sermon this Sunday is “A Tough Thing to Do” and the next week is “Hot Under the Collar.” I look forward to sharing and being with you. Until then…know you are loved.

Pastor Bill