MIDWEEK MESSAGE #171
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #171! I know you were super excited to open your email and find this week’s MM just waiting for you to say, “Hmmm. I wonder what sort of stuff Pastor Bill will be talking about this week.” No? Well…please don’t tell me. ☺
A friendly reminder: please remember to pray for our very own, Kris Samick, this week. Kris is the Director of Communications for S-OCS. I know she will appreciate your prayers.
Did you know we have several of our young people who are off to college this year? I would like to list them in the MM. The next issue of the MM will include several more of our college students. If you have a college student, please make sure we know!
- Kristi Arnold is at IU, studying to be a Pediatric physician. She is currently a Human Biology Major in the pre-med department.
- Travis Floyd is at IU’s Jacob School of Music and will soon graduate with a degree in Music Education with a desire to teach Band. Travis has also been playing bass for our Worship Team.
- Mollie Wainscott is now attending Milligan College in TN. Her desire is to become a Physical Therapist.
Sunday, the 27th, was a great day for Jade Sturgeon. I had the privilege of baptizing her in a small, private baptism that included her parents, her grandparents, a great grandparent and an uncle and aunt…and Jo. It also included her 4 month old daughter, Sage. Congrats Jade!
I hope you have marked your calendars for October 29th! OVCF will be celebrating our 19th anniversary. That’s all I’m going to say in this week’s MM about it.
I will restarting Route 66 on Wednesday, September 13th from 6-7:00 p.m. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with “66,” it is a journey through the 66 books of the Bible. Due to various glitches in the schedule, it took over 2 years to go through the OT. I’m happy to say that we will be starting the NT. Here are some particulars that I think will be helpful:
- There is no cost.
- All you need to do is show up.
- I have materials printed up for our study. It is a teaching/discussion type of approach so it is not a “hurry up and get through this” type of study.
- There is no age limit, however, there is no child care provided.
- It would be helpful if you would sign up so I can know how much material to have prepared. The sign-up sheet is on the info table in the auditorium.
- We do take breaks for any school breaks and holidays.
I would love to have you join us. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. Send me a text, give me a call, or ask me in person. ☺
Some of you asked how our weekend visiting family went. I hesitate talking about it from the pulpit since your time is precious, so I thought I would fill you in here. We had a great time with our family. Janna had a migraine so we took Braden out for supper on Thursday (that was super cool!) Friday we made our way to Sandusky to see Jo’s sister. She did not know me and barely knew Jo. I feel for anyone who has to deal with dementia or Alzheimer’s in their family. We were able to watch Braden play football Friday night. He played well. Made some great tackles and even intercepted a pass. It was televised on ABC 6 out of Columbus, OH so we were able to see it. It happened right in front of his bench and out of our sight. But Jo and Tami do have a video if you would like to see it. ☺ Would you expect anything less? My weekend was made complete by being with you on Sunday.
This past weekend I began reading a book by Pastor Shane Pruitt called 9 Common Lies Christians Believe…And Why God’s Truth is Infinitely Better.” It is a book about one-liners we often hear. The very first one is “God Won’t Give Me More Than I Can Handle.” Pastor Shane’s story of their adoption of a boy from Uganda, of it not being what they thought it would be, is heart-breaking. But the clichés people tossed at them were the worst. This was one of them. Here is what he wrote concerning the situation:
God chooses what to reveal to us and what not to reveal. The primary truths He has revealed to us are that He loves us, is with us, and can identify with us. No matter what we’re going through, He can handle it. We can’t, but He can. One of the main reasons He can handle whatever we’re going through is because He is a God who can identify with His creation. (p.24)
Pastor Shane would be the first to admit that it was not easy to come to that conclusion. His honesty is refreshing. My take: as followers of Jesus we have a tough time with tough situations because we tend to think we “deserve” a better outcome due to our “follower of Jesus” mentality. But truthfully, we are never promised an easy time of life, no matter what some religious (“send me money”) teachers want us to believe. Life is hard no matter who you are or what you do. I’m looking forward to reading more of the one-liners we hear and give.
Pastor Ryan’s sabbatical ends this week and his plan is to be back in the office Thursday. It will be good to have him back. ☺
This coming weekend is Labor Day (I’m sure you don’t need reminded of that). My sermon this Sunday will be on It’s Off to Work I Go. It is a sermon dedicated to the privilege of working, but also why we work. It will be a standalone sermon because September 10th starts a series on The God We Worship. Please be safe this weekend if you travel or if you simply stay home to enjoy the weekend with family and friends. If you are in town, I do look forward to seeing you. I love you all.
Pastor Bill