{"id":13740,"date":"2025-02-19T10:24:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T15:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/?p=13740"},"modified":"2025-02-19T10:40:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T15:40:00","slug":"midweek-message-2-19-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ovcf.org\/ovcf_wp\/2025\/02\/midweek-message-2-19-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Midweek Message2\/19\/2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #236<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #236. I think the proper words for this past Sunday are \u201cWho\u2019da thunk it?\u201d or maybe more accurately, \u201cWho saw that coming?\u201d I went to bed knowing it was supposed to snow about 1\u20442\u201d and when I came to the office the roads were a slushy mess. But it was more than 1\u20442\u201d then. Little did I know the 1\u20442\u201d would soon be closer to 3\u201d. I texted Pastor Ryan and Diana at 6:19 and said, \u201cI think we missed it. Should have done just one service.\u201d Well, between multiple texts and finally a phone call we all felt we couldn\u2019t change the services since it was too late, but that we could tell people to stay home and watch the live stream. Our ever-efficient secretary and her helpers got the word out. A big shout out goes to Diana, Madi Arnett, Heather Keith, Kris Samick, Linda St John, and JuliAnne Wiegand. Way to go and thank you big time, ladies!!<\/p>\n

BUT WAIT!!<\/strong> There are more people to thank. Bobby Anderson and his trusty sidekick (son) Rob came and cleared the parking lot and sidewalks. Hannah Pendleton came to help shovel. Macy Carlson came to do the sound at the second service and Kris Samick ran the live stream. My better half came and ran the Power Point for both services. We also had some help in the second service from Cooper and Tanner Wood and Lincoln VanDerMoere with serving communion to the 13 who came. Thanks guys! And a thank you to Pastor Ryan for running the live stream and sound for the first service. A special thanks to all of you who went with the flow and decided it was best to be safe and stay home.<\/p>\n

Let me remind you to pray for our educators of the week: Tom Arthur (Principal) and Duane Potts (Assistant Principal) at OVMS. Pray for their wisdom and patience in leading the school. Speaking of the school, I was texting with one of the nurses and she was telling me about the flu situation in her school and the whole school system. She asked us to pray for all the students and staff who already have the flu or are fighting it. I believe that is a good thing to do.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget our upcoming pitch-in dinner scheduled for Wednesday, the 26th at 6:00 PM. As we have been telling you, someone in our church family has offered to buy chicken for the evening but this person needs to know how much to order. If you haven\u2019t already signed up for that evening, please do so this coming Sunday. The church will provide the drinks and table service. You will be glad you came and spent some time with people whom you know or will get to know. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

Ladies, don\u2019t forget the tamale meal hosted by Bivi Ervin on Friday, February 28th at 6:00 PM at OVCF. For those who prefer, there is an alternate meal being prepared. The cost for either is $10 and the money is to be given to Linda St John. There is a sign-up sheet available if you are interested in attending.<\/p>\n

The Diaper Drive for New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center will officially end on the 28th. That, of course, does not mean that you can\u2019t bring diapers here or to the center. NBPRC is one of the missions we support on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n

We have recently had many deaths hit both our church fellowship and the Spencer community. Just this past Sunday I mentioned three which affected people from our church family and one from the Spencer community. That is not counting the three which were already on our prayer list! Jill McKay and her husband, Kevin, ran the McKay Family Pharmacy & McKay Family Gifts for years. Jill also booked trips to all sorts of venues and cities in the U.S. Last week Jill passed away unexpectedly. I have been asked to announce that about 20 teachers decided that a good expression of their sorrow, support, and remembrance would be to establish the Jill McKay Memorial Fund through the Owen County Community Foundation. If you would like to donate to her Memorial Fund, please contact the OCCF for further information.<\/p>\n

Each person who passes into eternity is special. Yesterday, Tuesday, I attended two funeral visitations of loved ones from our church family. Because we are so busy in our daily lives it is often easy to miss out on expressing our shared grief. I have been reading a lot of leadership books in order to be a better leader in 2025. The most recent one is a reread of one I read years ago. It is entitled The Way of the Shepherd by Dr. Kevin Leman and William Pentak. One of the very first items they emphasized was the importance of making each person feel important. They wrote about taking the time to know each person, to know what makes them \u201ctick.\u201d (my word). {Shameless promotion coming: I wrote a post about this on my LivingintheShadow\u00a0 blog: https:\/\/livingintheshadow.ovcf.org\/2025\/02\/17\/february-17-5\/}<\/a><\/strong> <\/span>I\u2019d like to encourage you to take the time to read it. In fact, I\u2019d like to invite to join me each day as I write a daily devotion. You can actually sign up to have it delivered to your inbox each day. {Yeah…told you shameless promotion} \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

My Wednesday Night Conversations class is cancelled for tonight, due to the weather (and no school). WNC will not meet next week (Feb. 26) because of the scheduled pitch-in.\ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

Lord willing, and the weather cooperates, we will be back to in person worship this coming Sunday. My sermon is Stop Your Griping and Complaining<\/strong> from Numbers 11-27. I have really appreciated hearing from some of you about the Scripture reading and using Everyday Gospel Devotional<\/em>. Never stop growing! I told Jo this past Sunday was harder on me than previous weeks. She asked if it was my knee and I said, \u201cNo.\u201d Then it dawned on her. \u201cYou didn\u2019t get to see people today, did you?\u201d BINGO!! I told her that I \u201cfeed\u201d off seeing people and interacting with them. She looked at me and said, \u201cOnly you\u201d while shaking her head. Do you think she was trying to say that I am a social creature and I love being an extrovert? \ud83d\ude00 You decide. Consider
\nyourself loved.<\/p>\n

Pastor Bill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #236 Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #236. I think the proper words for this past Sunday are \u201cWho\u2019da thunk it?\u201d or maybe more accurately, \u201cWho saw that coming?\u201d I went to bed knowing it was supposed to snow about 1\u20442\u201d and when I came to the office the roads were a … <\/p>\n

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