MIDWEEK MESSAGE #48<\/p>\n
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #48!\u00a0 It\u2019s a place where all your anticipation is satisfied and your longing for good meaty chit-chat is met. Aaaah yeah. I\u2019m guessing there will not be too many who would say reading this is the highlight of their week. But I\u2019m glad you took the time to drop by and take a few minutes out of your busy day to waste your time<\/span> enrich your life.<\/p>\n What an absolutely gorgeous week it has been so far! The weekend was fabulous and this week is starting out the same way. Not too many days from now we will celebrate my brother, Rob\u2019s, birthday. Oops, I mean the first day of Spring. Now you know why my mother named him Robin. Also, back then Robin was a boy\u2019s name. See\u2026you learned some bit of history because of this MM.<\/p>\n But there is something even more important coming up!\u00a0 This Sunday, the 14th<\/sup>, you need to make sure your clock is turned ahead. Remember Spring forward\/Fall back. I suspect there will be a lot of bleary-eyed people walking around on Sunday. They will either be trying to figure out where to find that lost hour of sleep or wondering why in the world they are late to everything. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42\u00a0 Me? I go to bed early enough so that even if I lose that hour I still get the same amount of sleep I normally do. (No laughing or rolling of the eyes allowed).<\/p>\n I want to keep you informed about our Resurrection Sunday worship services. As I mentioned in last week\u2019s MM, we will not be using Abram Farm so we can have one service. While Bill & Suzie have given us an open invitation-providing it is not in use- we feel it is wiser to stick with the two services here. I could spin your head with all the logistics and \u201choops\u201d we have to go through to make a service at Abram Farm happen, but I won\u2019t. Some of you may be wondering about space. We will, obviously, keep an ear to what Governor Holcomb says, but even then we are still going to play it safe. Adding chairs is an option but it will done wisely. The first service will have the advantage of the youth room as an overflow. We can live stream it to the TV there so if you want to be here, but are hesitant about the \u201ccrowdedness\u201d of the auditorium, that will be a definite option. Unfortunately, that will not be an option during the second service due to the children\u2019s programs taking place. I think the best thing to say is to keep your ears open for information we will pass along as we get closer. If you have any questions please feel free to call the church office (812-828-9840).<\/p>\n It has been several MMs since I mentioned to you that the elders (Wayne Akerson, Jeff Carlson, David Robertson), as well as Ryan and I, have committed to praying for each family of OVCF. We each pray for a specific group (usually about 19 people\/families) and then switch the next month. I really appreciate the men making this commitment and I sincerely hope you can sense their prayers for you.<\/p>\n This Sunday is the start of a series I will be preaching on the Cross. It culminates in a sermon about the Resurrection.\u00a0 Some of you grew up in church traditions which observed Lent. Lent is the period of 40 days which begins on Ash Wednesday (February 17th<\/sup> this year) and ends on Resurrection Sunday. While I am not observing Lent by giving up something (as many do), I am trying to focus on the cross and its purpose and fulfillment. One of the surprising emotions it has elicited out of me has been thankfulness. In a recent blog post, I referenced the song Once Again<\/em> by Matt Redman. It has a chorus of \u201cThank you for the cross\/Thank you for the cross\/Thank you for the cross my Friend\u2026\u201d I got to thinking: the cross was a symbol of ugliness and hatred. How can I be thankful for it? My conclusion: I am thankful for the cross because of what it means, what it accomplished. I could go all \u201cpreacher mode\u201d on you but I won\u2019t. \ud83d\ude42 I\u2019ll just invite you to listen in person or online to the upcoming sermons to figure out the answer to the question of how can I be thankful for the cross?<\/p>\n Speaking of online, thanks to those watching and \u201csigning in\u201d to let us know you are watching. We have now begun to include an estimate of those watching in our weekly bulletin. I\u2019m excited many of you are watching (even though I miss seeing you). One more thing: don\u2019t forget to invite others to watch it as well. I\u2019m hoping and praying we will see people come to know Jesus because of our efforts. One person makes the effort worthwhile.<\/p>\n Thanks for your time reading this MM. I love you all and pray this Easter season will be a very special one for you in many ways.<\/p>\n Pastor Bill<\/p>\n And here is something to put in the \u201cyippee\u201d or \u201cwho cares\u201d department (depending on your perspective). Jo and I are scheduled to get our first vaccine on the 16th<\/sup>. We aren\u2019t special; we are just old. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MIDWEEK MESSAGE #48 Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #48!\u00a0 It\u2019s a place where all your anticipation is satisfied and your longing for good meaty chit-chat is met. Aaaah yeah. I\u2019m guessing there will not be too many who would say reading this is the highlight of their week. But I\u2019m glad you took the … <\/p>\n