Written by cycleguy on January 16th, 2025
One of the most beloved OT characters is Joseph. His life challenges seem daunting, even to us in 2025. But the lessons we can learn! Oh WOW!!
The coach has reached the point of exasperation: “Losing five games in a row is bad enough. But what really frustrates me is that we keep making the same mistakes over and over. We just aren’t learning anything!” Been there done that! 🙂 I read of a man who had been at a company 25 years but was passed over for a promotion. When he went to see his boss he asked why after 25 years of experience he could be passed over. The boss looked at him and said, “You haven’t had 25 years of experience. You have had one year experience 25 times.”
The story of Joseph is a story of highs and lows, love and hate, conviction and punishment, forgotten but not alone, then rewarded far beyond his wildest dreams. All in God’s stunning plan. The lessons we can learn are unforgettable and monumental. In direct line of sight is God’s sovereign leading and ability to take ugly events and turn them into good.
I will be preaching on Joseph’s life this week (Genesis 38-Exodus 3) as we continue our study from the Everyday Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp. Starting with the foundation Jacob laid with making and showing Joseph as his favorite to Joseph’s death, it will be a fun and interesting ride. (Exodus 1-3 will introduce next week’s message). The second part of the message will see Joseph’s life like a play in 4 acts:
- Treachery (37:18-36
- Temptation (39:1-18)
- Disappointment (39:19-40:23
- Forgiveness or Bitterness? (41:1-45:15)
Please join us in person if you are able. I will see you at 9:00 and 10:45. If you can’t be here is person, you can watch our live stream. You can send a request to join our Facebook Group at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship or view our public page at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship-Spencer, In. Or you watch via YouTube at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship.
Here’s to hoping there is NO SNOW! 🙂
Posted in Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, Story | Comments Off on Burning Hearts – January 19
Written by cycleguy on January 9th, 2025
How many different ways can you cook (fill in the blank)? We recently had a chili cook-off to raise money for a mission trip to help hurricane victims. There were 13 different types of chili-from the sublime to the ridiculously hot. In all honesty, I chose to abstain except for the mac and cheese and cheesy potatoes. Forrest Gump used to say, “Life is like a box of chocolates.” Choices. Choices. and more choices.
The Scripture passage for this week’s message is from Genesis 16-34. That’s a long passage and it is filled with people making choices. Abram. Sarai (soon to be renamed Abraham and Sarah). Lot’s choice of Sodom and Gomorrah. His daughters’ decision to sleep with him. Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham being tested by sacrificing Isaac. Finding Rebekah for Isaac. Jacob and Esau’s whole wrangling. Jacob marrying Leah (not his choice) and Rachel (his choice). Jacob wrestling with God. Jacob meeting Esau. Whew! That makes me tired just thinking about all those choices. 🙂
So…where did I get the idea of Two Recipes? I decided to look at the Scripture in two ways: a recipe for disaster and a recipe for success. We all have choices. Some choices we make will be stupid and lead down the wrong path, maybe even to disaster. Can anyone say Abraham and Hagar and Ishmael? And the opposite is also true: some decisions we make will lead to success.
Providing the snow doesn’t visit us again (they are predicting a possible 4-5″ this weekend), I will see you at 9:00 and 10:45. If you can’t be here is person, you can watch our live stream. You can send a request to join our Facebook Group at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship or view our public page at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship-Spencer, In. Or you watch via YouTube at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship. Unless there is a weather event we will live stream both services.
Posted in Christian living, Church, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on Burning Hearts – January 12
Written by cycleguy on January 2nd, 2025
First Sunday of 2025. Predicted possible snow accumulation: 5-8″. Some say even more. Oh yay. (Notice the tongue-in-cheek)
My theme for the year is, as you can see, Burning Hearts. You can also see it is from Luke 24:32. For those who may not know, I decided to do something totally different this year. It is something I have NEVER done before. Using the Everyday Gospel Devotional  (EDG) by Paul David Tripp as a guide, I am planning to preach each week on the previous week’s reading. The people of OVCF and some friends have also made a commitment to work their way through the devotional as well as reading through the Bible through 2025. (As an aside: we ordered 135 books to distribute!). Reading the Bible is a daunting task. Many start out with the best of intentions, but soon schedules, boredom (the OT can do that in places), other interests, and life get in the way. Needless to say, I am hoping we can all stick with it. It will certainly make a big difference in our lives.
This Sunday is the start of it all. The January 1-4 reading of EDG involved reading Genesis 1-15. Creation. Adam & Eve. Cain and Abel. Noah and the flood. God’s covenant with Noah. The Tower of Babel. The call of Abram. God’s covenant with Abram. Lots of good stuff and that is not all of it! Due to the denseness of the happenings, I have chosen to hit the highlights. I’ve titled my sermon Just the Facts.
You may not be able to attend in person but you can join us via live stream. You can send a request to join our Facebook Group at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship or view our public page (Owen Valley Christian Fellowship-Spencer, In. Or you can join us on YouTube at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship. If you do join us please feel free to comment. If you can join us we normally meet at 9:00 and 10:45. That is, of course, weather permitting. Please check with us about this Sunday. I look forward to hearing from you!
Posted in Church, Sermon Series/Topic, Uncategorized | 2 Responses »
Written by cycleguy on May 23rd, 2024
I come to the end of the month where I have focused on women in the Bible. Today is about two women who were at different stages of their lives. One who is very old and childless. The other still seemingly relatively young and not focused on having a child at all. One we know quite a bit about; the other very little.
Sarah and Lydia. A patriarch’s wife. A seller of purple. The one (Sarah) would echo the Scripture found in Lamentations 3:22-23: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” In Ecclesiastes 3:112 it says, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” The other would say, “Tell me about the Savior.”
Both women have something to teach us. Sarah teaches us about hope. Lydia teaches us about hospitality. Both needed their hearts changed and put in tune with God’s heart and plan for their lives. Nothing is too small for God’s kingdom. No matter what you do. Evey little bit-fixing a meal, writing a note, teaching a class, greeting a new person, cleaning up after a pitch-n, opening your home for a meal, whatever you are doing-is never too small for God’s purpose.
Join me/us Sunday in person if you are able to. If not, join us online. I would love to hear from you.
Posted in Christian living, Friendship, hope, Hospitality, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #Hope#Hospitality
Written by cycleguy on May 9th, 2024
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! And that begs a question: “How is it that Pastor Bill is preaching on mothers and well…he is a not a mother?” That is a very fair question to ask. 🙂 The past several years I have taken the “easy” way out and had several women contribute to the service. I gave serious thought about doing that again this year but decided to give it a rest for a year.Â
Women, especially Christian women, are told to follow the examples of other women. For the Christian women they are encouraged to be like so and so (you fill in the blank) in the Bible. Or they are told to be like the Proverbs 31 woman. Talk about an impossible task! Yikes! Ask a woman who is her favorite woman in the Bible and you will hear Ruth or Sarah or Deborah or Esther or perhaps other well-known ones. This whole month I am preaching on different women in the Bible. Last week I preached on Rahab and the woman caught in adultery in John 8. I was surprised with the positive response from it. (And I’m still getting it).Â
This week, Mother’s Day, I decided to take one we often hear about (Ruth) and two who are mentioned often in the same breath (Mary & Martha). Simply put Ruth is a story of redemption and Mary and Martha (with special emphasis on Martha) is on being a servant. Not a slave but a servant. I look forward to sharing Mother’s Day with the ladies-and one in particular 🙂 – but also talking about how Ruth and Mary and Martha serve as examples for us. Please join us in person if possible. If not, I would love to welcome you to our live stream. If you do watch, I would love to read any feedback you may have. Our services are at 9:00 and 10:45 a.m.
Posted in Christian living, Family, Sermon Series/Topic, Story | Comments Off on #HardActstoFollow
Tags: Mother's Day
Written by cycleguy on May 6th, 2024
SOBER CYCLE REVIEW
First things first. I confess I have never had a drink of any type of alcohol. None. So it is a legitimate question for you to ask, “Why then are you reading this book and now doing a review of it?” Fair enough. That was the first question I asked myself when I read the original version. (This is a second edition of that book and I’ll mention at the end what is different). Here is my answer: As a pastor, even though I have never had any issue with alcohol (the first sentence tells you why), I know there are people in the churches I have pastored in the past and even now in this current one, who have had struggles with alcohol. The cold, hard truth that also comes into play is that there are other addictions besides alcohol-porn, tobacco, meth, cocaine, sex, lying, etc.- that are just as treacherous and just as gripping on a soul.
Sherry and I share a kinship-we both love cycling. That is what drew me to the first book to begin with. When I heard she was coming out with this second edition, I immediately pre-ordered it (then waited). I’m going to be honest…I have no clue if any of the print/story part of it is new. It has been a couple of years since I first read it. But that was a good thing. When I picked up this second edition it was like reading it for the first time and I HAD TROUBLE PUTTING IT DOWN…for the second time. I remembered how it started and obviously know how it ended, but all the material in between was like reading it for the first time. What I really appreciate about Sober Cycle is the brutal honesty and transparency Sherry showed. That shows the transformation which has taken place in her heart because she certainly had no transparency or honesty while in the throes of her alcoholism. From the people I have spoken with about their addiction that is a big part of it-hiding and lying.
Sherry is very upfront, not only about her struggle with alcoholism, but also how she finally broke that chain. She calls her ministry She Surrenders for a reason. It was the moment she surrendered her struggle to the Chainbreaker (Jesus) that she finally began to experience victory on a permanent basis. No more binging. No more alcohol-free day(s)/month(s) only to revert back to what she was.
I’m proud to know Sherry, even though we have never met face-to-face. My guess is if that ever happens there will be big smiles, lots of laughter, and maybe even a bike ride in the picture. I have given away a number of her books to alcoholics as well as their families. I don’t see that changing in the future. This will be my go-to book to encourage and help anyone I know who is struggling or loves someone who is. I recommend you buy a copy, read it, and then find someone to pass it on to, especially if they are a struggler with this, or any, addiction for that matter. Â
What’s new? There is a book club study guide to work through. There is a short Q & A section. But perhaps more importantly, there is a short blurb (page and a half) about Selah House Recovery, a place for women to go who need help recovering. I’m a firm believer that our experiences were never meant to be kept to ourselves. Selah House is Sherry’s effort to give back and help other women who are chained to this insidious monster.
Posted in Book Review, Compassion, Cycling, Faith, Family, Opinion, Second Chance, Story | 2 Responses »
Tags: Addiction, Alcoholism
Written by cycleguy on May 2nd, 2024
Have you ever wondered if you have gone too far? Even worse, have you ever wondered what you would ever do with the skeletons in your closet? Skeletons don’t have to be about immorality. While it is true that something “big” like an affair, addiction to pornography, an abortion, or addiction to drugs or alcohol get the headlines, there are other skeletons. Lying. Plagiarism. An issue with anger. An event from the past not involving immorality. But here is what is so important to hear and believe: no closet is covered so deeply that God’s grace can’t reach it and clean it out and rearrange it.
The two ladies in this week’s message have messy closets. One is a prostitute. One is caught in the act of adultery. The story of Rahab is found in Joshua 2 and 6 and Matthew 1. The story of the woman caught in the act of adultery is found in John 8. Both are discussed freely and fairly. From the Pit to a Future (Rahab). From the Pit to Forgiveness (John 8). Some might wonder why? Why in the world would you talk about these women? Simple. God’s grace run deep. It reached them and set them free and on the right path.
We all need that encouragement. We all need that reassurance. Please join us this Sunday in person at 9:00 and 10:45. If you unable to, please join us online. I look forward to hearing from you.
Posted in Christian living, Forgiveness, Freedom, Grace, Sermon Series/Topic, Story | Comments Off on #OutofthePit
Written by cycleguy on April 25th, 2024
Many people have a fear of something. Arachnophobia=fear of spiders. Aerophobia= fear of flying. Claustrophobia= fear of tight spaces. Acrophobia= fear of heights. Cynophobia= fear of dogs. Astraphobia= fear of thunder and lightning. Trypanophobia= fear of injections. And there might be one dreaded one I left out: Ophidiophobia= fear of snakes.
Most people dislike mice. Many freak out about spiders. I despise moles because of what they do to the yard (but I’m not afraid of them). However, bring snakes into the picture and for many people you would have thought the end of the world was happening. There are a lot of reasons people avoid snakes, but there is one we all either need to avoid or prepare for.
THAT snake is the topic of this week’s message I’ve entitled The Deceiver. I’m pretty sure most people have gotten rid of the notion that the devil is dressed in a red skin suit with a pitchfork in his hand and horns on his head. Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah14 tell us about his origin and his desire. He wants nothing more than to deceive the followers of Jesus. My sermon this week will be taking a deeper dive into who he is and his tactics so we might be better prepared for his schemes. One essential I will bring out is that Satan is willing to do a little bit of good to reap a lot of bad.
I invite you to join us this Sunday in person or via live stream. If you watch the live stream, please feel free to let us know you are there or even comment.
Posted in Doctrine, Satan, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on TheDeceiver
Written by cycleguy on April 11th, 2024
Who doesn’t remember the sibling arguments of “He started it!” “No I didn’t. He did!” “Nu-uh. He did!” Yours may have been somewhat different in words (that is if you had a sibling), but the idea is the same. Pointing the finger at who started it.
With Adam we can truly say, “He started it” because..well…he did. Go back to the garden in all its pristine beauty. All its harmony. Unblemished. Sort of hard isn’t it? We have no clue what that would be like since for over however-many-years we have had to deal with imperfection and disease and impurity because of sin. No longer is our “dream world” possible.
We often talk about the fall of Adam and the curse we all have as a result. But we also have a second Adam who took care of that curse by His death on the cross. We were made in the image of God but sin messed that up. Adam is still our father and all of us have been created in God’s image. We are not random particles. We were not and are not an obscure idea. We were not an afterthought. We are not an accident or a chance. Even before I was a glint in my parent’s eye, God knew me. He knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thanks to sin that is all messed up; thanks to the Savior a fix is available.
My sermon series is Yes, They are Real. I’m taking characters of the Bible for the next three months. This month I’m taking the foundation of it all-God, Adam, Eve, and the Deceiver. This week’s message is on Adam. Please feel free to join us in person or via live stream on either YouTube or our Facebook group (you have to ask to join). We will spend some time talking about Adam, but most of our time will spent with the second Adam. See you then!
Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Jesus, Miscellaneous, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #HeStartedIt!
Written by cycleguy on April 4th, 2024
How do one go about describing the indescribable? How does the finite describe the infinite? Better yet, where do you start? Over the next three months it is my hope and prayer to talk about people in the Bible who still influence us today. I’ve titled it Yes, They are Real. They cause us to reflect. They cause us to look inwardly at our motives and actions. But to begin the series, we have to start with the ONE who created it all and us.
That, of course, is God. He is our Source. He is our Foundation. He is our Beginning Point. All one needs to do is read Genesis 1:1 and that can be seen: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” My plan this Sunday is to start with a look at God. Certainly not exhaustive (how can it be?). From there it will be a progression. Adam. Eve. The Deceiver. All in April. In May I plan to spend time the whole month on women (after all Mother’s Day falls in May). In June I plan to spend time with different men (you guessed it…Father’s Day).
Anyway, this week’s message is trying to answer two questions:
- What do we need to know about the God of creation?
- What does creation reveal?
I hope you will join me either in person or online. We meet at 9:00 and 10:45 and our live stream is at that same time.
Posted in Doctrine, God, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | Comments Off on #CreatorofAll
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