The OOC

The children led worship on December 18 and decorated the Christmas trees in the sanctuary with hand-made ornaments. There was no sermon.

In lieu of a sermon on 12/11, the congregation had a time of sharing to remember the life of Anne Woodson, one of the founding members of Old Orchard Church, who passed away on December 10, 2011.

You can download the bulletin.

No sermon on October 23 as the church took time to hear from members of the congregation and allow them to share the events in their life that had spiritual meaning over the last several months.

You can download the bulletin or Tidbits.

No sermon on June 5 as the church took time to hear from members of the congregation and allow them to share the events in their life that had spiritual meaning over the last several months.

You can download the bulletin.

No sermon on March 13 as the church took time to hear from members of the congregation and allow them to share the events in their life that had spiritual meaning over the last several months. You can download the bulletin or Tidbits.

Zechariah 9
Jon Coody, seminary intern, preaching.

Due to a malfunction in the recording process, the sermon for this week was not recorded. You can read the bulletin or the Tidbits.

ByFaithOnline had a mention today of the joining service:

A Joining and Receiving in St. Louis
On Sunday, July 30, Olive Branch Presbyterian Church in urban St. Louis, Mo., joined and was received by South City Church (Mission) in a nearby area. South City was a daughter church of the Old Orchard Church. The Olive Branch church has been serving the city of St. Louis for 125 years and so brings its history and heritage to the new church plant as they both continue together to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in the city.

It was good to be there for the worship service and witness God’s work in the midst of both the church plant and the former Olive Branch fellowship. Keep praying for the gospel work there in south city.

Here’s a good article that suggests evangelicals are improving the image of Christianity (and in a way that I would imagine pleases God, I might add):

The majority of these centrists, like the traditionalists, oppose gay marriage and abortion on demand. The religious differences between the groups lies, according to Mr. Green, “in emphasis and tactics.” Centrist evangelicals are less likely to explicitly proselytize and to announce that non-Christians are going to hell. They’ve tried to bring greater racial diversity to their churches, believe in a broader role for women in society, and are more likely to view homosexual behavior as a discrete sin rather than to blame homosexuals as a class–for, say, terrorist attacks.

Amen. But the “centrist” label, like “moderate,” still connotes middle-of-the-roadness, fence-sitting and lack of commitment, and these evangelicals are not antithetical to “traditionalism” insofar as it seeks after the true origins of the faith. Can’t we think of something more accurate? How about “authentic evangelicals” or “faithful evangelicals? “Genuine” is perhaps most to the point but admittedly sounds a bit immodest.

We’re not the only ones podcasting worship sermons. (We’re on our third podcast of the new year, btw.)

Interesting article about The Simple Way and Shane Claiborne’s “Irresistable Revolution.” Anyone read or heard of this book/movement?