The Cross and the Crowd: A Good Friday Meditation
by David Schrock on April 18th, 2025
“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”Matthew 25:46 A car accident. A football game. Black Friday at the mall. And the cross of Christ.What do these things have in common? For starters, each of these events draw a crowd.Indeed, since God commanded his image-bearers to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 9:1–7) and scattered the nations over the earth (Gen...  Read More
Holy Week at OBC
by Benjamin Purves on April 13th, 2025
Dear OBC Family,Today is Palm Sunday, and this marks the beginning of the events of Holy Week which will lead us to Resurrection Sunday.To help guide you through this week, we would like to share a Bible reading plan, a devotional series, and Spotify playlists for each day. Here is a Bible reading plan that can be a helpful guide to each day of Holy Week. In addition to that, here is a devotional ...  Read More
New Sunday School Series | Medieval Church History
by Benjamin Purves on April 12th, 2025
This Sunday we will begin this year’s church history Sunday School series, Medieval Church History: From Numidia to Byzantium. Our survey of church history will take us from the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, to the end of the Byzantine Empire as Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453. This Sunday we will begin with Augustine of Hippo, in the Roman province of Numidia.In the weeks ahea...  Read More
Getting Back Into Genesis: An Introduction to Patriarchs and Promises
by David Schrock on March 7th, 2025
This Sunday we return to the book of Genesis, and for the next few months we will be following the promises of God through the perils of the patriarchs.As we spent last year in Genesis 1–11, we learned that it is impossible to understand the work of God in his world without understanding the beginning. This includes creation (Genesis 1–2), fall (Genesis 3), and the pattern of salvation and judgmen...  Read More
Building up the Household
by David Schrock on January 31st, 2025
On Sunday, we take the next step in thinking about ordering our lives around the altar of God’s worship. Three weeks ago, we considered how the altar takes priority over the city in the life of the Christian. Last Sunday, we looked at the way our watches are set by that worship. And this Sunday, we will begin to think about our households.Indeed, when God made the world, he created the universe to...  Read More
On Earth, As It Is in Heaven: Making Plans That Please the Lord
by David Schrock on January 10th, 2025
Welcome to Quitter’s Day.Until this week, I didn’t even know that such a day existed. Sure, I was familiar with the fact that the gym seems a lot less crowded by the end of January. But I didn’t know that we coronated the breaking of New Year’s resolutions with an unofficial holiday. But some do, and today USA Today even ran a brief article on it.Apparently, the Second Friday of the new year is du...  Read More
5 x 52: A New Testament Bible Reading Plan for 2025
by David Schrock on January 2nd, 2025
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!— Psalm 119:103 —But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”— Matthew 4:4 —Did you know that there are 260 chapters in the New Testament? I am sure I had learned this number before, but I forgot about until the other day. Yet, with this numerological epi...  Read More
Christ is Lord
by David Schrock on November 1st, 2024
Dear OBC Family,Politics is downstream from culture. And culture is downstream from worship. And so, if we want to see any change in politics, or culture, it must begin in the church.Today, if there is any degradation in our politics (and who can deny that there is?), then it stems not from the culture by itself, but from churches who have failed to order themselves by God’s Word. And it also stem...  Read More
Learning to Guard and Contend
by David Schrock on September 6th, 2024
This summer, when the Southern Baptist Convention met in Indianapolis, Daily Wire reporter,  Megan Basham, spoke to a packed room of 1000 people. In her speech, which you can now find online, she revealed various ways that pastors, churches, and other ministries have been targeted by well-funded political activists.More recently, Megan’s book, Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the...  Read More
Seven Reasons to Study Church History
by Benjamin Purves on September 4th, 2024
Seven Reasons to Study Church HistoryThis Sunday we will begin a new Sunday School series that will follow the early centuries of church history from Jerusalem to Nicaea. We will begin with Pentecost and conclude with the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.Why should we study church history?1. Church history bears witness to the faithfulness of Christ. “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall...  Read More
This Summer at OBC
by Benjamin Purves on August 7th, 2024
Dear OBC Family,We are one week into August, and it’s an appropriate time to give an overview of what’s happening in church life this summer.Summer Sermon SeriesWhen summer arrives, it has become part of our annual rhythm at OBC to preach from Psalms or Proverbs. This year we decided to preach through the psalms of the Sons of Korah (Ps 42-49). This series of psalms begins with lament (Ps 42-44), ...  Read More
Upcoming Movie Night: Is Genesis History? Mountains After the Flood
by Benjamin Purves on May 8th, 2024
As we continue in our Genesis sermon series, we invite you to join us on Sunday, May 26 for an evening screening of Is Genesis History? Mountains After the Flood. The film screening will be held in the sanctuary, beginning at 6:00pm. Watch the Trailer Film Description“What if creation scientists suddenly discovered amazing new evidence supporting the events of Genesis? What if you could watch that...  Read More
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