If your week has been like mine, many of your plans were interrupted by last week’s storm and you’ve spent a fair amount of time shoveling. In Psalm 147:16-17, the psalmist writes “He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before this cold?” Weather events like this are humbling as we see the power of God and all plans are b...  Read More

Several of our members have been attending the Founders’ Conference in Cape Coral, FL this week and we invite you to watch the conference livestream here. The conference will end at noon on Saturday.In contrast to sunny Florida, our forecast at home in Virginia calls for significant snow beginning on Saturday evening and continuing through Sunday. The same Lord who calls us to assemble regularly t...  Read More

“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter” (Proverbs 24:11). This proverb is 3,000 years old, but it is a timely word for today.This Sunday is marked as Sanctity of Life Sunday as it is close to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. While we are thankful that this Supreme Court decision was overturned in 2022, it is a grievous reality that aborti...  Read More

Dear OBC Family,Grace restores nature.This is a simple principle that Christian theologians have employed throughout the history of the church. Along the way, some (mostly in the Roman Catholic Church) have misused these terms and argued for some type of super-added grace in the beginning with Adam. But on the whole, Christians have affirmed the goodness of creation (nature), the badness of sin (t...  Read More

The more things change, the more they stay the same. And as we begin the new year, with the promise (or threat) of ongoing changes in the world around us, it is good to remember one thing that remains the same: Jesus Christ is Lord and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him.In Matthew 28 we hear Jesus say to his disciples, “All authority in heaven and earth have been given to m...  Read More

The sands of time are winding down for 2025, and Sunday marks the last day we will gather for worship this year. That being the case, Sunday’s sermon will direct our attention to what we will be doing in the beginning of 2026.While January will include a sampling of different messages that touch on Christ’s Lordship, his designs for the family, the Word of God, and missions, February will begin a ...  Read More

Dear OBC Family,For the last few Sundays we have considered the birth of Moab and Ben-ammi, Isaac, and the sons of Nahor. In short, we’ve been watching the slow moving train of history some 1800 years before Christ. But this week we will hit warp speed to arrive at the birth of Christ.In Matthew 1, the tax collector turned evangelist begins with a list of 41–42 names depending on how you count. An...  Read More

Take a moment to read Genesis 22:20–24.Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 (Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bo...  Read More

Dear OBC Family,If you want to play a fun game — is game the right word? — with your children or friends, take time to read Genesis 22:1–19 verse by verse. In each verse, ask yourself a question: What does this passage say about Christ in type or shadow?In the Bible, types are historical persons, places, events, or institutions that point forward to Jesus Christ as the goal of God’s plan of salvat...  Read More

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse,  and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”Genesis 12:3In Genesis 21, we have three stories in one. Verses 1–7 tell the long-awaited birth story of Isaac, then verses 8–21 recount how Ishmael, the son of an Egyptian slave, is cast out because he laughed at Isaac, while verses 22–34 finish the chapter by desc...  Read More

Dear OBC,At the start of the Fall, we returned to Sunday School with a series on Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. This series spoke more to what we sing in our time together corporately as a congregation. And as we enter into the season of Advent, we will return to the theme of music, albeit through a different route. If the phrase "All of Christ for All of Life" is true, then that means everyt...  Read More

At the end of July, we finished our study of Genesis with an explosive look at Sodom and Gomorrah. If you recall, we looked at the wickedness of those cities and the Lord’s nuclear destruction of Sodom. If you don’t recall, or were not with us in July, we considered the archaeological discovery of the city and the presence of Trinitite (a glassy substance created by a nuclear blast) at the archaeo...  Read More