Have you ever noticed how the Psalms are divided into five books? If you pull out a modern English translation of the Bible, nearly all of them place “Book 1” in front of Psalm 1. “Book 2” shows up in front of Psalm 42. “Book 3” precedes Psalm 73. While “Book 4” and “Book 5” stand at the top of Psalm 90 and Psalm 107, respectively.Why is that? The answer to that question relates to the order of th...  Read More

Finding Middle C(s): Another Step Toward LiturgyOn a piano, Middle C is the key that organizes all the others. For beginners, therefore, Middle C plays a critical role in locating all the other keys, notes, and scales.By comparison, when we look at our 5 C’s of liturgy (Call to Worship, Consecration, Counsel of God, Communion, and Commission), we discover that God’s Word is at the cent...  Read More

What Is Church For?What are we doing when we go to church?This is the question that has animated our current sermon series. In the first sermon, we answered the question by looking at where we are when we come to church. In the second sermon, we did the same by observing who was present at the hill of the Lord. But this week, as we take another step toward understanding the business of Sunday, we ...  Read More

This is a bulletin.When football legend Vince Lombardi arrived in Green Bay to coach the Packers, he started with a simple statement: “This is football.” For reasons that go beyond our interest today, we can appreciate Lombardi’s back-to-basics approach, and how it forged the foundation of a football dynasty that would lead to multiple champions and countless hall-of-famers. And all of this, becau...  Read More

The ordering of worship is known as liturgy, and for the next few weeks, our church is going to examine the Bible to see what it says about worship and how to order our services according to God’s revealed will.   Read More

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