Jonah helps us pray for Palestine and Israel Many of you are aware of the escalating war between Israel and Hamas,  a Palestinian political and military group.  Many of you may also be aware that many American Evangelicals believe the unequivocal support for Israel is a Christian duty.   They get angry when you express…

  Jonah as a parable to make sense of life It is most likely that the book of Jonah was written down after Israel had come back from exile in Assyria and was trying to piece together how they ended up as a tiny poor nation with a sub-par temple and a God that had…

  n this TOGETHER… When Pastor Nancy was here a few weeks ago, she reminded of the verse in Revelation 7:9, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” They were…

  Last Sunday was the first launch of Sunday School. Dina Hokanson has agreed to lead our high school class, which is actually a sizable group this year. There were 7 teens in the class last Sunday. New to the group is Beatrice Kashindi (16) who arrived from Tanzania within the past six months. Dina,…

  Be perfect as God is perfect: clarifying a misconception As I was preparing for my last sermon a couple weeks ago, it led me to Jesus’ preaching from “the mount” and to a somewhat well known passage: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in Heaven is perfect. – Matthew 5:48…

  I have to confess that sometimes it is easy for me (Pastor Nick) to look past the single impact as I try to help strategize ways to make our church more sustainably impactful. But that is a mistake, and probably a little bit of a sin of pride.  Pastor Karen encouraged me the other…

  What an incredible day we had on Sunday! We celebrate with Kennedy Juma, Msebengi Bilanga, Ana Asani, Alembe Samsoni and Wakati Asani! Congratulations on your Baptism!! Praise GOD!! What a joyous day! This, my brothers and sisters, is what Jesus told us to do: “Go and make disciples and baptize them in the name…

Greetings from my (Pastor Karen’s) parents’ house on Cape Cod! Don’t worry! We don’t go to the beach where the sharks are! I thought you might enjoy another tidbit from the Global Leadership Conference… Have you ever heard of a “Growth Mindset”? This is not about numbers, it’s about learning. I actually think that OCC members…

Check out this info that will help you level up your connections with people, (and possibly your opportunities to share God’s love), from a summary of last year’s Global Leadership Summit: Vanessa Van Edwards, a best-selling author on behavioral research, offered some great tips on “leveling up” with people and creating a stronger connection which…

We are at the end of July,  and as the heat bears down,  you might start dreaming of fall weather. Which means it is a good time to start dreaming about who might start attending Orchard Covenant this fall as well! Most of you know the acronym, BLESS for evangelism,  but if you don’t, right now I just…