The elders held their monthly meeting on Wednesday morning, December 13. Todd Swift opened the meeting in prayer, giving thanks for our wonderful salvation through the message of the gospel, and for the privilege of partnering together in the ministry of reconciliation to God through Christ. Please pray with us, that with the help of the Holy Spirit, the truth of the gospe...

We forgive because God has first forgiven us. Similarly, we show kindness because God has first shown kindness to us. Being nice, being pleasant and agreeable with others is nice, but kindness, especially that which conforms to God's kindness, is much deeper. "Kindness" is a word that means to furnish what is suitable to a need. As James would instruct, don't just say be ...

The OBC Elders met for their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, September 19, 2023. Pastor Pat opened in prayer thanking the Lord for another year of gospel ministry and asking for wisdom and guidance for the leaders and helpers of those ministries. May we all be encouraged knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). After the opening prayer ...

In C.S. Lewis' novel, The Screwtape Letters, the devil Screwtape writes to his protg, Wormwood, explaining that though, "The horror of the Same Old Thing is one of the most valuable passions we have produced in the human heart" yet, God in his benevolence has, "balanced the love of change in them by a love of permanence. He has contrived to gratify both tastes together on ...

The elders of Omaha Bible Church met on Tuesday, April 18, for their monthly meeting. Pat Abendroth's opening prayer gave thanks for ministry opportunities, for those whom we partner with in ministry, and for the God-given fruit that has come from ministry.As the Apostle Paul writes by the Holy Spirit, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and ...

As God is love, and has loved us in Christ through the gospel, we are encouraged to love one another. Out of the plethora of scriptures that encourage us to do so, I would like to take a look at one in particular. The goal is that we grow in the way we consider others in the household of faith. The scripture I want to consider is 1 Peter 3:7. It is addressed to husbands, ...

1 Corinthians 11:2326 [23] For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, [24] and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." [25] In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in ...

The Elders of Omaha Bible Church met on Tuesday, February 15, for their monthly meeting. Todd Swift opened in prayer recognizing and giving thanks for Jesus Christ as head of the church. As head of the church Jesus gives life and sustains the church by his spirit. He also watches over and governs his church, and it is our prayer that as elders we humbly lead according to ...

The monthly meeting of the Elders of Omaha Bible Church was held in person, Tuesday night, August 17. It was a great encouragement to meet live, face-to-face, and not over Zoom. Pastor Pat opened in prayer, giving thanks for God's steadfast love and asking for wisdom for the pastors and elders to lead the body at OBC. As is our custom, we continued with our reading of th...

When we consider God's goodness to us in salvation, we rejoice in the obedience that our Savior Jesus Christ gave to God the Father on our behalf. First, by His obedience in suffering, even to the point of death on a cross, we have the forgiveness of our sin. Second, by His obedience to all God's law, the law's demand for a perfect righteousness has been satisfied, and...

Do you need help seeing how all of the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ? Do you ever struggle knowing how to pray? Are there times you just don't know what to do with your feelings? I know these are all true for me, and if they are true for you also, then I heartily recommend Psalms for You by Christopher Ash. Ash is a Writer-in-Residence at Tyndale House, Cambridge...

The elders met for their monthly meeting the morning of January 27, 2021. This is a little later than usual and afforded Pastor Pat the opportunity to attend the Ligonier Ministries' 2021 Winter Conference - Everyone's a Theologian. Of the several sessions given, Pat recommended the address, "Sin Is Cosmic Treason: Our Supreme Folly" with James Dolezal. Listening, you wil...

Zoom continued as the place of meeting for the elders, who held their monthly meeting at 6:30 a.m. on June 10, 2020. Todd Swift opened our time in prayer giving thanks for God's salvation and care, and asking for direction for the elders to shepherd the body at OBC. In this time of social distancing and social unrest, we are grateful and give praise to God that we have be...

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:45). Union with Christ is one of the great realities of salvation. Through faith in Jesus Christ, ...

I was first introduced to A. Craig Troxel at the 2020 Annual Conference at Westminster Seminary in California. Troxel is a former Orthodox Presbyterian pastor who now serves as Professor of Practical Theology at WSC. His conference address, "Sojourners East of Eden," displayed his pastoral heart as he spoke of "how our gratitude for redemption from sin's bondage ought t...

With the pastors and elders attending the Westminster Seminary California Annual Conference in mid-January, our monthly meeting was postponed until Wednesday, January 29, at 6:30 a.m. Pastor Pat began the meeting with prayer asking the Lord to help the leadership focus on those things which mattered, and that our labor would be carried out with gratitude and with care. W...

Each month the elders meet to encourage ourselves in doctrine and ministry, review the church's financial status and administrative matters, and discuss care for members of the church. This month we met on Tuesday, September 10. Pastor Pat opened in prayer thanking God for his grace and mercy and asking for wisdom for OBC ministries and for those who minister. We owe much...

Recently my son had an unscheduled request to come to his boss's office. He was working on a project that was encountering some challenges and his first thought was, 'what kind of talk is this going to be?' To both his surprise and relief, instead of being reprimanded he was rewarded for the hard work he was doing. We have all had those anxious occasions of not knowing ho...

A solar system in my coffee cup? Seriously? Pierce Taylor Hibbs, in his recent book, Finding God in the Ordinary, is indeed serious. While using very playful and multicolored language, Hibbs wants us to take time to seriously consider the attributes and nature of our triune God imprinted on the world. The very world he has spoken into being and maintains by the Word of ...

The Elders of Omaha Bible Church met on Tuesday evening September 11. Our meeting was opened in prayer and with thanksgiving for what the Lord is doing at OBC. Dallas Focht read and reviewed Chapter 20 in the London Baptist Confession of 1689 "Of the Gospel, and of the Extent of the Grace Thereof." While the LBC closely resembles the Westminster Confession, Chapter 20 is...

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." Psalm 42:5 The Bible says that in this world you will have trouble. Too often these troubles cause our hearts to be saddened and in turmoil. At the time David wrote Psalm 42, his trials had beaten him down. During his suffering, how...

Every believer has been summoned by the King and made a citizen of the kingdom of God through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, this world's realm is so clear and exists in such vividness that it seems like the greater reality, daily calling us to carry out its demands. The kingdom of God may appear to us in grays, as some distant realm,...

The elders met on Tuesday, February 13. Pat opened in prayer giving thanks for the abundance of God's goodness towards us both in creation and in our salvation in Christ Jesus. Each month we are both instructed and encouraged in reading a chapter of the London Baptist Confession of 1689. This month Dave Guthrie led us in reading Chapter 13: Sanctification. Knowing the se...

When you think, "God with us," do you also think, "God is for us?" A reflection on the one should lead to a reflection on the other. Consider the announcement in Matt. 1:23 to Joseph that the child being carried by Mary was the fulfillment of Scripture spoken by the prophet "'The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, Go...

Do not skip over this review just because the sub-title is "Teaching the Gospel to Kids." Show Them Jesus is a wonderful exposition on both the why and the how of connecting the good news of Jesus Christ to all of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments alike. Typical religion will say "live a good life and things will go well for you." Atypical, Christ-heralding rel...

The Elders at Omaha Bible Church met for their monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 11th. Pastor Pat opened the meeting in prayer giving thanks to God for His kindness and for His power that works for us. Petition was made for both the physical and spiritual health of the body, and it was asked that the remembrance of Christ's resurrection would bring encouragement to all in ...