The Elders of Omaha Bible Church met on Tuesday, June 13 for their monthly meeting. Pastor Pat opened the meeting in prayer and then Mike Grimes led us through the reading and discussion of Chapter 5 of the London Baptist Confession of 1689 on the topic of Divine Providence.

The first paragraph of the Confession makes clear that “God, the good creator of all things, in His infinite power and wisdom does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things, . . . to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and mercy.” The Confession goes on to acknowledge God as the ultimate first cause of all things that come to pass, yet “God in his ordinary providence makes use of means” in this world to accomplish His purposes at His pleasure.

As children of God, we are privileged to be in the everlasting arms of such a sovereign, merciful and loving God.

Frank Barber presented the attendance report for the month of May. We had an average attendance of 348, which is down from 366 the previous month. Mike Holloway presented the financial report, which showed that our income for the month of May totaled $169,726 compared to a budgeted income of $53,082, which is a wonderful blessing from the Lord.

Expenses totaled $46,297 compared to a budget of $52,115. It is fantastic to see the magnificent way our Lord provides for his church each month through his people. We are so very thankful for the financial support provided by the people of OBC. We continue to be amazed and praise God for it.

After this, we briefly discussed membership and noted that Kaylin Peterson has withdrawn her membership at OBC. She leaves us as a member in good standing and with our best wishes for growth in the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord at the new church she plans to attend.

For those who would like to consider formally joining Omaha Bible Church, there will be a new Getting Started class beginning on September 10 at 9 a.m., taught by Pastor Pat.

Also at this meeting, we interviewed three individuals and approved them for greater responsibility on our church security team. We also discussed the ongoing roof project and decided to move ahead with bids to repair our sidewalks. We also discussed several potential Men's Retreat locations in early 2018.

We concluded the meeting with prayer and are scheduled to meet again on the morning of July 12.