A Day of Rememberence

Today's Memorial Day service included a reading of names of Mt. Olivet members from the past who served our country in the military. We thank them for their sacrifice so we can live in freedom today.

Homecoming 2011

We would like to thank everyone who attended the Homecoming service this Sunday. We especially want to thank Darrin and Daniel Howdyshell for sharing their music and Darrin for bringing the message.

Pastor's Penpoint - "Post Easter Living" - May 2011

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." - 2 Corinthians 4: 10-12

Certain events in our lives change everything. The birth of a child. A wedding. A national tragedy on the scale of 9-11. A near-death experience. Natural disasters and ongoing war. The death of a loved one. Can you imagine experiencing any of these circumstances and not being changed in the way you think, act and feel? No way!

I would add one more event to that list: Easter. The influence of Easter in the lives of those who follow Jesus is overwhelming. Since we just celebrated another Easter let me encourage you to reflect on just a few of the promised realities of Jesus' death and resurrection and how they might change us.

First, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is a profound demonstration of God's unconditional love for us. I believe that the most difficult part of being a Christian is daring to believe that God loves us as much as the cross of Christ says. How could your lives be different if we believed to the depths of our being that God loved us no matter what? How would it change the way we see ourselves? How might our relationships be different?

Second, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are living new lives in which the log book of our past sin has been wiped clean. Our lives are no longer defined by our failures but by Christ's life in us. How would our life be different if we refused to allow guilt and shame to ever sit in the driver's seat of our lives?

Third, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are no longer slaves to our sinful desires but are free to live by the Spirit. Scripture promises that Easter people are people who have within them the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life who promises to guide us into the ways of life and peace. How would we make daily decisions differently if you really believed that we were filled with the Holy Spirit?

Finally, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that we are living eternal life now. For followers of Jesus eternal life doesn't begin when we die; it begins the moment we are born again. How can we invest our time differently if we really believed that our life has eternal value and implications?

I hope your Easter celebration was joyous, but more importantly I pray that the power of Easter profoundly impacts the way that we live!

~ Pastor Todd

Homecoming Service

Mount Olivet's annual Homecoming Service is on May 1 at 10:00am with Darrin Howdyshell as our speaker. Please invite your friends and family to come and share in worship with you on this Sunday. A carry-in meal will follow the service.

National Conference Photo Contest

Mt. Olivet shutterbugs, here is your chance to enter the UB church's "Love God, Love Others Photo Contest."

Go to the National Conference website for details and the form to enter and submit your photos.

Pastor's Penpoint - "Are we April Fools?" - April 2011

"For the word of  the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."  1 Corinthians 1:18

I think spring and April Fool's Day are in cahoots! March came in like a lion, and was supposed to go out like a lamb. We had temperatures in the 70's and even one day over 80 degrees! The grass was greening, the buds emerged on trees and flowers unfolded from their long nap. It appeared new life was on the way - and we could put aside the dull dark and cold days of our winter.

Just when we thought we had it made ... it appeared we too had emerged and then, oh ... wait a second ... spring remembered April Fool's was coming and delivered us a sucker punch from behind. The temperatures dropped, the sky grew dark and once again cold and darkness clouded our vision of new life.

Isn't that true of this Lenten season that will lead us to the cross? Many were looking past the cross ... wanting to hurry this thing along and get to the new life promised in the discovery of the empty tomb. But the Christian life involves the reality of foolishness. Because to get to new life ... there has to first be death.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior walked this road. We have stopped short of His torture, struggle and sacrifice - but Christ bore it all. We have only to focus on Him, while he was focused on all of us. His hands were nailed, our hands are folded in prayer. His last words were forgiveness, our words need to be repentance. His lifeless body was removed from the cross, we are to remove ourselves from the sin that binds us. He was placed in a tomb, we are placed in a mindset of meditation and self examination. And that is where we are the April Fools.

We wait ... not patiently, but we wait for the news on Easter morning that the tomb is empty ... he is risen ... and our Lord is in motion. Our faith and forgiven souls join the excitement because that means we too will rise from death and be in motion!

Are we April Fools? God's strength as we await new life.

~Pastor Todd

Pastor's Penpoint - "Lent" - March 2011

"Whoever wishes to be my follower must deny his very self, take up his cross each day, and follow in my steps." Luke 9:23

Hard to believe, but the season of Lent is already upon us. It begins on Ash Wednesday, and carries through the 40 days until Easter morning. The time when we will run to the tomb ... or the church ... and hear the proclamation, "HE IS RISEN!"

But this season of Lent comes first. Many ask, "Why is it called Lent?" Lent's name comes from a Latin term which means "the forty days." These forty days, or Lent, are a time of self denial and reflection. A time to give up what stands between us and Jesus Christ, and reflect on the sacrifice He made on our behalf.


I know many who give up sweets, salt, soda or maybe even a meal a day. But this year, allow me to challenge you to give up something much more personal and sacrificial; our attitudes and thoughts. They typically are the biggest barrier to a growing relationship with Christ.


Here's a few ideas WHAT TO GIVE UP...


Give up complaining........focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism...........become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments...think kindly thoughts.
Give up worry................trust Divine Providence.
Give up  discouragement...be full of hope.
Give up bitterness...........turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred...............return good for evil.
Give up negativism..........be positive.
Give up anger................be more patient.
Give up pettiness............be more mature.
Give up gloom................enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy.............pray for trust.
Give up gossiping............control your tongue.
Give up sin....................turn to virtue.
Give up giving up............hang in there!


It won't be any easy road. Thank God we're all in this together and can lean on each other when the going gets tough. You see, God doesn't want our chocolate - he wants us. Let's remove all that stands between us and our Lord, deny ourselves, and follow Him.

God's strength to you this Lenten Season ~ Pastor Todd