Well, hello and welcome to Ontario Community Church's Sermon Podcast.
! Today you're going to hear highlights from our 80th anniversary, stories of God's faithfulness,
! a vision for the next generation, and a short word pointing us to the hope in Christ. Let
us start where God began this work among us.
All right, turn the cats, turn the cats, we've got to stay on time here. I know, it's so nice
to see everybody. You can chat downstairs. Okay, there's a couple of announcements that
I wanted to make prior to the rest of our service. This day has been in the planning for months,
and there's just some people that I wanted to thank. This was definitely a team and a
group effort. So, Nora, Nora, where's Nora, and Diana Yano, and myself, we kind of were
the, we were the volunteered group to lead up the celebration, but there were so many
people that had their hands in today's work. So, I just want to draw their attention. Just
special thanks to Amber Daly, Chris Van Liff, Lita Gressley, Benny Carter, Jose and Liliana
Delgado, Mark Iceri, Katie and Hadley Grover, and Kathy Ida for all of the help in setting up,
and wait until you go downstairs if you haven't. It is beautiful. So, thanks to all those folks
who really had a part in making the celebration just truly what it is today. And for all of our
staff, thank you. Let's give a round of applause. So, I'm looking outside, and Bill, is it, did it
stop raining? Okay, so the plan is right after service, we are going to go outside and take
our photo. So, I'm here in front of the church. And so, we'll do that quickly, and then we'll
come back inside, and we'll have our lunch program. So, hopefully the rain will keep away, and we'll
be able to get the photo. We'll also say grace before we leave this sanctuary, so we can go
ahead and get in line and start the meal downstairs. And again, we just want to thank you all for
coming. So, now we're going to just really kind of calm our hearts and our minds, and gather
our thoughts, and come together in some prayer. Just a nice time for us to reflect. So, if you
could all join me in bowing your heads. Dear Lord, thank you for this day and the opportunity
to gather at this place of worship to enjoy fellowship and praise for our life eternal.
We are here today to celebrate a huge milestone for our church, acknowledging and praising you
for 80 years of blessings. Our church footprint, its congregation, identity, and mission has
evolved and changed over time. Today, Ontario Community Church is a growing fellowship of
believers, friends, and families who represent our diverse community and who honor and praise
our Lord and Savior. We've come a long way, and our rich history and past continues to mold
and shape our future. We honor and recognize all our past ministers, board members, volunteers,
staff, and friends who have considered this special place and call it their home. From our first
church bazaar to all the countless gatherings and events, happy and sad, this place, our church,
has been an important piece of the fabric of our community. We lift up all praises for God for this
special day. Father, please continue to watch over our community, those who are struggling with
medical, mental, and financial needs. Bestow wisdom, character, and compassion on our local and national
leaders. Bestow serving in our armed forces, our first responders, and all those who work in our hospitals
and medical facilities, and all those who take care of our underserved populations.
Thank you for watching over Ontario community, our church family, Pastor Patrick, Amber, and their family, our board, staff, and volunteers. Be with those who couldn't be with us here today. Heal those who are sick and hurt, and those in need of encouragement, strength, and faithfulness.
Please help us to remain faithful and hopeful in a world full of difficulty and challenge.
Thank you for bringing us here today. Let us honor, celebrate, and give thanks for Ontario Community Church and 80 years of blessings.
We ask all this in the name of our Lord, who taught us to pray and sing. Our Father.
Lord, Lord, and heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy glory be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and give us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
and lead us now into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory of your forever.
Amen.
Thank you.
And now I'd like to call on our board chair, Craig Yano.
And as he is coming forward,
you know, many of you,
you all know who's on the board.
I'd like all the board members to please stand.
Board members.
Thank you.
I'm Cicero,
Ralf Kro,
Patty Faw,
Kathy,
myself,
and Aaron Reins,
who's not here.
So, thank you, Kathy.
Well, good morning, everyone.
Thank you for joining us today.
What a joy and blessing it is
to be standing here before you
to celebrate the 80th anniversary of our church.
and I have to warn you,
I'm not a public speaker.
I'm a farmer.
I spend more time with my dog than people.
And then they said,
you got 10 minutes to cover 80 years.
So, here we go.
I'd like to thank Kathy for,
for,
she was kind of the front person
in organizing a lot of the celebrations.
She did a lot of work
and she's a great facilitator.
So,
I think she deserves a round of applause.
Before we get going,
I'd like to introduce a few more people.
I'd like to introduce our paid staff
on our church,
at our church here.
and it's headed by Pastor Patrick Daly,
if you can mind standing.
And his wife,
Amber Daly,
who is head of our
chair of the ministry.
Also,
Nora Dean.
She don't call her.
She is fast.
Nora Dean is our
church secretary
and she makes sure
that the church is running well.
So,
thank you.
And,
in addition,
even in this little church,
it takes a ton of volunteers
to run this church.
And,
there are just way too many
for me to mention.
I just want you to know
that you're greatly appreciated
everything you do
for this church.
Whether it's
taking care of the audio video
or doing the worship music
or taking care of the,
the events downstairs
or Sunday school.
There's just
volunteers everywhere
and that's the only way
that this church can function.
And,
I know that the board
and,
and I do,
I,
I greatly appreciate
the work that you put in.
So,
thank you.
Yay.
Also in attendance today
is,
um,
our former pastor,
Tom Greco
and his wife,
uh,
Gid.
Would you please stand?
Thank you.
Pastor Tom and Gail
put their retirement
on hold
in order to serve
as our 14th
pastor in the church.
He provided,
uh,
critical leadership,
uh,
during the pandemic.
And,
I know that it was all
part of God's plan
for bringing him here.
Uh,
thank you for your
attendance today.
Thank you for your
selflessness
and your,
uh,
faithful service.
Thank you.
Um,
over the course
of 80 years,
um,
we've had
15 pastors.
Each of these pastors
have brought their own
gifts,
um,
their own vision,
their own love
for the congregation.
And we're grateful
for each of them
for their leadership,
um,
their faithfulness,
and their legacy
they left in our hearts
and in our church.
The last group
that I'd like to
recognize,
um,
is there,
there are a few,
uh,
Nisei generation,
uh,
Japanese Americans
here.
Nisei means
second generation.
So,
they are the,
um,
second generation
Japanese Americans
and between them
and the Nisei,
they were the first
generation.
They were the foundation
of our church.
And there's a few
of you here
and if you wouldn't
mind standing for me,
uh,
my aunt,
T.I.
Kido.
Um,
I see George
and Dorothy Ita.
Margaret Morita.
And David Sherry
and I.
Junior Asinda.
You might stand
for your best
thanks to me.
Thank you all
for your time
and talents
and support
of this church
over the years.
You've made
that church meaningful
and what it is today.
We'll be playing,
we'll be playing
a video shortly
with many pictures
and,
um,
of the past
and present,
but I'd like
to go over
a few milestones
in history.
We were established
in,
on Easter Sunday,
April 1st,
1945,
as Boise Valley
Community Methodist
Church.
At the end
of the Second World War,
Japanese Americans
were released
from internment camps
and many of them
settled in the valley
here to,
um,
work in the fields.
Among them
were our founding members
who had the foresight,
the faith,
and the fortitude
to plant the seeds
of this church.
We were one of the main
Japanese American
Christian churches
in the valley.
In 1946,
construction started
on this church
with a dedication
a year later
in 1947.
And parts of the
original church
are still here,
including this
beautiful stained
glass window.
A parsonage
was built
a year later
adjacent to the church.
And,
um,
the cost
for both of those
was $33,706.
About $400,000
in today's dollars.
And to help
pay for that mortgage,
the church
established
what they call
the Lord's Acres.
and,
um,
this was a local
field of sugar beets.
And,
it was tended to,
uh,
church,
it was tended to
by church members
growing for the church.
Um,
many of the inputs
were all,
um,
were donated.
And that,
that went on
for two years
and that,
um,
project netted
$4,728.49.
That's how precise
they were.
And that helped
them pay
them more
to drop
than four years.
in 1947,
as Kathy,
remember,
mentioned,
we,
we held
our first,
um,
bazaar
and,
um,
and we still
hold it today.
To the best
of my knowledge,
it's been held
every year
with the exception
of 2020
and 2021
during the pandemic.
In addition
to fundraising,
um,
we are using
this event
to reach out
to our community
and share
God's love.
Approximately
20%
of the proceeds
are donated
back into
our local
community
for local
missions.
In 1966,
the church
went through
a remodel
and the changes
reflected the
generational growth
of our congregation,
mainly the third
generation,
the Sanse.
They added space
for classrooms,
for worship,
and for fellowship.
It was completed
a year later
at a cost
of about $80,000
and that debt
was paid
by the end
of 1969,
three years
ahead of the plan.
The next 44 years,
we were faithful
and supportive
members of the
Methodist denomination,
but in 2010,
we took a significant
step of faith
by choosing
to separate from them.
this was by far
one of the most
difficult decisions
I've been a part of.
Our primary goal
was to preserve
the unity
of our congregation.
And amongst the board
and the congregation,
there was much
prayer and discernment,
but we decided
to separate ties.
And when that happened,
the Methodist
denomination
wanted all of our
assets,
and we said no,
and they didn't
like that.
And so they sued us.
And after a brief
legal vow,
we were required
to buy back
our church.
And the total
due was $358,000,
of which the church
had $205,000.
And we needed
$150,000
in six weeks.
And we were able
to raise that
with God's help.
And we were able
to buy back
our church.
And since then,
we've been
a non-denominational
church.
In 2014,
we remodeled
once again.
And this time,
the major change
was adding
the elevator
and handicapped
restrooms.
and the church
was built on
the church.
And I know
that sounds
small to some,
but we were
committed to
providing a place
of worship
that was accessible
to all.
The original church
was built on three
levels with no
wheelchair access.
And the capital
fundraising campaign
was started in
2014,
construction started
in 2015,
2015,
and the project
was completed
and dedicated
in February
of 2016.
Total project
cost was $797,000
and was completely
paid for
by 2017.
I highlight
these events
just to show
the resilience
and faithfulness
of past
and present
church members.
But mostly,
they are examples
of God's
never-ending
and everlasting
love.
Through every
hardship of time
and uncertainty,
or time of
uncertainty,
God has
always provided
for us.
And today,
as we look back,
we honor the
elders who came
before us.
We remember
their sacrifices,
their sadcastness,
and their
unwavering belief
that God was
with them,
even in the
most difficult
times.
80 years ago,
we started out
as a church
of singular
ethnicity,
and today,
we represent
many.
Another sign
of God's
wonderful plan.
God's
love.
And I saw
a quote in
some of the
documents of
a church leader
way back in
the 1940s,
and it simply
read,
the future of
the church is
not easy to
predict.
And that simple
statement still
holds true today,
especially as we
look forward,
knowing the many
challenges that
we face in our
modern times.
God has been
with this church
from the beginning,
and I'm positive
he'll be with us
in the future.
On a personal
note, in
preparing for
this day,
I looked over
many documents
and photos,
and it became
evident very
quickly that
through this
church, God
has touched
the lives of
many people.
There are
hundreds and
hundreds of
people who
have served
this church
or been
served by
this church.
It's
overwhelming
when you
think about
it.
More importantly,
God has
provided 80
years of
blessings,
his steadfast
love is
overwhelming,
and I know
the story of
this church
is still being
written,
and I'm
truly honored
to be a
small part of
it.
Thank you for
attending today.
I hope you
enjoy the rest
of our
celebrations.
Thank you.
Wow.
That was
amazing.
Looking back
at all those
pictures,
truly 80
years of
blessings.
amazing.
I just
wanted to
shout out
to,
special
thanks to
Diana and
Craig and
Pastor for
helping put
together that
amazing video.
Imagine all
the pictures and
all the videos
that went into
trying to put
that all and
condensing it
together.
Thank you so
much.
What a beautiful
reflection.
thank you.
Chris Van
Leap put
together some
of our old
photo albums and
some different
things from our
past, and it's
right down as
you go down to
the steps.
So please,
I already checked
it out and looked
at some of the,
gosh, when I was
in middle school and
high school, and we
had church
conferences, and so
lots of great
memories.
So please, Chris,
thanks for doing
that.
So please go down
and look at all
of those photo
albums and some
of our memories.
The sun is
shining.
Praise God.
And so when we
finish the
conclusion of the
service, we are
going to go outside
and take our
photo.
Also just a short
reminder that we
have a freewill
offering box just
right as you are
going through the
meal.
So if you want
to donate and
help us with the
meal today, that
would be
much appreciated.
And now I'm
going to turn the
time over to
Pastor Patrick,
and we'll start
with Amber.
All right.
So churches, we
celebrate 80 years
of faithfulness.
I'm excited to
share what God is
calling us in our
families and
children's ministry.
And I say for the
next 20 years,
because this church
will be here for
its 100th celebration
in just 20 years.
So we're just,
we're dreaming and
calling on God and
asking him to just
prepare our hearts.
And as Craig had
noted, we don't know
what the future does
look like.
We don't know.
But we can faithfully
pray and see what is
going on in our
community and who the
people are in our
community, who the
children and the next
generation of people
are and what they
need.
And so with that, a
vision for our family
and children's
ministry is to have a
generation rooted in
Christ.
We envision children
growing up to know
Jesus, not just on
Sundays, but at home,
at schools, and in
their neighborhoods.
And our goal is that
every child at OCC has
a personal connection
with one of you in
this service.
And that is going to
be so important to
passing on our past,
our present, and
building for our
future.
In today's world,
sometimes people turn
a blind eye to things.
They don't know the
past.
So I think it's been
beautiful to learn the
history of this church
and to learn where we've
come from so that we
don't make mistakes that
have happened.
Sometimes we are.
We're going to have
that happen as well,
but we can pull upon
the wisdom and
knowledge of those
before us.
So we would really
like to see that as
something going forward,
a part of the
children's and families
ministry is to connect
one child with one
person in the church.
And you guys can write
letters.
You guys can share
stories.
I know Miss Mary,
she's always there with
my kiddos, and my
kids just love that.
They talk about Miss
Mary.
Playing marbles all the
time, and that
connection that they
have with another
person in a completely
different generation.
And I think of all the
wisdom she will pour
into my kids throughout
their lifetime.
So just keep thinking
about that.
Maybe there's a kid in
our church right now
that you just connect
with for some reason.
They remind you of you,
or they're so opposite of
you that you're intrigued,
and you just want to
share a story with them.
You bring a coloring page
or something, you know?
Just having that personal
connection with the
children of our church,
because our children are
going to need that
building block.
Many of you sitting here
were children in this
church.
And that's a beautiful
thing that you guys were
raised up in such a way
that built what we have
today.
And our second piece of it
is that multi-generational
discipleship.
So families are important
to discipleship.
Families are critical.
And today we don't see
many complete families,
and that's okay.
We would love for there
to be complete families,
but we have to go with
what we have to give them,
the tools and the skills.
So we do that by partnering
with Building Healthy
Families.
We have dad cafes and,
excuse me, parent cafes.
And we do, now we're going
to be doing our second
annual Strengthening
Families class.
And this gives parents
practical tools.
It gives the kids
practical tools of how to
live with each other.
Don't you wish you had
like a playbook to how to
talk to your mom or your
dad when you were little?
And so it's just creating
this relationship.
So we really are leaning
into that ministry.
That we're able to partner
with them and just be that
presence.
It's held here in our church.
And while it's not a
Christian program, we get
to pour into them and pour
our stories and our wisdom
into them.
And so I think it's just a
wonderful thing that we are
doing and we'd like to
continue doing.
We want to connect
grandparents, parents, and
children, as I noted.
number three, a place where
every child belongs.
And this is something that
in the last year has really
been on my heart.
Seeing children walk into
our church that have needs.
They have a special way they
like to learn.
They have special interests.
And so we really are, we're
working on creating sensory
spaces for them.
Our partner, Building Healthy
Families, gave us a kit to help
kids with sensory processing
things and just helping them.
So we really want to be a
place where people are
welcomed, our children are
welcomed, and they are loved.
And they know that they're
loved.
That's so important to us.
Give them the tools that they
need.
For preparing the next
generation, we are not just
raising children to attend
church.
We're raising children who
have a heart for Jesus.
Who they want to help their
community.
I look out and I see critical
people in our community.
Whether that be at the
community college.
Whether that be at the
cultural center.
May that be in the chamber of
commerce for Fruitland or
Ontario.
There are movers and shakers in
our congregation.
And that is one piece.
If you can just give them that
wisdom and that heart for
serving their community, it
will make such a big
difference.
And so we pray for the
children and families that
come into our church.
We want to have a mentorship
program.
And Lord willing, we're able
to connect in the schools, get
some youth programs going.
For some of them right now,
we've got a slew of littles.
And that's okay.
But we want to connect with
our youth as well.
As we go to the next
generation of godly leaders.
And I just want to invite you
guys to participate.
I know it can be scary with a
bunch of little toddlers
crawling and hugging you and
holding on you.
And they just want to love on
you.
But they just have the
sweetest hearts.
And they want to know and
love Jesus.
They talk about Jesus all the
time.
And it's such a beautiful
thing.
And I know that will touch
your heart.
If you just step in,
teaching or mentoring, or
maybe you can't lift up.
And that's okay.
We can, you know, maybe you
can pray the snacks.
Or you can make copies for
the kids.
Or, you know, different
things.
Coloring books.
You can think of a craft and
come and talk to me and we
can get that going for them.
But I really want you guys to
think about how you can
connect with our children and
our families and our church.
church.
It's important.
And it is the future.
It is the future of the
church.
But you guys are building into
that future.
So, as the next 20 years of
our family and children's
ministry is growing, we know
that Jesus will work in their
lives faithfully.
And that Jesus will enact in
them this heart to serve.
So, we are committed to that.
And church, I'd love for you
guys to join in that mission
with us.
To serve our children.
Thank you.
Is my microphone on?
All right.
Well, we're going to go over the
book of Ezekiel real quick.
You didn't get the jump in,
right?
No, I've got only a few minutes
here to just kind of go over.
You know, God has worked in this
place in such great capacities.
God has, the spirit of God has
been moving in so many people's
lives throughout 80 years.
It seems like it's such a long time, but
at the same time, it's such a short
amount of time that has gone by.
It's kind of like, where did all the
time go?
And there's a famous saying that goes, time
flies when you're having fun.
And there's a lot of truth in that.
I want to, I put further 80 years of God's
faithfulness, which is very connected to
blessings that we have received from the
Lord, that God has been with us, with this
congregation, with this community all along.
It hasn't been the perfect ride, but it's
been a ride nonetheless, because God is
with us in every season of our life.
The good, the bad, and even the ugly.
Amen?
Amen.
So I want to, I only have a few minutes
here, so I'm just going to go through
this.
Let's go to that next slide here.
When we look at 2025, we've had four
baptisms and 13 child dedications, and we
praise God for that.
There are going to be, at least last time
I checked, there's going to be four more,
four or five more children that will be
dedicated to the Lord.
And that's going to show you, as Amber was
talking about the future of this church
body, the future of Christianity, we have
to double down on raising the next
generation of children who know the Lord,
who are strong in their faith, but also
deal in love with others.
So this is a praise, my friends, just
kind of seeing what has been going on in
this place.
Let's go ahead and go to the next slide
then.
Our attendance has an average of 62, with
the peak so far of 102, but I think we
broke that record in celebration.
Amen?
So that's been great.
And one other thing that I think has been
really profound, it's been incredible to
see is that we have been posting our online,
we don't post our online services per se,
but we've been posting our online sermons.
And it's been incredible.
Oh, looks like someone's locked out.
We opened the door.
Someone's locked out.
So, as we have been posting our online
sermons, we have been, by the grace of
God, given this opportunity to go onto
TikTok.
And just to encourage you, over the last,
in the month of August, we had reached
almost 5,000 people.
That's about 1,000 people that we are
reaching.
People that are just scrolling aimlessly
on their phones.
Maybe they might have the seed of God's
word planted into their hearts.
We've had people, sometimes you get
trolls, sometimes you get people who are
really strange, but that's okay.
We want them to come to know Jesus too,
amen?
There have been a lot of people from
different areas, from Virginia.
We've had people from around the world
who are tuning in, showing the profound
impact of what our church is having,
not only in this place, in this town,
in this community, but also a much
greater reach.
And so that's really encouraging when
we're thinking of the next generation
for Christ.
Statistically speaking, who we are
reaching online is under 40.
Over, I think it's over 60%, Amber,
is under 40.
So it's that demographic of people,
of young people, who need to come to
know the Lord.
So that's another praise here.
And here, Amber kind of touched on
this.
We've been serving families and the
communities by partnering with other
organizations, other nonprofit organizations,
and just being present, right?
It's so important for us as Christians,
for us to come to know Jesus Christ,
for us to grow in our faith and our
understanding of God and his word,
but also to be salt and light for the
world.
And what that looks like can be serving
in the local church, but also serving
in the community.
As Amber was saying, we have these,
we partner with Building Healthy Families
for the Parent Cafe, the Dad Cafe.
There's the Community Baby Shower that's
coming up and the Strengthening Families
course.
These are all opportunities, not just for
us, but think of the profound impact that
we can have on people.
People who may not know the Lord or people
that may have even been hurt in the past
before by people.
What I like explaining to people is that
very often people will fail you, but God
will never fail you.
And sometimes you need someone who might have
experienced some sort of hurt or some sort of
just situation that was just not good.
We pray for comfort, transformation, and healing
that comes from the Lord.
Let's go to that next slide then.
And so what's next coming on is on November 2nd
for this year, we'll be having our annual bazaar.
I hope that if you are visiting or if you're local
or even if you're online, that you can come and
join us for our continuing tradition of our bazaar.
And also we're going to be going into our next
sermon series going through the book of Revelation.
For many of you who have been attending, we went over
the parables of Christ.
That was almost 40 weeks of going through the teachings
of Christ and the parabolic language.
Things such as the Good Samaritan, the Good Shepherd,
the Ten Virgins, the Sheep and the Goats,
all of these type of parables and how they are
connected within the Word of God and how we,
as people, we can learn, we can grow,
and we can act upon this.
This is the, so the parable series was Thy Kingdom Come.
And we find that a lot of the apocalyptic language
in Revelation is very similar to what we find
in the parables of Christ.
And I'm very excited to go over this because for many of us,
let's be honest here, how many of us have read Revelation
and we think it's confusing and it's an outright scary book?
Right?
You see a lot of newspapers and it's at the end of the world.
Here, how many of you remember the Y2K scare?
Yeah?
Some of you weren't alive.
Some of you were, right?
You remember the Y2K scare.
Or my favorite one is the Mayan calendar that the world would end
in 2012.
When we really think about it, there is hope in Revelation.
There is a lot of symbolism, but there's also a lot of connections.
And what we are going to focus on is the hope in Jesus Christ.
We're going to go into Revelation and we're not going to fight over,
you know, what is the beast?
Is it Russia?
Is it Iraq?
Is it the United Kingdom?
I have no idea.
We're going to focus, though, on the significance of the beast,
the significance of the mark.
What is it?
Where have we found it within Scripture?
So we're going to focus more on that rather than the timing,
because let's face it, a lot of us, we will argue and fight over when.
But what's so important is that even in this kind of apocalyptic language,
there's victory at the end.
And that victory, my friends, is in Jesus Christ.
Can I get an amen?
Amen.
So it's so important for us as we will be going over Revelation.
And in conclusion, I want to show this next slide here.
One thing that I've really enjoyed being here in Ontario Community Church,
do you know that in Japanese, Ontario means grace overflowing?
It's not interesting.
And it's something that is such beautiful language.
I believe it's pronounced on teru.
I hope if I get that right.
If I haven't, please forgive me.
But grace overflowing.
And what a wonderful representation of God and the love that he has for us,
the truth that he has for us,
that it is in abundance.
When we think of God's salvation for us,
that it is available for all.
When we think of John 3.16,
whosoever believes.
Is it talking about only tall people or only short people
that will enter the kingdom of heaven?
Last time I checked, no.
We have to think that God's grace is in abundance
and it is available for all who believe.
And this image here,
how many of you know what this is?
It's kintsugi, right?
Some of you may have seen the broken plate.
They take it and they put it back together with gold.
And what happens is it makes the bowl more valuable
than it was when it first began.
And what a powerful representation
when we think of, for a moment, who we are.
How many of us are broken?
How many of us need to be picked up, as it were,
and put back together?
For many of us, that was a representation of our lives
before we knew the Lord.
For some of us, it's,
that's still my life today
and I need the Lord to put me back together.
It's so important to see this imagery of the broken plate
putting it back together,
representing how God cares for that which is broken
and makes it whole and brings it and restores it
and transforms it,
just like how it is in our own very life.
That is on a personal note.
But we also have to think
when it comes to the world that we live in today.
My friends, we've had a lot of headlines,
news that has broken out,
an assassination that has just recently happened,
school shootings that have been happening.
And for a lot of us, when we read that,
we get discouraged.
We get depressed.
We get filled with anxiety in these moments,
thinking, why would such evil exist?
We turn to the Lord in times such as this.
We turn to God and we think for a moment,
if God is going to bring us together as an individual,
it is God who will help transform this land,
who will help transform this nation
and essentially the world.
We think of Christ as the transformer of culture,
the sovereignty of God being the ruler of all,
but also the responsibility of man
to follow in the footsteps of Christ,
standing firm on the truth of God's word,
but also dealing in love.
My friends, how some of you may have responded
or reacted to some of these tragic events,
may we be reminded.
We trust in the living God.
We do not condone violence.
We do not condone division.
Instead, let us seek God
and the unity that comes from him,
the peace that surpasses all understanding from him,
regardless of what your background is,
regardless of who you are or what you have been through
or what you are going through.
Let us seek God and his righteousness.
Let us focus on the hope of Christ
and transforming culture
rather than these terrible things that have been happening.
It is in Christ that there is healing
and there is transformation.
And I'm reminded as we're going to be going into our time of revelation,
it's going to be a 42-week sermon series, my friends.
As we go through that,
I want you to know
Revelation 21, verse 5,
where it says,
Behold, I am making all things new.
When we trust in the living God,
let us trust in that transformation
that will happen in our lives
and let us be empowered
to make a difference in our community,
with our families,
and essentially within the world.
Let's pray together
and the worship team will be coming on up.
Father God,
we thank you for these 80 years of blessings,
your faithfulness.
We thank you for this time together,
this time where we celebrate the legacy
of how you have been there
for this community,
for this congregation,
and for this church for the past 80 years.
May we recognize that
it hasn't been a perfect ride,
but you have been there
in every single season.
From the moments of victory,
the moments,
those good moments,
to trying and testing
and tribulations
that have happened in our lives,
as well as this congregation,
this church body.
We just pray, Father,
that we will turn to you
in every season of our lives.
When bad things happen to us
or bad things happen around us,
may we look to you.
Just as your word says,
I look to the hills.
Where does my help come from?
And Father,
may we respond in recognizing
that our hope comes from you.
Or just as your scripture says,
that though we may walk through
the valley of the shadow of death,
may we fear no evil.
So we ask, Father,
for transformation.
We pray that your Holy Spirit
will convict us,
lead us,
and guide us
in our very lives individually,
but as a church body as well.
Mend our lives with your mercy.
May we,
that which is broken,
be mended in you.
We love you,
we praise you,
we glorify you,
and we honor you.
It is in the name of Jesus Christ
that we pray,
and we all say together,
Amen, Church.
Amen.
Thank you for tuning in
to Ontario Community Church,
where we are encouraging,
equipping,
and engaging lives for Christ.
My name is Patrick Daly,
and I am the pastor
of Ontario Community Church.
To learn about our church
and how you can get involved,
go to
www.ontariocommunitychurch.org.
We hope that you will join us
as we begin next week,
September 21st, 2025,
through the Book of Revelation.
May God bless you
all the days of your life.
And you will find you
Thank you.