GLORIFY Jesus - BECOME like Jesus - SERVE like Jesus
Ottawa Valley Community Church
OVC at a Glance
Since our inception in 2005, it has been vital for us to:
Encounter Jesus
We facilitate weekly encounters with Jesus where we and our our unchurched friends can gather to worship Jesus, find authentic relationship with Him and be enriched by His word.
Be Transformed
We gather in vibrant “Home Churches,” knowing that Jesus and His Spirit meet us in community and that growth and transformation come as we journey closely with one another.
Share His Love
We serve on teams that facilitate encounters with Jesus creating environments that are hospitable to our unchurched friends. We reach out with compassion to those in need and give generously to support the mission of our community.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
![How is your fast going for Lent?
I just wanted to offer a little bit of encouragement with those of you who are fasting.
If you’re like me, you love the idea of a fast, and you want to be fully dedicated, but you find it hard to change your habits so abruptly. (In hindsight, putting away or getting rid of the sweets in my house first might have helped).
The first few days, especially, are full of moments of trying to justify attempts at “cheating.” And occasionally I just forget that I’m supposed to be fasting from that particular thing, whatever it may be.
When I fail to stick to my fast, I tend to feel like I’ve failed. Thankfully, I’m stubborn enough to just keep going and try to do better from that point on.
I’m that way with my sin, too; when I notice a sin pattern in my life and try to change my behaviour, I feel like I’ve failed the first time I lapse (and every subsequent time).
Now here is the encouragement: just because you fall back on old patterns does not mean that you are bad.
In Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, John Piper puts it like this: “[T]he evidence of our perfection before God is not our experienced perfection, but out experienced progress. The good news is that being on the way is proof that we have arrived.”
I have no trouble believing that God still loves me when I sin, or falter in my fasting, but I tend to hold an incorrect belief about my identity and status in Christ. Perhaps you do, too.
If so, this is a reminder that messing up doesn’t mean you are still a sinner, or that you’re a failure or a bad person. Every further bit of progress, every desire of your heart to be better, is evidence of the work God is doing in you.
✏️ Erin Allison](https://scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/485732506_1173917341018083_3491599929691464214_n.heic?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiRkVFRC5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=mIZg4ZRxrUYQ7kNvwEw7a3y&_nc_oc=AdleyBM5zwt2g4nr7tgYb9-v8Epjx87i0KixIfFmC9zcBiZ6zkduy_NBIZcIODohEyw&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=TE__b5JA8I5AIduCOr43XA&oh=00_Afhnwi83iEy-PN_mV73RCTSDKNXEK0BURZy3njlic0J0xA&oe=691A470C)
