Midweek Check-in (March 18, 2026)

Good evening, church family!

Let’s pause in the middle of the week for a quick check-in! Here’s a verse that we rarely discuss in the church, but it’s filled with importance…

“I want you to have confidence in the soundness of the instruction you have received.”

That verse is not found in some obscure, little-read corner of the Bible. It’s in one of the gospels, and it’s right at the beginning.

Luke opens his gospel as a letter to a friend. The friend’s name is Theophilus, and Luke wants him to know all about Jesus. So that verse above (Luke 1:4) is Luke’s way of saying: all that I’m about to write down – the birth of Jesus, the stories, miracles, teachings, parables and certainly the death and resurrection of Jesus – are for you to read, study and come to understand something very important. Luke wants his friend to know that all this talk about Jesus is true and right and precious and essential. This is the good news! And Luke thinks it’s worth sharing with a friend.

I’m thankful for Luke’s dedicated, wide-sweeping account of Jesus’ life and ministry. I don’t know if he ever thought it would come to be read by billions and studied for thousands of years. He just wanted his friend to know what he knew: this Jesus guy is worth getting to know. So here’s a letter about that.

Sometimes it helps just to write things down. What has God done in your life? How have you seen the Holy Spirit at work around you? These stories are worth the time and effort to write or type out. Try it this week!

Your pastor,

Billy Byler

TEXT MESSAGING: We have a new way to communicate important, time-sensitive information from the church: text messaging! If you don’t want to receive text messages from the church, do nothing. But if you’d like to be added to our texting list, you can opt-in here. We’ll use this primarily for things like weather-related announcements and special, all-church events.

CHURCH ELECTIONS: Our annual church elections will take place on Sunday, March 29 before and after the Sunday morning worship service. Voting is only for those who have officially been accepted into church membership by attending a membership class or transferring membership from another Nazarene church. If you are interested in church membership, please let us know!

SPRING BREAK: Spring break is this week! We will have no children’s ministries tonight (Wednesday, March 18).

PRAYER: I’d like to know how I can best pray for you. We have a way to submit prayer requests online anytime day or night, which will help me join you in prayer.

CLEAN WATER 5K: The Clean Water 5k is a race right here in Wichita where you can walk, jog or run while supporting the mission to provide clean water wells to villages in Africa. One hundred percent of your $25 registration fee will go to the mission field! I helped start this race several years ago, and it’s a really fun event. So join me the morning of Saturday, April 11 along the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita. Check out more info and sign up at cleanwater5k.com.

JUST FOR FUN: Hey, you read Pastor Billy's midweek check-in all the way to the end! As a reward, check out these crazy stories I came across recently:

• A fox snuck onto a cargo ship in England and secretly traveled thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean before he was discovered in New York City. He now has a home at the Bronx Zoo.

• Sometimes science is, well, stinky. But you can help further the pursuit of knowledge by signing up to wear something called Smart Underwear that will track your… uh… output… for science.

• Ready for some March Madness? The men of the church set up a bracket contest, and I made every member of my family fill out a bracket. Can your picks beat ours? Expert analysis: my 4-year-old thinks a team named “Santa Clara” is going VERY far in this year’s tournament… because she wants to cheer for Santa.