Our Blog

Worship Ministry - August 2024

He Knows My Name

There is a well-known song from the early 2000s that has always struck a chord with me. It's a simple truth, yet it is also mind-blowing when you take a moment to digest it. It’s a song I remember fondly from childhood, my early days as an adult, and my first years of ministry. The chorus goes something like this:He knows my name

He knows my every thought
He sees all those tears that fall
And He'll hear you when you call
“He Knows My Name” by Tommy Walker

Have you ever had the chance to meet someone famous or meet your hero? When I was in 8th grade my family and I had the opportunity to go to the FedEx Forum in Memphis and see Third Day (at their peak) and The David Crowder Band (just getting started) in concert. It was made an extra special night because someone had gifted us meet-and-greet tickets to meet the bands. This was also during the height of my mom's fight with terminal cancer, so it was a much-needed reprieve.

When you get the chance to meet a well-known person, you tend to go in with some preconceived ideas about them and what they are going to be like. This night was no different! Third Day was on top of the Christian music world and they were heroes in my young mind. I expected them to be wonderfully kind and loving Christian people, which they were but didn’t reach my exceptions for them. They were kind enough to talk to us, but it felt like they didn’t want to be there, that they didn’t care to be meeting us. That this was a waste of their time. It was disappointing!

On the flip side, The David Crowder Band was so happy to be there. They were excited to talk to us and took time to engage us in a personal way. David (yes we are on a
first-name basis hahaha) even took the time to call my mother on his phone because she was in the hospital at the time. It left an impression on me that someone of his stature would give his time away like that.

How mind-blowing then to think that the God of all things, creator of all things, the Holiest of Holies, knows YOUR name!! Not kinda sorta knows who you are, but intimately knows every part of you that makes you...you. He knows your hurts. He knows your pain. He knows your needs. He listens when you call to Him. He knows your days, here on earth and for eternity.

“15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:15-16

So the next time you feel alone, tired, afraid, or stressed, remember that our Heavenly Father knows you and “hears you when you call.”

Love you and mean it!

Grow & Go - August 2024

HELP THEM STAY

Just recently, we witnessed another couple of our beloved church family answer the call of God to go with the gospel to the nations. Oakhill now has two families that we support as their sending church. Nick, Melissa, Eliana, and Warrick Scott are already on the field, and soon-to-be Todd and Michele Linn. These families are classified as long-term, overseas, foreign missionaries. In this article, I hope to help us recognize the importance of our roles, to remind me as a pastor, whether we are lay leaders or
supporting members, that we are to provide care for those we have “sent out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matt 10:16).

Aaron Menikoff reminds us as the sending church, we are not to sit idly by and do nothing, we must remain faithful to the gospel ourselves as a “Staying Church.” Menikoff stated, “It’s not enough to be a sending church. You need to be a staying church. A staying church doesn’t let the rope fray or the bond loosen. As inconvenient as the relationship may be, the staying church remains involved by praying faithfully, communicating regularly, visiting occasionally, and always looking for new and creative ways to help. This is how we hold the rope, and we mustn’t let go”. (1)

On Sunday afternoon during the sending celebration of Todd and Michele Linn, there was a time of prayer for them. Prayer is one of the greatest ways to offer member care as we partner in the gospel with missionaries the Church has sent out. The best way to pray for the missionaries the Lord has sent out from our church is to pray the Word over them. For example, we can pray for their health, safety, longevity, and finances – “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men” (2 Thess 3:1-2). We can also pray for their joy in the Lord, peace, and
comfort – “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (2 Thess 2:16-17).

As the sending church, and having a responsibility to hold the rope, we must also see our need to support our missionaries financially. The Church is given a charge from the apostle Paul to support this when he said “Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing” (Tit 3:13). There are a lot of expenses for missionaries to remain on the field from the logistics to get there, finding housing – it being affordable and sustainable, food, travel (vehicles), and the cost of simply doing ministry. It is the church’s responsibility to see that when our missionaries have needs, that those needs are provided for so that gospel advancement is not hindered in any way.

We have heard about praying and giving, but now, each of us must discern the question; If given the opportunity, will we give up our own time, to go there where our missionaries are and offer support? I say this often, that we go expecting to change things on a mission trip but, what usually happens is that God changes us. However, when we go and support our missionaries on the field, we must intentionally be focused that our time there is not about us. It is to support our mission families well in whatever that might be. Our time there is to help and encourage them, not impose, but assist them with whatever needs they have.

Whether we are praying, giving, or going to support our missionaries on the field sent out from Oakhill, each of us has a vital role in holding the rope. Church, we must also remain faithful to the gospel advancing here, if we are to support them well over there. If you are a prayer warrior – please hold the rope by extending an encouraging word and prayer to our overseas partners in the gospel. If God has blessed you with an abundance – give cheerfully and sacrificially to Lottie Moon so that our missionaries can remain on the field “lack nothing” (Tit 3:13). And Lord willing if you have answered the call to go on a short-term mission trip to support – hopefully we can do just that. With the Lord’s Help, we will go with intentionality to deny ourselves and everything we want out of a trip and go instead to help make the greatest impact with our time there so our missionaries can remain on the field.

(1) Aaron Menikoff, “Don’t Just Be a Sending Church, Be a Staying Church,” Reaching & Teaching Blog, 24 November 2020, https://rtim.org/dont-just-be-a-sending-church-be-a-staying-church/.