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Pastor's Points November 2018

Dear Church Family,
I am setting here after a very long, tiring, amazing Sunday!  On this Sunday (October 28) we had two families join the church, one follow in baptism, and four people prayed for the forgiveness of their sins in our worship services!  And on top of all of that, one of our life groups prepared an awesome appreciation dinner for our pastors as well as April.  Then I got to host my life group in my home for an amazing time of fellowship and discussion of God’s Word this evening.  I would say that I have much to be thankful for.  God is so good to bless me with a wonderful church family.  I am so thankful that God allows me to be the pastor of Oakhill Baptist Church! Also, I want to take this time to thank all of you who   expressed your appreciation to me in the month of October.  Your cards, kind words and expressions of appreciation mean the world to me.  Thank you for caring for your pastors.  We appreciate it tremendously!

We are quickly approaching Thanksgiving and as we do I hope that you will spend some time thinking about all that you have to be thankful for.  If we stop and think, we have so much that we should thank God for.  On November 18^th we are going to have the opportunity to gather as a church family for our annual Thanksgiving Fellowship.  I hope that you are planning on attending so we can gather as the church to thank God together for who He is and for what He has done for us!!  Do not forget to pick up your free tickets for this event.  All you need to do on this evening is come ready to enjoy some amazing smoked turkey (thanks Darrell Ommart) and bring a dessert to share with others!  This will be a great night of food, fun, and fellowship!!

In closing I want to say that I know that there are times in life which seem to make it hard to be thankful.  I understand that.  But I want to encourage you with a quote from Dr. Tony Evans as you consider the need to be thankful even in the middle of a desperately hard time.  Dr. Evans shares… “God says to give thanks in everything. That doesn’t mean you need to give thanks FOR everything. You don’t need to give thanks FOR that bad day. Or FOR that bad relationship. Or being passed over at work. Financial hardship. Whatever it is – you are not to give thanks FOR the difficulties, but rather IN the difficulties. That is a very important distinction, and one I think we often miss. Giving thanks IN everything shows a heart of faith that God is bigger than the difficulties and that He can use them, if you approach Him with the right heart and spirit, for your good and His glory.” –Tony Evans

 I love you and I love being your pastor,

Pastor's Points October 2018

Below you will find reproduced a copy of the letter that I sent out to our regular attenders and members.   I have found throughout the years of ministry that you can never communicate enough.  So once again here is the letter that contains all the important dates about this possible exciting   opportunity for our church family.  Every person that I have spoken to since this information was shared has been genuinely excited about this possibility.  Plan on coming to one of the informational meetings listed below!

Dear Church Family,
On Sunday, October 7^th we will be celebrating our church’s 55^th anniversary of ministry here on Oak Hill Road! God has been so faithful to us throughout these years, and He continues to give us His favor and guidance as we minister in His name. We will acknowledge and celebrate the past ministry of Oakhill in a special video presentation as we hear from three of our former pastors.  I am excited for you to see this video and to hear from three of God’s faithful servants who have led Oakhill in the past.  Also, on this Sunday I will be sharing from God’s Word as to the purpose and focus of our church as we continue to reach out and minister here on Oak Hill Road in to the future.

I have always led our church to be ready to “move as God moves among us”.  What this simply means is that we need to be aware of our ministry and God’s movement in our midst, so we can walk in obedience to do what He would have us to do.  As your pastor I see this as one of the greatest responsibilities that I have as the lead pastor of Oakhill.  Often this happens as I pray and share with the other pastors and leaders of our church, but there are times when God moves and brings situations across our path that I was not looking for.  This is exactly what God has done recently.  I believe what I am getting ready to share with you may very well have come from the Lord for us to consider.

On August 20^th at a leadership team meeting of our association of churches, a motion came to the floor from an ad hoc committee that was put together after the previous annual meeting to study the usage of the land that the association owns on Oak Hill Road.  This is the location of the ball fields that we use to play our softball leagues and where we have our churches large outdoor events such as our night of worship, fireworks celebration, and Easter egg hunt.  Because of the lack of use of this land by most of the churches in our association, the committee recommended that the association sell off 14 acres of property (effectively both ball fields and surrounding property).  This property is to be offered for purchase first to the churches in our association, and if there is no interest they are going to auction it off to whomever may be interested.  This is all pending a vote to be taken at our   annual associational meeting on October 27^th.  If this motion is approved, then the land will be for sale.

I am convinced that this piece of property is vital to the ongoing ministry of our church.  This land is our “green space” that   allows us to do church fellowships and community outreaches that otherwise would be almost impossible for us to continue.  Securing this property will also help to ensure that we continue to have a ministry presence on Oak Hill Road into the future as well.  So after initially meeting with our elders and consulting a commercial real estate professional to get some key questions answered, we met with our finance team, and deacon team. At the end of all these meetings we all agree unanimously that we need to ask our church family to be prepared to make an offer on this property if it is approved by the association to sell it.  But for us to purchase a piece of property we need to of course have church approval and so that is what we are asking for.  We will have two informational meetings; one on Wednesday October 10^th at 6:00pm, and the other on Thursday October 18^th at 6:00pm. We will share all the  specifics of this possible purchase as we talk about the land itself, as well as the financial information that we need to consider.  Please make one of these meetings if possible.  You do not need to attend both meetings.  We are just offering two times to share this information to reach as many of our church family that we can.  I will be announcing a special called business meeting that will be held on Thursday October 25^th  at 6:00pm to consider as a church family this exciting opportunity.  Please know that the vote taken at the business meeting will be for those that are active members of Oakhill Baptist Church.

As most of you know we are debt free as a church! The leadership of our church feels we are in a very good position to purchase this property, to secure the ministry that we are already offering as well as secure ministry options and possibilities into the future.  We want to share the details as well as the encouraging financial details of this possible purchase that could be paid off in a very short time frame.  I truly believe God may be moving among us once again in all these details, and if He is, I want us to be ready to continue to walk with Him into the future here on Oak Hill Road where He planted us 55 years ago.

 I love you and I love being your pastor,

 Pastor Alan