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Pastor's Points May 2018

Dear Church Family,
I pray that you and your family are doing well and are enjoying the blessings of God that He provides in our lives!  We have so much to be thankful for.  I know our church  family has been blessed in great ways!  I have no answer as to why, other than the good pleasure of God upon us.  God has been drawing people to our church and we are growing in numbers and in our financial support as well.  Last year we finished a little less than 100% of our budget so we adjusted our 2018 budget to reflect this.  But so far in 2018 we are ahead of budget by about 10%!  This level of giving will fund the ministries of our church as well allow us to give more to our North American and International missions ministries!  All I can say is thank you God and thank you all for being faithful to give out of God’s blessings in your lives.  I am so excited to see what God is going to continue to do among us as we serve Him together.
In the month of May we have many things to celebrate, but one group that we will honor is our recent graduates.  It is a great achievement to graduate whether it be high school or college.  But the one thing that I have learned in this life is that we must be continual learners throughout our lives.  Especially as followers of Jesus.  We never graduate or arrive spiritually in this life.  I love what David Mathis has to say about ongoing learning.  He says…

“Wisdom does not come automatically with age (Job 32:8–9). You’ll find plenty of foolish old fogies out there.

For many aged saints, gray hair and a good head go hand in hand. But for others, far too many others, length of life only entrenches stubbornness, irritability, and careless ways of thinking and living. Life experience may increase inevitably with age, but without some long-term pattern of receptivity and intentionality, multiplied experiences will only create more    confusion than clarity.

For Christians in particular, the stakes are even higher for cultivating holy curiosity and the mindset of a lifelong    learner. Teaching and learning are at the very heart of our faith. To be a “disciple” means to be a “learner.” Our Master is the consummate teacher, and the central task of his under shepherds in the local church is teaching (Titus 1:9; 1 Timothy 3:2; 5:17; Hebrews 13:7; Matthew 28:20). God designed the church to be a community of lifelong learners under the  earthly guidance of leaders who are teachers at heart.

The Christian faith is not a finite course of study for the front-end of adulthood. Our mindset shouldn’t be to first do our learning and then spend the rest of our lives drawing from that original deposit of knowledge. Rather, ongoing health in the Christian life is inextricably linked to ongoing learning.”

Let’s keep loving and learning together for the glory of God!

 I love you and I love being your pastor!

Pastor's Points April 2018

I just want to begin by saying, I love you all!  Please know I mean that.  Those are not just words shared flippantly.  I mean it.  I love you.  I am so thankful that God has brought me to Oakhill to shepherd His sheep.

In May I will have been here for 12 years.  God has been faithful to us every step of the way.  In every pastoral ministry there are highs and lows.  The highs are very high, and the lows are very low. But through it all I am so thankful to be here with you all doing life together.  By today’s standards a pastor who has been at a church for 12 years is very long.  Well maybe so, but I feel as if we are just getting started for all that God has yet for us to do!!  I am so excited about our future together.

As we look to the future for God’s guidance we need to be prayerful.  But let me encourage you not just to pray for an unknown future, I also want you to pray for the known church.  Pray for your church family at Oakhill.  I would encourage you to join me to pray…

1. That we would always keep the Gospel central to everything that we do.
2. The we would pray for our lost friends and family members, that they would come to know Jesus as Savior.
3. That we would pray for our families to love and invest in their kids by pointing them primarily to Jesus, with everything else following that.
4. That our church would take seriously the mandate to make disciples by investing our lives in one another for our spiritual growth and replication.
5. That we would grow in our love and unity for one another, so God can use it as a great testimony for a watching world to see.
6. That the elders of our church would faithfully preach and teach the truths of scripture.
7. That our deacons would faithfully serve the church and protect it from disunity and division.
8. That our church would be distinct from the world, always caring much more about what Jesus thinks of us than what the opinions of the world may be about us.
9. That the giving of our church would be faithful, joyful, and sacrificial.
10. Thattransparent, meaningful relationships would be what marks our friendships and ministry together.

These are ten wonderful things for us to knit our hearts together to pray for.  Would you join me?  I am convinced if we will pray and seek God’s will above our own, God is going to continue to use us for His glory!!!  I cannot wait to see what He is going to do!

 I love you and I love being your pastor!