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Worship January 2017

Church Family,

What a year is has been!  A year ago, Annaclaire and I lived in Mississippi praying and believing in God’s direction for our lives.  Here we are a year later, serving with you, worshipping with you, and doing life along side of you.  As we reflect on this past year, we are so thankful to God for bringing this wonderful Church Family into our lives.  In just a short time we have seen God work through His Church at Oakhill, we have made friendships that feel like family, and we look forward to growing together for years to come.  Thank you for loving Annaclaire and I so well over this past year.  Thank you for partnering with us and the rest of our Church Family for the sake of the Gospel.  I firmly believe that 2017 will be an incredible year as we move forward into what God has in store for our Church.

As we look forward, I want to bring up the words of a worship song that I believe is fitting for us. The words say,

     “I will look up, for there is none above you,

      I will bow down, to tell you that I need you,

      Jesus, Lord of all,

      I will look back, and see that you are faithful,

      I look ahead believing you are able,

      Jesus, Lord of all.”

I hope that as you look back on 2016, you see the faithfulness of God.  In the good times and the bad, I believe we can always see the faithfulness of God.  God’s love is constant and his grace if sufficient.  If we believe this promise we can always see the faithfulness of God in every season.  Because of this faithfulness we can look ahead with confidence and hope.  We can believe that God is “able to do abundantly more than all we ask or think”, according to Ephesians 3:20.  God’s grace is enough for us, His power is sufficient for us, and his promise to be faithful is always true.  I ask that you believe this with me as we turn the page to 2017.  We believe His promise and we worship in light of it.  He is faithful and He is able.

In Christ,

Jared

Worship December 2016

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I love Christmas. Christmas means a lot to me, and I hope it means a lot to you too. As Christians, we celebrate Christmas for more than just Christmas trees, lights, and presents. These things aren’t bad things, as I love all of these aspects of Christmas and look forward to them every year. But we celebrate Christmas because of one thing - the birth of Jesus Christ. This is the day we celebrate the world changing. Jesus came and from the moment He was born of a virgin, the world would never be the same. But Jesus would go on to live a perfect and sinless life as the son of God and would die a death in our place for our sins, so that we could have eternal life with God. Now isn’t that better than gifts, lights, and hallmark Christmas movies? I would say yes! It’s worth celebrating not only during this season, but every morning of the year as we open our eyes to the grace that God has poured out into our lives through his son Jesus.

Every year during the Christmas season I always get the question, “Will we sing Christmas carols at Church?” My answer is always a resounding, “Yes!” I love Christmas carols, and I think it’s important that the Church worships with them during this season. So why do we sing Christmas carols? I’d like to point to Keith Getty (author of “In Christ Alone”) and his thoughts on this. He says it well,

“When we look at the simplicity and focus of the early apostles, especially Paul, we see
individuals who were uncompromising about the gospel but sought to use strategic opportunities and platforms for its spread to those who had yet to believe. Since Christmas is a time of year when many unbelievers visit our churches, we should be on the lookout for creative opportunities to share the good news. If the question is about church music, I’d suggest that singing the great Christmas carols is one obvious place to start. The best of them tell the gospel story in some of the most innovative and inviting language we’ve ever seen in religious verse, certainly in the English language. In terms of art, they are the masterworks, the treasured heritage of the church we shouldn’t ignore. Young and old, churched and unchurched, are united in wanting to sing Christmas carols during the Christmas season. More than that, however, I’d say it’s our responsibility to have a high view of congregational worship. Our singing is always a witness; therefore, if our churches don’t sing well, or sing apathetically, or sing while distracted by iPhones and casual conversation, we become an appalling witness to outsiders. So let’s take these songs and use them as a galvanizing force for our singing—that we might declare to all who are present the breathtaking good news of
Jesus.”

At Oakhill, we want to have a high view of Jesus and what he did for us. We want to sing about his birth, and how the birth of Jesus changed the world and our lives. So join us on Sundays throughout this Christmas season, as we sing songs old and new to give honor and praise to our great God.

In Christ,

Jared