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Spiritual Development - January 2021

Dear Church Family,

It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to serve as one of the pastors of Oakhill Baptist Church. You have loved, encouraged, and blessed me and my family in ways that you’ll never fully know. The sweet spirit of our church has made the last five years some of the most enjoyable and beneficial years of my life.

As our family transitions to this new season of life in Japan, we hope that you will know that much of our love and affection will still remain for you all. We count it an incredible blessing to be sent out by our church to a country that has very little exposure to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even though we must leave, we know that God is sending us out with His Spirit and with your support and prayers. We are so excited to see the ways that God will work things  together for His glory over the next few years.

My prayer is that Oakhill Baptist Church would remain focused on its mission. We must never forget that Jesus has given the church this purpose: “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” There are many people in Japan who need to know about Jesus and his gospel, but there are also so many people in and around Evansville that are   equally in need of Jesus. We must tell people about Jesus. We must make disciples of Jesus. And we must persevere in our own faith in Jesus. Paul states in Galatians 6, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Church family, the days ahead of us all are going to be challenging. But don’t give up, especially when its hard. Continue fighting forward. Know that you have the victory in Christ. And know that Jesus is “with you always, to the end of the age.” I love you and will be praying for you. I’m so happy to know that this goodbye will only last a little while until we are all united together again for eternity in worship to our God.

Pastor Nick Scott 

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Spiritual Development - November

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Pray Big Prayers to Our Big God!

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon talked much about praying prayers that are commensurate with God’s almighty power and abundant generosity:

“We do not come in prayer …. To God’s poorhouse where He dispenses His favors to the poor, nor do we come to the back door of the house of mercy to receive the leftover scraps, though that would be more than we deserve … But when we pray, we are standing in the palace on the glittering floor of the Great King’s own reception room … And should we come there with stunted requests and narrow and contracted faith? No, it does not become a King to be giving away pennies and nickels; He distributes pieces of gold.” (Spurgeon, Spurgeon on Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, 72)

What do our prayers say about our belief in the character of God? That he is rich and generous, or that he is reluctant and economical? What a phrase Paul uses in Ephesians 3! Look how he stacks the descriptive modifiers: “Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us” (Eph 3:20; emphasis added). When we encounter God through His Word and go before Him in prayer, it should create a longing for the inbreaking of God’s mercy and power in our lives, in the church, and in the world. One of the ways we cultivate this longing and anticipation of God’s reviving work is by recalling the past. How has God demonstrated His perfect faithfulness to you and others?

If we don’t pray for things that might set us up for disappointment, we’re not doing it right. We are not called to merely pray safe, self-protecting, “realistic,” face-saving prayers. So often I pray prayers that match the normal patterns I see in life. In everyday life, hard-to-reach people continue to be hard to reach. In everyday life, the church exerts little influence on the world around us. But on page after page of Scripture, God is seeking to convince us that he has options! He intervenes. He brings life where there was death. He brings beauty from ashes. He removes fear while we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. He can cause his word to not return void. He can bring reviving grace to any person you know, and resistant people group, and he could do it by the end of the week.

Charles Spurgeon spoke of the poor condition of the church one hundred years prior. The Church of England, Spurgeon said, was asleep. “It looked as if the living church of God would be extinguished altogether; but it was not so, for God did but stamp his foot, and, from all parts of the country, men like Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield, came to the front, and hundreds of others, mighty men of valor, proclaimed the gospel with unusual power, and away went the bats and the owls back to their proper dwelling-place.” (On Expectations)

When is the last time we were audacious enough to ask God to stamp his feet? We are to pray and hope as though God had options!

(Excepts taken from Christ-Centered Exposition: Psalms 51-100, “Psalm 85” by Matt Mason)

Recommended Resource – The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

Randy Alcorn bases his brief, motivational message on the words of the world’s foremost financial consultant, Jesus Christ, who advised listeners to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). In a concise power-packed style, he leads the reader toward the Treasure Principle mindset by proposing and illustrating key truths. “God owns everything,” writes Alcorn. “I’m His money manager. What I call my money is really His. The question is, what does He want me to do with His money?”

In contemporary, easy-to understand language, Alcorn offers readers a six-step plan to finding the immediate pleasure and eternal rewards of the Treasure Principle. Once readers discover the liberating joy of giving, life will never look the same. And they won’t want it to!

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