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Pastor's Point - February 2025

Dear Church Family,

I am so excited for the new year and all that God has in store for us. God has impressed upon my heart for this year an emphasis upon the importance of the spiritual health of the families that make up the body of our church family. In this new year to come I am praying that the Lord will spiritually strengthen each family to see the general principle of Proverbs 22:6 become a reality. That verse states that we are to… “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” We want our church to come alongside and help in ways to encourage our families to this task. Here are a few ways we are going to try to help in 2025.

New Sermon Series
This new series in I John is going to be a timely word for our church family as we consider the theme of “Confident Christianity.” This is not a confidence in ourselves, but a confidence that comes from our God. As we consider the three tests of faith that run throughout I John, we will gain the confidence that we need to live faithfully for our Savior Jesus Christ. The three tests are:
1) The Moral Test (obeying God’s commands), 2) The Doctrinal Test (believing Jesus is the Son of God), and 3) The Love Test (loving God and His children). As we are assured about our beliefs, actions, and love for God and others we can confidently live out our Christian faith in this new year! From now until about Easter we will be making our way
through I John. I am praying that I John comes alive to us, and we grow more closely together as the family of God here at Oakhill! The truths considered in I John will be very important for our church family, but they will also be very impactful on the individual families that make up our church.

Family Worship on 5th Sundays
This year we are going to have four special Sunday services on every 5th Sunday. This will be a time when we will encourage our families to all come to worship together. On these Sundays we will only provide children’s ministry between the ages of birth to kindergarten. We want to encourage our first graders all the way up through high school to be in worship together with their families. These special Sundays will allow us to heighten the importance of the family as well as encourage special times of worship together. Some of our children (1st -5th) and students (6th -12th) do not normally attend corporate worship because they are in children or student ministry options during worship. We believe that it is important that we encourage time together for our families to worship in the corporate worship setting. I am already looking forward to these Sunday worship times in the new year!

Special “Family Focus” Seminar
On Saturday, March 15th we will offer a seminar that will focus on the family. Seth York, who is the Director of Crossings Camp in Cedarmore, Kentucky, will be with us to encourage our parents and grandparents with information that will help them to invest spiritually more effectively in our children and grandchildren. This will be a one-day seminar that will run from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Please clear your calendar and plan to come and be a part of this seminar as we look for ways to better invest in our families here at Oakhill.

I love you and I love being your pastor!

Family Ministry Moment - February 2025

Recently, Christian apologist, Wesly Huff, debated social media skeptic, Billy Carson, on Mark Minard's podcast, Elevating Beyond.  Honestly, before this debate made headlines, I had never heard of these three men.  As I listened to the episode a couple of things became clear to me very quickly.  First, Wes Huff is a smart, well-researched, and overall nice guy who did a great job of representing Christians.  Second, Billy Carson was exposed in his lack of knowledge about Christian history and biblical veracity.  You can view the entire debate along with many other informative videos at www.wesleyhuff.com.  

During the debate, there were many questions answered by Huff, but toward the end, Carson and Minard, who are good friends, went back and forth about what is essentially “the problem of evil and suffering.” They did not explain it like this but that is what they were discussing. The sad part is they did not allow Huff to respond appropriately to this question, as Carson had to leave the interview at a predetermined time. 

The “problem of evil” question is one of the most frequently used questions to deny the existence of the Christian God.  The skeptic reasons that because evil exists God can not be both good and all-powerful.  If He is good and all-powerful then He would not allow the sin and suffering of the world.  Carson did not articulate this in a straightforward manner.  He talked more about how the Bible has perpetuated suffering so it could not have been created by the loving God that Christians espouse.  He obviously denies the presence of the Christian God and even suggests that the scriptures were more likely to have been written by the devil rather than God.  

“The problem of evil” question often puts the responsibility of all actions back on God and often refuses to make the people committing the evil responsible for their actions.  It presupposes that God refused to do anything and therefore is condemning the innocent and guilty alike.  The reality is we are all guilty of sin.  The skeptic does not fully understand the true nature of God and the true nature of man.  

The Bible teaches us that God’s nature is one of holiness and truth.  God is just and right in all things.  It also teaches us that man is sinful; there is not one person that is innocent before the Lord. The Bible always presumes the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.  This means that all people are deserving of God’s wrath, but as much as God is just He is also merciful.  This is proven by the fact that God doesn’t just pour out His wrath immediately and destroy us all.  He is kind, patient, and merciful to allow us to continue to exist.

What many people miss is the extremely offensive nature of sin.  Sin is so much more offensive to God than we even imagine.  In the Bible, God likens our sin to committing adultery.  Adultery is one of the worst sins a married person can commit, so when we understand it in that context, we can see how outrageous our sin is to God.

“The problem of evil and suffering” has been caused by humans and continues to be perpetuated by humans; however, this doesn’t answer the question of why God doesn’t do anything about it.  The reality is He did!  God could have left us in our sin condemned for all eternity but in His infinite wisdom and mercy, He sent Jesus, God incarnate, to be the sacrifice for our sins.  God took care of the problem of evil when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. The only requirement for salvation is faith.  When you place your faith in Jesus He becomes your Lord and Savior.  You commit your life to follow Him.  The issue of faith can be hard to wrap your mind around; I believe that many skeptics remain so because they can’t take the step of faith required to follow God.

The lesson for us in all of this is it is okay to ask questions, even big questions about faith and God.  I hope that in your search you find good resources that are full of truth.  Billy Carson is not one of those people.  He deals in half-truths and outright lies.  Wesley Huff, while admittedly I have not listened to all of his stuff, seems to be someone who can be trusted.  Find trusted resources to help you navigate the tough questions for yourself and to help you reach the lost.  We can never forget our mission to make disciples of all nations and sometimes that means addressing big questions of life.