Our Blog

November Spare Change

WANTED: Someone Willing to Give Their Life Away

Opportunities abound at Oakhill to give your life away.  There are opportunities to invest in our students, coach an Upward team, or share your gifts in worship.  There are so many ways to give your life away!  The real question is: are you willing to give it away?

I know life is busy.  I have a wife, four kids, a demanding job, and a great church family that keep me very busy.  Sometimes at the end of the day it’s all I can do to stay awake long enough to make it through Jimmy Fallon’s monologue.  But is that really what life is about…busyness?

No, life should not be about just being busy to better our lives or to be busy for the sake of busyness.  We need to be doing something worthwhile with our time.  We need to use some of it, maybe just a few hours a week, to invest in other people.

According to The Atlantic we spend 8.6 hours working, 7.6 hours sleeping, 1.8 hours on various other activities, 2.6 hours on leisure and sports, 1.2 hours caring for others (family mostly), 1.1 hours eating and drinking, and 1.1 hours on household activities.  How does your typical day compare?  What about spending our time to give ourselves away?  Where does that fit in?

Giving ourselves away is not about spending gobs of time volunteering or doing everything you can possible.  Rather, think of it as taking a relatively small percentage of time every week and focusing on other people.  Everyone should think about doing this, but for the Christian it is vital.  Jesus (Mark 10:45), Paul (Galatians 5:13), and Peter (1 Peter 4:10) are all in agreement that Christians should be serving others.  It is our duty to serve others, but for what purpose?  To make us feel good?  To simply show the world we are good people?  No.  We are to serve so that people can see Christ in us. When we give ourselves away by serving others we show the love of Christ and the true Gospel that we came to proclaim.  We show how Christ has changed our lives by His blood and how others can have the same peace, hope, and joy that is found only in Christ.

So, where does that leave us?  We know we should give ourselves away, we know why, but practically where do we start?  Brace yourself, here comes the shameless ministry plug.  I know of several spiritually rewarding, gospel-driven, serving positions that I need people for right now.  

Food Pantry Ministry:  I need more volunteers at the food pantry.  There are positions making food boxes, hosting our clients, and meeting with clients one-on-one as a Care Giver.  All you need to do is just show up one Saturday and observe what we do to see if it’s for you.  No commitments, just come and observe any 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th Saturday of the month.  Volunteers arrive at 8:30 a.m.  It is located at 5122 N. Fares Avenue, just off St. George Road.

AIS Ministry:  The partnership we have with the Academy of Innovative Studies on 1^st Avenue has been such a great ministry over the past few years.  This year we are continuing to support the faculty and reach out to the students and their families.  We need help with planning events, creating gifts for the teachers, and mentoring students. Just this year, I have been going to the school once a week to work with a student one-on-one.  This is a very rewarding time for me and is a great benefit to this student.  You too can have your own student you meet with once a week to encourage them, work on life skills, and accomplish goals.

Mission Trips:  Another great way to give yourself away is to go on a mission trip.  We have designed great partnerships in both Detroit and Louisville and will be offering a few different trips next year.  We also have a partnership with Culture Waves Global that goes primarily to India and China.  These trips are a great way to give yourself away and share the gospel with the ends of the earth.  Look for more information coming in December.

Various Other Ministries:  Finally, there are so many other things that I don’t have the space to mention.  We have the State Hospital Ministry, Dayspring (after-prison) Ministry, Health Ministry, and Charis House Ministry.  These are all great opportunities to give yourself away.  Please email me at or call me at
812-476-3450 to get involved.

November Kids Happenings

Hello Church Family,
           Hi church family!  We have had a great month of October.  I am writing this article before the month ends, but I know God has many great things still to come.  We had our first Upward Evaluation on October 24th and registered over 155 children for basketball and cheerleading.  This is a true blessing for our church and the families participating.  We will have another evaluation on October 31st and hope to have many more children sign up.
           I would like for you to be in thought and prayer about how you can be apart of this great ministry.  It is much bigger than just the Children’s Ministry.  This is a church wide ministry!  No matter what age group you fall into or if you have children still at home or not, there is a place for you to minister within Upward.  Please consider the following areas and contact myself or Jacob Townsend if you have any questions.

Basketball & Cheerleading Coaches & Assistants—requires 2-3 hours per week. Devotions and coaches training will be supplied.

Concessions—any amount of time you are able to give will be much appreciated. Fridays and Saturdays during the month of January and February.

Prayer Partner—daily prayer for our ministry and the families involved.  We have a list of daily prayer concerns and will have immediate prayer needs throughout the season.

Half Time Entertainment and Devotion—requires a person with energy, excitement and able to present the gospel following a quick interactive game with the audience.  Devotion and games will be supplied.

Game Day Support Team—help with set up and or clean up of games, score keeper, referee, introduction of players, crowd control, greeter etc.

 A sign up table is available in the lobby.