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Worship Ministry - March 2023

What He’s Done

In the gospels, we see over and over again the compassion Christ had for those that were hurting. The two blind men in Matthew chapter nine, having faith that Jesus could heal them, had their sight restored. The man with a “serious skin disease,” in Mark chapter one, begging for cleansing. A girl suffering from twelve years of bleeding, in Luke chapter eight, reached out to touch the robe of Jesus believing that even that small act of faith would heal her.

Compassion toward those suffering from physical hurt wasn’t the only way Christ reached out to the people He came across along His journey. He drove demons out of those who were spiritually hurting. He calmed the storm for others that were stricken with fear. Again and again, Christ Jesus met the needs of the community around Him, and this is still true right now. Think of all the provisions God has blessed you with over your lifetime! The money and job He provided when you didn’t know how you were going to pay that bill; the encouraging people He surrounded you with during your great time of need; that miraculous doctor’s report that can’t be explained. His blessings being immeasurable is a testament to how incredible our God is and how much He cares for us.

At age thirteen, I watched as my mother battled severe cancer and ultimately lost that fight. I watched as her body got weaker and weaker, the coughing got worse and worse, and the days she could barely get out of bed because of all the chemo and radiation treatments she had to endure. Eight days before I turned fourteen, my mother, the person I was closest to in all the world, took her last breath. Oh, how I wish Jesus would have healed her body here on Earth. Oh, I wish she could have stretched out her hand and touched His robe! I often think about how she never got to see me drive, graduate, and go off to college. She didn’t get to be there when I married my best friend, or to celebrate the birth of my two children. There are many days that I am flooded with intense emotions, longing to see her again and wishing she was here to be a part of whatever is happening at that moment. Tears fall that she never got to meet my bride. Tears fall that she never got to play with my dinosaur-loving son or spoil my baby girl with way too many clothes and treats.

If I were honest, when asked the question, “what is the best birthday present you’ve ever received?” my answer has to be the present received on my fourteenth birthday knowing that my mother was forever healed and is in the presence of God. I never give that answer because it seems too dark and morbid, but it shouldn’t be. Just like all of those healed in the gospels, I should want to “spread the news about Him (Jesus)” (Matt. 9:31), and want the world to know the hope I have in Christ. Hope that whether it be here on earth or in heaven, I will be made whole just as my mother was because of our salvation in Christ Jesus. We should want to testify to the world of “What He’s Done” in our lives and what He will do when we take our last breath. I still miss her, but because of Jesus, I have a joyful hope to rely on. Just like the two blind men, the man with the skin disease, or the girl who bled, I have a testimony of God’s healing because He has washed me clean of my sins. Do you have this hope? Can the world see His hope in you? Tell the world who God is!

Lyric of the Month
All the glory and the honor to the Son
My sins are forgiven
My future is Heaven
I praise God for what He's done

Psalm 95:1-2
¹Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us
shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
 ²Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

Women On Mission - March 2023

Week of Prayer for North American Missions
March 5-12, 2023

It is estimated 275 million people in North America are lost. That’s men, women, young adults, and children. Among that population is more than 40 million people living in the United States who were born in another country. That’s about one-fifth of the world’s migrant population—more than any other country. Almost every nation in the world is represented in North America, making it one of the most complex missions fields. And immigrants, even from countries closed to the gospel, continue to come here for a better life. Your generous giving to the annual Annie Armstrong Easter offering makes an eternal impact across North America. You and your church are the fuel that enables thousands of missionaries to be sent, to plant churches, and to serve the needs of people who desperately need a gospel witness. The national goal is $70 million. Oakhill’s goal is $10,000.

Who Is Annie Armstrong?
Annie Armstrong was born in 1850 in Baltimore, Maryland. While her opportunities were limited as a women, she was dedicated to Christ and led a life of service and leadership. She organized women to pray, give, and meet needs. As the first executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union, Annie challenged pastors and churches to action and rallied vital support for missionaries. Her life of missions work included leading the formation of missions organizations for children, raising support for missionaries to Italian and Jewish immigrants, initiating fundraising “brick cards” to build churches in Cuba, gaining support for the first Black female missionaries with the Home Mission Board (now NAMB), and advocating for Native Americans and impoverished mountain people. In 1934, because of her trailblazing and visionary leadership, the offering started in 1895 to support the work of the Home Mission Board was renamed in her honor to encourage more people to follow her sacrificial example. Today, more than $2 billion has been donated by Southern Baptist churches and individuals through this offering.

Women on Mission will meet next on Thursday, March 2nd in the Grace classroom at 1:00 pm.