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!