Pastor's Points - December
Dear Church Family,
I am really looking forward to the Christmas season this year. We will be considering a series of messages entitled “Unto Us” based out of Isaiah 9:6 which sates… “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
This is the greatest birth announcement that has ever been! In fact, most birth announcements are sent out after a baby is born but this announcement is different. Isaiah shared this announcement some 700 years before the birth of Christ. Steven Witmer shares in an article entitled, To Us a Child is Born…
“The prophet Isaiah delivered it to the people of Israel while they were facing a threat from the growing superpower of Assyria (which would eventually destroy the northern kingdom of Israel and lead many Jews into captivity). Isaiah addressed this situation by promising the coming of a future King. The seven-hundred-year delay was not because God was unable to fulfill his promise sooner, but because he wanted to give his people the hope of a future King to sustain them through dark times. The long period between promise and fulfillment was, in fact, a gift from God to his people.”
I am praying that God would use this four-week series of messages as a gift of hope to us as well. Not in the fact that we are waiting for a messiah to come one day, but in the fact that He has come, and He is coming again! But until He returns, we need to rest in the truths that our Savior is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Make plans to be here each week as we consider this series of hopeful messages during the Christmas season.
Also, I want to share with you briefly about the status of our new property! Our elders and a representative group of our deacon body met with Cornerstone Collaborative as they led us through a time of considering the best use of our current facilities and the new piece of property that we have purchased. Our leadership that met with Cornerstone was unanimous in going forward and presenting this plan to our church family! God has used Cornerstone to lead us to an exciting, reasoned, faith-requiring plan that will help us to stay on our mission to make disciples for years to come! This plan leads us to the best use of what God has given us, and helps us continue to move with God as He is moving among us! I could not be more excited for our future! We will share all the details that we have beginning in the new year! Let’s enjoy this Christmas season as we consider the hope that Jesus has brought us, and the hope that we have looking into 2020 as God leads us into a new chapter in the life of Oakhill Baptist Church!!
I love you and I love being your pastor!