...to everyday life

Mid-Week Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have a few things I want to share with you today.

#1 - I'll mix my comments about service in with yours. Here's what you wrote on the Communication Cards this weekend:

• Thank you for preaching the word so faithfully.
• Excellent, compelling message, Henry. [I loved giving that message. I rewrote it in the car on the way home from our trip to Sioux Falls. (Thanks for driving both ways, Lois, so I could work!) Hanging out with my father-in-law gave me some more stories I look forward to sharing here and there. He just turned 84, so when he talks about his childhood it's so different from what most of us have experienced that just about everything he says is interesting or funny.]
  
• Thank you worship band! Awesome! [I agree. They did so many interesting things with the music and their voices. And the sound mix was powerful. Thanks, Mark. It was deep sounding and even loud without being harsh once again. I think we're starting to hit our stride on this.]
  
• I love my church! Great message and music – thank you Jesus. He is alive and lives in me. 
• Love – love – love the service. 
• Aimee did an amazing job singing harmony, beautiful and anointed. The “reserved for families with children” is a nice welcoming touch on the back rows. Keep up the good work Five Oaks. [I made a point to tell Aimee what a great job she did in that song. Perfect.]
  
• I liked introducing myself by name to those sitting around me and learning my “neighbors” name. [There's more of that to come. We need to connect better in our services. We are not a huge mega-church where people go to be anonymous. We have an intimate setting. We need to capitalize on that without making people feel uncomfortable. One of our members gave me a great idea and we're going to run with it. I'll be explaining what we're doing in my message on June 9/10 weekend.]
  
• Thanks for rockin’ the house Justin!  Another great message, Henry! 
• Great music, great mix, perfect volume. Great message, great energy.

#2 - You can now look at a more in-depth review of our weekend service here. It includes the elements of worship that guide our service (i.e., our order of worship, our liturgy), snippets from songs we sing, all the readings and prayers, the benediction and a video highlight from my message. This is a great opportunity to spend some more time in the prayers and remember how God spoke to you in the service.

#3 - This is our first Saturday supper for the summer and the new Saturday service time for the summer: 5pm. The staff sampled Davanni's pizza this week to help pick the kind of pizza we will be serving. Nice to work at Five Oaks! I can't stay for supper this week because we are serving the Cuban meal to the winning family from the auction! It's going to be a fun evening.

#4 - Two dates to put in your calendar for the summer:

• St. Croix/Hudson Baptism Service and All-Church Picnic - July 22 - One outdoor service that weekend followed by a baptism in the St. Croix and a picnic for everyone who wants to stick around.
• Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit - August 9 & 10 - We had 120 Five Oakers attend last year and I've NEVER heard anyone regret going. Here's what I hear all the time: "I wish I hadn't waited so long to come." This is for everybody including stay-at-home parents and students. You will be spiritually fed and inspired. It's profound and practical. It will blow your mind. Join over 100,000 other people around the world. Make this your first year. Is there anything else I can say to convince you to come?

#5 - Here are all the comments we received back from first-time guests:

• 5/21 - I enjoyed the service and felt welcomed.  I appreciated the Bible-based teaching sermon.
• 5/21 - Worship is awesome, I like the idea of communion every Sunday.  Never had that before.  The lighting of the candles I like.  All and all I like it very much.  The messages are very good and presented very well.

#6 - They told us in our Kid's Hope training that this question would be asked at some time: "How many other kids do you meet with?" I got the question last week from my Kids Hope Mentee! It was fun to say, "You're the only one." The school would like 10 additional mentors next year. If you are able, will you prayerfully consider?

#7 - Coming this fall: We're going to plant ourselves for about four weeks on a couple of verses in Luke that bring out the importance of Scripture. We'll explore the trustworthiness of the Bible, how to study the Bible, etc. Start praying about a friend or family member you can invite to this series...someone with a lot of questions or doubts about Bible and faith.

#8 - Some fun and/or informative stuff I came across this week applying my "Input" strength:

• You know I like eating and I'm a firm believer in eating responsibly (i.e., eating healthy, controlling portions, and eating delicious things), so here are 9 Tips for Eating Christianly.
• I also like taking quick naps for quick recovery during the day and found this helpful and full of great, practical information I've been applying with great results: "How to nap"
• Along the same lines, Michael Hyatt did a podcast on napping. Did you know some really famous people made a habit of napping. Check out the manuscript of the episode here or his post on the episode here.  
• Patrick Lencioni says creativity arises from being "joyfully inefficient" here. Thanks to the inefficiencies of my Input "strength," sometimes I feel like I should be the most creative person in the universe!

#9 - We'll be singing a song written by Dan Lukas this weekend that has a great tie-in with my message on Luke 14:1-11. Here are the words so you can begin to prepare to worship with them:

"Teach Me"

you hear the humble when they cry
feel the wounds we have inside
you love the poor as they are
your heart is for the ones far away

i want to be like you jesus
i want to be like you jesus

teach me to be humble
teach me what is great
teach me to love others
teach me not to hate

you find the broken in us all
you welcome in the prodigal
you call into to darkness come
you call us daughters and sons

See you on the weekend.

Blessings to you, Pastor Henry

 

Mid-Week Memo

Hi Five Oakers:

I have a few things I want to share with you today.

#1 - I'm not the most on-time person I know. Okay, those of who know me would say I'm one of the least on-time people you know. I contend it has a lot to do with wiring, but that's another story (or an excuse). Anyway, as I saw many of you wandering in late for the services and missing the opening song I had told you about (which started about 3 minutes early...sorry, but we have to do that), it hit me that maybe I'm missing some good stuff when I arrive late to other things. Just a thought.

#2 - Here are your comments from the Communication Cards (and my responses):

• Thank you to staff of Five Oaks for sharing your gifts with others. Pastor Henry, leadership and oral charisma! And all who make it a strong community. [It really is a team effort!]
• Great message Henry. Thanks! I’m curious what the other analogy was? [An analogy hit me in the middle of my message on Saturday night that I said I better not share until I think it through. It had to do with coming Biggest Loser mid-season and watching a weigh-in and hearing all the cheers. Not seeing the before, you might be tempted to think, "Actually, they don't look so good." (And who would, wearing what they make them wear.) Someone may have lost 100 pounds and still have 150 to go. Coming in mid-season, you don't see the change and may focus on what is still needed. But the real point is comparing them to how they started. So it is with spiritual growth. It's not about comparing myself to others but comparing my current self to my earlier self. Am I growing in greater, deeper love for God and people?]
• Gratitude for the messages given here. They have relevance all thru my week. Love the way he uses Henry and opens my ears!
• Captivating service. Thank you for a great message, and also to the worship team, beautiful music. Beautiful Sunday. [Couldn't agree more! So many worshipful songs played so well. Great sound mixing too. It was loud without being harsh, so nothing got in the way. Loved it.]
• Really nifty communion method!
• Praise the Lord!
• I came early to hear “the new song”. [I was in there early every service so I could catch it. Love it!]
• Very nice having communion together for a change so everyone could comfortably participate! [It's good to change things up. Dan Lukas' idea and I appreciated it too.]
• Sweet to hear voices over music. Thanks. [I love it when the worship leader pulls back and you can hear the congregation. God is listening!]
  
• Powerful message! [Powerful passage.]
  
• Praise the Lord!
• Pastor Henry, thank you for clarifying we don’t compare ourselves to each other, but only to God when it comes to our personal salvation! Also, were you referring to Isaiah 61 at the beginning when asking us what Jesus came to do?  [I was referring to Jesus' sermon in Luke 4 where he indeed quotes Isaiah 61 and several other passages.]
• Pastor Henry, thank you for being bold and for speaking so powerfully to us. The healing topic can be so difficult, but you approached it so honestly and biblically. It’s not about me… how few pastors preach this to their flock. Thank you.
• Thanks Justin for playing your song today! Thanks also for the prayer “please forgive me for not forgiving others”. Henry, GREAT, GREAT message – thanks or the honesty and clarity – for not soft balling it and for challenging us to be honest with ourselves. So many great message today – too much to write! I LOVE MY CHURCH! [The call to worship, the prayers of confession, the biblical words of assurance we include in every service are powerful. I agree. All killer; no filler.]
  
• Very cool message on healing. Liked seeing people engaged in worship. [Saw a line four deep waiting for prayer with the prayer team at the 9:30am. It's been a dream come true to see this kind of praying going on in our services, especially that kind of personal contact.]
  
• Thank you for speaking to the spiritual realm. I sometimes get so focused on this physical world; it’s problems that I forget the spiritual is the eternal. This world is Satan’s, but Jesus has overcome the world. I need to take heart and believe enough that it changes the way I think, what I say and what I do. [Me too.]
• Beautiful Majesty song today! Great sermon, really challenging us, great, great closing worship set! [On Majesty, I loved the way Justin came in slowly and beautifully with the guitar at the start.]
• Love Justin’s new song! Didn’t care for prepackaged communion – too much fumbling. Loses meaning. [Thanks for the helpful feedback. We too were concerned that it might keep people from focusing on the Scripture reading beforehand.]
• While I liked doing communion in a more traditional way once in a while, I found the new communion cups very distracting. [Traditional for some and totally new for others. But I, like you, passed the plate while growing up.]
  

#3 - While I'm on a one-month sabbatical this summer we will hear messages from John Ortberg (on video from the Summit), Tim Keller (on video from the Summit), Tim Bubar and Vince Miller. All but John Ortberg will be preaching from our series on Luke, even Tim Keller. He's up when we get to Luke 15 and the story of the prodigal son(s). It's a great line-up.

#4 - Speaking of the Summit, we will be promoting this year's Willow Creek Leadership Summit starting in June. The dates for the Summit (held live via satellite at Eagle Brook's Lino Lakes campus) are August 9 and 10. Save the date. This is the best conference I attend every year. You know it's great. Your friends have told you it's great. Maybe this year you'll attend. 120 from our church attended last year. Our pricing is hard to beat because of our partnership with Eagle Brook in this event. This isn't only for people who consider themselves to be "leaders." It's for everyone and you'll be inspired in your journey with God.

 #5 - Here's the video faith story from the weekend. We had a little trouble with the color mix but the content is outstanding and inspiring. 

#6 - Interesting passage from Luke 14 this weekend. All I'll say is that it surprised me. Here's this coming weekend's benediction based on Luke 14. You can start to hear the blessing in it now.

Put your mind on your life with God
The way to life is God.

His way is not easy,
But it is simple and good.

His promise is to be with us.
He will not leave us.
He will not leave us.

I am so privileged to serve as your pastor. I spent a few minutes talking to one of our members after one of the services. We talked about our struggles in recent years and what God has been teaching us. Then I received such a kind email from him thanking me for stopping to talk with him. I was the one blessed. It was a great time of reflecting together. I love you all, and I pray for you. If you write a request, I pray for your request specifically. Thank you for praying for me and blessing my life.

Blessings to you, Pastor Henry

Good Question

I received this question in an email today regarding my Mid-Week Memo from last night:

Hey Henry,

Curious about your opening paragraph. Why would you not choose to preach on this type of passage normally?

If you have the same question, here was my answer:

Great question.

There are three approaches to preaching: topical, expository, and lectionary.

The topical approach asks questions like "what does the church need" and "what will be a good series to help our folks invite their friends." The series are usually highly relevant in that they speak to everyday life in a way that shows that Bible speaks to our everyday lives.

Expository follows along in a book or section of a book. The lectionary approach uses a book that pays close attention to the Christian year and gives an OT, Psalm and NT passage for that week. With expository and lectionary, choosing the passage is to some degree out of your control.

There's a lot to commend topical approach and we have used it in the past [and will continue to from time to time], but I've never seen anyone who follows this approach actually choose a passage like the one from last week. Only exception might be a series called "the hard sayings of Jesus." It's very confrontative. It lacks what people today would consider appealing. It requires a lot of explanation (topical series don't usually major on actually teaching the text but on application of the text with minimal teaching). It requires much more than a quick reading to find the message of grace that permeates it. It doesn't seem "relevant" to everyday life. [I'll just add here: It may not seem relevant but there is nothing more relevant than a passage like this one.]

From a more personal standpoint, it was daunting to figure out how to communicate the message in a way that held the passage together and didn't lose attention. And my personal preference is a passage like the one this week where Jesus is very compassionate. Doesn't feel too compassionate when Jesus says, "Yeah, 18 people died in that accident and you will suffer similarly if you don't repent."

If you have time, check out John Piper's blog post on the night of the I35 bridge collapse. Fascinating. He's the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis, in case you don't know. But he was heavily criticized for writing what he wrote and most people don't think this deeply (or want to) about our sin and culpability before a God who judges.

So, that's why I wrote what I wrote. Thanks for asking.

 

Mid-Week Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have a few things I want to share with you today.

#1 - Last weekend's message was the kind of passage I would not choose to preach on. The only reason I would ever spend an entire message talking about the fire of judgment and division Jesus said he would bring is because we're working our way through a book of the Bible and that was the next passage. I'm thankful for that discipline and that it takes my preferences out of the mix. Here were your comments about the service from the Communication Cards:

• The sermon two weeks ago revealed to me that I’ve been greedy with my time which is really His time. Thank you for your words that helped God to speak to me. Thank you for the reminder of pride today.  
• Thank you for helping me understand repenting in a new way. The Bible study you sent is tremendous and full of grace.
• Great message Henry!
• Loved the music today. Heard the guitar and playing nuances. The drums blended well with the rest of band. Noticeably louder than in weeks past. I know we get complaints about harshness or loudness. I at least enjoyed the volume/energy level.
• Henry, thank you for sharing God’s truth with us. Your message, God’s message, was heard loud and clear! Thanks! 
• Great message, Henry. Praise God for His continued deliverance in my life!
• Thank you for not making a change in your sermon just because it’s Mothers Day! God bless you!
• Thank you for the encouragement to the Group Life writer this week - yes, great lesson! For anyone reading the blog, are you feeling any prodding of the Holy Spirit to join the writing team? Contact Dave Baar (davebaar@comcast.net) [Amen!]
• Great opening set. Thank you. Henry, thanks for introducing this message in the context of Mother’s Day – nice and important tie in. I like the board – whether post-it, whiteboard or chalk – it tends to impression we are digging in learning, being taught. Great message closing with tender assurances and call to salvation. Great closing set – from “How Great Thou Art”…on!
• The Cross was enough – reminded me of what Jesus did for me. Amen! 
• Love hearing Kara sing!
• Enjoyed the music today. Nice to have singable songs.
• Thank you for this series Henry.

#2 - I received this email from Will and CarrieAnn Standfest who led the 13-week Financial Peace University class. They concluded it this last weekend.

Hey Henry,

Financial Peace University was great this year, we had a great group of families participate. We all learned together, and were able to encourage each other throughout the class. Six of the families taking the class were able to attend graduation this weekend. Since the beginning of class, these families were able to pay off $27,000 in debt, and put $4100 into savings!! It has been a blessing to be a part of lasting change in the lives of these families.

Thanks again for supporting FPU at Five Oaks, and I hope others can be encouraged by this.

Amazing! This course really works. Thanks to the Stanfests for leading this. It's a lot of work and their enthusiasm for it is contagious. 

#3 - Friend me on Facebook if you haven't already. Anyway, I changed my profile picture for the first time ever. I was playing with a new photo app while watching American Idol and loved the "sketch" option. So I got this email today:

Emerson loved the idea of coloring the photo you posted on facebook this morning.  Once finished, she hung it on the fridge next to her mother's day photo of herself she made in kindergarten.

Not bad, although I had to go brush my teeth after seeing this. 

By the way, that's in San Diego from this last March, not far from Hodad's, Ocean Beach (huge hamburgers and featured in Diners and Dives).

#4 - Have I told you how much I'm loving my Kid's Hope mentoring hour each week? As a matter of fact, I think I have. Well our director Sarah Bowers and Jerry Meras met with the principle and they are loving it too. They would like TEN more mentors for next fall! Not everyone has the flexibility to do this during the working day, but if you can...

#5 - Speaking of Kid's Hope. One of the teachers at Woodbury Elementary sent me this email this week:

Today a third grader looked at my “Bible” tie and said, “Hey, I know those books.  Those are the books of the Bible."  I said, “What church do you go to?” “Five Oaks and some people from our church come here.”...She was reading, “Genesis, Matthew, Hebrews, Ephesians…” pronouncing them correctly.  It’s always good to know of a Bible teaching church!

#6 - Important News Flash: We're changing the time of the Saturday service for the summer starting in two Saturdays (June 2). And we're adding dinner afterward for anyone who wants to stay and eat. After surveying our Saturday Nighters, we found that lots of them preferred a later time for the summer, but we also found that starting later creates some trouble for families because it makes supper so late. So we're going going a bit later, 5pm, and we'll have some pizza or subs each week after the service. Should be fun. Come and try it out!

#7 - If you show up late this week to our worship gathering, you'll miss a new song written by several folks on our worship team. I asked Justin about the song and he wrote...

...Nathan Stocker, Alex Hovda, Alex and Analisa Gerbig, and I wrote it. We had a worship night where we all got together just to sing. It was the same night Erinn painted the Easter painting. She painted that while we were writing the song. The song came pretty quickly then we recorded a demo version of the song. Later we reworked the lyrics and it all came together.

It's really a great song. I heard it for the first time at Encounter last week. Be early because they start about 3 minutes BEFORE the service starts!

#8 - Not sure yet how much I'll focus on it, but we'll spend some time talking about spiritual warfare this weekend as we study Luke 13:10-21.

Blessings to you, Pastor Henry

Not-So-Mid-Week Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I'm a little late this week, but there are still some things I want to share with you.

#1 - My message last week was about the continuation of Jesus' warnings about greed in Luke 12:22-34. Jesus tells us how to fight greed and not end up like the rich fool: look at our money and possessions through the lens of eternity and reflect deeply on our worth to God. God treasures us. We are his treasured possession. Justin and the worship team led us in a quiet reprise of "Furious" as we reflected on our worth to God and prepared for Communion. Here are the lyrics:

Nothing can tear us from
The grip of His mighty love
We’ve only glimpsed, His vast affection
Heard whispers of, His heart and passion
It’s pouring out…

His love is deep, His love is wide
And it covers us
His love is fierce, His love is strong
It is furious
His love is sweet, His love is wild
And it's waking hearts to life

The Father loves and sends His son
The Son lays down His life for all
He lavishes His love upon us
He calls us now, His sons and daughters
He’s reaching out…

#2 - Here are you comments from the Communication Cards:

• Timely (for me!) topic and great sermon today!
• Thanks for the great worship set. Liked the new opening song. Tim I love the stuff you say (great word huh?) in the middle of the opening set. Nice stage – setting contemplative words. Henry, love how you slowed down to let the words sink in. you’ve been doing that consistently for some time now. Another great convicting/inspiring message Henry. [I too love what Tim says and how he says it. All of that is planned as we seek to have every moment count and Tim throws his heart and soul into leading us in worship. Lots of thanks also for Dan Lukas who works behind the scenes planning our prayers, Scripture readings and other elements so critical to our worship each week.]
• Henry, thanks for all that you do. Keep up the good work. Aloha!!  Steve Chorpening [Steve, you will be missed. Thanks for serving faithfully all your years with us. Enjoy Hawaii and God bless you in the time you are stationed there!]
• The lengthier quiet time for reflection/confession at beginning so good. Good that it was longer than a few seconds. Also, great analogy with meals = quiet time daily. [It was good to have two of those kinds of times in our worship this week. Tim's time leading us in quiet confession and Justin's playing softly, leading us in quiet reflection.]
• Love the benedictions at the end of the service – such a blessing as we leave. Thanks!
• Thank you Pastor Henry! Your sermon today, as usual, was timed perfectly with something we have been struggling with personally. It brought perspective insight and most importantly God’s purpose for our lives through His words. You affirm that we need to trust God and I am grateful that you so eloquently say this to us. It is a verbal “slap” that I occasionally need! [Just heeding your comment from a few weeks ago to keep challenging you more. :-)]
• Thank you, Henry, for the very impactful sermon.
• Henry, great sermon today. A topic we all can relate to at varying levels. I noticed you also used lots of “we” statements today. “We struggle with this…” “We all need help with…” etc. this is a great way to level the playing field from the pulpit. Helps folks remember that you are working on these things, too. Thanks for keeping it real, Henry! God bless you.  [Best way to give feedback: Catch someone doing something right and underscore it. Love it. Thank you and a great reminder.]
• Amazing message today!
• Henry, thank you for this message. It’s more than money and more than possessions. God is in control and the more we give complete control, the greatest result is growth in our walk. It’s a life long goal to remember this no matter the anxieties on this earth.
• Love the worship last week and this week. Thanks Justin! 
• God’s got us. We are humbled, grateful, all He has shown us in these horrible times for our family. I will be scared, but I will keep moving because He’s got us, and we will do our part. [Well said, especially with all you are going through. God bless you and keep you strong.] 
• Furious. Like the analogy of “little flock”.  [Yes, that really stood out to me as I reflected on the passage. He does treasure us!]
• Good to be back, sitting under Pastor Henry’s teaching. Thank you Pastor.
• Your message last week may have changed my life. God is working in my life as I act out what I learned through your message. Thank you!  [This is what it's about. God's transformation as we hear his Word, trust him and act on it. Thanks for letting me know.]
• Furious – awesome! [Like I said, my new favorite song, although there are several close seconds.]
• Very passionate! Such an important and powerful reminder for all of us. Thank you, Henry!
• Pastor Henry talked about books on Easter for “skeptics”. Could he recommend one? [It depends how deeply someone is willing to go and what is the nature of the skepticism. But we send out A Search for the Spiritual by James Emery White to anyone who wants to know more. Shorter book, very well written, comprehensive. One of my favorite books of all time is Tim Keller's A Reason for God. But it's much more challenging. And if someone is struggling with anger toward God, The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel is great (this is also available as a documentary on DVD). Another small but powerful book is How Good is Good Enough? by Andy Stanley. His sermon by the same title is powerful. Bill Wilson gives the CD out to folks, and I think I'm going to start doing the same thing. You can download the mp3 here for $1.]
• No lesson outline available on way in! Song words late coming on. [Maybe more people are taking outlines and we need to do more!!! That's good news. Yeah, on the words coming in late, we had an amateur at the wheel this week...sorry to throw you under the bus Dan.]

#3 - In my personal opinion, the addition of prayer stations before Encounter, the addition the prayer times at three points in the evening and the reduction of volume (although still strong) made Encounter a quite powerful experience for Lois and me this week. Justin and some others from the worship team wrote a song that they debuted at Encounter that I think will become a Five Oaks favorite. Loved it!!! And one of the elements I most love about Encounter is how inter-generational it is. Seeing those pre-school kids loving the music and dancing all evening alongside youth and adults...precious! Thanks to all who made the evening of worship and connecting with God so powerful.

#4 - When people write books about the Hard Sayings of Jesus, this week's passage is usually listed. Come ready to be challenged, to learn more about our God and to worship.

That's it for this week. I love you. I pray for you (by name if you give us a request on the Com Cards). See you on the weekend.

Pastor Henry

Mid-Week Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have a few things I want to share with you today.

#1 - I loved the third service last weekend. The other two didn't impact me as much. Seemed a little disjointed and irrelevant. But the third service engaged my heart and helped me focus on God. I connected with God in that service.

#2 - Oh yeah, maybe I should tell you why the third service connected with me? It's the only one I attended from start to finish. It's the only one where I heard the call to worship, prayed a Scriptural prayer of confession, sang all the songs and participated in the response stations with my heart engaged and seeking God. It's the one Lois attends (she teaches 5th-6th graders on Saturday nights), so it's the service I attend from start to finish. I was in and out of the other two at various points (mostly in the back of the worship center), and I could hear most of what was happening in the green room, but there's nothing like being in there from start to finish. And, for me, it's important to sit toward the front where there are less distractions. Do I need to spell out the moral of this story? I think you get the point.

#3 - Here are some of the comments on the Com Cards from this last weekend:

• Female vocalist that led song has a beautiful voice. Thanks for sharing your gift and obvious heart for worship. 
• Thank you for telling us what we need to hear. Not what we want to hear. Pastor Henry called out the “ritual” followers – awesome! Do you mean it, when you invite Jesus? Loved it! 
• Great drum work this a.m.! 
• I liked that prayer, the corporate prayer. 
• Thank you for the worship set. Really great message Henry – very well constructed. Great closing song. Cool video Tim! [I love the video. Tim made it in one piece and from what I hear, the conference was quite impacting on the students.]
• Pastor Henry, thank you for your love of God’s word and your desire to share that with all of us. You and your family are in our prayers for wisdom, protection and the daily filling of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for all you do! 
• Thank you Henry, for the “picture” reminder of putting/letting Jesus get in the driver’s seat.[You'll be hearing that one more and more. It's a great illustration of spiritual maturity I picked up from the REVEAL team when I went down to Chicago a few weeks ago. We'll be unpacking that one for some time to come.]
  
• Thank you for your excellent teaching on this passage.
• Excellent illustration of Jesus in the car!
• Henry, your lesson today came at the perfect time for me. It’s so amazing how God continues to work in my personal life. I will be sharing your lesson with a young man [from Africa] that my husband and I have been mentoring. It will be a good spiritual lesson that I hope helps in an area our friend has been struggling in. Thank you. [The more spiritually mature you are in your faith, the more sharing what you've learned with someone else (to help and mentor them) will impact you more than learning it.]
  
• Thank you Worship Band! Henry, thank you for exposing my gods and revealing God’s desire more fully in my life. Thank you. 
• Henry, powerful sermon. Thanks for speaking into our lives.
• Henry, one of your best sermons ever. Thanks! Jon – great to see you on the bass again.
• We enjoyed the dinner at church last week. Any way to make it a regular event! [Maybe. It's something we have begun to consider, but I have no idea if we will.]
• What version was being used today? Didn’t seem to be ESV. [I double checked and it was. Let me know if you notice it again. I wonder if there are differences in the edition I'm using and the one you had.]
• Flickering lights during response too much.

#4 - I received this message from a Five Oaker on Facebook: "My 'Timehop Abe' service that tells me what I was doing a year ago today informs me that last year on this date I was in church, and we were just starting into the book of Luke! I think the last year has been awesome, btw." I had no idea. Looks like it will be a two-year journey since we're about halfway through it.

#5 - My nickle collection is growing! Thank you all who are praying for me and letting me know by giving me a nickle. I want you all to know that I pray for you too. I pray through the prayer requests with the Elders, but then I take it home and continue praying for you every day. If you let me know how to pray for you, you can be assured I will.

#6 - The nickle and prayer idea came from Stephen Kendrick. I love seeing people applying what they learned when he was here. I'd like to know if some of you have started using his family devotions idea. The Elders and I were talking this morning about prayer and Kendrick's sermon and it got me thinking about all the ways we pray as a congregation:

• We pray for people far from God at the Light station.
• Our prayer team and Elders keep busy praying for people who come for prayer during the response time.
• Several other stations focus on prayers of one kind or another.
• We often pray Scripture together in the call to worship, confession and assurance times at the outset of our worship services.
• The worship team prays over every chair every week (representing the people who will sit there) before the Saturday service, and they have several other prayer times each week during rehearsal and during the services.
• We have prayer partners for all of our Kid's Hope mentors. My prayer partner is in regular contact with me. When she drops her daughter off at school on Mondays (the day I mentor), they pray together for the kindergarten boy I'm mentoring at Woodbury Elementary. On Sunday the prayer partners went out to lunch, shared ideas and then went to the school for a "prayer walk."
• The Student Ministry is doing one of the twice a year prayer nights tonight. Justin will lead on acoustic, candles will line the worship area, the kids will have an open mic for sharing requests, and a lot of praying will be happening.
• The Prayer team also prays through the Communication Card prayer requests and sends notes out to the people they prayed for.
• Our daily Group Life integrates prayer into the Bible reflection time for each day.
• All of our small groups spend time praying for each other.

That is just scratching the surface. God invites you to pray. He calls you to prayer. I wish there was a way to pray in your place, reflect on Scripture for you daily and provide substitutionary prayer on your behalf, but there isn't. Only you can do it. And only commitment to it daily will help you grow spiritually. Praying once a week in corporate worship won't cut it (even if you add a second time at your small group meeting.) You simply won't grow into deeper love with God that way. Offering more prayer ministries in our church won't cut it. You have to pray...daily! At some point you need to grow up enough to pray without a pastor leading  you or a program at church facilitating your prayer time. You don't know how? Well Paul Miller gives very practical advice on how to develop a daily prayer habit toward the end of A Praying Life. Get the book. Or meet with someone who knows how to pray and ask them to teach you.

#7 - Here's the only comment we received back this week from the cards we send first time attenders:

• My first impression of Five Oaks was extremely positive.  After one service, I felt I had found a new church home.

#8 - I just downloaded a book from one of the Summit speakers from last year: Humilitas. It cost me $2.99 and I will read it on my Kindle app on my iPad or iPhone. I knew it was on sale because I subscribe to a daily email that announces special deals (I have already downloaded a couple of other books for free this week). Go to Gospel eBooks and get on their mailing list right here. Most deals disappear after 24 hours!

#9 - See if you can detect the order in our worship this coming week. I've been hinting at changes we've been incorporating for weeks now. Nothing different this week from the previous weeks. But when we plan, there is a general movement to the service. Below is what guides our decisions on what to do for each element of the service. All killer; no filler. (At some point in the not-to-distant-future we will begin to offer a worship guide that spells this out, but we're going to keep on just doing it before we start showing it.)

There are basically four movements. There are also movements within movements. But the basic pattern is Revelation and Response. We hear from God through his Word and we respond to his revelation.

So our worship begins with prayers and songs inspired from the Scripture to PREPARE our hearts to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed from the Bible (this includes hearing God's call to gather and worship, confession and assurance of God's forgiveness). As we hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we experience his REVELATION through his Word and the inner, mysterious working of the Holy Spirit. Our RESPONSE to this revelation (and it is crucial that we response) is accomplished through songs, prayers, and practices facilitated through our stations. We close by celebrating the witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that is, God's church at Five Oaks through stories, testimonies and announcements about our church family life; SENDING us off with a benediction reminding us of how we can live in the blessing of God's grace.

Come ready to worship this weekend and God bless you.

In God's love and grace, Pastor Henry