H. Henry Williams

A Great Outreach Opportunity

I know that in most people's minds, the Story of God small group experience we offer three times a year is for believers. But I want you to think about how impactful this can be to the not-yet-Christians you know who have some curiosity about the Bible and are searching for something to fill the spiritual void in their lives.The Alpha Course, for example, is mostly about discipleship topics (e.g., how to pray, basic theology, how to read the Bible) and goes longer than our Story of God experience, but it is one most effective evangelistic programs in the church worldwide. It works because Christians bring their not-yet-Christian friends. The Story of God can have the same impact. Think also of the intensity of study required to participate in Bible Study Fellowship. Again, tons of people from non-evangelical churches participate and discover God's grace through BSF. One friend told me she leads in that ministry so she can evangelize.

I'll be leading a new Story of God small group experience this January. Is there someone far from God you can invite to join you in the experience? Would it be worth doing it again if you could see your friend come to faith in Christ?

The Weekends...and Other Great Stuff

- What's Starbuck's comeback and watching your flat screen without an HD package got to do with your mission in life? Check out last weekend's message on Luke 9:57-10:24 if you missed it. It was about how we can lose our missional authority.

- Jim continues his antics in our message bumper as the story continues. A little birdie told me that no one was laughing louder than John Rudin who plays Jim.

- I paraphrased Larry Osborne: “Compassionate action without Jesus has no eternal value; Jesus without compassionate action has no credibility.”

- I was also struck that the first instruction to the 72 disciples Jesus sends out is to pray (first things first)...and specifically for more harvesters (people are ready and not enough are proclaiming the gospel).

- I love that our worship team had two high schoolers in it this week. It's a regular thing now and they're great! Great work Justin and Tim!

- How about "The Retreat" ministry!!! One person in my Story of God group is so excited to help. I heard about others too. Thanks to Elaine Wilde and Abby Carlson for their vision and service!

- Met a young lady after a service that brought a friend. She's been on a journey to faith in Christ. She's from another religion and is very concerned about her parents finding out. When she shared her journey at Fusion, the day before crossing the line of faith, one of the high schoolers shouted: "I lit a candle for you!" Putting first things first!

- Some comments we got on the worship: "Love, love, love 'It is Well'! Thank you." And “'It is Well with My Soul'! let’s do again and again." And "Worship was so worship 'full' today. My soul is filled with Jesus from listening and singing. Thanks worship team!"

- I met a lady before a service who was brought to church by her son who attends Fusion. She's been coming a couple of weeks. The Bible is new to her and she's loving hearing the Story. She said, "We'll have a bunch more family members here next week."

- Jeni Carlson, Traci Schroeder and Jerry Meras headed to a bilingual Free Church in the city and we're donating a lot of the Hudson children's equipment for their ministry. Jeni reports: "Really cool people. The best part was when Jerry busted out in Spanish with Pastor Vido from Nicaragua.  We ended our time in prayer and it's so beautiful to hear Spanish prayers and English prayers being offered up."

- Another church plant just north of Hudson is asking about some of our stuff. A few Hudson Five Oakers are attending there! We'll see what we can do.

- Plans for One Starry Night are developing: It's a family Christmas experience where all are invited to come to Five Oaks on Sunday night, December 11 from 6 - 8 p.m. to enjoy 1st century Bethlehem as they journey through venues of the Census taker's office, the cafe and marketplace, with live music, Star Gazer's Hill, and the Stable. 

- Special features for One Starry night: live animals, the Fusion Band, 1st Century Character Actors, and the launch of the Christmas Family Bible reading challenge.

-Completed our Story of God group on Sunday. Great group once again. One participant shared how she can't stop talking about what she's learning with her unchurched friends. Another wrote to thank us and said, "It was a wonderful study that has truly transformed the way we view the Bible."

- This weekend is about Impact ministries of compassion as we look at the parable of the Good Samaritan. Some interesting twists in the story that you might have missed.

- I'll be sharing about the results of the 3x5 cards I collect two weekends ago. You'll be encouraged by what you hear!!! I hope you will have one of those "I love my church" moments. I certainly did reading through the cards.

- We'll be introducing the new Kids Hope USA ministry. This is going to be a big part of our future as a church.

Resources on the Reliability of the Bible

Here are some resources I am mentioning in my message this weekend:

• Is the Bible Intolerant? Sexist? Oppressive? Homophobic? Outdated? Irrelevant? by Amy Orr-Ewing
• The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller
• The Case for Christ: The Film (DVD) by Lee Strobel

G.O.S.P.E.L.

Thanks Jonathan for pointing this video out. Great summary of the gospel. 

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

Good Question

Pastor Perry Noble throws out a great series of questions in a recent post. I find them to be personally challenging.

What if I was not a follower of Christ...and Christians treated me the way you I treat non-Christians?

That in itself didn't challenge me until I read the rest of his related questions. I added a few to his list.

• Would I ever get invited to church?
• Would I feel looked down on?
• Would I feel condemned?
• Would I be ignored?
• Would I ever see a Christian's life up close?
• Would I experience sacrificial service and love from followers of Christ?
• Would anyone pray for me?

Look at the question again.

What if you were not a follower of Christ...and Christians treated you the way you treat non-Chistians?

Top Book I Read in 2011

 

Okay, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skeptism by Tim Keller is the only book I've read this year (and I read most of it in 2010), but I don't think I'll read anything better this year. The first half takes on some of the big faith issues: 

1. There Can't Be Just One True Religion
2. How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?
3. Christianity Is a Straitjacket
4. The Church Is Responsible for So Much Injustice
5. How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?
6. Science Has Disproved Christianity
7. You Can't Take the Bible Literally

What I love about this book is that Keller's manner and method of addressing these issues is as informative as his answers. He is respectful at every turn yet manages to challenge and raise questions that skeptics (and our own skeptical minds) would rather avoid or simply neglect to ask.

The second half of the book builds a case for Christianity.

8. The Clues of God
9. The Knowledge of God
10. The Problem of Sin
11. Religion and the Gospel
12. The (True) Story of the Cross
13. The Reality of the Resurrection
14. The Dance of God

There is depth and insight here that I'll return to over and over again. I'm afraid I'll be quoting or stealing (I mean, borrowing) ideas from Keller way too much. I'll have to resort to saying "someone has said" and "I read somewhere" so as not to overuse his name. (Maybe I shouldn't have told anyone that.) Anyway, I highly recommend it.

This is also my number one recommendation as a book to give to a skeptic who likes to read and is willing to think. For those of you who have long commutes or spend a lot of time on a treadmill or stationary bike, consider the unabridged audio version. 

 

Harvest

Jesus said, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

A lot of prayer and inviting went into our ministries in December. Between the 12 students who made first-time decisions to follow Christ at the Fusion Christmas Extravaganza and the people who made first-time decisions at our Christmas services at East Ridge, we had 49 total first-time decisions in December!

One of the things we've noticed is how many of the first-time decision were made by people who have little or no history with Five Oaks--the people we invited. One student leader brought six friends to the Fusion event and three made first-time decisions.

I know many of you have been praying for people at the "Light" station and you've been having some unexpected adventures in spiritual conversations. Some are seeing results now, but most of us will have to wait longer. But in it all, God is glorified. Let's pray for a great harvest in 2011.

Last Minute Inviting

You don't give up on getting that last minute shopping done for Christmas, do you? Don't forget to get some last minute inviting in for the Christmas services. Make that call or send that email or walk across the room and give out that invitation. It could make an eternal difference in someone's life.

The gist of the Christmas message I'm giving this year is this: Those of us who have heard and received the message of Christmas sometimes have trouble understanding why everyone would not respond to the good news or even investigate it. We'll look at two reasons: it has been poorly demonstrated by Christians and it has been poorly explained. The hope is that before everyone leaves we will all have a better understanding of the gospel and that the basics of the message will be clear.

Don't be late, we have a great opening to the service and lots of singing of Christmas carols throughout.

 

Last Chance to Register

Learn some practical, memoral ways to share your faith. A two-hour seminar this Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. that will take you to the next level in your unexpected adventure. You must be registered to attend. Register here.

The Next Step in Your Unexpected Adventure?

My guess is that most long-term believers and pastoral staff are not prepared to share their faith in a way that makes sense to an inquirerer. Not because of lack of knowledge, but because of too much knowledge. What comes out becomes too complicated and jumbled. I'm also guessing that most followers of Christ have never been adequately trained to share their faith. I've seen data supporting both guesses, so I'm pretty sure I'm right on both counts.

So, are you ready to share your faith when the moment comes. Specifically, would you be able to simply and concisely articulate the gospel today if it came up in a conversation?

That's what the 2-hour "Sharing Your Faith" seminar is all about on Saturday, December 4 (8:30 - 10:30 a.m.). Practical and hands-on. If you could use some training or a refresher, register now right here.

Here's an outline of what Mark DuVal and I will be teaching:

• What's your evangelism style (and how can you leverage it)? 
• Gospel presentation "tools" (stuff you can do on a napkin and some hands-on practice)
• Helpful resources to share with others who are seeking