Thursday Memo

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Hi Five Oakers,

This weekend I’ll be talking about how to fortify your faith. I hope you can join us.

At the 9:15am service I forgot to show the cup we gave the Set-up and Take-down crew when we moved to our building. It reads, “If you set up, they will come.” Good times!

Here's the sermon from last weekend in 10 tweets: "FOR [ God gave ] – God’s Sacrifice, our Sacrifice (John 3:16; 1 Chron. 21:24; Mk 12:41-44; 2 Cor 8:1-5):

  1. Genuine love is not a superficial emotion; love is sacrificial action.
  2. Helen Simmons had to taste the sacrifice.
  3. King David: “I will not offer a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”
  4. Jesus doesn’t see the penny the poor widow gave; he sees the sacrifice & says she gave more than anyone.
  5. The Macedonians gave abundantly, sacrificially & joyfully in spite of their poverty and hardships.
  6. “For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross…” Love is joyful sacrificial action.
  7. Over 100K people within a reasonable driving distance of our campus are unchurched and far from God.
  8. Are you treating the bride of Christ like a consumer product? Are you acting like a consumer or co-owner? You are the church.
  9. 19 missionary families, 520K meals, 438 Thanksgiving bags, 4009 diapers, 180 backpacks, $192K Impact budget, $80k FMSC
  10. Hector Dalton: “We’ve learned that in order to grow your faith you have to step out in faith.”

Looking forward to seeing you on the weekend!

Blessings, Pastor Henry

Wednesday Memo

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Hi Five Oakers,

Another great weekend last weekend, the second in our campaign series. I received this email after the sermon:

I just wanted to thank you for your message this weekend.  It always seems “touchy” to talk about what God wants us to do with the money that He has provided for us. 

It is touchy for several reasons. Really, two primary reasons:

  • Some people have had a really bad experience with a church when it comes to money. I’ve heard some horror stories. I truly hate the fact that any words about money that come out of my mouth automatically pass through that filter in many people’s minds. Many pastors avoid the subject altogether for that very reason.
  • Everyone has made an idol out of money. Everyone! And woe to the pastor who challenges an idol!

But I’m willing to talk about money for several reasons:

  • God’s Word addresses the topic and I’m a committed Bible teacher.
  • We need to confront our idols.
  • If I didn’t talk about money, I’d be committing pastoral malpractice. It would be like a doctor not talking about heart disease because some people get angry.
  • People will leave a church based on whether or not you talk about money. If you talk about it, some people leave and they are always people who don’t give and don’t want to give. If you don’t talk about what the Bible says about money and giving, the givers are discouraged because you are not affirming their obedience on this issue. They feel alone. Some of those people leave. So, if you love God and his Word and the mission of his church, which group would you prefer leave? It’s a choice. I choose to affirm givers and teach the Word on giving.
  • Lois and I are one of the lead giving families in this church. And we've been committed to giving and tithing all of our married life, even when we had two small kids and very, very little income. I’m not asking anyone to do something I don’t practice myself.

All that said, I don’t like it when people leave. I want them to grow. And I want what’s best for them. So I weigh every single word carefully and ask for feedback regularly. In fact, I have read and will read every sermon in this series to a group of four or more other people for feedback before I preach. It’s made my sermons better. But no matter what I do or how careful I am, people have filters or hold tightly to their idols even to their own detriment. And some will leave.

So I’ll keep preaching it, and I’ll leave the results to God.

Blessings, Pastor Henry