Thursday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

There are a few things I want to share with you today:

1// Incredible Christmas services. Thank you to all the volunteers and staff that made it special.

2// About 7 people noted first-time decisions to follow, 12 marked they were renewing their relationship with Christ and about 10 requested more information on beginning a personal relationship with Christ!

3// Here is a selection of the comments from the Communication Cards:

• Thank you for a wonderful message – it hit my heart. Just what I needed. Thank you! Merry Christmas!

• Henry, is it possibly time to cut your toenails? Love all of the Christmas carols! Awesome celebration of Christ’s birth. [Good idea!]

• Thanks for a wonderful message today!  So touching!

• Thank you, Pastor Henry, for providing such meaningful sermons for us! Merry Christmas!

• Appreciated all the Christmas songs.

• Thank you for this Christmas service.

• Loved the opening Christmas music set and the video!  Beautiful, absolutely beautiful Christmas message.  So simple, so powerful, so well-constructed and clear.  Praise God.  Loved your family stories, too, and Judy’s story underscored it all.  Thanks for calling people to Jesus.

• Powerful message, beautiful service. Great job everyone. Thanks to all who volunteered and helped in any way with the Christmas services.

• Wonderful Christmas service.

• I liked Pastor Henry’s preaching. Merry Christmas!

• Thank you for the message. Thank you for the invitation! I have family members with me, who don’t have a relationship with Christ yet!

• I am just thankful!

• Praise God!

• Thank you staff and volunteers for facilitating a wonderful Christmas service. I feel blessed.

• All glory to God!

• God’s blessings to all of the staff and Five Oaks this holiday season.

• Thank you Heavenly Father! Thank you Five Oaks staff and volunteers!

• Pastor Henry, you made things very clear and real.  And I love the worship music here.

• Thanks for a great Christmas sermon.

• I am so thankful for Jesus and His awesome sacrifices!

• Wonderful alter call with piano!  Moving – piercing!  Never is a better way for believers to prepare for communion.  Love Christmas in my church.

5// Some helpful links as you enter the new year next week:

• How to Read the Whole Bible in 2014 (Justin Taylor)

• My post from a few weeks ago, "Five Ways to Get into the Bible Daily."

• Here’s a Bible reading plan to do with others over the next three years: "Bible reading plan for 2014 by Tim Chester."

• Get more out of the Bible for the rest of your life by completing "The Story of God." Register here.

4// "Religious people find God useful. Christians find God beautiful.” (Tim Keller) Come worship our beautiful God this weekend. Join us as we conclude the Exodus series.

Blessings, Pastor Henry

Christmas Reset

Hi Five Oakers, Christmas services start on Sunday afternoon and there are a few things I don't want you to miss:

Christmas Services

Songs of Christmas, a break from the rush and stress, time to focus and to worship, a message from God’s Word on celebrating God’s presence, Emmanuel.

Links I Like

A middle school boys passes up a chance to score. Another one cries on film without shame. It's about a gift to a boy and to family.  And about the joy of giving.

http://youtu.be/0Ejh_hb15Fc

One More Thing

From a limited perspective, I think there are two or three small windows of time when Christmas feels “right”—when you are a child, when you have small children (it goes south the older they get) and when you have small grandchildren. Some people get to experience all three windows. Some people experience none of these times times when things feel right. These really are very small windows of time. I can see that now since, for the first time, neither one of our kids will be home for Christmas. But so many of our expectations and disappoints in this season revolve around trying to recapture those times when things felt right or around feeling cheated for not getting to experience them.

But what if this Christmas was more than about things feeling “right” in that limited sense. What if we set our minds and hearts on celebrating “God with us.” Frankly, it’s hard to do when we’re living in one of those windows. But as soon as we’re out of it, we can spend all your energies trying to recapture them, hoping our middle school son will squeal with delight again on Christmas morning (good luck on that one) or we can seek something deeper. “God with us” will never feel like a childhood Christmas morning filled with presents around a tree (or the anticipation of those presents). It's different. We have to adjust our expectations. And we even have to adjust some of our rituals and traditions. But celebrating God with us is a window of time that will never pass away or disappoint.

Blessings to you all, Pastor Henry