Henry Williams

Hi Five Oakers, It's the weekend and there are a few things I want to share with you.

1 - Loveology.001

The Weekend

Today we're talking about sex in our Loveology series. The question I'm going to address is, What if sexual intimacy in marriage is one of the means God uses to make us more like Jesus?

FYI

Jeni Carlson on "What if….. our kids asked, 'What needs to be done?'"

Serving allows the Holy Spirit to cultivate a sensitivity to others and focuses on a cause bigger than one individual life

Jared Wilson on "How do you know if you're repentant?"

Repenting people, typically, are zealous about casting off their sin. That’s what God’s Spirit does inside of them. When this happens, one can expect to see a willingness to accept outside counsel. A willingness to inconvenience their schedules. A willingness to confess embarrassing things. A willingness to make financial sacrifices or lose friends or end relationships.

One More Thing

Ray Ortlund, Jr., Isaiah: God Saves Sinners (Preaching the Word Commentary: Crossway, 2005). Cited by Jared Wilson.

“We are not just ordinary. Nothing is just ordinary. ‘The whole earth is full of his glory.’ We keep trying to fill it with monuments to our own glory — kingdoms, businesses, hit songs, athletic victories, and other mechanisms of self-salvation. But the truth is better than all that. Created reality is a continuous explosion of the glory of God. And history is the drama of his grace awakening in us dead sinners eyes to see and taste to enjoy and courage to obey.

“Do you realize that it is God’s will to make this earth into an extension of his throne room in Heaven? Do you realize that it is God’s will for his kingdom of glory to come into your life and for his will to be done in you as it is done in Heaven? Heaven is expanding, spreading in your direction.

“That is the meaning of existence, if you will accept it and enter in.

“Heaven is taking over. Yield.”

The Weekend

It's THE weekend--the celebration of Christ's resurrection. We're going to be looking at the resurrection as told in Matthew 28.

Interestingly, there's only one person clearly identified besides Jesus. It's not Peter or John or any of the other disciples. The disciples are only referred to as a group.

This one person shows us that after the resurrection Jesus continued to be concerned about "the least of these." And it is to the humbled--people who are on the outside and excluded and failed--that Jesus first gives not only the good news of the gospel, but also the task of announcing its life-changing, world-altering message.

I'm excited to share the message of Easter that takes the dead ends in our story and weaves them into his glorious story of love and grace and acceptance.

FYI

Jeni Carlson on "Game Cafe Highlights"

One KidsHOPE USA child from Woodbury Elementary School and his family attended! This Local Impact connection from the school to our church is amazing! Repeating comment, "let's do this every quarter, or at least once a month, or how about weekly?" Multi-generations of Five Oaks community gathered to build puzzles, challenge Pastor Henry with Settler's of Catan, and play board games

Jeni Carlson on "Easter Experience"

We are thrilled to announced an all ages experience for Five Oakers during the weekend of Easter on April 4 and 5.