Monday Memo

Hi Five Oakers, We launched our Galatians series this past weekend. I felt way out of my comfort zone using a bit of a different format for my sermon. But I'm looking forward to doing it again this weekend. Thanks to several of you for the feedback.

If you missed this last weekend, be sure to call the church office and see about picking up the Galatians Daily Study Companion written by our Group Life writers.

Here are most of your comments and questions from the Communication Cards:

// Beautiful opening worship! Love the way you see the world Tim! [I LOVE Tim's worship leadership for the readings!]

// I like the clever “Inside Out” visual wordplay.

// Loved the worship set. Made me feel so close to God. Thank you! Great message today – so grateful for the Story of God is our church!

// I liked the “Prayer Web” station. I wish we still had that available.  [It will be back. It's one of our rotating stations.]

// Wow Henry – so good! Looking forward to the coming weeks. Thank you for teaching truth.

// It’s not just a simple prayer – it’s a heart change. Such an amazing truth!

// Great message Henry! I always learn so much from your sermons. It is evident that the Holy Spirit is speaking through you.

// The visual aid of brown paper and simple black marker is refreshing and clear. Technology has its place, but we don’t always need “flashy” examples to make an impact. [I've wanted to do something big like that, where I can put all the SOG icons for a long time. We finally figured out a way to do it.]

// Really missed our music worship last week – praise God for “Feed My Starving Children”, but glad we’re back this week! Loved the overview to set the stage! Loved the intro to Galatians (actually reading it) and the prayers before getting into the text. Love your message – truly God inspired. We are so blessed by and through this church.

// God’s word trumps everything. Amen.

We received this comment back from the cards we send first-time attenders:

2/23  I’m excited to make Five Oaks my new home church.  I have already invited family!

Blessings, Pastor Henry

If someone goes through the trouble of putting on their pants on...

If someone goes through the trouble of putting on their pants, getting in a car and going to a church service, they probably don't want to be anonymous. So says Bill Hybels. I think he's right. He adds that if all a person wants is information and they crave anonymity, they go to the internet these days. Yeah, there are some exceptions to this, but the first-time guest sitting next to you during a service usually wants a little human connection. It's hard to be anonymous in our worship center anyway, so the exception is unlikely to stick to around. If you ever think maybe we're too friendly with our guests as a church, relax. The greater risk is to come across as cold to someone looking for connection.

So go for connection. Every week. Don' t let anyone fall through the cracks.