Mid-Week Memo

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Dear Five Oakers, Big weekend coming up! With that very much on my mind, I have NINE Christmasy things I want to share with you:

#1 - Dan Lukas asked me today, "Is it too soon to say 'I told you so.'" He was referring to attendance for the weekend. I admit, I was lobbying for six services a few weeks back, and he was lobbying for seven. He won the debate. And judging from our online pre-registrations, I'm going to be very glad to hear him say "I told you so!" Very glad indeed.

#2 - We're going to have a packed house, so... cuddle in close to the big smelly hairy guy in your row; he won't bite.

#3 - Our service at 12:30 on 12/24 has the most space. This probably has something to do with the Bears, er... Vikings game at noon. If you don't want to cuddle with the aforementioned  big-hairy-dude, then come to this service because he'll probably be home watching the Bears, er... Vikings.

#4 - Pam Hawley, one of our ministry assistants, asked for prayer at our staff check-in this week. Seems next week is one of the busiest of the year for her because of having to send out follow-up material to people who make first-time decisions. Pretty cool! The office staff gathers around the books and Bibles and prays before sending them out. Maybe a package will be sent to a friend or relative you bring with you on the weekend!

#5 - I'm SO pumped about this service! We just went over all the elements this morning to take care of last minute details. It's our first time back to our own building for Christmas services after two years at the high school. The feel we're shooting for is "warmth," "home for Christmas," "joy." I really think you're going to love it. And my message, presenting the gospel, is clear and shoots for the heart.

#6 - Don't light your hair on fire. We have real candles for everyone for a certain song at the end of the service.

#7 - When the ushers hand you a program for EVERYONE in your party, take it! Everyone needs a Com Card. Insider info here: When everyone takes a card, everyone pulls out the card, everyone fills out the card on my cue, then anyone receiving Christ or asking for more information on Christ feels comfortable doing so. Taking a Com Card and filling it out is evangelism in action.

#8 - If you didn't rsvp, there's still time (5oakschristmas.com), OR you have guests you did not rsvp for... BRING THEM ANYHOW. COME. Don't let our rsvp thing keep you away.

#9 - I listened to Tim's message from last weekend and it was GREAT! Vintage Tim. Great stories and illustrations. The dead fawn story was priceless for explaining God's rejection of sin. Great explanation of the wages of sin. Someone wrote on their card that it was Tim's best ever. Definitely top three. And I heard about the small group that came and sat up front with their ugly sweaters. One had a red flashing light. I'm bummed I wasn't preaching because I always love to preach to a bunch of people dressed in ugly sweaters that are flashing a light in my face. :-)

See you for Christmas services. If you're out of town, God bless you this Christmas and keep you safe on the road. Pastor Henry

Mid-Week Memo (Part 2)

in ,

Hi Five Oakers, Here are SEVEN more things I want to share with you this week:

#1 - GREAT weekend of worship. The Fusion band led us and did their usual incredible job. The Kids Choir opened the service and they were adorable. Great crowd on Saturday night made for room on Sunday at 9:30am. Thank you! Some of your comments on the cards:

  • Loved the kids worship! Great, simple message Henry. Thank. Hakuna Matata, very funny! Great closing prayer. Love the final worship set. Thanks youth!
  • “Mighty To Save” arrangement was great. 
  • Nice job Fusion Band! I love how Justin uses the high school kids and their “gifts”. Thank you.
  • Hannah – your voice put such a beautiful peace into Silent Night. Thank you. Hannah sang like an angel.  
  • Love it when the Fusion Band plays. Sweet voices too! Love the parts in Silent Night.
  • I never realized the manger symbolized our rejection of Jesus. Thank you for the tie-in to his mission and our need to respond.

#2 - All week long I see a steady stream of our members doing behind the scenes ministry at the church building from addressing and stamping envelopes to counting money to painting, building or fixing stuff around the building. Thanks to all of you. And how about that incredible manger scene built by Dave Holland! You can see another piece of his incredible word working skills during Tru in the CLC. We use every week in Children's Ministry.

#3 - More behind the scenes ministry: Each week, after the Saturday morning study, the guys from the men's Bible study put up 12 tables and 96 chairs in the CLC for kid's programming. What takes a couple people up to a half hour is done in minutes with this team. Then, after three weekend services, Casey Hayden's High school boys small group comes in takes the tables and chairs down! I love it!

#4 - I'm continually amazed at what the Women's Ministry continues to do. I love that they invited the East Ridge Choir to sing at the Christmas event. If you receive Dee's updates you know:

  • In November, as an Impact project, twelve women (and some children) went over to the Union Gospel mission and bagged over 650 bags of groceries. The December initiative was to buy Christmas gifts for the women and children staying at the Tubman Shelter.
  • Fitness classes have remained steady with about 12-20 women attending the 6:00 and 25-30 for the 7:00 Prayerful Flow.
  • At the first annual Boutique and Craft Fair 37 vendors saw a steady flow of traffic and several folks asked about our church.
  • Minnesota author Kristie Kerr will be coming on Wednesday mornings to Five Oaks to teach her Bible study, "The Search for Me: Finding your True Identity in Christ." She was also the speaker at the Women's Ministry Christmas event. I think it's so cool that they also invited

#5 - This week's message in the Vintage Christmas series (Luke 1-2) is "The Shepherds." The angels have an incredible message to share with the shepherds. It reveals the true nature of our predicament and our deepest needs...and how God meets our needs and rescues us from our predicament.

#6 - Don't forget to sign up for Christmas Eve service you will attend. The early service on the 24th has the most room and could use some love. Sign up here.

#7 - Invitation cards you can use to invite friends will be available this weekend. Grab a bunch and make your invitations. As usual, I will be presenting the great gospel story and asking people to respond. We've got a great drama/video planned that sets up the message. Here's the big idea: If the Christmas story were made into a movie, what genre of movie would it be? Science fiction? Road trip buddy movie? Epic drama?

God bless you all. Your hard work and service is making my Christmas that much more special.

Pastor Henry