Mid-Week Memo

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Hey Five Oakers,

I have just FOUR things I want to share with you this week:

#1- I missed last weekend but I heard great things about the service and about Vince’s message. Vince listed some of the quotes and books he mentioned on his timeline on Facebook. Here are all the Com Card comments (made me wish so much that I was there):

  • Love the Jam session. 
  • I like the “pre-show” song, but why the change? It makes me worry that I’m late!  [I’ve joked that this is going to drive punctual people crazy and you’re the first to let me know. :-) There’s a reason for it, but I hesitate to go into it in detail. Here’s the short answer: Our call to worship at the beginning of the worship gathering is a crucial part of our worship. We are being very intentional about reminding everyone that God calls us to gather together to worship him, looking to his Word or singing a call and then taking time for confession and for receiving assurance of forgiveness. Yes, all that is packed into the first few minutes. But 2/3 of the congregation was missing most of it…until we started early. That’s all I’m going to say.]
  • So very thankful for the God given talent given to the worship team(s). Loved the guitars solos. Whoop! 
  • Great display of talent that God gives! 
  • Thanks for joining us Vince! Thank you Worship Team, awesome! 
  • Last song – amazing! 
  • Great solos on final worship song! 
  • Loved the version of “How Great Is Our God” – cool rhythm. 
  • Justin – you keep getting better! Wonderful. “More than Amazing” was amazing. 
  • Yes, following God is indeed a party. Thank you for the rocking song! 
  • Worship team! Wow! 
  • Awesome worship! 
  • Great message. 
  • Nice jam! 
  • Worship (praise) is so full of Jesus this morning. Thank you Worship Team! 
  • Missed you guys last week (spring break vacation). Great to be back in my worship home! Vince great to see and hear from you! Great message Vince, thank you. Really hit home – either we are with Him or against Him. Please avoid turning up guitars during final prayer, very distracting. 
  • Vince Miller had a great message today! He’s helped me begin my week with a positive goal. Thanks to his love for the Word. 
  • Great worship time. Very real message. Thanks. 
  • Great job on the last song worship team! Awesome! 
  • Looks like we forgot to let Vince know that we now use ESV version. [Yep, my bad.]
  • The music is great, except too loud, especially the last song. Please tone it down. Thanks. 
  • I was very upset with the guitar solo during worship. It should be about God, not the people on stage.
  • The volume of the first worship set was very loud. I had one lady ask for ear plugs (I was at the info desk working security.) I went in and I must agree it was loud.
  • Music was very loud, almost painful - 9:30. 

#2- Okay, so I want to speak a little to the “too loud” issue.

  • First, in our evaluation, we think that the 9:30am was probably the service that drew the most comments about loudness. With spring break, that service is was not as full as usual and was much less attended than the 11am. We may not have made proper adjustments in sound since people in the seats absorb sound.
  • Second, we have taken many, many additional steps to make the sound less abrasive over the last year including changing the symbols, working with our drummers and sound volunteers to take out abrasive sounds and many other steps (I’ll detail them in another post some time).
  • Third, we still have one more investment to make to help the sound that will be applied in coming weeks (i.e., putting sound reinforcements on the stage area ceiling).
  • Fourth, I want you to know that we never run the decibels loud enough to damage hearing. We are always monitoring the level and we stayed in our normal range, even in the 9:30am this week. But sometimes the mix is such that some sounds are harsher on the hearing.

I just want everyone to know that we are CONSTANTLY working on removing harsh sounds while, at the same time, keeping the energy and volume levels up (and, yes, the two are connected).

#3- A couple of weeks ago I was talking to Justin about all that goes on behind the scenes each week for the worship team to prepare for the service…besides rehearsing. I’m talking about the spiritual prep that takes place.

  • Since the team can’t do the stations, they take time to worship with some iPod music and they do the stations together.
  • The team walks through the worship center praying about what will take place in the service and touching every chair as a representation of the folks that will be sitting in the chairs.
  • During rehearsal, they have a time of sharing prayer requests and praying for each other.
  • Lastly, during the third service and during the transition to the message, they circle around and “popcorn” prayers of thanks. Justin doesn’t want a week to go by where they don’t thank God for making it all possible.

#4- Congratulations to head coach (and Five Oaker) Brad Frost and his Gopher Women’s Hockey team on their national championship! We're talking about a collegiate National championship folks!!!

I can’t wait to be back in the saddle this weekend. I’m teaching on Luke 11:29-36 and addressing reasonable and unreasonable doubt. Jesus is very patient with the Thomas’ of this world who struggle with doubts, but in this passage he becomes quite impatient with some doubters. What’s the difference? Come and see how our doubts can become unreasonable.

See you on the weekend.

With much love,

Pastor Henry

Mid-Week Memo

in

Hey Five Oakers,

I have quite a few things I want to share with you today:

#1- We completed the "A Praying Life" series on Luke 11:1-13. I hope it was a boost to your praying life. But the bottom line is the only lasting boost is growing in greater knowledge of our dependence on God. As I said on the weekend, you don't need discipline to ask for directions when it's the last resort to get to your destination. I can't live the life God designed for me without him...every step of the way. I need God all the time. It's just that I don't get that. But I'm getting it more and more.

#2- I hope the story I read from Paul Millers book whets your appetite for the book. His book is filled with stories like that one that you'll never forget and will impact how you pray.

#3- I've been at a pastor's meeting in San Diego for three days. It's kind of a round table discussion with 45 senior pastors of larger churches. It's facilitated by Larry Osborne (we have one of Larry's books on our resource table and it's very much in the vein of Paul Miller's book). We were having a discussion on parenting and pastor's kids when one of the pastors recommended reading Paul Miller's book on prayer as a book on parenting! Exactly! If you haven't read a book in a while, start with this one. (Although you may also want to get the first Hunger Games book done before the movie comes out in a couple of weeks. :-))

#4- Here's the Feed Event video from last weekend

#5- Here is some of the feedback and comments from the Communication Cards:

  • Thank you for Feed My Starving Children. So meaningful!
  • Henry, thank you for addressing those of us who have experienced extremely ‘sinful’ fathers.  Your words were comforting, healing and encouraging.  Beautiful song (I am yours)! [A good friend asked why I didn't mention my not having a dad in my life (mine left soon after I was born and I never met him or his family). My experience (and studies I've read support it) is that not having a dad in your life is better than having a seriously flawed one, especially if you have some strong, positive male figures in your life. I had those in my family and at church.]
  • I think my prayers are going to change dramatically, which is a good thing. 
  • Love this series!!  Great worship today!  
  • Henry – keep up the great work and everyday life blogs it’s a great ‘pick me up’ and ‘nudge’ for me when the daily grinds have me on a short term path. [Someone is actually reading this? :-)]
  • Looking for any regular members/attenders who live in/near downtown Mpls. for transportation. [I don't think we have many or any coming from that direction and that far. If you're having trouble making it to Five Oaks regularly and decide to look for something closer to home, I've heard GREAT things about Hope Community in downtown Minneapolis and met the pastor this week. It's predominantly young adults, but I think that would be my preference, even at my age. Former Five Oaks members that moved to downtown Minneapolis love First Covenant, which has experienced some great transformations with their new pastor.] 
  • Loudness of Acorn Café staff conversing with each other made it difficult to hear the monitor.  Maybe remind workers that people are trying to listen a few feet away.  I ended up asking them to use a lower volume and it was much better.  [We are devising a plan...... More on that on another day.]
  • Thank you Five Oaks team!!  [You are welcome!]
  • Excellent first response time song!  [I agree! And its message was so perfect coming out of the message. We're doing some new things behind the scenes in designing the services that you may be noticing, but we're geeking out on these changes. I'll talk more about it once we're farther into it.] 

#6- The Nicaragua family missions team should have arrived there yesterday. I'm told the staff gathered around Jerry and prayed for him and the team at our weekly check-in. Pray for their effectiveness and safety.

#7- The Treehouse ministry is gearing up for a "Cross the Line Weekend" on April 7/8.  On this weekend we'll present the gospel message and ask kids where they are at in their faith journey. We also give the parents a head-up, in case they want to be the ones to pray with their kids to receive Christ (if the child is ready). We provide resources to help with that too.

#8- The weekend after "Cross the Line Weekend" the Treehouse will be helping kids take next steps in their spiritual growth by challenging and equipping them to practice spiritual disciplines like daily prayer, Bible reading and Bible memorization. I love that our Children's Ministry is so intentional with our kids. Thank you to all volunteers and staff who make this happen every weekend!

#9- Need prayer?  Did you know you can make an appointment to pray with a prayer team member on March 22 any time between 7 - 8:30 p.m. Schedule an appointment through the office at office@fiveoakschurch.org.

#10- So the weather in San Diego is cooler than in Minnesota...IN MARCH! So weird. We're bragging about it here, but then everyone says, "But you're here in San Diego."

#11- We're launching a new station on this weekend for the new series. All I'm going to tell you is that it's BIG.

#12- Our new series focuses on Luke 11-14. One of the themes that dominates these chapters is choosing the good and narrow path that leads to Christ and to a better life in him (for now and eternity). It made me think of what Andy Stanley calls "the principle of the path": Direction, not intention, determines our destination. The reality is that the quality of your life (your marriage, your career, your parenting, your finances) is determined by the paths you choose. It's a principle built into the fabric of the universe. So we're using his title and promoting his book as an additional resource for growth during the next 11 weeks or so of this series.

#13- The new series logo is inspired by the classic Zelda video game. If you've played it, you know why it fits great with a series on choosing the right path. (Great idea and design, Geoff.) And the Easter graphic was painted by Erinn Schaap. It's beautiful! Check both out here.

God bless you,

Pastor Henry