Tuesday Memo

Hi Five Oakers,

I have a few things I want to share with you.

#1- It's great to be back from my four-week sabbatical. Great time with family, for refueling and for regaining some perspective on life and ministry. I even got some traction on the Story of God book revision. 

#2- I was able to visit three churches while on sabbatical. The worship songs at Hope Community in Minneapolis especially stood out. Amazing. Every song was a rearrangement of a hymn that week, and they're working on an album with their arrangements. I will definitely buy it. It was weird to look around and almost everyone was in their 20's. Fortunately for me, unless I look in the mirror I still think of myself as that young, so I felt comfortable. But you can imagine how frightening it is every time I see myself! By the way, Hope is the church that does the extended greating time with an ice breaker question. I turned around and met a teen age pastor's son visiting that weekend.

I was blessed by every visit to other churches, but Lois and I both talked about how much we missed worshipping at Five Oaks after every one. I feel spoiled by our team of worship leaders, and I missed seeing you guys in the Commons or in the service.

#3- You may have noticed I'm conducting yet another experiment. I'm going to break down the Mid-Week Memo into three or four days each week. Each one will be shorter and will focus on a separate area. The Tuesday Memo will focus on the previous weekend. I'm hoping a shorter Memo will be easier to read.

#4- You can review the songs, readings, prayers and get a snippet of the message here. Below is from the time of Confession & Assurance. I love the last line.

not the labor of my hands can fulfill thy laws demands
could my zeal no respite know, could my tears for ever flow
all for sin could not atone, thou must save and thou alone.
nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.
_from ‘Rock of Ages’ Traditional arranged by Brooks Ritter & Thomas Hasting

(I hate having missed a Brooks Ritter arrangement. He's a worship leader at Sojourn in Louisville where Henry Michael attends.)

#5- Here are your Communication Card comments from the service last weekend:

• Dan – loved hearing you sing this morning and the opening hymns. Great message Vince – thank you for the challenge of immovable character. [I listened to the podcast of the message and it was very good. And, yes, very challenging. The mirror story proved he's a better man than me. I may have given in and put it up at 9:30pm, but I would complained and belly-ached and tried to get out of it every minute. His wife sounds a lot like mine, though. No better time to do something like that than now for both of them.]
• Beautiful worship. Awesome word from Vince. 
• Was blessed by worship today, Dan and team! Great message, Vince!
• Great sermon from Vince, as always! [We are blessed to have Vince come from time to time and preach. Thanks, Eagle Brook, for letting us borrow him on those weekends!]
• Challenge students heard the same Dallas Willard quote on disciples this past week that Vince quoted this morning! [Willard is one of the most influential present-day writers on the subject of discipleship and spiritual formation. Unfortunately, his books are hard to follow at times. But if you want a good dose of Willard, read John Ortberg's book called The Life You Always Wanted. Ortberg refers to himself as "Dallas Willard lite" (but he's not lite by any means, just a lot easier to follow, in my opinion). You can usually purchace the book at our Resource Table.]
  
• Thank you Vince Miller! 
• Great opening – readings – and “Rock of Ages” – set-up for message! Love Vince, this message – missed not having slides/visuals to back up/add to the message. Dan – great reflection and empowerment selections. Great job!
• Vince thank you for that powerful message. I will always remember that message and the 200 lb mirror. God bless! Dan – thank you for the great performance at “We Lift Our Eyes”. It’s so relevant for my life right now.
• Refreshing service – music awesome – did not need ear plugs today. Simple deep challenge to not drift.
• Fantastic opening song. Dan Lucas did an amazing job this weekend. Thank you.
• Very nice worship set. Thank you. Great message Vince! Thanks so much for parsing that passage for us. Always confusing for me. Cool how Jesus took a reprobate to teach us how to repurpose our lives. Thanks for the wonderful closing set.

So sad to miss all that, but so happy to be back. I love our church!

Blessings to you, Pastor Henry

Midweek Memo

Hello Five Oakers!  This is Kent O'Grady, Director of Small Groups Ministries. I came on staff in June 2011 and have been leading small groups for over 15 years in three different churches. My career as a State Trooper has had me move all over the state of Minnesota. My wife and I now reside in Woodbury and have been coming to Five Oaks since 2004. We'll celebrate our thirty-year anniversary this month. We're empty-nesters and have two sons, two daughters (in law) and one granddaughter. My heart is to help others grow closer to God through prayer, study of Scripture and growing relationships with one another in the Body of Christ. As the Director of Small Groups I have a ring-side seat to the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of People. What a blast!

#1 - I hope you had a great Independence Day. My wife Cindy, and I joined some neighbors as we enjoyed the spontaneous display of pyrotechnics in our neighborhood. 

In many countries of the world, an expression of faith in Christ will bring harsh persecution and death.    This week, as we celebrate our country’s independence and our religious freedom, let us remember and pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in countries where they can’t enjoy these freedoms.

#2 - As our church grows, it can be hard to get connected to others as close to a thousand people come and go across three different service times on the weekends.    Experience teaches us that the best way to connect with others and grow in your knowledge and love for God is in a small group.    A small group is a group of up to 20 people who meet three of four times each month.  People from all backgrounds and at all points on their spiritual journey get together to socialize, learn from God’s Word, pray and serve together.  People from all faith backgrounds are welcome.  It is in our diversity that we learn and grow.  You don’t need to be a Bible scholar to be in a small group.   You can participate in the discussions at whatever level you choose.  You won’t be asked to pray out loud unless you are comfortable doing so.   We have mixed groups, men’s groups and women’s groups. 

Here is a small group photo from last year!

Here is our small group serving at Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis.

Come and check out a small group.   Contact me at the contact info below.  Let’s get together and find a small group that’s right for you.  

#3 - Here are your comments, plus some of mine from last weekend:

• Loved the Tim Keller message, right on! So good, so challenging to all of us. (If you missed the message this past weekend, catch it on the webcast.  You don’t want to miss this message. Tim Keller’s sermon on the parable of the prodigal son from Luke 15, was both inspirational and thought-provoking.  Many of us can relate to the younger brother who rejected the father wanting to be his own God.  We went our own way only to discover our chosen path was full of loneliness and disappointment.   When we discovered that our path was full of thorns, we came back home to our Father and He welcomed us home with open arms.  A familiar story for sure. But how many of us have drifted, at times, into the role of the elder brother in the Scripture?  How many of us have tried to be our own God and earn our way to heaven through our obedience and “damnable good works”?    I know I have at times.   It is something that I need to guard against as I continually check my pride and motive as I serve the Lord.  I need to remember that my salvation is ONLY through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.  It is recognition of that sacrifice that I seek to grow and serve, not to earn my Father’s heart and blessing, but in gratitude for His gift of sacrifice.    I am accepted, therefore I obey.)
• Five Oaks is always a blessing to us!
• Awesome!
• Great worshiping with Five Oaks today! 
• I loved the worship team today. What a great mix of talent and honest worship!
• I loved the songs “White Flag” and “I Will Follow” by Chris Tomlin from last week! Let’s do those again!  (I love Chris Tomlin’s music too!  He gets me up on my feet with my hands in the air in worship!   I’m sure that we will hear more of his work during our worship at Five Oaks.)
• Thanks, Dan, for the hymns as part of worship!
• Thanks for the hymns!(I love contemporary Christian music, but the old hymns speak to my heart in a unique way.   They brought back some great memories of going to church with my aunt over forty years ago.  Thanks for including some of the great hymns with a contemporary arrangement.  These hymns were right on point with the message..  It was a great worship service.   Thanks, Dan and the entire worship team.)
• Loved having live drums without shield! Music was full of energy. Loved worshiping together. 

#4 - Please pray for the kids and leaders at Challenge this week.  Challenge is a youth conference of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) in New Orleans.   Five Oaks has 113 students and leaders attending the conference.   Pray for their safety and that these kids will grow in their love of the Lord at this conference experience.  Five Oaks has committed to pray specifically for the speakers, leaders and kids during the rally on July 5^th at 6pm. Join us at Five Oaks (room 101) or pray wherever you are on July 5^th at 6pm. 

Serving Him together, Kent O’Grady

612-868-7260  - kogrady@fiveoakschurch.org