Hi Five Oakers,
I have a few things I want to share with you.
#1 – One Snowy Starry Night was a great success.
Half of the 900 plus registrants made it in spite of the snowstorm. That’s a
lot of folks. I loved all the enhancements to the experience. It just keeps getting better. The carpenter’s
workshop with real, working carpenters was impressive. And if Mike and
Stephanie can keep having babies in time for this event each year, they can be
our permanent Mary and Joseph family! Great, great work by so many people, and
lots of fun. Great learning experience, too. I scared a bunch of kids with the
rabbi costume, but only one cried. I'm going to have to be meaner next year or wear a scary clown costume. :-)
#2 – Our One Starry Night Miracle story: The people who
were bringing the animals canceled because of the weather. The live animals are
a big part of this event. Jeni or Cindy were sharing this with the Rick and
Melissa Borner. Lo and behold, Rick and Melissa own three pygmy goats!
Goat-herding Five Oakers!!! Thank you Rick and Melissa for bringing the goats.
What are the chances of something like that happening?
#3 – The Story of God on steroids is what I call the
Cover to Cover course Warren Coe will be teaching at Five Oaks starting Tuesday
evening, January 8. Registration for the first trimester begins this weekend.
The entire course of study spans 3 semesters. What a great chance to go in depth
on the whole Bible story. Email me if you’d like more information
#4 – Get a recap of the weekend service with highlights
of our prayers, readings and songs here.
#5 – Here are your comments from the Communication Cards:
- Bulletin Error – Dorothy Day, T
& C Wiant phone. O Come All Ye Faithful – very powerful! Awesome! [I don’t
feel good about putting their number on the web, so email me if you’d like it
forwarded to them.]
- Thank you Pastor Henry, for this
message. It can be so timely for me because family drama makes the Holidays so
tough! Fear makes me hold everything in that I need to share with them during
this time. thanks for preaching the truth in love to me. You’re a
blessing.
- The decorations look great!
- Nice guitar rif at start! [That
was Clint and he’s moving back to Maryland. Graduated from McNally School of
Music. He’ll be missed.]
- Okay, I know, we as humans are
naturally resistant to change, but my communion “packet” today reminds me of a
Keurig coffee K-cup! Huh? Loved the traditional Christmas carols! [We had the
packets only at the 9:15 because of a snafu. Sorry about that.]
- Thank you for the beautiful songs
and bringing my heart to worship Lord Jesus Christ.
- Thank you for today’s message!
I’ve been wanting to lead a team again at work and now that it is upon me I become
fearfully failing at it – especially because I asked for it. I lost sight of
living a life of fearlessness and the reason I became scared was because I
alone can’t do it. But with God I can.
- Just feeling the power of the
Christmas Season – thank you Five Oaks for embracing and enhancing my
experience.
- Love the music. Any opportunity
to play the music a little softer? Music
is a bit loud, otherwise great. By the way, the Christmas CD is awesome.
- Great worship music. Base drums
and bass guitar, provided a nice bottom end. Great arrangements of the music.
- Nice job on the pre-song and
solo. It’s good to see/hear men on backing vocals lately. [I’m loving the
preludes this month. All from our Christmas CD.]
#6 – We received another great comment on the card we
send visitors. We have been batting a thousand on positive comments lately.
11/4 Looking for a new church in our area and this was a great first
impression. We will likely continue to attend and make this our new
church home.
#7 – Here’s the sermon in 10 Tweets: Luke 2:8-21 on
“Fear”
- Coulrophobia = Fear of clowns. Not as limiting or
debilitating as some fears can be.
- The No. 1 Enemy of Creativity: Fear of Failure… Harvard
Business Review Blog Post
- “Fear of Me” – I can’t do what God wants me to do.
There’s also fear of people and circumstances.
- Until you see the role of good fear, you can’t be free of
fear. Good fear is a healthy respect that motivates me to go beyond myself.
- Good fear drives me to learn new skills, prepare for
contingencies, call in professionals and turn to God for help
- The Bible says that the only way ultimately to keep fear
from robbing your life is found in facing the ultimate fear of all.
- The ultimate fear comes in a burst of light one starry
night: “The glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great
fear.”
- When people shrink in fear at God's glory, he often tells
them not to fear & points to his mercy & grace.
- The ultimate fear leads you to your Savior.
- Face your fears by beholding the gospel: “Fear not, for
behold, I bring you good news [= the
gospel]”
#8 – Volunteer Central will be up and running in room 101
for all Christmas services. If you haven’t volunteered yet, let us know you’d
like to help for one of the services.
#7 – 16 people went through the membership class last
week. Our membership is at an all-time high in the history of our church. If
you want join our team and you participated in the Story of God small group
study this trimester, we have a one-hour membership class coming up in
February. Don’t miss it.
#8 – Thanks to Eric Fraser for the cookies we enjoyed
between services this last weekend. Eric does this on his own, after clearing
it with us, because he knows a lot of people visit churches in December and he
wants to create a place for conversations to happen. I love that!
#9 – We’ll be offering two opportunities in January for
those interested in finding out more about serving in the Befriender Care
Ministry (January 6 and 13, times and location forthcoming).
#10 – This week’s message is on peace in the midst of
anxiety and worry.
Don't forget to pray hard and invite someone to the
Christmas services. It could change their eternal destiny!
I love you all, Pastor Henry