Hi Five Oakers,
My website has moved to henry-williams.net. So if you're getting this post by email, go take a look when you get chance.
There are several things I want to share with you today.
#1- I drove in and missed it! Yes, I drove into the parking lot and missed the new sign. It's taken more than three years to get permission to install it in a location that can be seen. And the day it was installed, I drove right by it. The staff are not going to let me forget it, but if you ask Lois, she'll tell you it doesn't surprise her one bit. Anyway, it's here!!!
#2- Ran into one of our high school students last weekend by the Resources table. She was buying a Five Oaks cold cup. She told me, "It's a way of maybe sharing my faith at school if someone asks." Love it!
#3- Several hundred students from East Ridge descended on our building last Friday because of a suspected gas leak and we are one of their evacuation points. You can imagine the surprise on the faces of those who were at the office, seeing hundreds of students at the door, having no idea that we are an evacuation point! They were there for two hours and the office staff was amazed by their orderliness and behavior.
#4- 500 Thanksgiving bags for the Union Gospel Mission food drive went out on the weekend! We don't always get all of them back, so we'll need more this weekend if we're going to reach our goal of 500. What a great opportunity to bring some joy to people who are under-resourced this Thanksgiving. Thank you for your great response to his initiative.
#5- Get ready for another Christmas album featuring arrangements and performances by members of our worship team. I can't wait to hear it and to add it to my collection. I know I'm biased, but the last two are what I listen to more than anything else in the Christmas season. So excellently done.
#6- We received this comment from the cards we send first-time guests:
- 10/13 - We were very impressed by the children's ministries at Five Oaks. It was wonderful to have our whole family ministered to and taken care of. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming!
#7- Here's last weekend's message in 7 Tweets: "FOR [ Whoever ] - God's Invitation, Our Invitation.
- We are the whoevers who have believed.
- All of us need to decide whether or not we will go to church or be the church.
- Like the kids in Mighty Ducks/Goonies/Sandlot, the 1st century Christians were a ragtag group of unusual characters.
- The power of the gospel is perceived whenever and wherever the whoevers did whatever possible to proclaim the gospel.
- Lydia, the slave girl, the jailer & the rest of that ragtag church didn't represent big $, but they represented big hearts.
- They weren't movers & shakers, but whatever Paul did, wherever he went, whoever he reached, they were a part of that.
- My Commitment: Wherever I am, whenever I am able, I will reach out to WHOEVER I can, however possible.
Blessings to you, Pastor Henry
God delivers the Israelites from bondage and at the first sign of trouble they want to back to Egypt and to bondage. Not much different than we are. This series will be about our freedom in Christ and how to get unstuck.