Lightning Round

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Tuesday is the all-staff lunch day and we do a lightning round on what’s happening in different ministries. Here are some highlights:

  • The campaign total will be announced this weekend.
  • The Five Oaks Christmas CD is just about done.

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  • Jeni Carlson has a new blog for Family Ministries. Check it out here.

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  • This weekend worship will be an acoustic weekend.
  • We’ve got a new post card invite strategy for Christmas.
  • 12 kids made first time decisions a week ago during Cross the Line of Faith weekend!!!
  • The fall session of Village Schools of the Bible is complete. On to the New Testament for the Winter/Spring session.
  • The Thanksgiving bag total is went up to 586.
  • We now have 15 matched Kids Hope mentors at Woodbury Elementary.
  • The Peru mission trip is full.
  • Haiti has about 10 so far.
  • One of Impact team leaders is working on a scholarship for one of the orphans from our orphanage in Haiti in conjunction with Teen Challenge Haiti.
  • Brian Burquest met with reps from the assisted living development which is breaking ground in the spring and will go in behind the new grocery store that’s going in at Radio and Bailey.
  • The Communications team is working on a long-term plan to reach out to everyone within a five-mile radius of our campus.
  • As many as 6 new people are joining the worship team in various capacities.
  • The youth winter all-nighter is coming between Christmas and Easter. They spend the evening in the building and do projects for the church as part of the evening.
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Hi Five Oakers, 2242554458_011f335d4d_b

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

// The Story of God group concluded last Tuesday with about 25 people participating. Here are a few comments from the session participants:

"I now understand ‘WHY’ Jesus died for our sins.  In my 24 years of existence, I never understood it until now...."

"Transformed my overall understanding and ability to talk about Scripture.  It has made me want to dig deeper into the Bible."

"The first time I heard the Story of God in your sermon series, I realized the bible wasn’t just a series of fairy tales.  Since then I have had a tremendous growth in my life toward God and started a relationship with Him.  This extra dive into SOG has helped solidify the Bible knowledge and helped me strengthen my framework to continue to grow to God."

"The Story of God really connected the dots and answered many questions I’ve had and some I didn’t know I had.  I understand the separation and why we needed Christ, and do today."

"It has helped me understand the complete Bible and why it is written like it is.  The course has also improved my marriage by bringing God into it."

// We do a Bible content quiz at the start and finish of the Story of God. The quizzes are different but comparable. One participant was very excited to go from getting two questions correct the first quiz to getting eight correct! Although the Story of God is not about memorizing a bunch of facts, knowing the flow of the story and main characters leads to a much greater knowledge and retention of the contents of the story. The group average score for the first quiz to the second went from 5 to 7.7 (a 53% improvement)!

// Here’s a selection from your comments, observations and questions from the weekend Communication Cards.

  • Excellent music today.
  • Thank you for the children’s bibles we received last week. My kids love them and are very excited to read them and learn more about God’s love. They felt very special to be given such a wonderful gift.
  • Outstanding message.
  • Revelation Song – this arrangement was beautiful! I enjoyed the simplicity. Libby, wonderful job. The Christmas décor this year are gorgeous! I love the winter window theme. The simplicity says a lot. Very warm and inviting. [Yes, a big thank you to Deb Carr and her team of volunteers who created the Christmas set and decorations!]
  • The set looks great. I love the windows!
  • Thank you to whoever designed our new Christmas theme in the worship center! It looks amazing! Love the windows! Thank you for your message Tim!
  • Great illustration, Tim. Clear and powerful.
  • We’re hoping to visit at Christmas the church in the phoenix, AZ area that Justin ended up going to. [Very cool.]
  • Great service – I was just wondering through, if it would be possible to incorporate the cross back into the Christmas decorations. We really missed having it in the sanctuary. Thank you.

Thanks for all your comments.

Blessings,

Pastor Henry