Henry Williams

Here's last weekend's sermon in 10 tweets, "Freedom," Galatians 5:1-15: Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 3.38.36 PM

1// Freedom is fragile.

2// Freedom can be lost in 2 ways that seem to be polar opposites but end up in the same place—they end in bondage.

3// When you reflect on the 2 ways that lead to bondage, you see that most of us are one way or another choosing bondage over freedom.

4// Christ + Anything = Nothing

5// Christ + Nothing = Everything

6// God’s grace isn’t nullified if you struggle with sin but only if you don’t receive it and depend on grace alone.

7// LICENSE = grace gives us a license to sin. I do what I want because I can go to confession OR because I accepted Jesus as my Savior.

8// Jesus jumps into the muck we’ve created, saves us from it and dies in our place. There’s nothing like that anywhere outside of Christianity.

9// Martin Luther: “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”

10// Nouwen: "I am convinced that I truly be able to love the world when I fully believe that I am love far beyond its boundaries."

I often say that membership at Five Oaks doesn't offer any special benefits, only new responsibilities and more leadership opportunities.

Well, I've finally found a benefit of membership at Five Oaks--access to Willow Creek Association leadership resources and discounts (e.g., 10% on Apple products!).

One of the best free resources you can start using for personal or team leadership development is "Defining Moments." This is a monthly on-line video that features a short clip from one of the Summit speakers and then interview style reflections on the topic with Bill Hybels.

If you're a Five Oaks member, you can get access to this for yourself, your volunteer team or your work team!

Email me and I'll give you the scoop on how to access this.

If you're a Five Oaker and not yet a member, maybe it's time to become a member. Membership at Five Oaks is a step of commitment to the body of Christ. It's a way of saying, "I want to join this team--this local expression of Christ's body. You can count on me to serve and give and live in community." It's important to me to know I can count on you. Join our team!