Monday Memo

Hi Five Oakers, Here are most of the comments and questions from the weekend Communication Cards:

// Praises for the 62 volunteers who spent their Saturday volunteering for the Hearts and Hammers event! [Way to go, guys!!!]

// Thank you for organizing the Hearts and Hammers Day. Awesome Day! A lot of work with Great group of people! Thank you!

// Thank you for sharing your beautiful voices, worship team!

// Thank you for the worshipful opening set. Great message, thank you Tim. Loved closing song!

// Great job with music!

// Loved the music. The solo was so awesome.

// Thank you for your prayers!

// I loved your message, Tim.

// Thank you to Five Oaks for accommodating our extended family for a funeral Friday. A perfect setting for a gloriously God honoring service.

// 33 years today I dedicated my life to Christ. My life was forever changed. Loved the worship song this morning “All I am is yours…” brought tears to my eyes. [Happy anniversary!]

// The Connected Families technology seminar was/is a perfect resource for our families!

// Worship spirit filled! Mad Libs very encouraging, Tim! Thanks!

One More Thing

Hi Five Oakers, The weekend's coming and there are a few things I want to share with you.

The Weekend

We continue in Joseph series by looking at Genesis 47-48 this week.

We start our Acts series in two weeks. Please pick up the book, The Story of Acts: A 40-Day Guided Journey through Acts, this weekend if you haven't already. Start the first day of reading on Monday, September 29. This is going to be a great journey!

FYI

Jeanne Whalen on "Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress: At Least 30 Minutes of Uninterrupted Reading With a Book or E-Book Helps"

The group calls itself the Slow Reading Club, and it is at the forefront of a movement populated by frazzled book lovers who miss old-school reading. Slow reading advocates seek a return to the focused reading habits of years gone by, before Google, smartphones and social media started fracturing our time and attention spans. Many of its advocates say they embraced the concept after realizing they couldn't make it through a book anymore.

One More Thing

Ajith Fernando, a biblical scholar and Christian leader from Sri Lanka who ministers to the urban poor, writes:

The church in each culture has its own special challenges—theological blind spots that hinder Christians from growing to full maturity in Christ …. I think one of the most serious theological blind spots in the western church is a defective understanding of suffering. There seems to be a lot of reflection on how to avoid suffering and on what to do when we hurt. We have a lot of teaching about escape from suffering and therapy for suffering, but there is inadequate teaching about the theology of suffering ….

The "good life," comfort, convenience, and a painless life have become necessities that people view as basic rights. If they do not have these, they think something has gone wrong…. One of the results of this attitude is a severe restriction of spiritual growth, for God intends us to grow through trials.