Friday Memo

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Hi Five Oakers,

I hope you had a blessed Christmas. Here is a post-Christmas service edition of the Memo.  

#1 – Get a recap of the service with highlights of our prayers, readings and songs here.

#2 – 17 people indicated they were making first-time decisions to follow Christ as Lord and Savior!!!

#3 – Here are your comments from the Christmas services:

  • This service was amazing! I always think that the true magic of Christmas is the church service and Christ himself. I love God so much! 
  • Never felt so touched. 
  • Great sermon, great video. 
  • Great videos and music. The church looked wonderful. 
  • Merry Christmas! 
  • His death on the cross is an act of love I do not understand. [I sent some material that hopefully will help.]
  • Thank you Jesus for being a part of our lives! 
  • God has always been in my life. 
  • Amazing sermon, Henry! Thank you for blessing us with your study and prayer. 
  • Awesome message! God bless! 
  • Powerful message today. The end video was very moving. Thank you. Merry Christmas! 
  • Glory to God. 
  • He is my Savior! 
  • I’m so grateful to call Five Oaks my church. 
  • Praise God! 
  • Thank you for the amazing service, music, message details and for each of you who served for us. Sweet Christmas Blessings! 
  • Thank you all for a great worship. Praise God! 
  • Great opening worship set! Henry, you do such a great job explaining the movement – thank you. Loved discussion/dedication of lighting station. What a wonderful Christmas message! The only difference between an “X” and a “†” is that it is fallen and needs to be put right by Christ. 
  • Great service – loved the traditional music. 
  • Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Merry Christmas! 
  • I trust in Jesus as my Savior and Lord. 
  • Great service – music and message.
  • Dan, nice job.
  • Loved the traditional Christmas songs. 
  • Awesome message! 
  • Jesus is my Savior. He loves me and I love Him. My life is great because of Him. 
  • Praise the Lord, Jesus is Lord.
  • Jesus is my Savior.
  • God bless, Merry Christmas to the church staff! 
  • What is my purpose? Great words to hear tonight. Thanks. 
  • Thank you, Pastor Henry. You are amazing! I feel God’s presence here today! 
  • Jesus rocks my world! 
  • Thank you, 1000 x’s better than last year! Blessings to all of you! 
  • Thank you for a beautiful, wonderful and spectacular message. The “will you follow me” video was amazing. I loved watching my twelve year olds reactions while he watched it. Very powerful! 
  • Amazing video. 
  • Beautiful service, great video to close message. Great job! 
  • Thank you! 
  • Jesus is my Savior! Praise and glory to Him. 
  • Thank you for addressing the “valley of the shadow of death”. 
  • Thank you for your message. 
  • Today you spoke of hurt by Christians and it was my family that was hurt by the church. As a result my family is so distrustful of any organized religion. It is a slow process, but I’m starting to feel His love more and more as I let Him in. 
  • Christ has been my Savior for almost 35 years. Praise His name forever. Beautiful service! 

#4 – Here is the sermon in 10 tweets:

  1. Most people never get beyond the story of the baby in a manger. ...they fail to connect the Savior dot with the dot that is their lives.

  2. One reason some never get beyond the story of the baby is because they’re put off by Christians.
  3. Confession Booth story: We’re not going accept their confessions. We are going to confess to THEM. We've misrepresented Jesus on campus.” Screen Shot 2012-12-20 at 12.39.00 PM
  4. Jesus' mission was to seek & save the lost. When they responded, they weren’t transformed overnight, & they still don’t change that quickly.
  5. Background video: Joshua Bell playing $3.5 M violin in subway. Ignored. Beauty often doesn't transcend the noise in  our lives.

  6. God has entire universe to capture his interest but Christmas says, “You matter. I care about you. I am for you.” God doesn’t ignore us.
  7. If you’re thin & get a diet book for Xmas, not going to take it out of the box. Maybe you feel you don’t need a Savior from your sins.
  8. Scientist: “I’m realizing that I’m not in control over things that matter most to me. Maybe I rejected him be/ I thought I didn’t need him.”
  9. Record of everything you say other people should do and compare to your life. You would be condemned for breaking your own standards.
  10. Falling Plates video…

God bless you all, Pastor Henry