Tuesday Memo

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

// 10,000 Reasons was beautiful!

// I nearly didn’t come this morning due to being tired and in pain. I’m glad I fought my body to feed my soul. One friend wants to know how God was created/made. How do you answer that? [The Bible calls God the eternal God who is from everlasting to everlasting (e.g., 1 Timothy 1:17; Psalm 90:2). All things were created by him (e.g., Romans 11:36). Therefore theologians speak of God as self-existent. He was never created. He always has been. Something had to always have been for matter and life to exist now since something can't come from nothing. The Bible says the something that has always been is God. If you'd like to read more about this, check out this link. You can check out an R.C. Sproul lecture on this topic here. It's long. If you want a 2-minute version, check it out here.]

// I appreciated the worship layout this morning. It was cool to see both of our worship leaders together! It was a subtle example of leadership serving in an area other than leadership (Jeremy). [Yep. I told Dan and Jeremy the same thing.]

// I just read “Jesus Unmasked” by Todd Friel. Theme just like Story of God. God is moving in a mighty way here and in the world. [I'm not familiar with Friel or "Jesus Unmasked." Thanks.]

// Awesome message! Thank you for the incredible blend of practical application and spiritual guidance.

// Great worship set. Tim you did the reading so well – with emphasis and punctuation. What an awesome message. Thanks, Henry for always weaving it together and back into the Story of God. [Tim's the best!]

// Today’s message was awesome and a great training and encourage lesson. I do think if someone’s heart is to share about Christ, and it doesn’t come out “quite right” in man’s eyes, that God will use that attempt regardless. So people should not feel inadequate to witness. [I couldn't agree with you more, and I wish I'd said that.]

// How do I help my best friend who is not a follower of Christ? I have helped many people come to Christ. But nothing I do seems to make a difference. We do everything together, but when I talk about Christianity, she doesn’t want to hear it because she used to be one, but she believes he brought on her, her rough life. How do I bring her to Christ? I want her to be saved more than anything. I pray for her, but her heart seems unchanged. I want her to have a relationship with Him where He can/will help her when she asks. Where she will ask. [Thanks for coming up and talking about this with me after the service. I love seeing one of our students sharing their faith like this. Keep praying. Keep being her friend. Keep telling her about Jesus as opportunities arise. It's hard reaching those closest to us, and they have open their hearts and minds and lives to God. Some day her life circumstances might open her heart to the gospel and hopefully you will be there to share it once again. Invite her to church, youth group or maybe Young Life at your school. If she comes, you'll have lots of help in sharing Christ.]

Has anyone thought to add soft volume speakers of the sermon in the bathrooms when parents are doing diaper changes? [Thanks for the idea. We'll consider it.]