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Student Ministry September 2018

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Dear Church Family,
For this month’s article I want to share a list I made on August 6th this year. I titled it, The Blessings of a Broken Ankle. These are some of the things that I can see God’s grace abundantly given to me, even in a time of suffering. Here they are:

  1. A thankfulness for God’s sovereign plan to bring me into the world during this time in history with advanced medical technology, through which He mightily works to heal.
  2. A deeper understanding of what people are going through when prayer requests for things of this nature are mentioned.
  3. The privilege of experiencing the body of Christ care for its members. So many people have reached out and cared for my wife and me through meals, movies, money, mowing grass, and much more.
  4. The joy of seeing people step up to take charge and lead. Many people who faithfully follow my lead immediately sprung into action to make sure ministry kept going. It is such a joy to have devoted people who are there looking for ways to serve and lead. Nothing could be done without them!
  5. The sanctifying process of forced growth in my abilities to delegate. I strongly believe that ministry is a group effort. But theory and practice can be hard to put together at times. Thankfully the Lord will do anything to grow those whom He loves. This is a blessing.
  6. The wonder of different people uniting together to support. I have seen people come together, who had no reason to before, to supply help and service. It is amazing how God creates community!
  7. The pleasure of feeling like we fully belong to this family. We have been overwhelmingly blessed with this church family, who has treated us as your own and cared for us as such. We couldn’t ask for anything better than to belong in such a family.
  8. The delight in seeing the other pastors invest in the students. Some churches do not have a ministry staff that participate together in the church’s ministries. That is not the case here. All of our ministry staff are invested in the intertwining ministries of our church, whether covering for one with a broken ankle or not. That is a mark of a healthy church.
  9. The awe in God teaching that His goals are not dependent on my abilities, nor thwarted by a lack thereof. God does not need me. So, when I am sidelined He still gets things done. But it is inspiring to know that God chooses to use me whether I have many abilities or few. His work is not limited by us.
  10. The ability to read and spend time with the Lord unhurriedly. I have been forced to be on a couch much longer than I usually desire. But with this time, I have been able to look to God’s word and be comforted and challenged by Him. He has been shaping me while I have been broken.
  11. The honor of watching my wife be and grow as the strong supportive woman that God has blessed me with. This is my most    valued blessing.  “An excellent wife, who can find?  For her worth is far above jewels.”  I have found the treasure of Erebor!  The Lord is far too good to me.
  12. The challenge of learning to humbly and happily accept acts of kindness and grace. The gospel can be hard to accept.  It means that you need help.  The faster and better that we can learn to need help, the better and happier we will be.  God is still growing me in this, and He is making me a happier man.  This is all a blessing.

 Sincerely,

Brian Van Doren

 

Posted by Brian Van Doren with

Worship September 2018

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Church Family,
I hope the beginning to this Fall season finds you well, as we are gearing up for an exciting and busy time of ministry at Oakhill! This month I want to highlight a few events coming up that we want you to be a part of.

Family Night of Worship on Sunday night, September 9th, we will be gathering at the SWIBA fields on Whetstone Road to have an evening of outdoor fellowship and  worship. This event went very well last year and we are expecting a great night once again! Our worship team will be there leading live worship music all night. We will also have food trucks available for you to purchase dinner from Doughboy BBQ, and Lolly’s Pops. You may also bring your own picnic style food as well! We will also have games set up for kids to play, and towards the end of the night, we will gather around the stage with our entire church family to have an intentional time of worship. You do not want to miss this event! We don’t get many opportunities to bring our people together from all three of our worship services, so this is a great opportunity for us to be all together. Bring your family and bring your friends!

Young Generation Worship Sunday on Sunday morning, November 4th, our worship time will be lead by our students and our children’s choir. The praise band will be made up of our high school students, and our choir will be made up of our children’s ministry, as well as our students from 6th-8th grade. This is such a great opportunity to have our younger generation lead us in worship, and we want your family to be a part! Rehearsal for this Sunday will take place on Saturday, November 3rd, during The Growth Initiative. We encourage you to come and be a part of The Growth Initiative, and bring your child/student to be a part of this worship time.

God is doing great things within our Church. This fall will be busy, but so rewarding! Make every effort to plug in. Come and worship with us, come and serve with us, come and grow with us! You’ll never regret being a part of what God is doing. Come and be a part, because there is a place for you!

In Christ,
Jared

 

Posted by Jared Mitchell with

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