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Pastor's Points March 2018

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Dear Church Family,
Through this winter I have been reminded multiple times and in multiple ways how blessed I am to be the pastor of Oakhill!  Our church families’ willingness to serve others has been on full display through our UPWARD basketball and cheerleading ministry, and our food pantry. One or both important ministries have been functioning every weekend throughout the winter.  These ministries functioning at the same time is a large undertaking, but it is possible because of your willingness to serve others.  I just want to say thank you for serving the Lord!  We see the fruit of these ministries in the lives of those that we are reaching out to.  By the time you read this UPWARD will have come to an end and we will be busy following up with families who have shown interest in coming to Oakhill.  Please pray for that effort as we reach out to make a ministry relationship beyond the UPWARD season. 

As we look forward to Spring I want to remind you of a few important events in our church.  In 2018 we are encouraging our church family to prioritize God’s Word in their life like never before.  Many people committed themselves to read the whole Bible through in a year, or to reading the New Testament through in a year.  Many people have shared with me that they are so encouraged by making this commitment and are seeing the benefit it is to them.  That is amazing!

Along with this reading emphasis of the Bible, we are also offering an overview of every book of the Bible this year through our five “Growth Initiative” Saturdays throughout the year.  We are calling the emphasis in our growth initiative this year, Unfolded – Understanding God’s Word based off Psalm 119:130.  In five separate three-hour Saturdays throughout the year, we will take a few books of the Bible each time and consider the basics of them and how they apply to our lives.  Our first Growth Initiative is on March 24th from 8:30 am – 11:30 am where we will consider Genesis through II Samuel.  Please plan to sign up and attend and know that each time we meet there will be childcare provided.  This is a great opportunity to invest in your spiritual growth in 2018!!

Finally, in March we are looking so forward to Easter weekend!  Our theme this year is “VICTORY”!  On March 30th we will celebrate Good Friday with a special worship service starting at 6:30 pm.  This will be a moving, powerful time  together as we consider the truths of Psalm 22 throughout the night of worship.  You will not want to miss this time    together.  Then the next day on March 31st we will have our Easter Eggstravaganza out at the ball fields like we do each year.  This event will begin at 1:00pm.  Bring your kids and enjoy all the fun on this day!!  Then we will gather for worship on April 1st for our Easter Worship services at 8:00 am, 9:30 am, and 11:00 am.  Please dedicate your families time on this weekend to celebrate with your church family the greatness of our Savior!!

 I love you and I love being your pastor!

 

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Pastor's Points February 2018

Dear Church Family,

February is known as the month of “Love”.  And this year we are once again having our  Valentines Banquet on February 11th for the couples of our church to come together and enjoy a night with the love of their life!  Make sure to sign up and get your tickets because it is going to be a fun night!  It is good that we encourage our couples to express their love to one another, but it is also good for all of us to express love to each other as we do life together in our church family.  I love how James Mac Donald explained love from I Corinthians 13 in this devotion.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 
(1 Corinthians 13:4–8a, ESV).

What does real love look like? The Apostle Paul tells us . . .
“Love is patient.” It waits for people to change. It’s long-tempered. It accepts people as they are, not as we want them to be.  Love is “kind.” This doesn’t mean passive endurance but active goodwill. Not just passively accepting people but actively accepting people. Not just standing on the other side of the room, thinking, She drives me nuts—I’m going to steer clear of her, but actually going across the room and finding ways to engage or embrace that person. Love looks for ways to express acceptance to    people whom we might otherwise target with our harsh criticism.

“Love does not envy or boast.” Love is not jealous. Even when those around us seem to prosper and succeed more than we do, love isn’t jealous. Love does not say, “I was fine with my friend until she got _____.” Love does say, “I am happy for your  successes and will not let jealousy sour my love for you,” and “I am for you. I have always been for you, and I will always be for you. I will not be caught up in comparisons, even when you are more successful, prominent, recognized, or rewarded than I am. I want the best for you.”

When you love the people in your life, you won’t let their successes—or yours—change the way you treat each other. When you’re the successful person, do you continue to love the same people, or do you leave them behind? Love “is not arrogant or rude.” Love chooses not to make another feel uncomfortable by boasting about personal success or highlighting your own life in a way that would embarrass or belittle a friend.

Love is accepting. “Love bears all things, believes all things.” Love bears the weight of misunderstanding and defends the heart of the other. Love gives the other the benefit of the doubt and regularly says, “That’s not what she meant.” It believes the best about the other person and defends him: “That’s not why he did that. There must be more to the story.” When Jesus taught, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1), He was specifically referring to judging others’ motives. Of course we have to judge actions, but we are not to judge motives. We don’t know why others do what they do, and we should assume the best about them.

Love always believes the best about people. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things.” Love sees people not as they are, but as they will be someday, by God’s grace. We are not the people we once were—God is changing us. We need to extend the same grace toward others that we want extended to us.

Love “endures all things.” Endure is actually a military term for driving a stake into the ground. Love does that. Love won’t retreat or back away. Love will be there for the other person and will stand its ground.

“Love never ends.” Love will never fail to accomplish God’s highest and best purposes. If a relationship unravels, it wasn’t because of love. Love always takes things to a better place. If you love others wholeheartedly and embrace the people in your life as they are—warts and all, even when they hurt you—God will use that. Love never fails—not at home, at work, or in the church. That’s an unequivocal, absolute, condition-free guarantee: “Love never ends.”

My prayer is that love will be the testimony of our lives that the watching world around us sees!!

I love you and I love being your pastor

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