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Pastor's Point - March 2023

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Dear Church Family,

I just want to begin by saying God is so good!! There are so many things that we have to be thankful for as a church and I just want to take a moment to give God praise.

The Acts Sermon Series
Of all of the series of sermons that I have shared throughout the years, I believe I have had more feedback and testimonies from this series of messages than almost any others. It has taken us some time to make our way through the book of Acts, but it has been worth it. Along the way we took some breaks to speak from other portions of scripture about important topics that related specifically to our church family, but I wanted to make sure that we made it through the whole book of Acts because of the richness of the content, and the recurring themes which are important to interact with so we can understand their importance. I pray that we will remember that we are EMPOWERED to be witnesses, we are GUIDED to complete the task of seeing others CONVERTED, and that as we walk in faithfulness, we will be willing to be PERSECUTED for the cause of Christ if it is ever required of us.

The New Student Ministry Space
I thank God for this new ministry space that is going to be used to help disciple the students of our church. Our church family has been faithful to give sacrificially to allow us to develop this space. It is a beautiful space perfect for our students as well as for our church family to use for the glory of God! We also had faithful volunteers from our church who gave countless hours of service to physically work on the room. We have seen multiple generations give to, work on, and be invested in by the work taking place in this new ministry space. God is so good to us!! We are ready to receive our new Student Pastor as God brings him to us in His timing. Keep praying for our search for him! God is so good to us!

The New Children’s Ministry Space
We are in the early stages of developing this space as we renovate what used to be our student ministry room, and former sanctuary as well. This space is going to be a blessing to children as it will provide a dedicated space for large group meetings and children’s worship. This space will be outfitted in such a way that it will be able to host different parties and events as well. Be listening for ways to volunteer to work on this space as well as to financially give to make this a reality. God is so good to us!

North Campus Update
As you may know we have a brand new roof on our gym at North Campus which is a huge blessing! We also have plans coming together to take our next steps of renovation on the North Campus as we prioritize the many needs that these buildings have. Ultimately these buildings are going to be nice, functioning facilities that will allow us to continue to reach out and grow! And while that work is coming we still have the blessing of using the beautiful acreage up there for outdoor ministry activities like our community wide egg hunt, church picnic, summer camp, mother’s day out, and more events coming in the fall. God is so good to us!! There is so much more that could be said, from our steady stream of guests on Sundays, to our full class of 20 people coming to our Discover Oakhill to learn about church membership. We have had a very successful year of UPWARD basketball and cheer this year as well. We have 20 children that we are following up with who either trusted in Christ as Savior or have questions about doing so. God is so good to us!!

I am so excited for what God has for us in the remainder of this year and out into the years to come. Let’s make it our aim and goal to walk in faithfulness to God, and in love with one another as we live for God’s glory!!

I love you and I love being your pastor!!!

Posted by Alan Scott with
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Pastor's Point - February 2023

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Dear Church Family,

I was recently around a group of Christians who were sharing their experiences in the local church and my heart broke to hear some of the things that were being said about “the bride of Christ”. You see that is who the church is. Ephesians 5:25-27 helps us understand the love relationship between Jesus and his bride.

Can I just say that when I heard these Christians “dumping” on the church it upset me. Yes, I know that the church is not perfect and that there are Christians who are apart of the church that sin and bring shame on the name of Christ. But that is not true of all churches or Christians. That does not give anyone the right to denigrate the bride of Christ.

People are normally very careful about what they say about a man’s wife because no good husband would tolerate his bride being disrespected by the speech of someone. Often people claim to love Jesus but reject, demean, or minimize his bride. In no other sphere of life do we walk away from an institution because of the presence of some hypocrites within that institution. You still go to work with hypocrites, You still attend ball games with hypocrites, you still shop with hypocrites, you still go to the hospital with hypocrites. But Satan loves when he can get people to run down the bride of Christ, especially if they are Christians who are doing it. It matters what we hold in our hearts toward the church. Our words, actions, and attitudes matter. Do not let a bad experience in church turn you away from the special nature of the church. We need the church to commune together, to learn together, to grow together, and to serve together!

David Mathis writes in his article, Do You Insult Your Savior’s Bride these words…“Jesus chose his wife before the foundation of the world. He cherishes her with energy and attentiveness. He cleanses her and prepares to present her pure and beautiful to himself. And he covenants to be hers, and with her, for all eternity. The Lord of heaven loves his bride. Does that not make you love her all the more? Does that not make you want to keep from carelessly speaking ill of her?”

“We do not whitewash the flaws of particular church leaders, or particular tendencies in sinful hearts. We do not cover for evil. Nor do we broad-brush the church, pretending to see and know flaws that are beyond our vantage nationwide, not to mention worldwide, and across the ages. And we don’t pretend the church is yet fully cleansed. Christ is still working on her. When tempted to dump on “the church,” we who claim Christ will do well to remember his perspective, and his heart, and to speak with the grace and truth of our Savior toward his bride.”

As I was in that group of Christians I did say a few things to remind them of some of the truths shared in this article. I believe some were open to hear what I shared, but still others I believe felt content to hold Christ’s bride in contempt. That is sad, and scary. May God protect our hearts and see that Christ’s church is to be loved, even in it’s unfinished and imperfect state. Let’s love the church. Let’s invest in the church, and let’s honor the bride of Christ out of the love and respect that we have for the bridegroom!!

I love you and I love being your pastor

Posted by Alan Scott with

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