Our Blog

April 2016 Spare Change

                        Hispanic Church Plant Coming to Evansville!

Late last year we were approached by the North American Mission Board (NAMB) to consider sponsoring a Hispanic Church Plant in Evansville.  We met with the church planter and his family, and   they have since visited Oakhill on two occasions.  We spent the past few months praying and working out the details with the church planter and are excited to announce that Oakhill Baptist Church will be sponsoring a Hispanic church plant later this year!

Alfonso Soto, the church planter, will begin working in the area starting in June.  He will work to establish connections within the Hispanic community for the first couple of months.  Alfonso and his family are currently located in the Jasper/Huntingburg area where they are a part of a SBC Hispanic church.  Alfonso has been instrumental in starting home groups and assisting the Pastor.  He has a desire to see a Hispanic church plant come to the Evansville area.  This will be a church where worship, preaching, and fellowship will primarily be done in Spanish.  Alfonso is looking to start a home group by August that will eventually result in a church plant.

Oakhill will be the home base of operation for Alfonso.  While NAMB will be paying his salary, Oakhill will be paying a small monthly stipend to help with expenses, as well as helping with some ministry costs.  Alfonso will also be learning from our staff and applying those things within the context of the church plant.  We are making a three year commitment to this church plant, contingent on an annual review.  NAMB also has their own goals and standards that the church plant must meet.

We believe that Alfonso will have no problem engaging the Hispanic community in Evansville and starting a home group by August, however, he needs our help.  You might say, “How can I help? I don’t speak Spanish”.  There are lots of ways that you can help even if you don’t speak Spanish.

1. Pray – This is a big undertaking for the Soto family. They are moving their family from Jasper to Evansville. They need to make connections quickly and find some people willing to help start this church.  Church planters and the actual plant need lots of prayer.
2. Include – Include the Soto family as you would any other church member or staff person. They literally do not know anyone from this area. Oakhill will be their church home while they get things going with the plant.  We need to befriend them and work to include them in our church family.  I know you will make Alfonso, Wendy and their children feel right at home.
3. Connect – If you know of anyone in our community that might benefit from this church plant, please submit their name to me or Alfonso. He will be making cold calls and connecting with people for the first couple of months. Again, he doesn’t know anyone yet, so he is relying on us to help him identify Hispanics in our area.
4. Volunteer – We will have connection events like block parties and other activities that you can be a part of. Even if you don’t speak Spanish you can help by volunteering at these events. Look for info to come later in the year on these events.

We will be building a team to assist with the church plant soon.  If you do speak Spanish and want to be involved, then we can definitely use you.  Even if you don’t speak Spanish but still have a passion for this ministry you can help.  Please contact me ASAP at the church office if you are interested in an ongoing volunteer capacity.

March 2016 Spare Change

The Tough Sayings of Jesus

People like to paint a mental picture of Jesus being all loving, inclusive, and accepting of everyone.  Of course Jesus is loving and accepting, but is that the whole picture of the personhood of Jesus?  What do we think when we hear the tough sayings of Jesus?  What do we do when he talks about commitment, about counting the cost, or about sacrifice?  Let me show you what I mean:

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.   (John 6:53-54 ESV)

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple … So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.   (Luke 14:25-27; 33 ESV)

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.   (Matthew 16:24-25 ESV)

These are just a couple of examples that caused followers of Jesus to turn away.  Jesus seemed to have a lot of fair weather friends.  When the teaching got tough or the commitment too great, they were nowhere to be found.  Being a Christian or a follower of Jesus requires commitment.  Understand that salvation comes only from Jesus, it is a work he does in our heart.  Jesus redeems us by his sacrifice on the cross and the resurrection from the grave.  Salvation is only accomplished through faith.  Unfortunately, many people end there.  They think once they have their “fire insurance” they are good to go.  They are not seeking true life change; they just simply don’t want to go to hell.

There were many people in Jesus’ day that came to observe him or to see what they could get.  Only a few actually wanted to follow him.  That is the difference between true salvation and just an emotional response.  When the gospel is truly applied to our hearts, we begin to change.  It is then we gladly follow Jesus.  Being a Christian should not feel like a burden.  There are definitely hard days, but overall we are filled with peace, joy, and hope because of our faith in Christ.

We need to be fair to the whole person of Jesus.  He is loving and accepting, but He also calls us to obedience and commitment.  Even in that calling, He enables us by His spirit to change and grow to be like Him.  Our job, as it always has been, is simply to trust.  We must continually place our faith in Jesus, day by day. Growing in faith consistently is what Jesus wants.  Ultimately, the commitment is one of faith.  When we come to these tough sayings of Jesus we need to learn them, meditate on them, and be encouraged by them.  Don’t walk away like so many fair weather friends have before.  Seek to follow Jesus even in the tough stuff.