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Worship Ministry - November 2022

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Evidence
At the beginning of this year, I got the dreaded (at least for most people) letter saying that I was summoned to jury duty. I was rather excited because I had never done it before, and it was a chance for me to put my law knowledge to use from all the true crime podcasts I have listened to. On the day of selection, I got there early, picked up my badge, and waited patiently for my name to be called, and it was. I was the last juror selected for the DUI case that was going to start in 20 minutes. As the evidence was laid out in front of us, as witnesses were called and questioned, and testimony was heard, I wrote as many notes as possible not wanting to miss anything that may be important. Unfortunately, my fellow jurors took notice of my note-taking and later voted me the foreman of our group.

At the end of it all, I stood in the jury box and read out our verdict for the man on trial. We found him guilty, forever changing his life. Forever blotting his record in the eyes of
society.

I was struck by the seriousness of the moment. The burden that was placed on my shoulders to lead a group of strangers, peers, to decide whether or not a man was guilty or innocent, hit me. I was flooded with the realization that this is all of our stories when it comes to the judgment of our sin against God. We are all guilty of crimes, sins, against a holy God that makes it impossible for us to be in His presence, impossible for us to spend eternity worshiping Him; and yet when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we are found not guilty. Not because we deserve it, not because we are perfect, found sinless, but rather God the father looks at His blameless Son for evidence of our righteousness. Jesus is our witness, and His record becomes our testimony, His blood our payment. May we never forget the goodness we have in Jesus Christ and never lose our thankfulness to Him for bringing salvation to us on the cross.

“See the cross, the empty grave the evidence is endless. All my sin rolled away because of You, oh, Jesus.” (Evidence by Josh Baldwin)

 

Lyric of the Month
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart

Posted by Evan Gray with
in Newsletter, Worship

Worship Ministry - October 2022

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Thank you!
On behalf of Sarah and I, I would like to thank all of you for welcoming us to Oakhill Baptist! The love and kindness we have felt from this congregation have made us feel right at home, and we are incredibly thankful to be invested in God’s work here in Evansville. It is never easy moving to a new town, finding a new house, and making new friends, but we are extremely excited to build relationships with you and put some roots down in this community. God is doing great things here at Oakhill; let us praise Him for His good works and pray that He would draw more people to Himself.

Behold
One of the things that you will quickly learn about me is that I am a nerd. I love history. I love to learn random, most of the time useless, information. I love using google to find said useless information. I am also fascinated with the etymology, the origin, of words and love that it can help you have a fuller understanding of what you are reading. Take the word “behold”, a common word that means “to observe; look at; see.” That’s easy enough to understand when we place it in the context of worship, and we see it throughout scripture. (i.e. Isaiah 7:14, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 27:4)

When we worship our God, we are to “behold” Him. We have our eyes, heart, and mind focused on Him and Him alone, recognizing that Christ is worthy of our focus. We show that focus through praise and adoration. We sing songs that declare His goodness and might. We lift our prayers to the Father, seeking wisdom or healing. We fellowship with other believers, encouraging each other in our faith. These are all good things and the Lord delights in them!

When we look at the etymology of the word “behold”, I believe it paints a more complete picture of how we are to “focus” on God. Our use of the word “behold” derives from an old Saxon word “behaltan” meaning “to hold, keep”. Keep! We often in our normal flow of life forget that our worship of God isn’t confined to the church building or to a certain time of day. Even our musical worship isn’t confined to a Sunday morning time with a praise band and singers leading us. Rather, we are to “keep” God in our view, our hearts, and our minds ALWAYS. We are to hold our gaze on the one true God no matter what is going on around us, no matter the storm we are in, and no matter what the world is doing. We will behold our God, our King! Yes, we will fail at this because we are sinful men and women, but we can press into the grace and mercy of God with great assurance that when we fail, he will forgive and redeem us. So, let us strive to behold, to keep, our God in all things…for He is worthy! 

Lyric of the Month
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

Posted by Evan Gray with

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