Good Morning Our Partners in Ministry,
The word from India is that all is going well. There are lots of washed out roads and areas where not everyone is being allowed to travel, but the ministry goes on and they have had some great opportunities. Thanks Sharon for all the updates!
This week was another full week of ministry at Oak Grove! With Pastor Denny out of town, I had time to meet with Adam and pass along some more responsibilities on Monday morning. You will probably be getting more emails or phone calls from him in the future. Pastor Denny and I are in the process of letting go of many of the administrative responsibilities we have carried over the years. It feels really good to be able to do that, but it takes a little getting used to!
Wednesday morning my small group met and then I had to rush off to help take care of my Mom in the hospital. Thank you very much for your prayers for her last week. She is still experiencing the same problems she had going in and we have an appointment today with the cardiologist to follow up with that. At least we know lots of things she does not have! Please continue to keep her in your prayers.
Wednesday night was packed full of kids, youth and adults. We had a full house with the kids and there were 3 regulars missing! We had two babies come in about 7 pm which created a totally different dynamic in the room–thus the plea on Sunday for someone to babysit on Wednesdays! It appears things are coming together in regard to leadership, we just need a little more time to get all our ducks in a row. We are practicing some songs to do in both services at Christmas. I’m excited about this. We have some very musically talented kids and we want them to be able to use their gifts in the church. Danny and Michele have been doing an amazing job with the young people on Wednesdays and they are seeing some very important discussion come out of their time together. We are making some connections that we hope will last for an eternity, but we really need your prayers and involvement. We know that kids whose families are involved in the faith are more likely to retain their connection both to God and the church, but family involvement is simply not possible with some of our kids. Therefore, we need to BE their family while they are here. Danny and Michele are doing a lot of the work in the trenches with these kids and we’re praying for more adult leadership there. But we all need to have open hearts to love these kids. Pray about it.
Thursday was the start of the Kairos weekend at Hernando County Correctional. Nicole and Trevor, Emily, and Darleen served in the prison and from all reports, the moving of the Spirit was powerful and effective in the lives of the residents. Though we missed them in worship Sunday, it was good to know we had a team of women serving in such an important way outside the walls of the church.
Sunday was a great day of teamwork. Vaughn here early to do his thing, Diana shepherding the chapel, Ira and Tom setting up the communion table, Scott helping me set up communion, and our worship band hard at work. Thanks also to Johnny for filling in during prayer time while myself, Pastor Diana and Pastor Denny have been away. We were blessed to have Chris Cox leading in worship this week. He used a website for worship planning that was just fantastic and I hope we can make use of it in the future. We are going to talk about it at the worship planning meeting this coming Sunday. Chris did a great job of leading us into the presence of God and setting up an open-hearted atmosphere for the sermon and communion time. I did a children’s sermon about the oasis being the lowest point in the desert and therefore, the place closest to the life and growth giving presence of water. That discovery and the application of being closest to the source of life when we are at our lowest point was one of the most moving parts of my preparation time this week. I had the job of closing out the series of Dessert in the Desert with a look at the life of Joseph and the detours that happen to us all in our journey. Even in the longest detours (things that we didn’t plan and don’t enjoy) God is at work. He is with us and can bless us, even in a place we don’t want to be. Lots of folks connected with that scenario and with the assurance that God can accomplish growth in our lives, even in the detour. You can watch the service at http://apps.attainresponse.com/ComF5/liveRecording.htm?id=291195
Sunday night, Jonathan and Maddie repeated their duet from the Sunday before. It was just as moving the second time around. The Spirit was very real and present in the service. It’s been good to have Carlos back leading worship after his recovery from a very bad throat infection. Pastor Jorge talked about how we should respond to “bad news” in our lives and he used the example of King Jehosaphat getting word that a mighty army was on the way with the intention of destroying the people of Judah. Because of the way Jehosaphat responded to the bad news of that situation, God delivered his people and received the glory for the victory. A great and practical word. Preparations for Beraca are in full swing. We hope some of you will join us at camp, at least on Saturday for the games and fellowship. Beraca will be held at the Baptist Campground on Lake Magdalene. The teaching will be done in Spanish but if you would like to come, we will be sure you at least understand what is going on. Participation on Saturday afternoon would be a great step for unity. There will not be a charge for participation but they will be taking up a love offering to help cover the costs. Please talk to me if you have any questions.
Please remember:
Pray for Pastor Denny and the India team.
Worship team planning this Sunday after church.
Blessings,
Pastor Karen