IN THIS ISSUE

[Pages:8]Volume 4 Issue 23 IN THIS ISSUE:

Seeds for Growth Congregational Meeting Thanksgiving Week Schedule Saturday Prayer Metropolitan Ministries PowerHouse Camp Out Missions Update Youth Marriage General announcements

Seeds for Growth

November 14 ? November 27, 2009

Our Watchful Protector

Psalms 121 (NLT) ... [God] who watches over you will not slumber. ...The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

My daughter and son-in-marriage, are recent parents of one very special little girl Brooke. They are very loving, attentive parents. Like many parents of babies these days, they have a live video camera & audio monitor overlooking her crib ? so that while little Brooke is sleeping at night, they can keep a watchful eye and ear for any needs she may have that they can meet. But there are limitations to their abilities. Her parents need to close their eyes and sleep ? and they don't have the ability to protect her from every trouble in life now or in her future.

Ah, but these parents trust their child and their own lives too to their Heavenly Father who never sleeps or takes His watchful, loving eyes off of His children. Furthermore, as evidenced in His powerful act of creation, He possesses unlimited power to guide and protect every event in His children's lives according to His good plan.

I recently read Psalm 121 and was once again struck by its encouragement for me to trust in my loving and powerful God's watchful protection and care. May you read those eight short verses too. As you do, reflect upon how they can stimulate your confidence in God, and then respond to God with a renewed prayer to Him

that expresses your trust and thanksgiving.

Pastor Paul

Congregational Meeting

The Oakwood family is encouraged to join us this Sunday, November 15, immediately following the morning Celebration Service for a brief Congregational Meeting. Our Proposed 2010 Budget will be presented and voted on by the members, as well as voting to affirm the recommendation that Jose Cariaga serve another three-year term on the Elder Team. We will also hear ministry highlights. Copies of the Proposed Budget are available on the table in the lobby or you can request a copy be emailed to you by contacting the Church Office.

Childcare will be available for children up through 5th Grade. In order to help plan adequately for workers, you must contact Pam Kilbride ? pam@ ? and register your children by Friday, November 13.

Thanksgiving Week Schedule

The Church Office will be closed on Thursday and Friday, November 26 & 27 for Thanksgiving.

Any items to be included in the November 29 Worship Program must be received by the Church Office by 9:00 AM on Wednesday, November 25.

Saturday Prayer

Before God's Throne

We urge every Christ-follower at Oakwood to intentionally participate at least one Saturday per month in our weekly Saturday morning prayer sessions from 7:30 ? 8:30 AM. As rocket fuel is to a rocket, so prayer is to the powerful working of God's Spirit. We want to see God accomplish His mighty purposes through us; therefore, we must excel in the ministry of prayer.

Metropolitan Ministries

Directions: 2002 N. Florida Ave. ? Go south on Florida Ave. ? it will split into a oneway street and become Tampa St. A few blocks past Columbus Dr., you will see Metropolitan Ministries on the left. The food tent is white and takes up about half a block. Turn left after you pass this and go to the parking lot on the far side of the block. Walk back on N. Florida Ave. and you will see a smaller tent for volunteer check-in.

PowerHouse Camp Out

Missions Update

Youth

Challenge 2010 Conference

June 28 - July 3, 2010 Columbus Convention Center

Columbus, Ohio

Go to for all the current information on Challenge `10

Cost: $275 per person plus housing and transportation.

Theme: UNDO: You cannot follow Jesus and remain the same. Jesus guarantees to change both your life's desires and trajectory. Life that is truly life flows from the soul that has been "undone" by the all-consuming love of Christ. His burning presence leads to an undoing of all that has defined your place, purpose, and priorities in this world. And yet, it does not merely expose the artificial but also awakens your imagination to dream of a way of life and love that cannot be confined by the systems of this world. To be undone is both a desperate cry and a costly call. UNDO!

CHALLENGE 2010 exists to help students redefine what it means to love God and love others as seen through the lens of the Beatitudes.

Challenge is an every other year growth level conference for junior and senior high students. Each day it combines great worship and challenging speakers with youth group dynamics for ministry outreach in the site city, training sessions on pertinent topics and recreational activities. It is an opportunity for youth groups to travel together, to worship and learn together, to serve together, to play together and to be challenged to grow in their faith as individuals and as youth groups - to become effective Christ followers who impact their world for Jesus Christ.

Marriage

Joy in the Journey

The relational glue that helps us pursue oneness By John and Nancy Ortberg

Part 4 ? Conclusion

Create a culture of two

In Genesis, the author tells us that a husband is to leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. This means we create a culture of two. You pursue joy by pursuing a private world the two of you alone share that helps make you one.

A culture is a combination of languages, rituals, activities, values, and pastimes that creates a common environment and allows people to interact with and relate to each other. In his book A Severe Mercy, Sheldon Vanauken recalls the early days of his marriage when he and his wife would focus on what they called "the shining barrier"--this wall that at a certain level would separate the two of them from the rest of the world. There are a variety of ways to create a shining barrier.

Nicknames. Often when couples fall in love they give each other nicknames. It's a way of reinforcing the idea that the two of us know each other in a way that nobody else knows us. We have an identity that nobody else can share.

Shared rituals. Some couples have breakfast together on Saturday mornings at a special place, or they have a night in the week that's their date night, or one weekend a year that's a special weekend. Some couples read together. Sometimes the rituals are goofy. For instance, if we're walking and Nancy trips, we'll kiss each other. It's just a silly, almost embarrassing thing, but that little ritual infuses moments of lightness into the routine of life.

Memories often have that kind of impact. That's why couples will talk about their song or a particular restaurant that's special to them. It's creating their own world, a culture for two.

Sexuality intimacy. In the Old Testament, in the Hebrew language, one of the words for sexual intimacy is to know someone. In that kind of sexual intimacy there's a way of knowing the other person, of experiencing him or her physically that's reserved only for a husband and a wife. Nobody else can share that, and it has, among other things, this power to help make two people one.

Marriage is one of our first steps into the kingdom of God. It's well and good that we do kingdom work for other people, but if we don't do it for our spouse, we need to question the good of what other things we do in God's kingdom. Are you in the kind of relationship where you love without thought of return? Where you rejoice in your mate? Ultimately, when we pursue joy, we move toward oneness and intimacy, and we more clearly see who God is. That was his idea in the first place.

If you missed the first three parts of this article, you can click this link - and choose Issue 20, Issue 21 or Issue 22.

John Ortberg is author of God Is Closer than You Think. Nancy Ortberg is a former teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church. The Ortbergs live in California.

Copyright ? 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Marriage Partnership magazine. Click here for reprint information on Marriage Partnership.

General announcements

The Oakwood ACORN is a bi-weekly E-newsletter from Oakwood Community Church, published to keep our church family and friends informed about events and people at Oakwood. Articles may be submitted via e-mail to Office@. Article deadlines and publication schedule is:

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