Copy of August 21, 2026

It has been nearly 18 years since White Oak made one of the most significant decisions in her history. We became a multi-site church. 18 years ago, the Lead Pastor at the time asked me if I could transition into the position of Campus Pastor and build a team of people who would become the launch team of our Ross Twp. Campus. I made that transition in September 2008 leaving my position as Student Pastor to build a team of people who would leave White Oak’s Colerain Twp. location and begin a new church community. WOCC’s Ross Twp. Campus would meet in Ross High School beginning in March 2009 and do so for eleven years. In September 2021 WOCC moved from the high school and opened the Ross Campus building.

I dwell on this often. Over our nearly 190-year history, White Oak has made some bold moves. Each one of those bold moves has been for one purpose: To connect more people to full life in Jesus. When I consider the 1200 people who worship at both of our locations each weekend, I am amazed as God’s faithfulness and his willingness to multiply our steps of faith for impact that we could only dream about.

In Matthew 25 Jesus delivers some of his most astounding teachings. Three parables describe the readiness of Jesus’s disciples for the day that he would come… again. One parable is built upon the other. The first one deals with the general watchfulness of his apprentices who are found ready and waiting when he comes. The second parable describes how Jesus’s apprentices steward the resources he’s given to us in order that we may accomplish his mission on earth. The third parable drills down even more specifically into the work of his disciples who should be busy caring for the poor, marginalized, and needy. All three of these parables come across as quite harsh. In all three stories, Jesus tells of a group of disciples who are rewarded for their faithfulness and readiness and a second group who do not receive a reward because of their lack of faithfulness. It’s not pretty.

I’d like to take a few minutes to make some observations about the second parable as it relates to White Oak’s history and the commission which Jesus has given us.

Matthew 25:14-18 says, ¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

As the story goes, the first two servants invest their master’s money while he is gone and return it to him having doubled the investment. The last servant doesn’t invest his master’s resources but instead holds onto it out of fear of losing it. Therefore, the master doesn’t receive multiplication of impact from that servant’s poor stewardship.

So, what does it look like for each of us, and for White Oak as a community, to invest God’s resources and multiply the return? What does it look like to step forward in bold acts of faith? What does it look like to come before Jesus and say, ‘We have obediently done whatever we can to double our ministry impact for your glory!’?

These are the questions we need to be asking. We can’t afford be a church who simply looks at Jesus and says, ‘We made do… we played it safe… we made reasonable decisions to try to grow.’ Jesus isn’t asking us to grow. He’s asking us to multiply. Multiplication takes bigger thinking. Big vision. Bolder faith. As we look at the rest of 2026 and into next year, these are the questions that I pray drive our leadership and you.

Moving with you,

Nathan

Nathan Hinkle

Lead Pastor

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