At the beginning of the year, we introduced a theme for our White Oak church family. This theme is our intentional focus for 2023. The theme is One Another. That phrase is used 59 times in the New Testament of the Bible. Jesus, Paul, John, and others pressed on the significance of our interactions with and how we treat each other. In fact, serving one another was Jesus’s last lesson and illustration to his disciples before he was arrested and crucified.
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. -John 13:12-17
It seems clear to me that “one anothering” is the surest way we live out and advance Jesus’s Kingdom here on earth.
Because of this, we want to activate our church to “one another” (yes, we’ve made it a verb). I celebrate the discipleship I see growing in our church family.
The new people who continue to join ministry teams serving within our church --- serving one another and offering hospitality to many guests at White Oak.
The many new people (nearly 2000!) who stepped through our doors on Easter --- our church family inviting and prayerfully seeking to connect people to full life in Jesus!
The more than two dozen people who will be deployed on mission this summer on mission trips --- loving and serving one another in the name of Jesus.
Many in our church family have asked God to shake up their faith and to move boldly in and through us regarding our generosity! --- I praise God for those who will come to full life in Jesus because of our surrender.
And that’s just a few things White Oak has initiated!
I am certain so much more one anothering is happening in our homes, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and in our relationships as disciples of Jesus move out into the community. I am so excited for the opportunity we have at White Oak this summer. We are offering a Spiritual Gifts Workshop so that we can learn and grow in how God has uniquely equipped us with gifts for serving his Kingdom. This workshop will be an eye-opener to how each of us has been gifted with talents, interests, passions, and skills that God is eager to use for the benefit of the Church’s mission. I’ve been through this workshop, and I can personally tell you that I left with knowledge and a perspective I didn’t have before. There are many opportunities throughout our daily lives and in our city that beg for God’s people to apply our giftedness for the benefit of others.
This workshop is being offered twice this summer at White Oak. The space is limited. Sign up TODAY for one of two options. You will be glad that you did, and you will be challenged and equipped to activate your faith in new ways. Sign up here.
I continue to be moved by what Cyprian, a church leader in third century north Africa, wrote.
Now I am calling you to broaden your view…by loving your neighbors. Visit them, too; encourage them; provide bread and water for them. I know that in recent months some pagans have been involved in persecuting you. Pray for them; pray for their salvation, and help them. You are God’s children: the descendants of a good Father should prove the imitation of his goodness.”
When we are for one another, people will meet Jesus and we will be blessed when we show him to them.
Activated,
Nathan
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor
White Oak Christian Church