From the Senior Pastor 9/14

Hello all. May the bless­ing of God the Fa­ther, Son and Holy Spirit be upon each of you this week and upon your families. If I haven’t said it recen­tly, may I say it again here, I am honored to be your pastor and to be in the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with you. Mt. Oak has been and I pray will continue to be a blessing to my family and me.

Someone somewhere said that time seems to fly by when you get older. I believe that statement. It seemed just like yesterday that summer began. Now, here we are facing fall square in the jaw. It has been a hot and dry sum­mer, so I guess the fall will be a wel­come time for our lawns and plants.

The fall always brings excitement. School starts back-up for the public, private and home schoolers. Our Sun­day School even gets a fresh start. Have you been out to get the kids their school supplies?

Mt. Oak has many exciting minis­tries returning and refreshing them­selves this fall. The children’s church, the Sunday School program for all ages, Men’s Bible Study, Wednesday night family night, discipleship programs, small groups, accountability groups, home groups, young adults, youth program and more. Other ministries, some that have continued all summer, will refresh themselves.

Along with all of these ministries we need to keep in focus what is impor­tant. All of these ministries at Mt. Oak are to be centered on the Word of God. The Bible, not our thoughts or ideas, are at the center of our faith. The warning is clear in Scripture; See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and decep­tive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic princi­ples of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8 We want all of our ministries to be set upon the Word of God. It may sound like a great idea, but, if it isn’t grounded in the Word, we don’t want to be about it at Mt. Oak.

Scripture came not by man’s thought or will but by God’s inspira­tion. Listen to how Scripture puts it; Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21

Scripture is our primary source for teaching and training in the Body of Christ. Scripture puts it this way; All Scripture is God-breathed and is use­ful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim­othy 3:16-17 The ministries at Mt. Oak are designed to equip us, the Body of Christ, to be better disciples and thus draw others to Christ themselves. We can only do this effectively, if the Word of God is the center of each ministry.

Jesus said; These are the Scriptures that testify about me, John 5:39. If you want to know about Jesus, read the Word.

God’s will is revealed in Scripture; beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concern­ing Himself. Luke 24:27 All that God has in store for us is revealed in His Word. We should study it daily. We should study it to test what we hear and believe. The Bereans received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11 We should examine all that we hear and all that we’re exposed to in light of the Word.

Our United Methodist Discipline states; The biblical authors, illumined by the Holy Spirit, bear witness that in Christ the world is reconciled to God. The Bible bears authentic testimony to God's self disclo­sure in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as in God's work of creation, in the pilgrimage of Israel, and in the Holy Spirit's ongoing activity in human history.... Our standards affirm the Bible as the source of all that is "necessary" and "sufficient" unto salvation (Articles of Religion) and "is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice" (Confession of Faith).

Pray with me that all ministries at Mt. Oak will have as its center the Word of God. And, if we find any that do not, help me to correct that situation.