Oak Hill Baptist Church © 2008-
Each day I come to the “pastor’s study” at church, I am reminded of our faithful congregation. The view from my windows looking southeast is of a newly paved parking lot, complete with stripes. When someone walks up to the door, their movement catching my eye, I see the lot. When I pause in study to reflect on a truth and I look at the fields or the sky, I see the lot. Perhaps because it is new, the pavement and paint catches my attention more readily. Almost every time I think of faithful people who have given and continue to give financially to Oak Hill. The church is not the building, but the building is a wonderful tool to encourage people to come to Christ and to worship him.
Several times each week, I attend Bible studies either here at church or in a home. These are men’s or couple’s groups. We open the Bible and talk over spiritual truth. “Rabbit trails” are welcome as we veer off course and pursue a different yet related topic. We end with a round of prayer, each person contributing a prayer request. The times are rich, rich in fellowship around God’s word led by the Holy Spirit. I always leave being refreshed. Men have “better” things to do at 7:00 or 6:00 in the morning. Couples on Sunday night could be watching TV or working on a project or twiddling their thumbs. Instead they come to grow as they faithfully pay attention to God’s word.
On Sunday morning I look out over an increasingly diverse congregation. We have people who were raised in a Christian home, coming to Christ early in life and avoiding many of the bad choices others make. We have some of those “others” worshipping with us. They have destroyed part of life and are looking for the abundant life in Christ. Their pain and frustration are great. Their lives are still “messy.” Yet week after week, we sit together and sing together and gently challenge each other to walk more deeply in our Lord and His ways. The sitting and singing and challenging are not easy or comfortable. We don’t always get it right. Yet this faithful commitment to one another is surely a mark of the Spirit’s work among us.
I also have lengthy conversations with a wide variety of people each week, by phone or in person. A large portion of these conversations are about spiritual opportunities. Here is a man working with a group of struggling believers. We strategize on their true spiritual needs and how to meet them. Here is a woman working with a new Christian. We talk over possible next steps toward maturity, knowing the steps are huge and that ultimately only God knows which step might come next. I want to listen and talk as long as needed for spiritual battle is going on. Trench warfare. Mud and flies and mustard gas and bombardments and sleepless nights can take their toll. Faithfulness is tough, and they need all the encouragement they can get.
So let his December Caller be something of a Christmas letter to our entire Oak Hill family. I praise God that he sent his Son to make you who you are. I praise God that his Spirit sustains you in the middle of a very graceless culture. I could go on an on about different gifts, small and great, you give to Oak Hill, sometimes at great expense to yourself. Yet may we all fix our eyes on Jesus. His gift of himself has done and continues to do miracles in our midst. May we never doubt the power of him, however we may doubt ourselves and one another from time to time. Merry Christmas, Dick and Marj Lauger