A Drink from the Oasis…week of 19.Nov.08
Saints,
Below you will find this week’s Inspirational E-mail. I pray you will enjoy it and forward this thought on to your friends as well as offer them an invitation to church this weekend. Remember Josh Hunt is teaching us to “Invite every member and every visitor to every fellowship every month.”
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1. A Drink from the Oasis: ————————- “I Don’t Do…” ————————-
One of our students received an appointment from a bishop, and the student did not feel the placement exactly suited his abilities.
I overheard him complaining about it to another student, and then the other student said, “You know, the world’s a better place because Michelangelo did not say, ‘I don’t do ceilings.’ ”
Her comment stopped me dead in my tracks. I had to admit she was right.
If you and I are going to be faithful to the ministry God is calling us to, then we had better understand that. I reflected on the attitudes of key people throughout the Scriptures and the history of the church.
The world’s a better place because a German monk named Martin Luther did not say, “I don’t do doors.”
The world’s a better place because an Oxford don named John Wesley didn’t say, “I don’t do preaching in fields.”
The world’s a better place because Moses didn’t say, “I don’t do Pharaohs or mass migrations.”
The world’s a better place because Noah didn’t say, “I don’t do arks and animals.”
The world’s a better place because Rahab didn’t say, “I don’t do enemy spies.”
The world’s a better place because Ruth didn’t say, “I don’t do mothers-in-law.”
The world’s a better place because Samuel didn’t say, “I don’t do mornings.”
The world’s a better place because David didn’t say, “I don’t do giants.”
The world’s a better place because Peter didn’t say, “I don’t do Gentiles.”
The world’s a better place because John didn’t say, “I don’t do deserts.”
The world’s a better place because Mary didn’t say, “I don’t do virgin births.”
The world’s a better place because Paul didn’t say, “I don’t do correspondence.”
The world’s a better place because Mary Magdalene didn’t say, “I don’t do feet.”
The world’s a better place because Jesus didn’t say, “I don’t do crosses.”
And the world will be a better place only if you and I don’t say, “I don’t do …”
– Leonard Sweet, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 2.
See: Ge 22:2; Jos 11:15; 2 Ki 18:6; Heb 5:8.
Messy Questions:
1. What is it your saying “I don’t do…” that God is pointing out to you after reading this?
2. How does this relate to us (as a community of believers at Oasis) in moving forward with Oasis?
3. In what area do you find that your spiritual life or pursuit of growth is difficult?
2. Admin Stuff:
a. Saturday Night we continue at care group with our Josh Hunt study session #9 (yes, we will get to it this week). Please read through page 138 for this week.
b. Men’s tribe meets this week at the NEW Dunkin Doughnuts in Goose Creek at 6:30pm. The tribe has decided this format for our time (it has been growing and changing each week…which is a good thing… 1)get something to drink 2) laugh, 3) opening prayer, 4) Whoever got asked a ‘warm and fuzzy question’ last week, gets immunity this week, but is able to ask a W&FQ this week, but must… 5) pray for the brother who was asked the W&FQ specifically, 6) what is said in the group, stays in the group. It is updated on FB as well. Mike Richter is the point dude for Men’s Tribe and can be contacted here. Men, I will be sharing THIS with you this week in our time as we continue in the book of Hebrews with Chapter 8.
c. Please continue to review, research, and pray about our “Relational Commitments” which we are evaluating as Core/Launch/New Member material. This week we continue with “Commitment to Preserving Marriages.” Some helpful resources on this topic that I studied this week were: Elders meetings that do something, The Seven Deadly Sins of Evangelicals in Politics, and of course the cd’s you all received last week on The Lord’s Supper and The Interactive Meeting from NTRF.
a. Remember that on 07.Dec.08, We will be having caregroup at Bob Sommers house! That is communion night, George Conklin will be facilitating this for us (if he is available). Remember, A helpful Resource for this is by one of our advisory board members, Mark Turner, called, “Heart Preparation Guide for Communion.”
d. We continue this week in our study also with Luke 15. I am looking forward to our discussion! We will be watching our last Nooma video… and then we start…
e. I know I am forgetting something… oh well…
3. Prayer Requests (PR) and Community Needs (CN):
a. Updated prayer requests can be found at: http://oasisgc.wordpress.com/prayer-board-facts/ A humbling gift to intercede for so many… many visitors in the digital world leave requests here. If you have a prayer request make sure to get it to Kia or Christine (thank you so much for praying for us!!!). If you are looking for some handy guides for prayer, check out these Prayer Cards. You can click on the “Prayer Cards” link and select which ever prayer card your interested in, and a sample of it can be seen with adobe reader (www.adobe.com).
b. How is your intercession going for the requests we handed out 2 weeks ago?
c. Remember to continue also to be praying for those who have lost jobs, those who have unresolved conflicts, those who far from God, for the churches in Berkeley county, and our city.
See you at caregroup on Saturday (5-8pm). Remember to always be…
stunned by the gospel of Jesus Christ,
Derek R. Iannelli-Smith
Oasis Website – Oasis Facebook Group
Oasis…where relationships are a mess worth making
