StreetReach Comments

Some things I have heard said or seen written about StreetReach this year.

Thanks to the youth who came to my yard.  They helped me more than words can express.

The FX service was wonderful.  Evan is just too funny!

The youth involved with StreetReach are fine young people and worthy of our thanks for representing Mt. Oak and our Lord in such fine fashion.

The youth really looked like they were having fun dancing before the Lord at the family service. They should create a dance troop.  We had one at my last church and the young people loved it.

I saw the green shirts in the streets and knew that Mt. Oak’s youth were out serving the community again.

As some leaders were leaving a meeting at 9:30 one night one leader said; it is so quiet, I wonder if the youth are so tired from serving all day they went to bed already.

As the pastor at Mt. Oak I am so proud of our youth and their leaders.  The heat has been terrible all week and yet they have worked hard serving Jesus.  I will try to get some pictures from some of their work sites tomorrow to show them in action.  I know the showers the other night took out a few tents and saw the sleeping bags drying in the sun.  The team has fought through the heat and the rain and keeps their smiles.  Thanks for letting Jesus shine in your, through you, and in spite of you!

StreetReach 2011

It is early morning – Sunday – July 10 – 2011 – camp is quiet as the sun rises behind it.  One by one the members of the 2011 Bowie StreetReach team from Mt. Oak Fellowship emerge from their tents and head toward the shower tent or toward breakfast.  Camp was set up Saturday and the excitement of the week ahead probably kept them from getting too much sleep last night.

StreetReach is an Outreach ministry of Mt. Oak Fellowship at 14110 Mount Oak Road, in Mitchellville, MD.  Throughout this week our team will be helping to spread the vision and mission of our church.  Our vision at Mt. Oak is to reach the whole family for Christ.  Our plan or mission to carry out this vision is to bring people into environments where they can encounter Christ, build people up in their knowledge and understanding of Christ, and to send people out to serve Christ.

Throughout this week – our team will be reaching the whole family in the P-Section of Bowie and beyond - one yard at a time.  They will be bringing people into environments where they can encounter Christ as they take the love of Jesus to the very homes of the families in our community.  They are putting flesh on the love of God as they reach out to serve others for Jesus.  A common question from the families will be how much do we owe you for what you have done for us.  A common response from the team will be what we have done is free – because the love of Christ is free.

Our team will also be growing in their knowledge and understanding of Christ as they see their work for the Lord bear fruit in a variety of ways throughout the week.  They will also be discipled by the adult leaders of their team throughout the week.  Not only will they be doing hands on outreach and evangelism at times – they will have devotions and lessons learned along the way.  The youth and adults who work at StreetReach each year are never the same!

Our team is sharing and serving Christ this week.  Pray for them.  Even more – come and support them by finding out what you can do and by attending the evening programs.  It is not too late to become involved.  They will work hard through the day pulling weeds – cutting vines – trimming bushes and trees – raking leaves – cutting grass – etc.  Each evening they will be in inviting the community to activities as well.  Check them out here.  Events will include a water night – a family fun night – dinner and a movie night – pool night – family fun night at the park and more!  Come have some fun with our StreetReach team and the community!

Plan now – it is not too late – to be part of Bowie StreetReach 2011.  It might change the life of a family in our community!  It might change your life!  It might impact your whole church and community in a way that nothing else could.  See you there!

Say tuned for reports all week!

My Prayer for the People of God at Mt. Oak

Philippians 1:9-11

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.

As a pastor – I often spend time praying for the congregation I am blessed to serve – and the other people I have served or know in my life.  It must come with the territory!  As a church planter – Paul had a heart for the congregations he helped start – by God’s grace and mercy.  In today’s passage Paul speaks the heart of many pastors I know – for the people they serve.

He prayed for this congregation – and his prayer was that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.  Love is so important.  We spoke of the importance of love in our Vision and Mission series – the need to fully love with our hearts our Lord and His cause.  Loving others is what allows us to minister to others – to reach out to others.  We want to build people up in knowledge – but if we haven’t grabbed the heart along the way – the knowledge will be destined to be merely knowledge.  Paul connects the abounding love with the growing knowledge in his prayer for these folks – and I pray this for us at Mt. Oak.

With a growing love and deepening knowledge comes a depth of insight, so that we may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless . . . filled with (or producing) the fruit of righteousness. . . to the glory and praise of God.  That is my prayer this morning – and many mornings – that Mt. Oak will be filled with people who will seek after the love of God – the knowledge of God – in order to discern the best way to serve God and bring Him glory.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

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Mission and Vision at Mt. Oak – Send Them Out

Our Vision and Mission at Mt. Oak

The Problem: Families are under attack 

The Solution: Reaching the whole family for Christ

The Process: Bring them in, Build them up, Send them out

The Win: A changed life or family for Christ

This coming Sunday – the last Sunday in a three-week series on our vision and mission – we will preach on the third par of our mission or process – send them out.  One point I want to make today is that the process is not necessarily linear.  We do not have to follow a sequence of bring them in, build them up and send them out.  Although all three are essential – the can happen together or independent of each other.

Here is an example of all three working together.  When we talked about Sunday worship being a bring them in event – we also talked about it being a time of building them up when we teach and instruct in the message or through other means.  It can also be a send them out event – as we serve one another and show love toward others.  Sending out the disciples to serve is essential.  Some may find significant places to serve within the walls of the church – others may find their most significant places to serve outside the church.  I believe we are all called to do both – some more than others in either direction.

Sunday we will look at a variety of Scriptures that challenge us to serve others.  We will talk about loving others – thinking of others – and the various ways we as a church can implement this call of love.

We each have different gifts and should use them to God’s glory.  Part of our build them up process will be to help the church find out what gifts they have and how they might use these gifts to God’s glory. 1 Peter 4:10 - Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

Start thinking now about what gifts you believe God has given you and how you might use them to serve others.  We already do or have done things at Mt. Oak to help others.  Some of these include but are not limited to StreetReach, Turkey Outreach, Mission Trips, Thanksgiving Day Meal, supporting Missionaries and our Sports Programs.  We also – through our pastors – support families in financial need – in times of grief – and in other crisis situations.

What we would like to develop at Mt. Oak is a group of outreach ministries that our congregation can’t wait to join.  That not only takes a congregation that is maturing as disciples – wanting to show the love of Christ to others – but also a group of outreach programs that hit home – hit the heart.  If you are a person who facilitated a mission project – wouldn’t it be refreshing to have so many people wanting to help – that you either had to expand what you were planning to do or had a waiting list of people itching for the next opportunity?More on this Sunday and in another day’s post.  I hope I have pricked your interest in Sunday’s message.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

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Do You Know Your Neighbors?

Do you know your neighbors?  We talk about evangelism – sharing the good news with others – trying to be an instrument God can use to draw folks into a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – yet many of us do not even know our neighbors – those who live within a few steps from our front doors.  I found this interesting article on an e-mail from ChristianityToday.com today.  Following is a portion of that article.

We don’t really know any of our neighbors.” This is what my wife said to me yesterday, as we pulled into our driveway. She was right. Other than the polite waves and small-talk conversations, we didn’t know our neighbors at all. Immediately my mind went to work justifying the lack of relationships. “Well, we’re so busy,” I said. “And a lot of what keeps us busy is ministry stuff.” I wasn’t fooling her, or myself. There’s no excuse for not knowing people who live literally a stone’s throw from our front door. Here we’re hosting a small group of Christians in our home, while unbelievers in our cozy cul-de-sac don’t even know we’re Christians!

Does this sound familiar to you?  I have heard similar stories from people in our own church.  We tend to live very isolated lives – yet being a Christian is about community – about relationships.

As the weather improves – maybe a step we could all take is to get out and get to know those who live around us.  I did just that on a recent nice day.  I was working in my yard and I stopped and got to know – across the fence – my new neighbor.  She is expecting and they are building onto her home.  My wife came up and joined in the discussion and we spent several minutes getting to know each other.  Another neighbor was trimming their trees and I went over and ask for tips on doing it and talked awhile about our community and his life.  In order to reach our neighbors for Christ – we  need to build a relationship with them.  How about taking this spring and intentionally trying to reach out to our neighbors?

The article I read today offered these suggestions for missional evangelism in your neighborhood.  Go there – read the article – put it into practice and see what happens.  Or maybe you have better ideas.  How about sharing ideas that have worked for you?