Perspectives on the World Christian Movement

Five Oaks Church is excited to offer and host Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.

Perspectives is a fifteen week course designed around four vantage points or "perspectives" — Biblical, Historical, Cultural and Strategic. Each one highlights different aspects of God's global purpose.

The Biblical and Historical sections reveal why our confidence is based on the historic fact of God's relentless work from the dawn of history until this day.

The Cultural and Strategic sections underscore that we are in the midst of a costly, but very "do-able" task, confirming the Biblical and Historical hope.

Why Perspectives?
Perspectives helps believers from all walks of life see how they can get threaded into God’s story of redeeming people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself. From Genesis to the prophets, Jesus Christ to the early church, and Constantine to today, you will see how God has been moving, how the global Church has responded, and what the greatest needs in world evangelization remain today. It isn’t a class about missions, but a course on how every believer can be intimately woven into the story of God using His people to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth.

Perspectives is a deepening journey with the Lord in His purpose and passion, which brings much hope and life. Somehow along the way we are gloriously changed. Incredible! To borrow from Floyd McClung, it truly does, "ruin you for the ordinary". 

Come check it out on January 7th and 14th for free! Register early to take advantage of an early-bird discount! 

Class Info

Date: Thursday, January 7, 2016 through Thursday, April 28, 2016

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Cost: $245 for Certificate Level

Location: Five Oaks Community Church 4416 Radio Drive Woodbury MN 55129

Contact: perspectiveseastmetro@gmail.com

For further information or to enroll go to:https://class.perspectives.org/Visitor/Public.aspx?ClassId=432793

Coffee House Jr.

1st-5th graders, join us for a night of Christmas music, games, hot cocoa and more...just for you!

1st-5th graders, join us for a night of Christmas music, games, hot cocoa and more...just for you!

December 11th at 6:30-8:00, Tree House Children's Ministry invites all 1st-5th graders to join us at Five Oaks Church for a night of Christmas Celebration. There will be Live Christmas Music by Legend Rutledge & Alex Hovda, as well as games, crafts and coloring areas, a hot cocoa bar and  cookie decorating.

Parents, please bring your kids in so we can check them in securely and please pick them up  by 8:00 p.m. Have your security tags handy. 

1st-5th Grade Tree House volunteers, you are invited to come enjoy the evening with the kids, making connections with them outside of the normal teaching time. 

This is great opportunity for the kids to connect with those in their classrooms as well as with their teachers! Hope to see you there!

Advent prayer services will help prepare our hearts

Advent.  ‘Tis the season for all kinds of wonderful trappings of Christmas: family gatherings, trimming the tree, shopping, baking, anticipating. These are all important family traditions, memory makers, seasonal highlights. However, sometimes in an effort to make a meaningful family Christmas, we finish these tasks and forget to prepare our hearts for the birth of our Savior.

As we make room for Advent as a church family, join us on Thursday mornings at 6:30 am for our Advent prayer services. These prayer services will provide a reflective experience, encouraging us to center our hearts in anticipation of Christ’s birth. The music will be simple, the prayer time meaningful. You will be free of the distractions that arrive with the sunrise. Join us.

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Go on Mission with EFCA - TREK7 Teams

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Matthew 28:19 (NIV) - 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

TREK7

On mission and in community. It's hard to find programs that train and equip you for both.

ReachGlobal's seven week trips for college-age young adults will bring you to some of the world's most remarkable locations, forging lifelong friendships with your teammates, all while you learn how to effectively engage in God's mission alongside ReachGlobal's local practitioners.

Is God calling you to mission?

It's time you found out. If you're between the ages of 17 - 27, you can join a TREK7 team this summer and explore God's calling for you over a 7-week period.  Your journey will begin in Minneapolis on June 20, 2015. Over the next three days you will learn team building and be exposed to cross-cultural ministry. On June 24, you and your team will fly out to your destination where you will learn from, and work closely with, local full-time missionaries. Your team will return to Minneapolis on August 3. You will have two days to reflect on all you have learned and experienced. You will debrief with your team and finish by investigating next steps and future opportunities.     

God will work in you and through you to grow you and bless others.    

Cost: $3000 plus airfare.

Where will you serve?

To explore all the possibilities click here: http://go.efca.org/ministries/reachglobal/trek7

Journeymen's Manger Build

Dads and granddads, grab your kids and come build a life-sized manger together. $20 fee includes a manger kit, expert assistance, devotional guide, and snacks and refreshments. Wood will be pre-cut, ready to go. Saturday, December 12, 9 am. If a male figure is unavailable, we’ll have “adopt-a-dads” available to work with your child. For more info, see the Men’s ministry cart at the Ministry Wall after services this weekend. To register, click here. Please note: the last day to register for this event is December 7.

Revisiting The Parenting Workshop

A Christ-centered Christmas tradition: take a card each day and do the activity to remember the gift of Jesus. And on Christmas Day,  the story of the nativity is revealed.

A Christ-centered Christmas tradition: take a card each day and do the activity to remember the gift of Jesus. And on Christmas Day,  the story of the nativity is revealed.

This past weekend we offered a parenting workshop, where we shared with you some practical and fun ideas on how to keep your Christmas centered on Christ. We shared lots of stories, activities and resources.  

If you missed the workshop,  take a few minutes to stop down in the children's wing hallway this weekend and we will have some of of the ideas set up for you to look at and resource lists for you to take home.  

Until then, we pray that you have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving. 

Shrinking The Elephant

Shrinking The Elephant

God is surely doing something unique in the hearts and lives of our students in Rush Hour and Fusion. But truth be told, there is a wild elephant surrounding our Student Ministries program that needs to be addressed. And that is this, in order for our group to spiritually grow it may first need to shrink.. Yes, you heard me right, in order for our student ministry program to grow it may indeed first need to shrink.

Weekend of November 21 + 22

Advent prayer services starting soon - Advent. ‘Tis the season for all kinds of wonderful trappings of Christmas: family gatherings, trimming the tree, shopping, baking, anticipating. These are all great family traditions, memory makers, seasonal highlights. However, sometimes in efforts to make a meaningful family Christmas, we finish these tasks and forget to prepare our hearts for the birth of our Savior.

A Christ-Centered Legacy

November 22nd, 9:15 or 11:00 in the Five Oaks Gym

November 22nd, 9:15 or 11:00 in the Five Oaks Gym

I was rattling off my to-do list for the next month and a half to a friend, and I realized that although I absolutely love Thanksgiving and Christmas,  they seem to be just busy enough, just stressful enough and just overwhelming enough,  that to introduce new traditions and create change in my house, seems like an impossible task that I just don't have time for. However, there are ways to use teachable moments in this season that will leave a legacy in the hearts of our kids.  A legacy focused on the humbleness found in the birth of a new born king.

This Sunday,  Tree House Children's Ministry will be offering a parent workshop to offer some practical and simple ideas on how to create Christ-centered traditions that will leave a legacy in your kids hearts.  

Join us in the gym during the 9:15 or the 11:00 service.

 

 

FMSC - Story of A Miracle

Miracles happen all around us, even though we often fail to see or understand them. I just learned that one such miracle occurred at the FMSC Woodbury Mega MobilePack. I knew that the shift Five Oaks Church had participated in, the Saturday 6:00 - 8:00 pm shift, broke the record for the most meals packed in a single shift EVER in the history of FMSC. I did think that was really cool. I just didn't understand HOW COOL it really was.

Last night, November 10, I attended the FMSC debrief of our Mega MobilePack event. We went over every aspect of the event from a 3000' view. Discussing volunteer recruitment, marketing, fund-raising, etc. We all learned a lot about putting on an event of this size and scope, but all that took a back seat when we opened the floor to hear personal stories from that weekend in October. We heard a behind-the-scenes story from Lisa Engh that just floored us. I hope I can do it justice here. 

Saturday afternoon, after the 12:00 - 2:00pm shift ended, several key volunteers and senior FMSC staff were eating and going over the numbers of the event to that point. They came to the sobering realization that with the number of shifts left, and the number of volunteers scheduled to work each of those shifts, the event was going to fall short of the 4 million meals goal.  Up to that point, the 10 completed shifts packed an average of 215,714 meals. Paul Dopkins, from FMSC, who has supervised many, many MobilePacks made it clear that a great shift might produce meals in the high 290,000's, but even that was extraordinary. Only 1 of the prior 10 shifts had breached the 290k mark, and 5 of the shifts had fallen short of packing 200K meals. There were only 6 shifts remaining and some of those shifts had low volunteer commitments. The team came to terms with the fact that they would fall short of the goal by approximately 500,000 meals.  

That is when Laura Bernard, the Mobile Operations Manager for FMSC, spoke up. She reminded everyone that they had seen miracles happen before at these events. Though this would require a bigger than usual miracle, it was not beyond God. The group huddled and prayed. That is when God showed up.

The next shift, in the same two hour time frame as the rest, packed 356,832 meals. Unheard of!! Then it was our turn. Over 500 Five Oakers came together to pack meals on that Saturday evening. We did have a full shift, with 1,200 volunteers, but we finished packing an amazing 385,128 meals! Again, that is a FMSC record! 169,000 meals over the average and 100,000 more meals then what an extraordinary shift was expected to pack. It was impossible and defies explanation. Other full shifts had worked hard, had every bit of the same heart that we had, but the outcome was much different. Lisa described it as a real loaves and fishes type miracle. The real miracle lies in the difference between the expected outcome and the 4,066,200 meals we ultimately packed. By hitting and surpassing the goal another 1,551 children will be fed for an entire year. God will see His children fed!   

We never know when God is using us to do His work and we rarely understand when we are in the middle of something wonderful. I certainly didn't at the time.

- Jerry Meras