Five Oaks Puts the "F" in Fun

The Five Oaks FUN Team is off to a brilliant start with two special events to kick off the year.  We started with a special Valentine show of love in February, and just finished the night of FUN that is called Game Cafe in March.  Both of these were made possible by the Five Oaks FUN team and about 50 additional volunteers.  

Hopefully you had a taste of the delicious chocolate-dipped marshmallows or strawberries when you came to church on Valentine's Day.  If not, just check out the photo below and you might feel like running out to grab a chocolate dessert.

 

We also hope you stopped by for a night of games and hot dogs at our Game Café.  Over 460 people attended the event and it was great to see spontaneous fellowship happening that night.  A number of small groups met for a social outing and lots of kids and parents got to have an "unplugged" night of fun together.  We had BINGO, Mega-Twister, bounce houses, slides, Puzzlemania and tons of board games for all tastes.  

This was a night of FUN for all ages, and just to prove that we would like you to view this video of our Senior Pastor and Director of Outreach facing-off on the inflatable Bungee Run! 
 

 

The FUN Team is back at work planning our next surprise for Mother's Day.  Plan to bring your mom or someone who is like a mom to you to church the weekend of May 7/8 and let her be honored.

Special thanks to the members of the Five Oaks FUN Team below.  They made it all possible:
Dawn Beavers
Nate Benson
Peg Benson
Jenna Friedman
Kris Glewwe
Shawn Grams
Heather Hanafee
Marge Lindberg
Jessica Mata
Meleah Miller
Kristin Sellers
Rachel Westurn
Pam Hawley (our fearless leader)
Jennifer Clemens (our equally fearless leader)

 

News from the Worship Arts Team

Hey! Welcome to the Five Oaks Worship Arts blog! We are looking forward to getting to share with you all a bit more of who we are and why we do what we do. We might even throw in a funny story or two once in awhile for your amusement….like that time during the service a couple weekends back when someone got a little dizzy and nearly fell over, prompting her to grab her equally unstable mic stand. Yep. It was a near display of something NOT described as graceful. :)

Our Worship Arts team is made up of a variety of people who give of their time and talents one or more weekends a month to serve any number of roles in our weekend services. We are a diverse crew with different gifts serving together with one common purpose— We love Jesus and want to give God glory by bringing praise and worship to him and leading our church body to do the same.

We all have different styles and preferences of worship, and every so often that leads to some interesting conversations. Not long ago, I was asked by someone how a person leading worship could be sincere in their outward expression (in this case, hand raising) week after week. While genuine worship is a matter of the heart and is not for us to measure, this was a reminder to me that we worship God because of who he is, not because of how we feel. We serve an unchanging, ever faithful God. He is worthy of our praise!

See you on the weekend!
Aimee

 

Our worship is not based on feelings alone.
We praise God because he is worthy of it.
He is worthy of our praise.
This is true regardless of our personal day to day circumstances.

We come before him with all that we have.
We lift our hands, we cry out, 
we lift our voices and our eyes, because of who God is.
He is worthy.

Even if we can’t see past our hurt;
even if we can’t see past the struggle;
even when we don’t understand,
we know that he is still God.
He is still good.

So we lift our hands and we praise him anyway,
regardless of our fleeting feelings.
The truth is why we continue to praise.
The truth is not disingenuous.
His truth is not based on our feelings,
or lack of understanding, or level of trust.

The truth of who God is, the truth of his promises --  are fact.

We choose to praise.
Our lives are not perfect. Our praise is not insincere.
We aren’t fakers. 
We are worshipers.

He is worthy of our praise because of who he is.
He is worthy of our worship. 
Always.
 

Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
Psalm 145:2-3
 

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100:5

The freedom to live for God

“Now I have found the freedom to truly live for God. I have been crucified with the Anointed One—I am no longer alive—but the Anointed is living in me; and whatever life I have left in this failing body I live by the faithfulness of God’s Son, the One who loves me and gave His body on the cross for me.”
— From Galatians 2
 
 

Keep this as a reminder with you all week.
Click the button below to download a lock screen for your phone.

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Haiti Child Sponsorship Drive a HUGE Success!

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I want to take a moment to send out a gigantic "Thank you!" to all who felt God's calling to care for the orphans of Haiti! These kids truly are the least of these. For the past two weekends we displayed photos of the orphans from the GVCM All God's Children Orphanage just outside Mirebalais, Haiti. We asked our congregation to select an orphans photo and story and to make a financial commitment of $35 a month to provide them with food, clothing, medicine and an education.

So many of you came through in a HUGE way to help provide a future for children growing up in our hemisphere's poorest country. Over the past two weekends we saw 19 orphans gain sponsors! That brings the Five Oaks total to 35 sponsored orphans. We more than doubled the number of kids we are supporting monthly.

These are the things that make a tangible difference in our world. I am so proud to be part of a church that is truly concerned with being the hands and feet of Christ to a hurting world. I am so proud to call Five Oaks my church home!

I want to thank Ron & Lesley Schlegel, our Haiti Impact Coordinators, and Sarah Bowers, who has an incredible hearth for these kids. Sarah provided us with the photos and stories and tracks our GVCM ChildVision sponsorships.

The opportunity to sponsor an orphan in Haiti is always open. Contact Sarah Bowers,  sarah@gvcm.org, and she will answer all your questions, introduce you to your child and set-up your sponsorship.  

Below are some photos of our newest sponsors. We were not able to get pics of all of our sponsors. If I left you out I sincerely apologize. You are all heroes to me.

Psalm 82:3 (NIV) - Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

- Jerry Meras, Director of Outreach

  

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Psalm 1

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Keep these words as a reminder with you this season.
Click the button below to download a lock screen for your phone.

Listen to the audio from our morning Lent prayer service on iTunes.

The Psalms are a prayerbook meant to help us, God’s sons and daughters, learn prayer. And, as we pray with the Psalms we find ourselves not only praying Scripture — God’s Word (Jesus is the word made flesh) — but also praying with Jesus, the same prayers he learned from. 

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Psalm 23

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Keep these words as a reminder with you this season.
Click the button below to download a lock screen for your phone.

Listen to the audio from our morning Lent prayer service on iTunes.

The Psalms are a prayerbook meant to help us, God’s sons and daughters, learn prayer. And, as we pray with the Psalms we find ourselves not only praying Scripture — God’s Word (Jesus is the word made flesh) — but also praying with Jesus, the same prayers he learned from. 

Join us Thursday mornings from 6:30-7:10 am for our Lent prayer services.

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Thank You from Woodbury Elementary

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I want to take a moment to thank everyone who brought in school supplies during our Fill the MINI Event in support of Woodbury Elementary. I also would like to share what I experienced when I made the delivery. First some background: On the weekend of February 27 & 28 the KHUSA Team held the Fill the MINI Event. Nichole Zacharias decorated my MINI and we asked our congregation to bring in school supplies and drop them off in the MINI. 

The office staff maintains a supply closet for underprivileged kids who show up to school without the necessary items they need to be successful. There is no budget for these supplies. They depend on donations to keep their closet stocked.  

Mary at W.E. asked me what time on Monday I would be dropping off the donated supplies. I simply thought she had a busy day planned and needed to carve out a specific time to help me unload the car. When I pulled up, I was completely surprised by 24 kids running out of the school with carts to help me unload. Mary had also arranged for Madeleine Rush, Communications Specialists with South Washington County Schools, to photograph and write about our event and donation. She supplied the photos in this blog.

Everyone at the school was so grateful it completely warmed my heart and I only wished we could have done more. Below is a note given to our KHUSA Director, Judy Visness, from Principal Connha Classon: 

Dear Kids Hope and members of Five Oaks Church--

We at Woodbury Elementary want to thank you for "maxing the mini" and donating school supplies to our students in need. We truly value our partnership with you and thank you for your contributions!

Connha Classon, Principal, WES

   

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Psalm 95

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Keep these words as a reminder with you this season.
Click the button below to download a lock screen for your phone.

Listen to the audio from our morning Lent prayer service on iTunes.

The Psalms are a prayerbook meant to help us, God’s sons and daughters, learn prayer. And, as we pray with the Psalms we find ourselves not only praying Scripture — God’s Word (Jesus is the word made flesh) — but also praying with Jesus, the same prayers he learned from. 

Join us Thursday mornings from 6:30-7:10 am for our Lent prayer services.

VBS Reunion

Everest Reunion Party Last Sunday

This last weekend our Tree House kids were able to "relive" some of games, songs and stories from last years Everest themed VBS. They also were given a glimpse of this years Cave Quest theme. What a fun time of celebration the kids had!  Last year we had 125 volunteers helping and leading the 203 kids that attended VBS, with 36 of those kids crossing the line of faith and accepting Jesus in their hearts!  

Registration has begun for this years VBS which will be June 13th- June 17th, 2016.  If you would like to register or help with VBS this year, follow this link to do so... http://www.fiveoaks.church/vbs-2016 

As we were  reminded of the wonderful  time we had last year, we look forward to what this year holds for us and the kids as well. 

The Journey to Easter

The colors, the flowers, the yummy cream filled chocolate eggs..the glimpse of spring just around the corner... These are reasons I adore the Easter season, but the remembrance of the hope of eternal life, that God gave all generations through His son Jesus Christ, is what makes me LOVE the reason for Easter! 

On Easter weekend, we, in The Tree House Children's Ministry, will be offering the kids a unique experience in hearing the message of the cross and we will be giving them the opportunity to cross the line of faith. 

As we journey towards Easter with the kids , we ask that you pray for their tender hearts to understand the Story of God through His one and only son. 

One of the ways that you can help prepare your children's hearts fro Easter is through the Journey to Easter Countdown chain. If you have not recieved your count down chain, please contact me at Rutledge@fiveoakschurch.org and I would love to get one to you.

We pray that you adore and love this season with your children!