I’d like to share a story with you that I heard recently about a man named Stoyan.  You can read the full story and others like it in a book titled The Insanity of God.

Stoyan was born and raised in the home of a Russian pastor in the 1940’s.  As communism began to take hold of the country, persecution became a part of everyday life for Russian churches and believers.  When Stoyan was 12 years old his protestant pastor father was thrown in prison where he stayed for over a decade.  Stoyan began theological study and wanted to become a pastor like his father.  His plans were delayed time and time again when his study would be raided by police who would destroy all of his notes and sermons.

In 1966 Stoyan acquired two illegal Bibles that were written in his native tongue.  This gave him the idea to start an underground center for smuggled materials in his home.  Over the next two decades, he translated over twenty Christian books.  He organized an underground publishing network.  No one knew of his work to reach Russians with the gospel until Stoyan was interviewed by a man named Nik Ripken in 1998.  The details of his work and the methods used by his organization to print and distribute thousands of books through Eastern Europe still remained a secret until that time.

He was suspected by the secret police of doing this work but was never caught with his books and Bibles in his possession.  Still the authorities threw him in prison.  One time, he received a last minute warning that the police were waiting for him at his house.  He left his wife in the woods overnight with a carload of books so that he could arrive home innocently empty-handed.  Another time, a police officer actually sat on a stack of bibles wrapped in brown paper while he directed a squad of his men on a futile, hours-long search of Stoyan’s house.

At the end of Stoyan’s interview with Nik Ripken about these details Stoyan told Nik, “I thank God and I take great joy in knowing that I was suffering in prison in my country, so that you, Nik, could be free to share Jesus in yours.”  Nik looked at Stoyan and said, “Oh no!  You are not going to do that!  You are not going to put that on me.  That is a debt so large that I can never repay you!”  Stoyan replied, “Son, that’s the debt of the cross.  Don’t steal my joy.  I took great joy that I was suffering in my country, so that you could be free to witness in your country.  Don’t ever give up in freedom what we would never have given up in persecution.  That is our witness to the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

May we not give up in freedom what Stoyan and others have refused to surrender under the worst forms of persecution.

In Christ,

Nathan

I want to make you aware of a very rare opportunity that we will have as a church family coming up in a couple of weeks.  From July 21-26th our IMB mission partners from Southeast Asia will be here for a Missions Conference.  They are in the states on furlough and are committing an entire week of their schedule to our church.  I’m challenging every member of Oak Crest to make this time a priority.  Not only will you be informed on the work being done to reach the Lasa but I trust that you will come away from this time more passionate about the gospel.

Here is what the week will look like…

Tuesday, July 21st: 7pm- Session 1: Christian Jihad

·         From 9-11 to the Boston Marathon, Jihad is everywhere. Who is the Muslim and what is our task as Christians to reach them?

Wednesday, July 22nd: 6pm- Fellowship Meal Q&A; 7pm- Session 2: Monologue from a Muslim Convert

·         Bring an international dish for a time of fellowship and questions at 6pm (dish sign up in foyer)

·         Hear the testimony of a Muslim Background Believer at 7pm

Thursday, July 23rd: 9:30am- Prime Timers Monthly Fellowship

·         All senior adults (and anyone else who would like to join us) are invited to this special time of testimony and fellowship with the Walkers

Sunday, July 26th: 9:30am- Sessions 3: Three Prayers God Will Always Answer

·         How should we be praying for the Unreached People Groups of the world?

·         Joint Sunday School meeting in the sanctuary

Please make this week a priority.

In Christ,

Nathan

I want to thank everyone for your support of our students this last week. Joplin, MO was our fifth World Changers and it was probably our best year yet. We took a group of 20 who were put into crews all over the Joplin area to work on homes and share the gospel. You would have been proud of each of our students and the hard work they did. There were over 200 gospel encounters and two people who came to faith in Christ last week. I love how World Changers stretches our kids. They are stretched in working together, leading, and sharing with people about Christ. Each of you had a part in the growth our youth experienced last week. Through your prayers and giving our students saw God work through them in a powerful way. Thank you Oak Crest for investing in our students.

In Christ,

Nathan

Please continue to be in prayer for our students and sponsors in Joplin, MO this week. They will return on Saturday.

Our youth will be leaving for Joplin on Monday at 5am. This is probably my favorite time of year with our students. I get to see them everyday being used by God in a mighty way. Thank you for your faithful support of our students each and every year. Once again we have been able to pay the way of our youth to take part in World Changers. Oak Crest, you are a blessing.

Please be in prayer for our students over the coming days. Pray…

·         For safety as we travel and on the work sites each day

·         For cohesiveness in our group and that God would keep away distractions

·         That our students would be focused on the task at hand

·         That our students would work with excellence for the Lord

·         For many opportunities for our youth to share the gospel

·         That we would have eyes to see those around us who are hurting

·         That God would be glorified in all we do and that people might come to faith in Christ through our time in Joplin

In Christ,
Nathan

In less than two weeks, 20 of us will be heading to Joplin Missouri for our fifth year of World Changers. We will be teaming up with other Southern Baptist youth from around the country to fix up homes in the community and spread the gospel. This will be our biggest group and longest trip yet. I cannot wait to see how the Lord works in our teens. Over the past five years we’ve seen three of our youth lead people to Christ. It is an exciting opportunity for our youth and I’d ask for your support.

Would you first begin to pray now for our teens and the encounters they will have? Pray for gospel conversations to flow from our work sites. Pray that our students will be bold. Pray that many people will hear and respond in faith. Your prayers are always important but especially this year as the task is bigger than ever.

The trip cost $270. Would you consider giving a special gift to help our kids make it to Joplin? I know many of you would love to be a part of this trip but cannot because of other obligations. You can be a part of this effort through your financial support.

May God be glorified through this time in Joplin.

In Christ,

Nathan

I think we can all agree that one of the most important things we can and should be doing in our Christian walk is sharing the gospel consistently.  It’s important because Christ has commanded us to do so and lost souls are at stake.  I think something else we can all agree on is that we don’t share the gospel as often and as consistently as we should.  Why is this?  The one thing that is potentially most important in our walk is the one thing we fail to do so often.  There are lots of answers we can give to the why.  Fear, discomfort, and lack of contact with the lost are just a few.  I’m convinced though that the main reason we don’t share the gospel is we have never been equipped to do so.  We talk a big game but how often is our talk not backed up because we really don’t know how to begin to share the gospel.

The truth is we cannot allow ourselves to let any excuse get in the way but if there is one that will continue to be a stumbling block it is being ill-equipped.  This Saturday, May 16th from noon to 2pm, I will be doing "Way of the Master" evangelism training.  In two hours I will give you basic tools that will equip you for a lifelong commitment to sharing the gospel faithfully.  So often all it takes to get someone actively sharing the gospel is showing them how.  Way of the Master is a non-confrontational way of sharing the gospel with anyone, anywhere.  You can use it to share with your children and you can use it to share with a complete stranger in the grocery store.  It is a very practical, yet biblical way of presenting the gospel.

I challenge everyone to make this a priority.  There are a lot of things that we can spend two hours doing on a Saturday afternoon but nothing more important than this.  And we are providing lunch.  So if you consider that you’re going to take an hour to eat lunch on any given Saturday anyway, I’m really just asking for an hour of your day.  Another advantage of attending this training is it will prepare you for other outreach efforts we have coming up this year.  Neighborhood canvassing in August and the Midlothian Fall Festival in October are just a couple of great opportunities for you to get involved in outreach.  The training on May16th will be a great place to prepare for these efforts.  There is a signup sheet in the foyer so sign up today.

Will you be a part of reaching Midlothian with the gospel?  Don’t be content sitting on the sidelines of evangelism.  The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

In Christ,

Nathan

We are just over the half way mark of our time of sabbatical.  In fact, half way through my sermon this coming Sunday will be half way through our series in Colossians.  As we come in to the home stretch let us not give up on doing good.  This is not a time for us to cease being the church.  This is not a time of vacation from the Christian life.  There is no time off from Christ.  He is all that we have and all that we live for.  So in these closing days my charge to each of you is to finish the race strong.  Be in church.  Be in ministry.  Be in fellowship.  Be in Christ.  Perseverance is not about how we start the race but how we finish it.  Oak Crest, we have started off strong, may we finish in the same way.

In Christ, Nathan

Just a quick reminder, this Sunday April 19th, we will have our church wide spaghetti luncheon immediately after the morning service.  All of the donations for this lunch will go directly to our students for their trip to Joplin, Missouri in June with World Changers.  This is our fifth World Changers and we can’t wait to see how God works this year.  World Changers is a youth mission’s opportunity where we will be put on construction teams to help work on needy homes in the community of Joplin.  Our students will have many opportunities to share their faith.  Please join us for this time of great food and fellowship as we support our youth.  We will serve a full lunch (includes salad, homemade spaghetti w/meat sauce, garlic bread and dessert) in the Fellowship Hall. If you cannot stay we will be able to provide you with take home dinners.  We hope to see you there!


In Christ,
Nathan

I want to let you all know of two upcoming outreach opportunities that you can be a part of.

This coming Saturday, from 10am to noon, we will be canvassing the neighborhood talking to people about Oak Crest and looking for opportunities to share the gospel.  If you’ve been a part of these efforts in the past we could use your experience.  If you’ve not done this before we’d love for you to come as well and take part.  For those of you who want to go out but don’t feel comfortable doing the talking, don’t hesitate to come.  We will pair you up with someone who has experience and it will be a great opportunity for you to get your feet wet in outreach.  For those of you who are not able to walk the neighborhood we would really love for you to come, stay behind at the church, and pray for us.  Prayer is a vital part of this effort so we’d love to see lots of people just here to pray on Saturday.  We will meet at the church at 10am, have a brief prep time, and be back to the church by noon.  Make this a priority for your weekend.

A week from Sunday, Sunday April 19th, we will have our church wide spaghetti luncheon immediately after the service.  How is this an outreach effort you ask?  All of the donations for this lunch will go directly to our students for their trip to Joplin, Missouri in June.  Please join us for this time of great food and fellowship as we support our youth.  If you cannot stay we will be able to provide you with take home dinners.  We hope to see you there.

In Christ,

Nathan