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This upcoming Sunday our church will have the wonderful opportunity during the worship service to hear a mission report full of stories from this year’s short-term mission team and our time ministering on the Warm Springs Reservation. It has been a wonderful privilege of mine to have been able to join and serve on these teams every year since joining the Oak Hills family in late 2021. Every year as I come back home, the Lord has both encouraged and challenged me. I wanted to briefly share a few reflections of mine from this year’s trip. I pray that the Lord would use these reflections of mine to both encourage and challenge you. Although you may not have physically been on the mission trip to Warm Springs, your “mission field” is exactly where the Lord has you right now to the people around you. 1. God is Bigger and Greater! Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21) This whole year the Lord has continually been challenging me with just how big and great he is. This has led to a year of praying “big prayers” for our church, our communities, my personal life, and especially for the people of Warm Springs. Throughout this year’s trip I was reminded continually that God’s compassion and mercy for the people of Warm Springs is bigger and greater than my own (and our whole team combined). I saw this in the reality of the gospel at work all around us. I was tangibly reminded of this through the unity of our teams that we shared immediately because of Jesus. I was tangibly reminded of this as we were known by the people of Warm Springs not by our local church names but as the collective “church people” who have been there all summer. I was tangibly reminded of this when most of our work sites were left unfinished yet we were filled with thankfulness for another set of “church people” coming only a week after us would finish what we started. It has been a tremendous week where I was able to witness what God has been doing with small faithful steps of obedience through his people over the years. Relationships and trust deepening, ministry influence expanding, and more conversations about Christ as the hope of the world with others. What God has done and is doing is so much bigger and greater than our team this last week. This is not to lessen the importance of having a short-term team like ours being in Warm Springs. Rather, it is quite the opposite. We often want God to use us in big, drastic, recognizable-by-all type of ways but he often uses our small faithful steps of obedience in mighty ways. Way more than we might have ever thought or asked. So, see what God is able to do with small steps of faithfulness and see how God is able to take our “short-term work” to have eternal, long-term significance. What a comfort and what a marvelous thing to behold. 2. The Harvest is Plentiful! Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38) ... Keep Reading

A month or so back, when the Session was first discussing Dale’s sabbatical and he asked us each to take at least one turn writing for the Touchpoint, I was thinking about Oak Hills’ 25th anniversary. And then the date I’d signed up for just so happened to coincide with my own wedding anniversary, which actually lands on this coming Sunday. Let’s just say, Beck and I “pre-date” Oak Hills by a few years. Our own Oak Hills anniversary is going on 19 years in September. In considering anniversaries, especially ones like Oak Hills’ and our own, which have many years in the rear-view mirror, now, it’s helpful to consider what goes into such a long-term engagement. Marriages and churches aren’t the same thing, but there are a few similarities. Both marriages and churches are formed and maintained with promises of faithfulness and devotion. Both involve men and women, and hopefully, both will reproduce. Both take a lot of time, and require investing heart and soul and sweat, and often tears, and much prayer. Both require physical, mental and emotional presence. There are costs involved, some simple financial ones; other costs are harder to quantify. Certainly, we renounce many things when we take a spouse or join a congregation, but hopefully, we simultaneously embrace many other benefits, like fellowship, companionship in life, security, and a certain sense of shared responsibility and a commitment to a common family life.... Keep Reading

Greetings All, Matt Stagemeyer here, stepping in for Dale with the Touchpoint this week. While I’m certainly not at Dale’s level, hopefully you can find some value here. My topic this week is: Approaching Scripture as a Mirror. Anyone who listens to the word of God, but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like (James 1:23-24). This has multiple applications, but I’ll focus on only a few. First, how do we see our own behavior reflected, or even modeled, by characters in Scripture? Secondly, what does Scripture reflect to us about ourselves? And finally, why does it matter? How we see our own behavior reflected and modeled by characters from the Bible…... Keep Reading

Hello, Oak Hills! I’m honored to step in this week as a Touchpoint “guest blogger” during Pastor Dale’s well-earned sabbatical. —Michael Buckley Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night (Ps. 1:1-2). Have you ever been discouraged while reading Psalm 1? If I’m being completely honest, I have been, especially about the word “delight.” As I meditated on the first psalm while writing this essay, I wasn’t sure why the word delight should be particularly discouraging to me. After all, not standing in the way of sinners, or not walking in the counsel of the wicked, or not sitting in the seat of scoffers is very, very hard. Avoiding sin is, in fact, impossible but for the grace of God. Yet, the second verse asks something which appears to be even harder; it commands not just obedience in action, but also a right affection, that of delight. Perhaps you’re like me and you don’t usually associate “the law of the Lord” with “delight.” I certainly read scripture and agree that the law of the Lord is good, but who can conjure any affection in one’s heart? Aren’t we told by the world that affections and emotions well up in our hearts naturally, even mysteriously, and that we cannot control when emotions come and go? And surely delight is one of the most impossible-to-fake of all emotions? So, if we are blessed by delighting in the law of the Lord, who then can be blessed? What is more, we read that this seemingly impossible delight in scripture remains even after days and nights of meditation! Though I know and believe that God’s commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3), my own experience usually falls so short of the psalmist’s delight that I am tempted to be discouraged by this fact.... Keep Reading

This is part six of a six-part study series on Paul’s first letter to Timothy. This personal letter gives us clear teaching on how the gospel transforms our lives and the church. I encourage you to read through 1 Timothy with this series. Today we are looking at chapter 6. As Paul wraps up his first letter to Timothy, he returns to the focus of false teachers that he addressed in chapter 1. Not only do their teachings “promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith” (1:4), but also the teaching does not “accord with godliness” (6:3). False teaching, holding onto beliefs that do not agree with the sound words of Jesus, is not harmless. It nurtures ungodliness. Paul says it produces “envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people” (6:4-5). All this highlights the teaching of Scripture: what we believe shapes how we live. If we cling to the sound words of Jesus, our living will be conformed more and more to the sound living of Christ. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the area of contentment. This is what Paul focuses on in chapter 6 as he contrasts true godliness with the ruin of the false teaching. The foundation of contentment is valuing that which is truly eternal. Paul explains in verse 7, “for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” In other words, the things of this world are temporary. They should not hold primary place in out hearts. A content heart is one that treasures Christ and all that he has for us above anything in this world. Paul contrasts contentment with an ungodly love for this world and the things of the world. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (6:9-10). Lack of contentment in Christ is the source of all sorts of misery. ... Keep Reading

This is part five of a six-part study series on Paul’s first letter to Timothy. This personal letter gives us clear teaching on how the gospel transforms our lives and the church. I encourage you to read through 1 Timothy with this series. Today we are looking at chapter 5. Have you ever seen one of those “House Rules” signs hanging in someone’s home? Perhaps you have one in your home. Some signs focus on how you treat the things of the home: “If you open it, close it; If you turn it on, turn it off; etc.” Some focus on how you treat other people in the home: “Say please and thank you; Listen to your parents; Use kind words; etc.” And still others focus on keeping things light: “Laugh a lot; Try new things; Make mistakes; Play games; etc.” We can say 1 Timothy 5 is kind of like the House Rules for the household of God. As we have observed in this study of 1 Timothy, Paul writes his apprentice in order to explain how the Gospel guides the church in “how one ought to behave” (3:15). The Gospel ought to shape the teaching of the church (chap. 1), the outward face of the church (chap. 2), the character of the church (chap. 3), and the servants of the church (chap. 4). In chapter 5, Paul gives some general instructions for how the members of the church should care for one another. House Rules for the household of faith.... Keep Reading

This is part four of a six-part study series on Paul’s first letter to Timothy. This personal letter gives us clear teaching on how the gospel transforms our lives and the church. I encourage you to read through 1 Timothy with this series. Today we are looking at chapter 4. In chapter 4 of his first letter to Timothy, Paul speaks directly to Timothy as a servant of the Lord. After briefly revisiting the topic of false teaching, already addressed in chapter 1, Paul calls Timothy to be “a good servant of Christ Jesus” (v. 6). In light of the warning that false teaching leads some to “depart from the faith” (v. 1), Paul commands Timothy to “keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching” (v. 16). This is a sober reminder that no one is immune to the dangers of false teaching. What are the marks of “a good servant of Christ Jesus”? Let me highlight 4 from 1 Timothy 4. Immersed in the Gospel. Paul uses the phrase “these things” three times in chapter 4: “put these things before the brothers” (v. 6), “Command and teach these things” (v. 11), and “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them” (v. 15). What are “these things”? Paul first used the phrase in 3:14 where he wrote, “I am writing these things to you…” There he is explaining the purpose for writing the letter. “These things” lead to how “one ought to behave in the household of God” (3:15). “These things” is none other than the teaching and implications of the Gospel. This is the theme of Paul’s letter to Timothy. The Gospel transforms lives and churches. Therefore, a good servant of Christ Jesus will be immersed in the Gospel in order to put it before others, teach it, and practice it. ... Keep Reading

This is part three of a six-part study series on Paul’s first letter to Timothy. This personal letter gives us clear teaching on how the gospel transforms our lives and the church. I encourage you to read through 1 Timothy with this series. Today we are looking at chapter 3. As Paul encourages Timothy’s ministry at Ephesus, he emphasizes how essential it is to keep the gospel central. In chapter 1, Paul focused on the teaching of the church. In chapter 2 he addressed worship and prayer, with a view to the outward face of the church. The gospel ought to permeate everything in the life of the church. In chapter 3, Paul turns his attention to the leadership of the church. In the New Testament we find two offices described for the church. Paul opens his letter to the Philippians by addressing the “overseers and deacons” (Phil. 1:1). In Acts 20 the words “elders” (v. 17) and “overseers” (v. 28) are used to address the same group of leaders. Many Bible scholars believe this two office system is first established in Acts 6 when seven men are chosen to serve the needs of the widows so the ministry of the word would not be hindered. So, it is not surprising that Paul addresses these two offices in 1 Timothy 3, written after Acts when the church was more established. Paul’s primary concern in addressing the overseers (or elders) and deacons is the required character qualifications for each office. Consider each list provided. Above reproach. Faithful in marriage. Sober-minded. Self-controlled. Respectable. Hospitable. Able to teach. Not a drunkard. Not violent but gentle. Not quarrelsome. Not a lover of money. Faithful in household management. Dignified. Not double-tongued. Not addicted to much wine. Not greedy for dishonest gain. Tested and mature. Nearly every single qualification has to do with one’s character. Giftedness, talents, and charisma, all valued in our television saturated culture, are not even mentioned. ... Keep Reading

This is part two of a six-part study series on Paul’s first letter to Timothy. This personal letter gives us clear teaching on how the gospel transforms our lives. I encourage you to read through 1 Timothy with this series. Today we are looking at chapter 2. We started last week by noticing why Paul wrote his letter to Timothy. Paul explains in 3:14-15, “I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God.” Paul wants to help Timothy shepherd the church at Ephesus with explicit, practical instructions on how the gospel transforms individuals and churches. Paul began in chapter 1 by focusing on the teaching of the church. All of the preaching and teaching of the church must be gospel-centered. Paul moves on in chapter 2 by focusing the outward face of the church. He addresses this by expressing his desire. He uses this word, “desire,” in verse 8, where he writes, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray…” This desire for prayer is a repetition of Paul’s exhortation in verse 1, where he says, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.” He goes on to specifically mention the people in governing positions. Paul’s desire is that the church would be praying for all people, including those outside of the church. Paul explains the aim for such a prayer-filled church in verse 2, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” I call this the “outward face of the church” because Paul is concerned about how the church is perceived in the eyes of the watching world. Does the church love all people? Does the church care for all people? Does the church strive to bring peace to the world around them? The primary avenue for the church to “lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” is through prayer. The gospel teaches us that every good and perfect gift comes from God, not us, nor our efforts. Therefore, the gospel trains us to be people of prayer, being diligent to seek the Lord’s favor in all things. ... Keep Reading

This is part one of a six-part study series on Paul’s first letter to Timothy. This personal letter gives us clear teaching on how the gospel transforms our lives. I encourage you to read through 1 Timothy with this series. Today we are looking at chapter 1. The book of Acts ends on a cliff-hanger. The apostle Paul has just arrived in Rome on house-arrest. He is awaiting his trial before Caesar. What comes of that trial? Will Paul be released? Or will he face execution, as his Jewish accusers desired? The Bible never answers those questions, but writings of the early church indicate that Paul was released from that imprisonment about AD 62 (see 1 Clement 5:7 and Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 2.22.2-8). He continues his ministry for a few years (possibly visiting Spain, cf. Rom. 15:24) and then is imprisoned again in Rome. Under Nero’s persecution of the Church, Paul is executed in AD 68. During those years between imprisonments, we believe Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy. Timothy first joined Paul at Lystra during Paul’s second missionary journey (AD 48-49; Acts 16:1). Timothy became such an integral part of Paul’s ministry team during that journey that Paul includes him as a co-author in the letters he writes to those churches (see 2 Cor. 1:1, Phil. 1:1, Col. 1:1, 1 Thes. 1:1, & 2 Thes. 1:1). After more than a decade of training and mentorship under Paul, Timothy now is being sent out on his own to minister in the churches. Paul has urged Timothy to remain in Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3), a church that Paul established during his third missionary journey (Acts 19). ... Keep Reading