Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “How to inhabit time”   Our Bible verse for today: “… and a child will lead them.” Isaiah 11:6 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Sometimes it’s a child who shows us the way”   For all my years as a Pastor I have always had the habit of praying on Friday mornings, by name, for every member, attender, and recent visitor in our church. I use the pictorial directory, and I also refer to a written list for those I don’t have a picture of. I think about the person, consider any special needs in their life, and then I pray for them.   This past Sunday (New Years Day), in children’s church, the children made a list of their New Years resolutions. Then they brought them to me after the worship service and asked if, when I prayed for them, would I pray that God would help them to keep their resolutions? I was touched and honored. And of course, I will pray for those issues for them.   The lists were cute and contain the kinds of things you would expect from young children – obey my parents, be nice to my brother or sister, do better in school, and, admirably (considering the age we live in), spend less time on my cell phone.   Isaiah 11:6 is about the Christ-child not about your child. And yet, it is true that often children lead us as adults to be aware of important things we might be missing. In this case, the children understand the importance of having goals for personal improvement, and writing them down. Not to mention the importance of asking other people to pray for you to achieve your goals.   Have you begun the New Year with a list of goals and objectives? I mean things to accomplish or ways to improve? If not, I encourage you to do so. Too often we end up wandering willy-nilly through our days, just shuffling along without giving a lot of thought to where we’re headed, what we’re accomplishing, and how we’re using our time. The old saying “Aim at nothing and you’ll hit it every time” is really true. If you’re attempting nothing, you’ll accomplish nothing.   We humans thrive when our lives have clear purpose and good structure. I encourage you to prayerfully set some goals for achievement and improvement in 2023. And, if you would like me to pray for those things for you, just send them to me. I’ll gladly include your list of resolutions right along with the lists from the children.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2023 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “How to inhabit time”   Our Bible verse for today: “Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” Psalm 90:12 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Don’t waste your time”   Happy New Year! Welcome to 2023. If you were at Oak Hill Baptist Church for the New Year Day service, or if you watched online, then you know that the sermon was about how to make the most of the time God will give us in 2023. The moments of our lives are a gift from God – every moment of every day. It’s all grace. It’s all a gift.   In front of you there are 12 new months, 52 new weeks, 365 new days, 8,760 new hours, 525,000 new minutes, and 31,536,000 new seconds. How will you use them? Will they pass you by in a blur as you rush through life from one activity to another? Will you waste your time dwelling on the past and worrying about the future? Will you do things of consequence that make a difference for you and for others?     I confess upfront that I borrowed the title for this month’s theme. It comes from a book I read last year with the same title, “How to inhabit time: Understanding the past, facing the future, living faithfully now.”, by James K.A. Smith. Smith is a professor of philosophy at Calvin University, and as a philosopher, he tends to spend a lot of time thinking about things like “how to inhabit time”. His book is insightful and thought-provoking, and I’ll refer to it from-time-to-time throughout the month. We need to understanding how to live fully and live well.   I will also draw from John Mark Comer’s excellent work “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”, and from “Three Mile an Hour God” by Kosuke Kayama, who is in heaven now but in this lifetime, he was a respected and influential Japanese theologian and philosopher. Kayama taught that God walks with us through life at our speed (three miles an hour) and if we go too fast, He slows us down so we can appreciate and savor the moments of life.   The point is that life is too precious and too short to waste our time regretting the past, worrying about the future, or rushing through our days. We also want to be sure that our lives matter and that they make a difference. Let’s resolve that in 2023 we won’t waste our time but will instead, make the most of it.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2023 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “The awesome reality of the presence of God”   Our Bible verse for today: “Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there your right hand will hold on to me.” Psalm 139:7-11 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Seek Him and He will be found by you”   I want to end this month where we began, by thinking about the omnipresence of God. He is everywhere, always. There is no place in all the universe where God is not. That was David’s point in Psalm 139:7-11 above. In your entire life there will never be a moment when you are not in the presence of God.   I also want to remind us of the great truth Henry Blackaby so thoroughly explored and unpacked in his Bible study, “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God”, that God wants to be known by His people and God wants to be heard by us. Therefore, He goes to extraordinary lengths to reach out to us – through His creation; on the pages of the Bible; in the person of Jesus Christ; through the Holy Spirit living in the hearts of and working through the lives of the followers of Christ; and ten thousand times ten thousand other ways. God wants to be known by us and He wants to be heard by us, and He goes to great lengths to connect with us.   But I also want to remind us of the wonderful insight shared by the poet Elizabeth Barret Browning, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” God is there, do we see Him? Are we even looking?   This is the last day of 2022. Tomorrow we will begin a new year. First, I want to wish you and yours a happy and blessed 2023. Then, I want to challenge all of us to make 2023 a year of discovery when we are much more alert to the presence of God all around us. He has promised that if you seek Him, He will be found by you: “You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you …” (Jeremiah 29:12-14).   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “The awesome reality of the presence of God”   Our Bible verse for today: “… but don’t let God speak to us, or we will all die.” Exodus 20:19 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Is God too loud or not loud enough?   In the passage from Exodus chapter twenty which I cited above, Moses had just come down from the mountain after receiving the Ten Commandments from God. The Israelites had been standing in the valley, at the foot of the mountain, witnessing the thunder and lightning and the sound of the trumpets, and they saw the mountain surrounded by smoke as God communicated with Moses. And it scared them witless. So, when Moses came down from the mountain, the trembling people, knowing they were about to receive a message from God, said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”   In their defense, God was being a bit dramatic and showy. It would have scared me too. Likewise, earlier in Exodus when Moses encountered God at the burning bush, that too was one of those Ripley’s Believe it or Not moments – a real attention-getter.   Yet, as we know from Scripture and from personal experience, the overwhelming majority of the time God’s presence and His voice are much more subtle and discrete – sometimes to the point of being a whisper. So, does God speak too loudly or not loudly enough? Is His presence too obvious, or not obvious enough?   In her book “Teaching Stones to Talk”, author Annie Dillard makes the case that we prefer it when God is subtle and quiet. Too much of Him scares us. So, our tendency is to douse the burning bush, turn away from the mountain, and ask Moses (or the preacher) to speak to us on God’s behalf so we don’t have to deal with Him directly. And sadly, often, God complies with our request. He limits His communication and revelation to what we will accept and can handle.   So, God does speak to us and show Himself to us through His creation. But instead of seeing it for ourselves, we need someone else to point it out to us. And He speaks to us through His inspired Word (the Bible). But instead of digging deeply into it for ourselves, we wait for the preacher to serve it up to us it on Sunday mornings in small, easily digestible portions. And God speaks to us through our interactions with other Holy Spirit-bearing Christians. But instead of being there at the gatherings of God’s people like we’re supposed to be (Hebrews 10:24-25), so God can speak to us through them, we skip church and consequently we miss God.   Does God speak too loudly or not loudly enough? I guess the answer depends on you. In Jeremiah 29:13-14 God says, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you …”   He will be found by you if you really want Him. The question is, how much of God do you want? Is He too loud for you, or not loud enough?   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “The awesome reality of the presence of God”   Our verse for today: “They are to make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Did you notice?”   I’m really loving my new study Bible for 2023. It’s “The Experiencing God Study Bible: Knowing and Doing the Will of God”. I intended to begin on January 1st, but I was so eager to get at it that I’ve been into it for a month already.   Probably the most helpful feature of this study Bible is that every chapter begins with a sidebar entitled, “Prepare to meet God”. That sidebar then lists several key points you should be looking for as you read the chapter. Then at the end of every chapter there’s another sidebar entitled “Did you notice?”, which directs your attention back to some things you should have seen in the chapter. It’s deeply insightful and I find myself mulling over the points, taking notes, and journaling my thoughts about it.   In Exodus chapter twenty-five we’re reading God’s instructions to the Israelites about how they were to construct and furnish the temple. What’s notable is the extraordinary detail God gave outlining the conditions under which He would abide with and interact with His people. For them, it was complicated, limited, and restricted. It was still more revelation of the presence of God than had ever been given to any group of people at any other time in history up until then, but still, it was labor-intensive and limited.   It’s much easier for us today. For us God manifest His presence in nature (Romans 1:19-20); and through the Bible (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16-17); and through the physical incarnation of Jesus (John 1:14, John 10:30, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 4:14); and through the presence of His Holy Spirit living in the hearts of the followers of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).   The truth is that God has gone to extraordinary lengths to be with us and to make Himself known to us. As we’ve been learning all month, God wants to be known and understood by His people. But do we notice? Are we paying attention? Do we see God when He shows Himself to us? Do we hear Him when He speaks? And if not, why not?   We’ll think more about this tomorrow but for this morning, as we’re considering the great truth that God is with us, and He shows Himself to us, and He speaks to us, I’ll challenge you with the same words Henry Blackaby repeats all throughout his study Bible, “Did you notice”?   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The awesome reality of the presence of God”

Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.” Hebrews 13:16 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Do you leave blessings in your wake?

I read a statement one time that immediately captured my attention, and my heart – to the point that I wrote it down and have kept it in my Bible for years. The writer was considering the fact that God has called His people to be a source of blessing to others in this hurting and bleeding world of ours. This has always been true. It has always been God’s plan that His people would show kindness and compassion to those who are hurting and in need – especially to the poor, the widows, the orphans, the marginalized in society, the grieving, and the distraught.

The statement read, “As I go through life, do I leave blessings in my wake? Do I leave a trail of gladness behind? Let it be said of me that, “He went about doing good and blessing people.”

Both the Old Testament and the New (but especially the New), are packed full of verses and passages in which God exhorts us be a source of kindness and compassion, hope and healing, to the hurting and needy. Here are just a few:

“Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

“Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.” Luke 6:31

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

“Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10

“Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4

Those are just a handful of examples; I could easily cite many more, but I think the point has been made. The presence of God is manifested in this world through the faithful blessings bestowed by His people, in His name. So, we will end today where we started: Do you leave blessings in your wake, a trail of gladness behind you? Are people better off because they encountered you? Will you be a blessing to someone today?

God bless,

Pastor Jim   

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “The awesome reality of the presence of God”   Our Bible verse for today: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “God makes His presence known through you”   In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 the Apostle Paul revealed one of the most important truths about the presence of God in our day. In the context, he was explaining to the Christians in the church in Corinth (who lived in the midst of a highly sexualized and immoral culture), why they should not use their bodies in immoral sexual ways. It was because the Holy Spirit of God lives inside those bodies.   But in the process of admonishing them about that, Paul revealed a much larger spiritual truth that pertains to all of life for the Christian. The Holy Spirit of God lives in your heart. Therefore, you are not your own. Your body doesn’t belong just to you. It belongs to Christ. Paul wrote, “… you were bought at a price.” On the cross Jesus not only paid the penalty for your sins, but He also purchased your physical body to be used as a temple of His Holy Spirit.   The moment you placed your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins your sins were forgiven and removed, and the Holy Spirit entered into your heart. That’s what Paul meant when he said that your body is now a temple of God’s Holy Spirit.   In terms of our theme for this month regarding the awesome reality of the presence of God in the world, this is a crucial understanding. The primary way God manifests His presence in our world today is through the lives of the followers of Christ. It’s the Holy Spirit living in you and working through you that makes the presence of God evident to the surrounding world. He does it through your words, through your actions, and through your example. The Holy Spirit within you moves you to offer help and comfort, and He prompts you to speak words of blessing and truth, thereby making Jesus known in the world around you. Today God has multiple millions of walking talking mobile temples of His Holy Spirit moving all through the world making His presence in the world known.   We’ll think more about this in the days to come. In the meantime, let me ask you, will people experience the presence of God today because their path crossed yours? I hope they will because one of the most important ways God is present in the world today is through the followers of Jesus Christ.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “The awesome presence of the reality of God”   Our Bible verse for today: “When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “How do we hang onto this?”   In 2010 I wrote and published a book with the title, “Bringing it Home: A Post-Trip Devotional Guide for International and Domestic Short-Term Mission Teams.” The purpose of the book was to help returning missionaries process and hang onto the experiences and lessons from the mission field, and then incorporate those experiences and lessons into life back home. It’s often said that missions can be a “mountaintop experience”, and that “mission trips change lives”. Mission trips do change lives – if the lessons and experiences are kept and incorporated.   The same can be true for our Christmas experience. In his book “God Came Near” author Max Lucado includes a chapter with the title, “Christmas Night”. It was the true story of how late one Christmas night, he was sitting in front of the fireplace reflecting on what a wonderful Christmas season it had been. But now, the presents had been given and received, the wrapping paper and ribbons were in the trash, the Christmas meal had been eaten, the last carol had been sung, the visitors had gone home, and the kids were in bed.   Max’s thoughts drifted to what a joyful time of year the Christmas season is. People go to great lengths to be nice, generous, compassionate, and to share good cheer. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all hang onto that and carry it forward into the New Year? And shouldn’t we?   This celebration of Immanuel, God with us, is supposed to remind us that God is with us. All the time. It wasn’t a stand-alone event. It wasn’t just a birth, and that was it. The birth of Christ inaugurated a new era in human history. There was a significant shift in the spiritual world that changed everything in the physical world. Nothing ever would or could or should be the same again. The presence of Jesus in the world for thirty-three years, and His Holy Spirit living in the hearts of His followers ever since then, changes everything.   The celebration of Christmas does make a difference in the world every year – for a short-time. The world is always a better place for three or four weeks in December. But it’s up to us, the followers of Christ, to hang onto that and carry it forward into the New Year. Christmas isn’t supposed to be just a day, or even just a season. Instead, it’s a spiritual reality that should make the world a better place every day, all year long.   We’ll spend the rest of the month considering how we can carry the spirit of Christmas with us into the New Year.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The awesome reality of the presence of God”

Our Bible verse for today: “But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “A message of good news and great joy”

In recent weeks during this Advent season, as we’ve been approaching Christmas, we’ve been thinking about the presence of God in the person of Jesus. We’ve spent some time mining important truth from Isaiah 9:1-7 that the Messiah would be a light shining truth into a spiritually dark world; and that He would be a Redeemer who would set people free from the captivity of sin; and that as The Prince of Peace He would bring people peace with God, peace with themselves, and peace with others.

We also learned, from Matthew 11:28-30, that life is always better with Jesus than without Him, and that’s true regardless of the external circumstances of that life. That being the case, the Christ of Christmas if for everyone. Everyone needs Jesus and it’s up to us, the Christians, to openly and eagerly declare the truth of Immanuel, God with us in the person of Jesus the incarnate Son of God. This is what Christmas is really all about – it’s a celebration of Christ.

Tonight, Christmas Eve, at Oak Hill Baptist Church, we will hold a Christmas Eve candlelight service at 5:00. It will also stream live on Facebook and on the church website at oakhillbaptist.net. Then on Sunday (Christmas morning), we will have a Christmas worship service at 10:00. Both of those will proclaim and celebrate the birth of Christ and the truth contained in the name given to Him, Immanuel, God is with us.

Please join us for those celebrations – in-person if you can or online otherwise, and please invite others to as well. This world needs to know that Jesus is the reason for the season and that His coming truly is a message of great joy for all people. It’s up to us, the people of God, the followers of Christ, to share that Good News.

God bless,

Pastor Jim

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “The awesome reality of the presence of God”   Our Bible verse for today: “Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 43:5 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Tell them it’s really about Jesus”   In recent days we’ve been considering the difference the Christ of Christmas can make in the lives of people living in even the worst of circumstances. We’ve considered the situation in war-torn Ukraine, and I’ve made reference to people living in poverty in places like Africa and the Amazon Jungle. The Christ of Christmas is needed by impoverished and homeless people right here in America, right there in your own hometown. As we learned yesterday, life is always better with Jesus than without Him, and that’s true regardless of the circumstances of that life.   But is that equally true for those living in comfort and affluence? Is it true for those who are not suffering and who are not in need? Yes, it is.   I had an unpleasant encounter the other day with a person I’ve known for years but only see occasionally. Honestly, he’s someone I tend to avoid if I can. He’s the kind of person who is always grumbling and complaining about one thing or another. He’s frequently critical of people and situations, and a conversation with him usually mostly involves him talking and me listening as he complains and criticizes. He’s also not a Christian and he is dismissive of the Christian faith. And so, after years and years of this, let’s just say I’m not always eager to see him coming my way.   But our paths crossed the other day and when they did, he greeted me with a grin and a snarky “Happy Winter Solstice, Jim.” Now, he knows I’m a pastor, and he knows that I celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, so his greeting was intended as a dig not as a sincere wish. I replied with, “Merry Christmas, (his name).” At which he snickered and shook his head in weary disgust. He is well aware of my faith and I’m well aware of his lack of faith.   Afterwards I thought about what a sad individual he seems to be. He is very smart (a retired chemical engineer); and his wife is a retired professional too. They seem to have a lot of money (he talks about his investment properties a lot and what a headache his renters are); and he and his wife are both healthy. But still, he is not happy.   Why is that? He has wealth and health and safety and freedom, living in a nice community in the greatest country in the world, but he is not a happy or content person. Why not? The answer is that he needs Jesus. He has lots of material things but he has a big hole in his heart where the love of Jesus needs to be. Psalm 43:5 (above) is about Him. His soul is dejected and in turmoil. He needs Jesus, and the Christ of Christmas came for people like Him too.   One way people learn the true meaning of Christmas is when Christians celebrate it for the right reason. This is a celebration of the incarnation of Jesus and people need to hear that, even if they don’t believe it.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.