I’ve been enjoying our current look at the book of Acts. I find the power and activity of the Holy Spirit at work in the early church and in those first leaders to be challenging and thought provoking. Where do we see the Spirit breaking out in our church? How do we experience him as leaders in the 21st century? At our last elder board meeting Shawn Loorz pointed out that it has been a decade since our church began this experiment of focusing our church and its ministries around the reality that the Kingdom of God is at hand and we can experience the fullness and the transformational reality of it as we seek to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. As one of the “eyewitnesses” of that weekend, I’d like to share what seems significant to me ten years later.
That weekend remains the most profound experience of the Holy Spirit moving in a group that I have ever had. While we sense God’s direction and the movement of the Holy Spirit with some regularity on our elder board, it is made manifest in consensus and unity on agenda items, in an encouraging word from someone attending the Elder prayer times, but not in unexpected directions. When we went on this retreat we had our agenda of things to discuss. Radically altering the church was not one of the bullet points. This just arose among us in a surprising way. The more we talked and became excited about what God was doing, the more amazed we were by how a group of people could be together in discerning that God was up to something. At one point, Rick Carr asked, “Is this is a holy moment?” It felt like we should take our shoes off at the potent presence of God. There were no tongues of flame or disturbing noises like the first church experienced, but there was certainly a gentle prompting and call to restructure the church around Jesus’ teaching that the Kingdom of God was available to all who would follow him as disciples. This group awe and solidarity was a really good thing, as it has kept us from ever second guessing our decision to refocus the church. We know God was in it. The verse that we returned to again and again that weekend was Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The importance of this weekend isn’t so much in the story of what happened there, but in how our church has changed and impacted people’s lives and spiritual formation. So, please welcome our guest blogger, Shawn Loorz, for a personal reflection on what the last decade of Oak Hills’ ministry has meant to him:
That weekend remains the most profound experience of the Holy Spirit moving in a group that I have ever had. While we sense God’s direction and the movement of the Holy Spirit with some regularity on our elder board, it is made manifest in consensus and unity on agenda items, in an encouraging word from someone attending the Elder prayer times, but not in unexpected directions. When we went on this retreat we had our agenda of things to discuss. Radically altering the church was not one of the bullet points. This just arose among us in a surprising way. The more we talked and became excited about what God was doing, the more amazed we were by how a group of people could be together in discerning that God was up to something. At one point, Rick Carr asked, “Is this is a holy moment?” It felt like we should take our shoes off at the potent presence of God. There were no tongues of flame or disturbing noises like the first church experienced, but there was certainly a gentle prompting and call to restructure the church around Jesus’ teaching that the Kingdom of God was available to all who would follow him as disciples. This group awe and solidarity was a really good thing, as it has kept us from ever second guessing our decision to refocus the church. We know God was in it. The verse that we returned to again and again that weekend was Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The importance of this weekend isn’t so much in the story of what happened there, but in how our church has changed and impacted people’s lives and spiritual formation. So, please welcome our guest blogger, Shawn Loorz, for a personal reflection on what the last decade of Oak Hills’ ministry has meant to him:
"I am so enthralled by this Biblical teaching on the Kingdom of God, and I am so filled with hope that this kind of life is actually possible, that I am dedicating the remainder of my life to fully explore just how real it can be.”
- Kent Carlson, February 17, 2002 “What is the Kingdom of God?”
The above quote is from the first sermon I heard at Oak Hills Church almost eight and half years ago. I was 20 years old, engaged to be married, and looking for a church to call home. I had recently gone through a difficult time in my relationship with God, during which I faced my most difficult doubts and questions. Although I had begun to make progress through some of these struggles, I was still looking for direction. I had faced my doubts, and I still believed. What came next?
At this point, Tara and I first came to Oak Hills together and heard the series entitled “Reality Check: Living in the Kingdom of God.” Kent taught that the Gospel, literally “Good News,” taught by Jesus was not only to offer eternal salvation, but also to offer the best life possible here and now. Mike’s teaching helped me see that through our intention and actions, the Holy Spirit will help us become the person we were meant to be. Through Oak Hills, God showed me what came next. Tara and I chose to make Oak Hills our community, to, as Kent said, “dedicat[e] the remainder of [our] life to fully explore just how real [living in the Kingdom of God] can be.”
What I did not know then, but have learned over the years, was that this same journey toward Kingdom Living had largely begun for Oak Hills at the retreat that Valerie writes about above. Not having been there, or even at Oak Hills at that time, I have slowly pieced together an idea of what happened at this retreat. Despite my limited knowledge, one thing has been clear to me: when the leadership of Oak Hills Church gathered in a cabin near Donner Lake ten years ago, God showed up. God showed up in a powerful and unexpected and disruptive and redeeming way. I believe it was clear to those involved, and it is clear now, that God was “up to something.”
Ten years later, God is still “up to something” at Oak Hills. The trajectory of Oak Hills was permanently altered at that retreat. The evidence that God is present and active in our church in the changed lives of the congregation, in the way that people interact and love each other, and in the ongoing leadership toward increased discipleship.
This is not to pretend the last ten years have been easy. There have been many difficulties. There has been some trial and error to figure out what it means to be a church that teaches people how to easily and routinely do the things Jesus taught. Oak Hills is leaner now than it was in 2000. We have experienced many losses that have been felt and grieved by the church as a whole.
I have found there is a temptation to think that if we are truly following God’s direction, that everything should be easy, or at least easier. But this is simply not true. What is true is that we needed God in 2000, and He showed up in an amazing and unexpected and glorious way. It is equally true that we need God and His presence and direction just as much in 2010 as we did in 2000. This is a good thing. We have a God who is faithful, and who has shown that He wants to lead us. Thank God that His presence and direction does not lead us to a place where we are “okay” or “good” without Him.
When I realized it had been 10 years since this journey started, a strong feeling of celebration and appreciation and joy welled up within me. In times where it can be easier to be caught up by scarcity and fear, it is worth celebration that God gave our Elders a “holy moment” ten years ago that changed our church. It is worth celebration that we still rely upon God’s presence and direction ten years later. And I also celebrate that the journey that began at Donner Lake ten years ago that became such an intimate part of my own story.
During a sermon a few weeks back, Mike asked “Is there anything happening at Oak Hills that can only be explained by the action of the Holy Spirit?” Ten years after the Holy Spirit moved in a way that fundamentally altered Oak Hills, let us celebrate the many answers to that question!
- Kent Carlson, February 17, 2002 “What is the Kingdom of God?”
The above quote is from the first sermon I heard at Oak Hills Church almost eight and half years ago. I was 20 years old, engaged to be married, and looking for a church to call home. I had recently gone through a difficult time in my relationship with God, during which I faced my most difficult doubts and questions. Although I had begun to make progress through some of these struggles, I was still looking for direction. I had faced my doubts, and I still believed. What came next?
At this point, Tara and I first came to Oak Hills together and heard the series entitled “Reality Check: Living in the Kingdom of God.” Kent taught that the Gospel, literally “Good News,” taught by Jesus was not only to offer eternal salvation, but also to offer the best life possible here and now. Mike’s teaching helped me see that through our intention and actions, the Holy Spirit will help us become the person we were meant to be. Through Oak Hills, God showed me what came next. Tara and I chose to make Oak Hills our community, to, as Kent said, “dedicat[e] the remainder of [our] life to fully explore just how real [living in the Kingdom of God] can be.”
What I did not know then, but have learned over the years, was that this same journey toward Kingdom Living had largely begun for Oak Hills at the retreat that Valerie writes about above. Not having been there, or even at Oak Hills at that time, I have slowly pieced together an idea of what happened at this retreat. Despite my limited knowledge, one thing has been clear to me: when the leadership of Oak Hills Church gathered in a cabin near Donner Lake ten years ago, God showed up. God showed up in a powerful and unexpected and disruptive and redeeming way. I believe it was clear to those involved, and it is clear now, that God was “up to something.”
Ten years later, God is still “up to something” at Oak Hills. The trajectory of Oak Hills was permanently altered at that retreat. The evidence that God is present and active in our church in the changed lives of the congregation, in the way that people interact and love each other, and in the ongoing leadership toward increased discipleship.
This is not to pretend the last ten years have been easy. There have been many difficulties. There has been some trial and error to figure out what it means to be a church that teaches people how to easily and routinely do the things Jesus taught. Oak Hills is leaner now than it was in 2000. We have experienced many losses that have been felt and grieved by the church as a whole.
I have found there is a temptation to think that if we are truly following God’s direction, that everything should be easy, or at least easier. But this is simply not true. What is true is that we needed God in 2000, and He showed up in an amazing and unexpected and glorious way. It is equally true that we need God and His presence and direction just as much in 2010 as we did in 2000. This is a good thing. We have a God who is faithful, and who has shown that He wants to lead us. Thank God that His presence and direction does not lead us to a place where we are “okay” or “good” without Him.
When I realized it had been 10 years since this journey started, a strong feeling of celebration and appreciation and joy welled up within me. In times where it can be easier to be caught up by scarcity and fear, it is worth celebration that God gave our Elders a “holy moment” ten years ago that changed our church. It is worth celebration that we still rely upon God’s presence and direction ten years later. And I also celebrate that the journey that began at Donner Lake ten years ago that became such an intimate part of my own story.
During a sermon a few weeks back, Mike asked “Is there anything happening at Oak Hills that can only be explained by the action of the Holy Spirit?” Ten years after the Holy Spirit moved in a way that fundamentally altered Oak Hills, let us celebrate the many answers to that question!
