White Oak Christian Church, in two locations, has facilities which total nearly 100,000 square feet of ministry space. The buildings God has entrusted to us sit on a total of 30 acres. Why do you share this with you? Allow me to explain.
In Romans 10 Paul is sharing his heart with his Christian readers. He says this in chapter 10:1:
Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.
It’s a simple statement with profound implications. Paul’s obsession and heart’s desire is for his neighbors, family, and friends to find salvation through Jesus. He states two things which give us insight into his priorities.
One, Paul thinks on those who are lost without Jesus constantly. As he walks through the crowded marketplaces in the cities he visits, he sees scores of women busy at work, men with sweat on their brow to support their families, and children playing in the street. Paul undoubtedly witnessed those in poverty begging. He most certainly saw those with physical and medical conditions which kept them poor and in need. He rubbed shoulders with the rich and religious people who had no knowledge of the God-man Jesus who died on a cross for them. So, what is the longing of your heart? When you consider those in our communities who are facing a Christless eternity, does your heart break like Paul’s? Do those in need, those who are hurting, those who don’t know Jesus in our city linger on your mind and heart weekly? Paul’s heart longed for their salvation. Jesus wept over Jerusalem’s lostness. How about you?
Two, Paul also says that he prays to God for people to find Jesus. I’ll be authentic with you, I have a hard time recalling how often I pray for lost people. I do pray on Sunday mornings on my drive to church for people to find Jesus. Other than that, I’m not sure. I’m reasonably confident that my prayers aren’t saturated with this request. Paul’s were. I want to long for the same thing Paul longs for. I want my heart to be in anguish for those who have not experienced life with Jesus. I want to find myself weeping for my friends and neighbors who live daily without knowing they are loved deeply by our Heavenly Father.
So, why do I share with you about White Oak’s properties? I share this with you because this year we will be leaning into how we can use our properties for the good of our communities. We will consider how we can steward our resources as gifts to our neighbors and friends who have needs and who don’t know Jesus. Our heart’s desire is to use all our spaces seven days a week to get Jesus into the lives of others. We long for it! I want you to long for it, too. Whether it’s re-purposing areas in our Colerain facility, inviting groups to use our Ross facility, or developing our acreage on the Ross property for community use, we want to exhaust ourselves with hard work in using all the resources God has put at our disposal to bring Jesus to people. I will keep you posted as ministry teams begin to plan for the rest of 2022.
I also invite you to pray. Pray often. Pray when you’re stepping foot onto our properties that God would be glorified in the lives of those who don’t yet know him. Pray that we would be convicted always that these spaces exist for those who don’t yet know Jesus. Together, we will do whatever it takes and use our space however God leads us to connect kids, teens, adults and families to full and lasting life in Jesus!
May our hearts long for these things.
I am blessed to be on this journey with my White Oak family.
-Nathan
Come and pray with us at our Worship and Prayer night happening at both our campuses Sunday, February 6, at 6pm. Register by clicking here.
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor, White Oak Christian Church