Over past couple of weeks several hundred people from our White Oak family have taken the challenge of the One Another Challenge card. Each week during our series, One Another, we’ve been given the opportunity to choose an envelope with a challenge inside prompting us to love, serve, pray for, or encourage someone.
Here are a few stories from those who accepted the One Another Challenge and who shared with us at thewocc.com/oneanother:
I choose to reach out to someone I’ve had a falling out with. I let them know I miss our friendship. I texted them immediately after church. I got an immediate response! They apologized for the way things ended and said they miss our family too. I needed to hear their apology for how things ended. I needed this challenge. I am thankful that card was written for me to pick. What a great way to start my week, knowing that something that has been heavy on my heart for over a year has turned a corner, a burden has been lifted, and a door reopened that should have never closed. I will definitely accept the next challenge. Bring it on. – C.K.
I chose a good friend in my life group who is now suffering from multiple painful ailments. I`ve been praying daily all week for the Holy Spirit to bring His healing and comforting presence to this person. And my promise is to continue to pray and have strong faith as I always have in the power of prayer. And yes .... I would take another challenge. - S.F.
I told my friend I loved her! Wanted to thank her for starting up and including me in the We Care Ministry. We have known each other about 40 years and told her my greatest love was serving together in this ministry. Her amazing knowledge and unshakable faith have inspired me for years to do better as a Christian woman. – P.H.
Last week I was to pray for a friend. One of my friends stood out and I contacted her about how I can pray for her. First, she laughed and the she cried, because she was worthy of love and prayer for herself and family. Ughhh… I pulled my next challenge about contacting [someone] whom I have had a “falling out” with. So yes, I’m doing another one. – C.B.
I, too, have been humbled and honored to reach out to friends and to pray for them. This week I’m challenged to serve somewhere/someone for one hour. I’ve also had friends share with me that they stepped up to the challenge and were rejected by those they reached out to.
Cyprian, a church leader in third century north Africa, wrote this, “Now I am calling you to broaden your view…by loving your neighbors. Visit them, too; encourage them; provide bread and water for them. I know that in recent months some pagans have been involved in persecuting you. Pray for them; pray for their salvation, and help them. You are God’s children: the descendants of a good Father should prove the imitation of his goodness.”
Like the disciples in Luke 10 when they returned to report to Jesus all that God had accomplished through their ministry, we, too, celebrate and praise God with joy for the work he’s doing in and through us. Not every story will have a happy ending. We return to God praise and worship not because “one anothering” is easy, but because we have sought obedience and rise to the challenge to imitate the love and goodness of our Heavenly Father no matter what the outcome.
I believe that Jesus-followers can change the spiritual landscape of our city by obeying Jesus’s One Another commands. Keep stepping up, White Oak! Keep saying “yes” to the Holy Spirit’s nudging. Obey. One another well! God is shaking things up and we must move with boldness.
One Anothering with you,
Nathan
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor
White Oak Christian Church