God is Sovereign. He has supreme authority. He is in control. God is not swayed by outside influence. He is trustworthy. That’s why Paul reminds the believers in Galatians 3 that God’s promise to Abraham has been fulfilled in Jesus. God comes through on his promise to save us through his grace and by our faith in Jesus.
God’s sovereignty is our theme for 2022 at White Oak. It’s a focus for us as we learn and are reminded that we serve a God who knows more than we do as to what is best and true and right. Let’s take a quick look back at where we’ve been and where we’re going:
In January in our series, Vantage Point, we talked about how God has a perspective which is higher than our own. We may not understand his ways, but we are challenged to submit to his sovereignty and trust his best for us.
In February in our series, Why I don’t read the Bible, we talked about the reliability of God’s Word. We uncovered and deconstructed reasons we avoid reading the Bible and how we approach God’s Word with the wrong motives. God’s Word is trustworthy and it points us toward salvation which comes only through faith in Jesus.
Beginning March 6 and leading up to Easter, we will be in a series called Luke’s Good News where we will spend several weeks walking through the book of Luke. God’s sovereignty is reliable and true, and his Word can be trusted. Therefore, we will look at Luke’s narrative of the life of Jesus. We will be challenged to trust more deeply in the grace of God through Jesus to connect us to full life with our Heavenly Father. Because of that grace, we will learn from Jesus to live like Jesus. We are encouraging you to get the most out of the book of Luke in this season:
A Good way to connect: Begin reading through the book of Luke beginning next week. We have provided a reading plan for you to take the next six weeks to read the through the Gospel of Jesus.
A Better way to connect: Journal your thoughts as you read. Underline, highlight, and take notes as you come across questions and actions steps as the Holy Spirit leads you. You can pick up a journal with the book of Luke printed in it at any of our White Oak locations or you can order through Amazon.
The Best way to connect: You can listen to our daily podcast where dozens of White Oak people will be sharing 5 minutes with you from their reading of Luke and how God is moving on their hearts through the reading.
You can check out all these tools at thewocc.com/Luke.
I love to see our White Oak family responding to God’s sovereign grace and work in our lives. We have more than 350 adults in life groups caring for one another and learning from God’s Word. We have distributed nearly 300 journals as our church family looks forward to reading through Luke. We have had the privilege to fund 82 students from our ministry in India to attend college giving them and their families a future and a hope to escape the grip of poverty. Hundreds of children and students at White Oak are being poured into by a committed and loving group of volunteers.
God is sovereign! He is good. His ways are higher. His love for us is greater than we can imagine. I encourage our White Oak family to take the next step God is calling you to take to continue to surrender to his lordship in your life. I will continue to invite and ask you to take those deeper steps of obedience and trust with me this year.
Learning to trust with you,
Nathan
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor, White Oak Christian Church