Weekend of December 27

Perspectives Class - God calls us to further his gospel around the world. The Perspectives class will shed light on our being part of a global movement, one that started with Abraham, to reach all people to bring God glory. The 15 lessons on God’s plan for the nations will rock your world and leave you changed forever.  Five Oaks is hosting the class starting January 7.  It’s a discipleship class as well as a credit course for students, and a $200 mission trip credit is offered for anyone from Five Oaks who completes the course

What you can expect at our Christmas Eve services

Our Christmas Eve services at Five Oaks will be a chance to gather as a church family and celebrate the birth of our Savior. Our services will include Christmas carols, prayer and the Christmas story, aimed at the whole family. Better yet, invite someone you know who doesn’t have a church home to join you at Five Oaks.

We are offering six services between December 23 and 24. The 11 pm service on Christmas Eve will be slightly different from the first five services. It will more closely resemble the Advent prayer services: quieter, more contemplative, more acoustic. We will focus on the angels’ song in the Christmas story, making more space for prayer and reflection. It will be different enough that yes, you can easily come to one of the other services AND our 11 pm service and glean different things from each.

In order to make this a better experience for you, please RSVP for our Christmas Eve services. We want to make sure we have room for you, yours, and your friends. We want to save you a seat. You can RSVP here.

December 23

5:00 pm

6:30 pm

December 24

2:00 pm

3:30 pm

5:00 pm

11:00 pm

Kids up through kindergarten will have child care available at all services except the 11 pm. The Retreat will be available for our special abilities kids during the 2 pm service on December 24.

-Daniel Lukas

 

 

 

Weekend of December 19 + 20

Christmas Services at Five Oaks - You may have a co-worker, a neighbor, or even a family member who doesn’t have a church home but would welcome an invite from you. Childcare up through kindergarten will be available at all services except the 11 pm. The Retreat will be available for our special abilities children during the 2 pm service.

Serve in Bucharest, Romania

April 16 - 24, 2016

Serve the 'Least of These' in Bucharest, Romania this coming year. Impact Ministries is partnering with the Ruth-Project School in Romania to offer an exciting Global Missions opportunity. We will take a team of 6 - 12 mission-minded individuals to serve and work with the 400+ Roma (Gypsy) children at the school and in the Ferentari district of Bucharest. The Roma are among the poorest people group in Romania and throughout Europe.

The Romanian government has identified Monday, April 18 - Friday, April 22 as Field Trip Week. In addition to other activities, during the school week we will help guide the children through museums and other cultural activities.

The Ruth School is committed to giving education to the marginalized and disadvantaged, particularly for those coming from Roma (Gypsy) families in order to help them reach their highest potential. Through education, the Ruth School seeks to assist in the inclusion of Roma in society as well as their future educational endeavors (high school, vocational schools, etc.)
In addition to the educational opportunities offered by the Ruth School, there was more that attracted students to Project Ruth. Due to poverty, many children started to attend the school simply because of the hot meal offered by the foundation. Noticing all these things, The Ruth School organized the following services for their target group: an educational program based on the MECT curriculum, programs of education, a hot meal at the school and basic medical care as well as hygiene program. For more information on the Project-Ruth School click here: http://www.projectruth.ro/

Cost is $2,200 per person. We will help you gather support to serve. You were made for mission. Pray about this opportunity. To sign up or for further information email Jerry Meras, jmeras@fiveoakschurch.org.

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Meet Shane and Dawn Beavers

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Shane and Dawn and their daughter, Caroline, moved to Woodbury in August of 2009. Transplanted from Georgia originally, they landed in Minnesota via Ohio through Shane’s job. That December, Dawn’s neighbor and fast friend, Peg Benson, invited the Beavers family to try out Five Oaks. Peg lured Dawn with Five Oaks’ promise of taking free Christmas card photos that weekend. “That was great for a new family who didn’t have anyone to snap their photo for the annual Christmas card,” Dawn says. 

Dawn and Shane both loved Five Oaks immediately. “We felt very welcomed,” Dawn says. They both loved the upbeat music and, in their words, how down-to-earth Pastor Henry was.  “We never tried another church after that.”

In the six years since, they have gotten involved with a small group, and Dawn volunteers with VBS, the Acorn Cafe, and Dawn has also participated in women’s Bible Study. Both Shane and Dawn ran the Twin Cities Marathon in 2014 with the Five Oaks team.

Something as small as a casual invite to church can change the trajectory of someone else’s life. We sometimes shy away from inviting others, afraid of rejection or the possibility of changing the dynamic of that relationship. Shane and Dawn had both dropped out of church involvement in college despite both being raised in the church. “In Ohio,” Dawn says, “we were in a super small town, and five stanzas of hymns was not really our thing.” Without an invite from Dawn’s friend Peg, it may have taken their family months, if not years, to find a church on their own. Having a church home helped them feel at home in Minnesota that much faster.

Yes, it’s a risk to invite that friend, co-worker, neighbor to church with you. But Peg would agree it was a worthwhile risk, one she would gladly take again.

Weekend of December 12 + 13

Christmas services at Five Oaks - Invite someone to join you! You may have a co-worker, a neighbor, or even a family member who doesn’t have a church home but would welcome an invite from you. Childcare up through kindergarten will be available at all services except the 11 pm. The Retreat will be available for our special abilities children during the 2 pm service.

Perspectives on the World Christian Movement

Five Oaks Church is excited to offer and host Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.

Perspectives is a fifteen week course designed around four vantage points or "perspectives" — Biblical, Historical, Cultural and Strategic. Each one highlights different aspects of God's global purpose.

The Biblical and Historical sections reveal why our confidence is based on the historic fact of God's relentless work from the dawn of history until this day.

The Cultural and Strategic sections underscore that we are in the midst of a costly, but very "do-able" task, confirming the Biblical and Historical hope.

Why Perspectives?
Perspectives helps believers from all walks of life see how they can get threaded into God’s story of redeeming people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself. From Genesis to the prophets, Jesus Christ to the early church, and Constantine to today, you will see how God has been moving, how the global Church has responded, and what the greatest needs in world evangelization remain today. It isn’t a class about missions, but a course on how every believer can be intimately woven into the story of God using His people to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth.

Perspectives is a deepening journey with the Lord in His purpose and passion, which brings much hope and life. Somehow along the way we are gloriously changed. Incredible! To borrow from Floyd McClung, it truly does, "ruin you for the ordinary". 

Come check it out on January 7th and 14th for free! Register early to take advantage of an early-bird discount! 

Class Info

Date: Thursday, January 7, 2016 through Thursday, April 28, 2016

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Cost: $245 for Certificate Level

Location: Five Oaks Community Church 4416 Radio Drive Woodbury MN 55129

Contact: perspectiveseastmetro@gmail.com

For further information or to enroll go to:https://class.perspectives.org/Visitor/Public.aspx?ClassId=432793

Coffee House Jr.

1st-5th graders, join us for a night of Christmas music, games, hot cocoa and more...just for you!

1st-5th graders, join us for a night of Christmas music, games, hot cocoa and more...just for you!

December 11th at 6:30-8:00, Tree House Children's Ministry invites all 1st-5th graders to join us at Five Oaks Church for a night of Christmas Celebration. There will be Live Christmas Music by Legend Rutledge & Alex Hovda, as well as games, crafts and coloring areas, a hot cocoa bar and  cookie decorating.

Parents, please bring your kids in so we can check them in securely and please pick them up  by 8:00 p.m. Have your security tags handy. 

1st-5th Grade Tree House volunteers, you are invited to come enjoy the evening with the kids, making connections with them outside of the normal teaching time. 

This is great opportunity for the kids to connect with those in their classrooms as well as with their teachers! Hope to see you there!

Advent prayer services will help prepare our hearts

Advent.  ‘Tis the season for all kinds of wonderful trappings of Christmas: family gatherings, trimming the tree, shopping, baking, anticipating. These are all important family traditions, memory makers, seasonal highlights. However, sometimes in an effort to make a meaningful family Christmas, we finish these tasks and forget to prepare our hearts for the birth of our Savior.

As we make room for Advent as a church family, join us on Thursday mornings at 6:30 am for our Advent prayer services. These prayer services will provide a reflective experience, encouraging us to center our hearts in anticipation of Christ’s birth. The music will be simple, the prayer time meaningful. You will be free of the distractions that arrive with the sunrise. Join us.

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Go on Mission with EFCA - TREK7 Teams

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Matthew 28:19 (NIV) - 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

TREK7

On mission and in community. It's hard to find programs that train and equip you for both.

ReachGlobal's seven week trips for college-age young adults will bring you to some of the world's most remarkable locations, forging lifelong friendships with your teammates, all while you learn how to effectively engage in God's mission alongside ReachGlobal's local practitioners.

Is God calling you to mission?

It's time you found out. If you're between the ages of 17 - 27, you can join a TREK7 team this summer and explore God's calling for you over a 7-week period.  Your journey will begin in Minneapolis on June 20, 2015. Over the next three days you will learn team building and be exposed to cross-cultural ministry. On June 24, you and your team will fly out to your destination where you will learn from, and work closely with, local full-time missionaries. Your team will return to Minneapolis on August 3. You will have two days to reflect on all you have learned and experienced. You will debrief with your team and finish by investigating next steps and future opportunities.     

God will work in you and through you to grow you and bless others.    

Cost: $3000 plus airfare.

Where will you serve?

To explore all the possibilities click here: http://go.efca.org/ministries/reachglobal/trek7

Journeymen's Manger Build

Dads and granddads, grab your kids and come build a life-sized manger together. $20 fee includes a manger kit, expert assistance, devotional guide, and snacks and refreshments. Wood will be pre-cut, ready to go. Saturday, December 12, 9 am. If a male figure is unavailable, we’ll have “adopt-a-dads” available to work with your child. For more info, see the Men’s ministry cart at the Ministry Wall after services this weekend. To register, click here. Please note: the last day to register for this event is December 7.

Revisiting The Parenting Workshop

A Christ-centered Christmas tradition: take a card each day and do the activity to remember the gift of Jesus. And on Christmas Day,  the story of the nativity is revealed.

A Christ-centered Christmas tradition: take a card each day and do the activity to remember the gift of Jesus. And on Christmas Day,  the story of the nativity is revealed.

This past weekend we offered a parenting workshop, where we shared with you some practical and fun ideas on how to keep your Christmas centered on Christ. We shared lots of stories, activities and resources.  

If you missed the workshop,  take a few minutes to stop down in the children's wing hallway this weekend and we will have some of of the ideas set up for you to look at and resource lists for you to take home.  

Until then, we pray that you have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving. 

Shrinking The Elephant

Shrinking The Elephant

God is surely doing something unique in the hearts and lives of our students in Rush Hour and Fusion. But truth be told, there is a wild elephant surrounding our Student Ministries program that needs to be addressed. And that is this, in order for our group to spiritually grow it may first need to shrink.. Yes, you heard me right, in order for our student ministry program to grow it may indeed first need to shrink.