OAFC Crier, January 2014

Prayers & News
News:

• We're partnering with Pastor Kirby of Lutheran Hour Ministries to send a small team of youth to Kazakhstan as a mission trip.
• We're purchasing a new van for our Travel Teams to more confidently go out and share the Gospel. Could you consider donating to OAFC for this purpose?
• Our Business Manager and Treasurer (Nathan and Dorothy Ruppert), after blessed years of service, are stepping down. OAFC is looking for dedicated volunteers to fill their shoes by July 2014.
• We're making room in our archives by digitizing our files. We're purchasing a commercial document scanner and will be working on this project for the next few months.
• Summer Training is July 17-23rd, 2014 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Midwest City, OK.

Prayers of Supplication

• That God would provide our next Business and Financial Manager before July, 2014.
• That God would guide and bless our Summer Training preparations and conference.
• That God would bless our efforts to send a mission team to Kazakhstan with Pastor Kirby of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
• That God would bless our local groups with weekends, youth, and leaders.

Prayers of Thanksgiving

• That God provided safe travel to and from our Board meeting in January and that He blessed us with a very productive time.
• That God has given us many great leaders and volunteers to serve OAFC.

2014 Objectives

1. Sustain and grow our current groups
2. Add more local groups across the country
3. Equip youth and adults for witnessing in a cyber-based culture
4. Recruit a new Business and Financial Manager

Peaceful Life
There's one aspect of life that marks out Christians above all others, and that is the peace of God which passes all understanding. There's nothing like the peace a Christian knows. That peace imbues every part of the Christian life. It comes from two awesome and equally wonderfully teachings of Scripture: 1) The all-availing sacrifice of Christ, and 2) The all-powerful lordship of God over all things.

Colossians 1:20, "Through Christ, God reconciled to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good to them that love God; for those who are called according to his purpose."

                These two messages of Scripture are the reason the Christian can have true peace unlike anyone else. Yes, some may believe about other gods that they control history and the future, but no other religion believes that the God who can control all things according to his will would sacrifice himself for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation of his creation by assuming our flesh and blood. These two absolutes create the greatest peace the world has ever known.

                Consider if only one of these were true. If you believed in the God who controls all things for his standard of goodness, but you didn't have the proof of his love in Christ, then how could you trust that he desired your good – and wasn't just using you to do good for someone else? And when the text says that he works for the good of those who love God, how could you ever know if You loved God enough to merit his good graces working towards you? That is to say, it's not enough to know the power of God, if you don't also know that the power of God is FOR YOU.

                In the same way, what good is it to know that a man died for you if he wasn't also the God who controls all the world and time, powers and judgment? People die every day – innocent people die every day. So unless that man who died on a cross was the God of all creation, the death of Jesus of Nazareth is simply a tragedy. But because he was the Sovereign God, his death could be for your sins and the sins of all creation.

                Because both of these truths are the reality, we have peace. The God of all creation has chosen to die for you – proving his great love. For "If he who did not spare his only Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also give us all things?" So we can rest in the mercy and power of God, knowing that he loves us; cares for us; and will work the ultimate good in our lives.

                Therefore, "May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Amen.

The Mission of OAFC is to equip youth and adults to witness more effectively of the Jesus Christ through Singing, Bible Studies, Personal Witnesses, Dramas, Puppet Shows, and Neighborhood Canvassing.