Yesterday at Oasis Church we held the 1st 2 Christmas Experiences that we are going to do for the year and witnessed between 600-700 people attend and at least 15 surrender their lives to Jesus! It was a special day, as it always is. This year, we stepped out of the box a little with a different type Christmas Experience that offered such a variety of creative elements that everyone attending would have been able to take something with them that appealed to their liking.
We understand that when it comes to reaching people, you have to reach them where they are in life. Sunday Services or Experiences are not and should not be thought of as a time for just the believers to gather and feel good about themselves because they are in church! It should be, and is at Oasis, a place of Hope, A place of acceptance, a place of healing and most importantly, a place of refuge for those who are far from God to find shelter in Christ and surrender their lives to Him. We strategically do all we can to reach the lost in our Sunday Experiences.
Yesterday’s Christmas Experiences came with much pressure and hard pressing for those involved… the staff, the creative arts leaders and team members, technical team, worship team, EVERYONE! It never ceases to amaze me that tension surfaces and division is attempted when something of such kingdom impact is about to be birthed. We saw many opportunities for those things to arise yesterday in the inner workings of different ministries, but we have to learn as believers that then enemy knows the impact that is going to be had and he will attempt to cause these things in order to bring distraction and disunity to corrupt and disrupt the move of God that is going to take place.
This has been the story of Oasis all year. I am so thankful and humbled by all The Lord is doing at this church. Just this year, there have been over 1000 people surrender their lives to Christ and the church is growing at a rapid pace. Anyone in leadership or participating in any area of ministry that is going to impact lives needs to understand this tactic the enemy uses to bring division to better protect your heart from biting that bait.
For all you Oasis people that made yesterday happen… THANK YOU!!!! Let’s do it again Wednesday!!!! (without the problems! lol)
We take a no-nonsense approach and zero tolerance to these kind of things because we arent going to give any room for it to interrupt what The Lord is doing and wanting to do in the Worship Experiences. Nothing personal. We just dont play those games because there is so much at stake. People are going to be impacted and many who are not believers are having their heart spoken to and their lives are being weighed in the balance at every Experience and our heart is to see those who are far from God, accept and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior above all else! It is never really about us, He just uses us!
With all that being said, to be transparent for a few minutes of blogging, there will always be skeptics, there will always be naysayers, there will always be neg-aholics and there will always be people who think they can do things better than those doing it, whatever it may be… That’s life. Maintaining unity is a fight that we all are involved in, sometimes on a daily basis. That is why if JESUS is truly the center of it, He will be the glue to keep it. Keep eyes on HIM and honor His authority and You will surely grow and gain much more influence. I deal with this on a daily basis and I have to say, I have a weakness when it comes to negativity. I dont deal with it well… I hate it… Pray for me… lol!!
The days we are in as THE CHURCH are the days that HE is pouring out HIS Spirit like never before and we are witnessing a harvest of souls unlike any other time in History… Savor the time… Savor the Opportunities… LIVE the LIFE and you will HONOR and GLORIFY HIM who has called you!
So the day after Christmas Service Experiences… What are my thoughts?
The most important thing of all that was done is that at least 15 people surrendered their lives to Jesus and now they KNOW HIM as Savior and regardless of all else… that is what it was all about!
Join us Wednesday night at the Pascagoula Recreation Center for the 3rd Christmas Experience and coffee and dessert… It all begins at 6:30! I’m praying for more people to be drawn into His Presence and discover His Amazing Grace and begin a relationship with Him… would you pray with me and agree for that?
Have a great week all!! Merry Christmas!
Eric Camp for MS House District 111 