L.O.V.E. lately

L.O.V.E., a Birmingham-based non-profit organization that mobilizes groups from all over the country and from all denominational backgrounds, has helped rebuild homes damaged in the April 2011 tornadoes for nearly two years. Click HERE to view a photo review of what L.O.V.E. has been up to!

Why church is for every single one of us: a story of hope in hardship

The following story is true, but names have been omitted to protect the privacy of those involved.

Church often seems like a place for smiling people. For people who dress well. For people who close their eyes during prayer or singing. For people who have friends. For people who are happy. For people whose biggest problem might be that they’re too cold because the air conditioning at church is turned up way too high. For people and families who look like this:

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But that's a myth.

Church isn’t just for smiling people. Of course, it welcomes smiling people who are happy and basking in the glow of good things. BUT. It’s not just for them. It’s also and especially for the

hurting

confused

abandoned

abused

grieving

lost

unemployed

hardened

sick

downcast

poor

rebellious

and

weary.

Which means, church is for every single one of us.

On a recent December Sunday, a single mom walked into Oak Mountain Church for the church service. From the outside, she was a lot like everyone else, but what those people shaking her hand and walking past her probably didn’t know was that she was working multiple jobs in order to pay her bills, needed food, and had a past that haunted her through no fault of her own.

It was no accident that this particular Sunday was a Sunday where OMC took up a Mercy Offering. Rather than seeking out church deacons to meet her financial needs, she sought them out to tell of God’s grace in bringing her daughter and her to OMC, a place of faith, community, and worship. After hearing the woman’s story, the deacons asked how they could help, and were thrilled to be able to allocate some of the Mercy Offering funds to meet her immediate needs like food and paying a few bills during the holiday season.

In the midst of unspeakable hardships, this woman saw Jesus and was thankful. And isn’t that the message of the gospel? That all of us as the walking wounded have hope in a Story bigger than the one we see? A story in which God weaves details like a woman coming to a particular church on a particular Sunday to speak with particular people so that God can use money that other particular people gave in order to meet a need. The truth is, church isn’t for people who have it all together; it’s for people who need Jesus, the Savior who said, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Church is for every single one of us.

Deacons' Mercy Team

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We’ve shared on this blog several stories of God’s mercy to and through individuals, but maybe you’re wondering how the church leadership is demonstrating that mercy as well.

Two years ago, the Oak Mountain Church deacons took over what was once one pastor’s job: meeting mercy needs in and around our church. As a group, the deacons read Tim Keller’s book, Generous Justice, which highlights the message of Isaiah 61, that Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted, comfort those who mourn, and care for the needs of others.  The deacons were compelled to do the same and decided to take leadership in showing Jesus’ love to others.

Over time, God led the deacons to focus on three areas: relief, rehabilitation, and development. Relief and Rehabilitation focus on a number of issues such as meeting physical needs, bringing relational healing, and assisting people through difficult financial or emotional seasons. Much of OMC’s time and energy, however, go into development, which requires more structure and involves long-term commitment. Jobs4Life is an example of how OMC is accomplishing this.

Practically speaking, though, whom does the mercy team help and how do they help them?

Who the Mercy Team helps:

The Mercy Team helps both church members and nonmembers seeking assistance.

How the Mercy Team helps:

The Mercy team meets with nonmembers on Sunday mornings and members during the week to discuss the needs at hand. Their goal is to get to the root of issues rather than simply throw money at the situation.

How the funding works:

Funding for mercy needs that arise come from OMC’s monthly communion offering each month as well as any loose cash placed in the offering plate on Sundays.

Since its inception two years ago, the Deacons’ Mercy Team now has two branches: the financial team, which decides how and where to spend the money, and the “hands on” team that identifies the needs and brings them to the team. 

The deacons have been humbled and motivated to find God working in them as they have sought to be extensions of the love of Christ in others. Similarly, the body at OMC can experience the same realities as we give generously so that the widow, the orphan and the disenfranchised can experience the transforming power of Christ.

The team is extremely sensitive to confidentiality and protection of privacy.  In that light, if you or someone you know is in need of assistance from the Deacons’ Mercy Team, please contact Ken Jones at 981-4335 or any deacon at the church.

God shows up: the Noah's adoption story

Posted with permission by Gary and Catherine Noah, who have attended Oak Mountain for the past eight years and who recently adopted Mary Blake. Here’s their story of God’s faithfulness:

Adoption is all about taking the next step, even when where you’re headed isn’t clear or visible. You take the next step because God has called you there and He promises to show up. That’s all you have to go on, usually. And that’s all you need.

But it’s hard. Hard to trust that there’s a point to the story when you don’t even know which story is being told, when you don’t know what comes next, when you don’t even know the ending.

It’s there in the confusion, the frustration, the anger, the despair, the aimlessness that God shows up.

Adoption was like that for us—not knowing the whole story but fighting to trust God to show up in the face of seeming impossibility. Here’s how He showed up for us:

We knew that we were called to adopt even before we were married.  We made the decision to pursue getting pregnant first, but after two years and much disappointment, we decided it was time to pursue adoption.  While this wasn’t plan B and we had always felt like the Lord would one day grow our family through adoption, it was heartbreaking to not experience pregnancy.

Little did we know, the adoption process would be heartbreaking in its own way.

While preparing our application for Lifeline Children’s Services, we were contacted about a baby that was up for adoption through another agency.  We jumped right in, even going to the hospital and meeting the baby and birth mother at delivery.  Just a few days later, the birth mother changed her mind.  We were devastated.  

We decided to continue the adoption process and filed our paperwork with Lifeline as originally planned.  Several months later, we got the call that a birth mother had chosen us.  We were thrilled!  We were able to meet her before the baby was born and then go to the hospital at delivery.  We felt confident that this was our baby, but a week later, we got the news that we would not be getting the baby.  Our hearts broke again.

Shortly after, another birth mother chose us.  This time it was twins.  Again, a few days after delivery, we received the call that she had changed her mind.  We couldn’t believe this was happening to us for a third time, but we held on to the fact that the Lord had called us to this.  He never promised it would be easy or painless but He did promise that He would be with us along the way and would give us all that we needed to continue the journey. It’s all we had. And all we needed. But it was hard. Really hard.

Just a few months later, the rest of our story was written and Mary Blake Noah was born.  We got the call when she was five days old and had her home in our arms when she was just three weeks old. Now, at 13 months old, she is a daily visible reminder of God’s faithfulness to us.

It’s not the road we would have chosen, but it’s the road the Lord had to lead us on to teach us the things that He did. His kindness came to us through the people of Oak Mountain. They spoke truth when we needed to hear it, they reminded us of the gospel when we struggled to believe, they prayed for us, encouraged us, and had hope for us when we had none. OMC’s Porch Light Ministry also helped us financially by giving us a matching grant that helped with our final adoption cost.

In other words, God showed up. He always has. He always will. To God be the Glory, Great things HE has done!

Porch Light Orphan and Foster Care Ministry

Following on the heels of this blog’s last entry entitled “The Church: An Aircraft Carrier,” where we "zoomed out" on the bigger picture of God's mercy to and through us, over the next several months we’ll “zoom in” on the existing Mercy Ministries at Oak Mountain Church.  This will enable  you to be aware of what’s already going on, the purpose and scope of each ministry, and contact information so you can know how to become involved. In addition, we’ll be sharing stories of people who have walked with Jesus more closely because of these ministries.

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Part of Oak Mountain Church’s vision is to follow God’s command to “look after orphans and widows” (James 1:27) by supporting foster care and adoption through training, financial assistance, and connecting people with resources. The church’s foster care and adoption ministry is called the Porch Light, which comes from the idea that a porch light left on says “Welcome. We’ve been expecting you,” and it’s this idea that’s behind the mission statement of this ministry: “Until every child has a home.”

Porch Light has embraced the philosophy of Christian Alliance for Orphans who state, “Working together, our joint initiatives inspire, equip, and connect Christians to ‘defend the fatherless’ (Isaiah 1:7).”  Click here to learn more. 

An exciting part of Porch Light Foster Care and Orphan Ministry is financial assistance for families interested in pursuing adoption but who don’t have the resources to fund or fully fund that desire.  How encouraging to know that there’s this kind of help for those undertaking the often-daunting adoption process!

Another aspect of this ministry is respite care, which gives foster care families a needed break. Click here to read the story of a mother whose heart was deeply impacted as she allowed God to use her to minister to a child and his foster care family.

God has always been in the business of bringing His children home and welcoming them unconditionally, and He graciously allows us to demonstrate His love in the same way, by giving children a home. Stay tuned for the story of a family who did just that!

If you want to learn more about how to become involved in the Porch Light Ministry (foster care, respite care, or adoption support) or if you need assistance in the adoption process, please contact Ken Jones at kjones@oakmountainchurch.org or 205.981.4335.

For a complete list of Mercy Ministries at Oak Mountain Church, please see the “Mercy Umbrella” at the bottom of this blog.