“Where we go from here.” That line comes a marketing campaign for the company for which I used to work. “___ ___. Where we go from here.”

I’ve been thinking about that advertising line as I’ve thought about Oak Hill. Where do we go from here?

One of my roles as the appointed lead pastor is to help this congregation clarify its mission and set its direction – where we go from here. I’ve spent by first year listening. As we move into the Fall and begin a formal visioning process, I’m spending three weeks sharing where I sense God calls us to go from here.

Last week I shared about Oak Hill living as a congregation where everyone is welcome. I believe that God calls Oak Hill to live as a congregation where God’s Love and, therefore, this church is open to all.

This week I want to share what I believe we need to be doing to help us deepen our faith and our relationship with Christ.

My thoughts are shaped by our scripture — Ephesians 3:14-21. In that passage Paul prays, he PRAYS, that we might “comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that passes all knowledge, so that [we] might be filled with all the fullness of God.”

That sounds pretty nice – to be comprehend the magnitude and know the depth of God’s love for us in Christ. Yet how does it happen? Is it something that magically occurs at a specific point in life? Are there particular things we can do to aid a process of growth?

As part of your own spiritual practice, I invite you to reflect upon your own spiritual journey:

• When were specific times in your life when you grew in your own relationship with Christ?
• Who were the people who supported you during that time?
• What were some specific things/actions that helped you during that season of spiritual growth?

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen