here are some thoughts from yesterday around Oakbrook:

- I'm continually amazed at the talent that God brings to Oakbrook.  How about Alex Dobbert and Brandon Lowry at 30 till?  it was awesome.

- A special "thank you/way to go" to Rob Moss for putting together that video for the song "Apocalypse Please."  once again, I'm amazed at the giftedness of people who aren't even paid to do this stuff!

- I had a couple of thoughts that I wanted to reiterate from yesterday's message:

1. "Where I place my hope in life will determine how I live my life"

2. "God gave us the end of the story not for us to try and figure it all out, not for us to make charts and graphs and hold seminars, not for us to write best selling novels, not for us to try and figure out if these days that we are living in are the end times...  He gives us the end of the story so that you and I have something solid that we can place all of our hope in."

3. In the end, God is making all things new in quality... He is restoring things back to the way He intended for them to be, and there will be no more curse of sin, no death, no sorrow, no pain, no tears.  God wants us to rest our hope in that promise.

- I'm so proud of the people who stood in the service yesterday and declared that they wanted to receive Christ and trade in their story for His.  God rewrote stories yesterday.  It was a CELEBRATION!

- Kidstuf was another success for familes.  way to go team!

- OSM's Christmas party/talent show was a hit.  the students had a great time.  They also brought in gifts for 3 families who cannot afford to buy Christmas for their children.  I'm very proud of the students for their generosity. WAY TO GO!

- Christmas is only 11 days away, and our christmas services are only 9 days from today.  I can't even believe that it is so soon.  Start inviting your friends to come to one of these awesome experiences. Dec. 23, 7pm & Dec. 24, 6pm.

- Every Christmas around Oakbrook there is a team of unseen heroes:  the team that does the childcare for the services.  There is still an opportunity to be a part of this team.  You can pick a service to attend and then pick a service to serve in.  What an awesome way to experience giving and generosity this Christmas.

- Next week we are going to dive into the "Advent Conspiracy."  Mark rolled out this idea a few weeks back and asked us to prayerfully consider giving monetarily towards compassion at the end of the year.  We want to continue to keep the value of compassion and generosity at the core of who we are as a church, and this is a great way to do that.  Be praying about what you and your family will give.

- Don't miss out on 30till next weekend.  Grab a coffee at Lakeside cafe and enjoy some great music 30 minutes before the service starts.  

Have a great week.  Merry Christmas!  

remember: Don't just TALK about it, BE about it!

Sam

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