July 12-July 25, 2014 Seeds For Growth ACORN Random Thoughts So, have you checked your drifting? For those not here last Sunday, the message was on Psalm 141:3-5. I also wrote about this in my last ACORN article in May. I am so amazed at how we are apt to drift in one or several areas of our lives. The need for discipline in these areas is crucial. A good starting point is to ask the Lord for help just as King David did in these verses. Oakwood Community Church 11209 Casey Rd Tampa FL 33618-5306 813.969.2303 www.oakwoodfl.org The mission of Oakwood is to... Transform ordinary people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Oakwood is a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America. In addition to praying, being a student of the Bible is a great way to slow down the drifting process. We are blessed with some good teachers here at Oakwood. Pastor Paul brings solid teaching each week. As we mentioned on Sunday, you also now have available a vast library of videos with some of the best Bible teachers in the US. Right Now Media has put together a website that has some Biblical instruction on just about everything you can imagine. It is available to those who are part of the Oakwood family. If you are not already connected, please let the Church Office know and we will get you connected. There are also copies of Our Daily Bread available in the Information Center in the lobby. Using this tool is a great way to get the day started by reading some verses and a story that goes along with the key message of the verses. They are free so pick one up next Sunday. Don't forget to pray for the Oakwood team in the Czech Republic. By the time you read this, the English camp will be past the half way point. We have already received some reports of significant conversations about God with some who are asking good questions. Please pray for stamina and that the camp would be everything the Lord desires. You can also be praying for some more specific things listed in the July Prayer Guide. It is available on the Oakwood website. Look under Ministries on the home page and you will find Prayer Ministry. Click on that and you will find the July Prayer Guide. Also in the July Prayer Guide is the schedule and prayer guide for the students and student leaders who are in Kansas City for Challenge 2014. It would be good to ask God to help each of them to grow in their relationship with Him. Just saw a picture from one of our students of the opening session with over 5000 students worshipping God together. How awesome! That s all I am saying today. Dave Dorsey Director or Ministries Inside this issue: TreeHouse Needs 2 Petersen Update 2 Serve The World 3 Prayer 3 Five Free Fun Nights 4 PowerHouse News 5 Kids Corner 6 Calendar at a Glance 7 Find us on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/occtampa
Page 2 TreeHouse News Small Group Leaders needed We will resume our full TreeHouse Children s Ministry program during the 10:00 AM Worship Service for July and August. We are looking for parents, grandparents, or anyone who loves working with kids to help as Small Group leaders for our Kindergarten 5th Graders. Will you give a few weeks to minister to our kids? For more info, contact Dave Dorsey at dave@oakwoodfl.org or 813-969-2303. Directory Registration We are in the process of updating our database and printing a new Oakwood Directory. Please fill out the Directory Registration Form in your Worship Program this Sunday to be included in the new Directory. Shoes for Orphans Oakwood is partnering with The Joy FM in collecting new shoes for orphans in Ethiopia. We are the collection point for this drive in our area. We will have a bin in the Worship Center lobby through August 8 for your donations. Petersen Update Dear Oakwood, How can we say thanks for your faithful and sacrificial support over these past 15 years since you sent us out to be missionaries with Bible Basics? WOW!! As many of you already know, we are getting ready to transition away from Radio HRGS in Honduras back to the Bible Basics home offices in Odessa, FL. Moving is always an expensive proposition and moving internationally is even more so. We received word recently from Kyle Reed and the Missions Commission that Oakwood is making a generous contribution to help cover the cost of that move. THANK-YOU! Kyle also tells us that Oakwood is increasing our monthly support level. This is fantastic news for us, because it costs quite a bit more to live in the States than it does down here. Housing and transportation will cost more. And we will once again be paying income tax which will be an adjustment after these seven years of earning all our income overseas. We intend to be back into the life of Candlewood Community Church, which you also sent us out to help launch. But we certainly plan to visit you from time to time, in fact, a lot more often than we've been able to over these past seven years. See you soon. God bless! Jerry & Mildred Petersen
Page 3 Opportunity to Serve The Church & World Naomi s Daughters is a ministry for single moms that provides clothing to the moms as well as the children. The Oakwood family, along with others in the community, provides donations of clothing, food and money to keep this ministry moving forward. Your continued donations of new or gently worn clothes and non-perishable foods are greatly appreciated. Donations can be left on the screened area in the back of the gray house on our property. There are bins provided for your donations along with tax deductible forms. Pantry needs: cereal, canned goods, rice, pasta, paper goods, personal care items, etc. Especially needed: Baby items (clothes, furniture, etc.), children s clothes, school supplies for back to school Please pray that we can continue to reach people in this ministry and show the hands and feet of the Lord to those who come through our doors. Support our Troops Please remember to pray for Steven Giannone, and his wife, Sharon, while he is deployed. Steven is the son of Larry & Cindy Giannone, and grew up attending Oakwood. Prayer Ministry The purpose of Oakwood s E-Prayer Connection is to communicate prayer requests for our fellow Oakwood members, our families, friends, others personally known to us, and the ministries of our church. If you would like to partner in prayer for the needs of our church family, send your full name and email address to Office@oakwoodfl.org with Prayer Ministry in the subject line, or visit our website www.oakwoodfl.org and choose Prayer Ministry under the Ministries tab. New Media Library available I did a brief presentation recently on a new online Bible study library from rightnow Media that we can all access. There are a ton of great discipleship videos for kids, students, families, small groups, leaders and more. You can view these videos from a TV, tablet, phone or computer... anytime... anywhere. If you have not received an invitation from me to join Oakwood s subscription to rightnow Media, please contact me in the Church Office and I will send you an invitation. Just follow the instructions in the email and you can begin exploring all the great content. This is free to our church family. If you have received the invitation, I hope you have accessed the site and are enjoying some of the great materials. Dave Dorsey
Page 4 Five Free Fun Nights Oakwood s Five Free Fun Nights (VBS) was held June 9-13. A big thank you to Val Brand and Stephanie Piazza who planned the event and recruited volunteers. Thanks to all of the PowerHouse teens and adults who helped with crafts, greeting, large group teaching, leading small groups, leading worship, recreation, registration desk, and snacks. A huge thanks to Cam Whipple for pulling off the Friday Block Party.
Page 5 PowerHouse Schedule July 13 Open Gym July 20 Food Bag Ministry & Regular Evening Meeting July 26 PH Work Day July 27 Extended Youth Group Meeting It s Katie s Birthday! Pick up at 8:30 PowerHouse Work Day PowerHouse Work Day Saturday, July 26 Watch for more details Food Bag Delivery Drivers Needed Our PowerHouse students have a monthly ministry assembling food bags that are distributed to medical clinics in Tampa, Lakeland, Haines City and Winter Haven. We are in need of people who can help with delivery of these food bags, especially to Lakeland, Haines City, and Winter Haven. The food bags are usually assembled on the second Sunday of each month, and need to be delivered on the Monday or Tuesday following assembly. The next delivery time is July 21 or 22. If you can help with delivery or would like more information, please contact Cindy Giannone at (813) 969-4136. Food Bag Ministry Our PowerHouse students have a monthly fundraiser assembling food bags that are distributed to medical clinics in Tampa, Lakeland, Haines City and Winter Haven? These bags are distributed to indigent patients at the clinic to provide some basic food needs of the patients and their family. PowerHouse teens can raise money for summer mission/conference trips by participating in our monthly Food Bag Ministry, typically on the second Sunday of each month. Our next Food Bag Prep day is Sunday, July 20 right after the Worship Service. Teens can raise extra funds by helping shop for the food and/or helping with delivery of the food bags to the medical clinics. Shopping for the next fundraiser will be Friday, July 18. Meet at Aldi at Bearss & Florida Ave. at 5:00 PM (or contact Cam Whipple) if you want to help. For more details contact Cindy Giannone at (813) 969-4136.
Page 6 Kids Corner
Oakwood Community Church 11209 Casey Rd Tampa FL 33618-5306 813.969.2303 www.oakwoodfl.org Our Staff Lead Pastor - Dr. Paul B. Phair Director of Ministries - Dave Dorsey Director of Worship Arts - Andrew Reilly Coordinator of Youth Ministry - Dr. Paul B. Phair Coordinator of Children s Ministry - Dave Dorsey Office Manager - Martha Dorsey Secretary Melanie Hoglievina Office hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Education Classes: Sundays - 9:15 AM Worship: Sundays - 10:00 AM Our Elder Team Mark Beale Edson Bustamante Pete Kluck Paul Phair John Schneider Rob Weyand Our Deacon Team Matt Fucarino Larry Giannone Luke Piazza Gigi Yuen-Reed Ray Ross Dave Young Calendar at a Glance July 11 PowerHouse students/leaders return from Challenge Conference July 13 Board Meeting July 14 Prayer Team Meeting July 17 Team Tampa XV returns from Czech Republic July 20 Compassion Offering Congregational Meeting following Worship PowerHouse Food Bag Ministry July 26 PowerHouse Work Day The Oakwood ACORN is a bi-weekly E-newsletter from Oakwood Community Church, published to keep our church family and friends informed about events and people at Oakwood. Articles may be submitted via e-mail to Office@oakwoodfl.org. Article deadlines and publication schedule is: Deadline Publication date News for dates including July 18 July 23 July 26 Aug 8 Aug 1 Aug 6 Aug 9 Aug 22 If you have received this email in error or want to be removed from our e-newsletter distribution list, please hit the reply button and put unsubscribe in the subject line and you will be removed immediately. Missed a Sunday message? Listen online @ www.oakwoodfl.org/messages/