Weekly Email

Dear Church Family,

Last Sunday as Oakwood gathered for worship, one of our neighbors became the victim of yet another hate-driven act of violence. Our neighbor is a Mormon church. I have two thoughts to share.

1. The elders are grateful to Bruce Knauf and the Safety Team for their proactive efforts to make Oakwood a safe place for us to gather. Over the past several years Bruce has worked with law enforcement and medical people to train the team to respond to all kinds of issues that might arise in a church. That doesn’t mean that what happened to our neighbor can’t happen at Oakwood, but we have confidence that every Sunday there are eyes all around us prepared to respond if something comes up. We thank Bruce, Ryan O’Neil, and the entire Safety Team for their ministry at Oakwood!

2. Many struggle with how to respond, given the fact that the Mormon church calls itself Christian, yet has a vastly different theology than we have. We believe that salvation is achieved by faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone. Theirs is a works-based faith in which they believe salvation can be earned, therefore the Mormons tend to be very kind and charitable people.

So if we show support or offer help after this tragedy, does that imply we support their movement? This to me is a no-brainer. I think of the famous parable that Jesus taught on the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). I used the term “neighbor” in the first line intentionally, to be consistent with the parable. God is calling us to treat our “neighbors” with love and even to go the extra mile if they need it. He also made it clear that we are to leave the judging to Him. The elders sent a message this week to the Grand Blanc township supervisor and offered Oakwood’s help in the wake of the tragedy. We are willing to be the church and treat our neighbors with love and compassion. In doing so, of course, we live and teach the TRUE gospel.
 

See you Sunday.
Jeff Moore
Elder