Cool Creeker Videos

All the videos that we shared over the 3 weeks of talking about vision in September are now online thanks to Jason Evans!

These are awesome tools for you to use if someone wants a closer look at Oso Creek . . . They can go to the website and watch Creekers talk about how God has transformed/and is transforming their lives!

You can go to the Connect, Navigate and Discover web pages and click video at the bottom here: Connect, Navigate, Discover

Or go straight to the videos here: Connect, Navigate, Discover

Awesome Videos!

I praise God for the Creeker stories that we have heard over the past couple of weeks! We wanted to get them out there where we could pass them along to folks who were curious about what God was doing at Oso Creek . . . So here is the first installment! Click here and you can check out on youtube the Connect video from last Sunday!

Connecting with Challenge

On Sunday I talked about our vision to Connect people all around us to the Kingdom of God and to the life of adventure!
I challenged each of us to Raise the Risk Factor in our lives to do what is necessary to live out that vision.

This morning I was challenged as I read in Matthew 4 Jesus' invitation to Peter and Andrew to follow Him on the Kingdom adventure. (Check in out in vs. 18-20)

It wasn't a sweet promise that their life would be all better. Or just an eternal invitation that they would live forever in heaven.

No, He said, 'Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men!' He challenged them to join Him in changing the world!

I wonder sometimes if the way we talk to folks about God makes them think that He is just a desperate contender for their loyalty?

God is no 'contender.' We should have to be standing in line for the privilege of serving Him.
Maybe instead of trying to 'sell God' based on the benefits He offers, we need to be challenging people to quit sitting in the stands and to give their life to what counts for all eternity . . .

Discover Oso Creek!

A few months ago we changed our format of our initial introduction for new people to Oso Creek. And it has been awesome!

This gathering is designed to introduce new people to our staff, to answer any questions about us or Oso Creek, and to talk about being a member of Oso Creek.

If you haven't been to Discovery Dessert, it is THIS Sunday (13th) at 6:30pm at our home! In order to sign up you need to get go here to our website and complete Discovery Online. Discovery Online tells you the nuts and bolts about who we are and what our vision is. Once you finish Discovery Online and submit it, you're signed up for the Discovery Dessert!

So if you haven't been yet, then get aboard! And if you know someone who needs to go, please help us all out by passing this post on to them!

The Church Has Left the Building!

A week from Sunday - on July 13th - The Church Will Leave the Building . . .

On that Sunday instead of having church, we're going to BE the church! We're gonna fan out in 2 different directions and Serve our community. And at the same time my hope is that some of us will Discover what God has made us for, or Discover a mission that we've never seen before.

We're going to have two different projects going (and we'll have an opportunity this Sunday to sign up):

1) Washing the Mission of Mercy mobile medical clinic - We'll wash it at Walgreens on Saratoga and Staples. We get to serve Mission of Mercy (who serve the medical needs of the poor and needy) -- and also by washing it in a public place we get to introduce other people to their mission. Awesome! We are also going to hand out water and love. The one limitation here is that everyone needs to be 13 and over for your family to participate here.

2) Collection for Corpus Christi Food Bank - With rising prices, needs are growing and supplies are low. We're going door to door in different southside neighborhoods collecting food for the food bank. And at the same time we get to Connect with our neighbors! ANYONE can participate.
We also need people who will go on Friday or Saturday (11th or 12th) and hang the empty bags and notes on doors. (If you can do this please email Audie by clicking here.)


Last time we did a Serving Sunday I heard a couple of comments about folks not coming because we weren't 'doing church.' I guess what they really meant was we weren't meeting their desires. Because in reality this is probably the one Sunday that we are really 'doing church' more than any other! I can't wait!

Down the Street

This morning after my run (yes, the heat has chased me to an AM running mode) I met a new neighbor down at the very end of my block.
She's been there 6 months!

She's a single mom with two small children, who she said, 'have never been to church.' But in the same breath she said she wants to take them.

Why, so much of the time, don't I see past the stinkin' trees in my front yard? Just one moment of kindness, one conversation - and look at what God opens up. God, please help us to love those all around us.

Pray for Erica. And pray for the many Ericas that God wants to introduce to His Kingdom!

Discovery Online!

We want to make it as easy as possible for anyone to Connect with Oso Creek. And in seeking to do that we've made a change with our Discovery Class and I wanted all of you to know all about it. The news is that Discovery Online is now online!

When someone is interested in Oso Creek and who we are and/or how to become a member, they now begin by going to our website: Osocreek.org.
From there, they click on Discovery Online on the left hand side of the front page and here is where they end up.

From here, they can read through the information about who we are, what our story is, and what our vision is. . . . Then, they fill out the What About You section and with a click submit it to our office. And when they do that they will be automatically signed up for the next Discovery Dessert!

The Discovery Desserts will be held at our home on Sunday evenings. There, we will introduce the staff and ministries, answer any questions, go through the Membership Covenant and just hang out in a laid back setting.

I'm pumped about this new approach and want you to be able to let folks know how they can connect with us. I also encourage you to read through Discovery Online as a little refresher :) and let me know any changes that you think would make it better.

Incredible Easter Festival!

Way to go Creekers! What an incredible Easter Festival! Hundreds of people, beautiful weather, and it was awesome to see all of you working together in incredible ways!

We blessed our community today beyond what any of can imagine. It makes me so proud to be the pastor of Oso Creek when I see God moving through you like He did today!

Way to Go!!!

FREE!!

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free!" (Galatians 5:1)

Tomorrow we have an opportunity to express to our community the FREE gift of FREEDOM that God has displayed for us in His Son Jesus . . . and that He supplied for us through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.

Let's tell everyone we know and see today. . . and then come tomorrow prepared to let our lights shine brightly in the darkness!

And by the way . . . it's gonna be a incredibly beautiful day!

Easter Expectations

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3)

Do you ever under-expect God to live through you? Do you ever come to church with little or no expectations of God moving?

Today the seats sit empty. Do you expect Jesus to bring heaven to earth this Sunday?

As we celebrate His defeat of death on Sunday you have 3 opportunities. Will you be there? Who does God expect to be there with you?

Vision in Action . . . Connect!

Your Family for Life's Journey

The last 3 weeks I've talked about the process of our Vision being fulfilled . . . . . Connect, Navigate, Discover.

Now let me show you what it looks like beginning in a Connect post!


In the first 3 weeks of The 'Dock' and the awesome Creek Reps - we've had 26 new guests (or family units) on Sunday morning and 20 of them have made it to the Dock and spent time with our Creek Reps. That's 20 families that we've connected with and we've seen many of those connect with God in significant ways.

Now that excites me because that represents your friends that you are connecting with and inviting to Oso Creek! Our heart is that God will use us to connect those around us to the hope of Jesus!

"May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise You, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you!" Psalm 67:2-3

I've told the Creek Rep Team to hold on, because the next few weeks are going to be a wild ride . . . . Let's ALL be committed to bringing our friends and keeping them swamped!

A New Way to Connect and Play!

This is a couple of weeks belated (I've been waiting till I got the picture with the blue mulch!) but wow and thanks to Aaron & Audie for leading and the ~100 Creekers who have worked on the the playground! It's amazing how much time and effort Creekers gave to bring this all together! Way to go!

And this is going to open up doors for many of you to further connect with families . . . I've already seen some Mom's and playgroups out there hanging out! Praise God!

So don't keep it a secret, we want our campus to increasingly be a 'safe harbor' for our community to gather!

How are you creatively loving those around you today who need the hope of Jesus?