Oaks of Righteousness

¹ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
³to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

That's what I'm after. It's what my heart longs for. The thing that burns in my soul and keeps me awake at night. The passion of my soul, and the desire of my heart.

That the Lord might be glorified.

The way I've said it before is that I exist to unveil God's glory, and unleash His love.

I've chosen the name 'New Oaks' for this project, because it's exactly the burden I feel placed on me by God for this season. To be a part of His planting efforts. Efforts to bind up, set free, restore, heal, clothe with joy, and bring salvation to a whole new 'crop' of oaks of righteousness, also known as disciples.

Many may recognize the first half of this section of verses in Isaiah more famously from Jesus himself in Luke 4. Here He returns from being led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan for 40 days. He comes out of that desert victorious of Satan and sin, and proceeds to make this declaration, that in Him this proclamation is being fulfilled.
The Great Commandment, and the Great Commission are both extension of this from Jesus.
Love God with all that you are, and love others as yourself, and As you are going make disciples of all nations. Both of these things bring about the type of results that Isaiah proclaims here.

Disciples are those that Love God with all they are and let that love for God overflow into love for others through the various expressions of the body of Christ. Paul tells us in 2 Cor 3 that as we behold the beauty of the glory of God, we are transformed from one degree to the next, or we are made into the image of Jesus, which is the whole goal of being a disciple.

So I'm planting a church. A church full of oaks of righteousness. That reproduces more oaks. A church that prays with Paul in Philippians 1 that love move abound more and more, so that we may approve what is excellent and be pure and blameless before Him on the day of the Lord, and that we would produce the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ. A church that seeks with everything it has to Love God with all it is, and to let that love overflow and be unleashed on a desperate world in desperate need. A church the with all its efforts and strength will make disciples of all nations. A church the plants other churches, a church that in the unity of the Spirit and through the outpouring of His various gifts will be an unveiler of the great and wondrous glory of our Great God.

But I'm not meant to do this alone. Beyond that, I can't. So I'm asking for your help. Maybe you're intrigued enough to want in. Well there are several ways to get involved.

• The first and most important way is to join our Email Prayer Team. You can sign up by filling out the form in the sidebar of the right of this page. You will receive weekly Prayer updates via email, as well as an invitation to a monthly Prayer & Worship gathering.
• The second is to join one of our upcoming Small Group Bible Studies. Starting in February we will be launching a Bible Study meeting on Wednesday nights @ 7pm, with plans to start another one within 2 months after that.

All of my hope is in this. That God would be Faithful to Glorify His Name as He promised He would, and that He would be Gracious to allow us to join Him in His work, as He's invited us to.