Hello family,

We are very sorry about this, but we realized today that we didn't follow up with our announcement on Sunday with an email (for those who weren't with us at the Warners). 

In case you weren't there, or in case you haven't heard, we have opted as a leadership team to cancel Family Camp at Mt. Meadows this year (which would have been this weekend) due to restrictions from the County and a lack of ability to properly prepare for the nuances imposed as a result of COVID-19. 

In lieu of this, we will be meeting at the home of Ron & Diane Rourke once more in Oak Run at the same time as the past two weeks, 9am. We are looking forward to hearing from Greg Dekker (who would have been speaking at Family Camp anyways). Once more, bring your own lawn chairs and/or blankets and try to maintain social distancing to the best of your ability. 

Address for the Rourkes:
24416 Raccoon Way
Oak Run, CA 96069

Directions (Google Maps)
Directions (Printable)

Please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have. 

Till He returns or calls us home: In Christ Alone,


OGBF Elders
Email: elders@ogbf.org

Hello Family!

Just wanted to give a quick reminder and update as to this coming Sunday and our service together. Happy Fathers' Day to all!

We are planning to once again meet together corporately, outdoors once again. This week we will be meeting at the home of Paul & Donna Warner located at 9776 Cow Creek Dr, Palo Cedro, CA 96073. Service will start at 9am once again this week.

Parking will be across the street (and up a house or so) at Stan & Sharon McCurdy's house (address: 9819 Cow Creek Dr.). There is a field next to the road in which you will be directed where you can park. From there, you can walk over to the Warner's house.

If you didn't see the email about prayer requests, please send in all praises/prayer requests ahead of time to oakgrovebf@gmail.com.

As last week, there will be a few things to keep in mind, similar to last week:

• Hand sanitizing stations will be placed at entrance and around the yard
• Masks are available/provided for those that would like them
• Porta-potties with hand-washing stations will be available again
• CDC recommends we discourage handshakes and hugs at this time. Please be sensitive to those that do not feel comfortable doing so (and don’t feel offended if they ask that you don’t).
• Expectation is that each family group or individual sit at least 6ft apart from other individuals and/or groups. Please bring your own chairs or blankets and spread out as you feel comfortable throughout the backyard; if you have extras, maybe bring a few along too (there won’t be chairs provided).
• Toddlers/pre-school/nursery will have care on the lawn immediately behind where the main service will be held. Toys will be sanitized before and after use. Other children ages 4 and up will be expected to stay with their parents during the service this week.
• The small wooden church for offerings will be located at the back on a table for those that would like to contribute to giving in person on Sunday
• If you are not feeling well or do not feel comfortable congregating together, please stay at home this week. 

There were some recent updates this week in California from our Governor regarding the use of masks in "high risk" places and scenarios. After reviewing the notice and recommendations from the County and the Governor's office, we as an elder board don't feel this impacts our morning fellowship (being outdoors and in a private location), as long as we continue to maintain social distancing.

For those of you that are not able to attend or wouldn't feel comfortable doing so, we will have the sermon audio recorded and uploaded to our website once more. Simply navigate to http://ogbf.org/sermon-audio

Look forward to seeing you there and fellowshipping with you all!

OGBF Elders

Email: elders@ogbf.org

For those that were unable to attend our service yesterday, June 14th 2020 at the home of Ron & Diane Rourke, we recorded the message and you can listen to the entire service (Announcements, Songs, Scripture Reading, Message, and Prayer Time) online once more. 

We will be (the the best of our technological ability) be resuming this weekly for those that are unable to attend services in person.

To access this, navigate to the Sermon Audio page on the website. There, you can choose to listen on a variety of services, or directly by clicking the link down below.
​

This coming Sunday, after being apart as a corporate group for over 13 weeks, we are finally looking to meet once more. We are planning to gather together at the “original” Oak Grove (where it all began, and where we meet each Fall for our anniversary) at the home of Ron & Diane Rourke. 

As an elder board, we wanted to take a moment to explain to you all why we feel it IS important to meet once more. To some, this may be obvious, but for others, perhaps not as much. 

While we are still a ways away from a “normal” routine, getting together as a Body is important, even if in limited capacity. We feel this is strongly supported in the New Testament. Hebrews 10:24-25 encourages us to meet together in person, with a couple primary things in mind: 1) encouragement and stirring one another up for good works; 2) all the more as we see The Day. Both are critical for us at this time in our nation and world. As we also look at the passages dealing with spiritual gifts in the NT (see Eph. 4:11-16, 1 Cor. 12, 1 Pet. 4:7-11, Heb. 3:13), we see that each of us are given gifts not for our own benefit but for the “building up of the body,” for accountability, and for growth. Though this can be done remotely to some degree or another, it is much more expediently done in person, together, in regular interactive format. We are the Body of Christ. And we need each other to grow.

For this reason, as elders and shepherds of Oak Grove Bible Fellowship, we are making every effort to afford the opportunity to meet together once again. 

For this Sunday, when we meet at the Rourkes, there are a couple things to note. Though we are meeting in person once more, not everything is “back to normal” or at least as it was before COVID-19. We are still expected to follow the guidelines and expectations as set forward by the CDC, our State, and our County. We are also encouraged to put one another’s interests above our own. For this, we ask, out of the sake of love for one another, that each and every person attending do their best to try to adhere to the guidelines put forward. 

When we meet together, some of the following guidelines will be implemented:

• Hand sanitizing stations around the back yard
• Masks provided for those that would like them
• Porta-potties with hand-washing stations
• We will be partaking in Communion. For this, individual, self-serve communion packets will be handed out when you arrive with song sheets and any other announcements/bulletins/print for the day.
• CDC recommends we discourage handshakes and hugs at this time. Please be sensitive to those that do not feel comfortable doing so (and don’t feel offended if they ask that you don’t). 
• Expectation is that each family group or individual sit at least 6ft apart from other individuals and/or groups. Please bring your own chairs or blankets and spread out as you feel comfortable throughout the backyard; if you have extras, maybe bring a few along too (there won’t be chairs provided).
• Toddlers/pre-school/nursery will have care on the lawn immediately behind where the main service will be held. Toys will be sanitized before and after use. Other children ages 4 and up will be expected to stay with their parents during the service this week.
• The small wooden church for offerings will be located at the back on a table for those that would like to contribute to giving in person on Sunday
• If you are not feeling well or do not feel comfortable congregating together, please stay at home this week. 

As we look to the weeks to come, we will continue to keep you informed as to where, when, and how we continue to meet. We hope that the joy, encouragement, and strength in the small groups that have grown during this time will continue as we move forward as well. 

We are still trying to find a way as a leadership team to navigate these waters, so we would ask for patience and grace with us as we seek for ways to gather together in unity. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions you have regarding this. We are only an email or a phone call away. 

Till He returns or calls us home: In Christ Alone,

OGBF Elders
elders@ogbf.org


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Address for the Rourkes:
24416 Raccoon Way
Oak Run, CA 96069

Join us for what is (Lord-willing) our last service from our homes! As we started, so we still encourage each of you to try to tune in around the same time on Sunday morning if you're able (10am); sometimes the knowledge we are all doing this together at the same time is encouraging in itself!

This week Derrick continues in John, looking at chapters 14-17 this week and our Lord's words to the disciples: "Let not your hearts be troubled."

Tune in and watch the  video, or if you're unable, download the study guide and read through the transcript for the morning message. 

OGBF At-Home Service | June 7, 2020

Follow with songs that have been chosen to help you respond to the message and the Word, then finish with a short prayer-time thought from Ron. 

In case you miss it in the video...

...We are planning to meet next Sunday at the Rourke's house at 9am. We are asking everyone to bring their own chairs and/or blankets (if you don't have one, reach out and we'll ensure we have one for you). We are very excited about this, and (if possible) we're hoping we can have communion as well. The following week, we should be able to meet once again in our normal facilities at the SDA building. 

Lord be with each and every one of you. 

Till He returns or calls us home, In Christ Alone.

-OGBF Elders