History
In October 1993, at the invitation of the Bishop of Willesden, fifty members of St Barnabas Church, Kensington (a church initially started by Holy Trinity Brompton) began a new, experimental church in the Acton area…..and Oak Tree was born. Although fully part of the Church of England, Oak Tree is different from the traditional parish church. Having no set geographical boundaries, Oak Tree sees the whole of Acton, with its 85,000 residents, as its mission area. Before the church officially began, God directed its leaders to Isaiah 61:3, a passage in the Bible that is at the very heart of and foundational to Oaktree’s three-fold mission:
To be a church in Acton
To be a church serving the other churches in Acton
To be a church for the unchurched in Acton
The Isaiah passage not only gave us our vision but gave Oaktree its name, this along with the original meaning of “Acton” meaning “Oak Town”.
For two years Oak Tree’s home for its Sunday worship was a shared church building in North Acton. Our third anniversary heralded a relocation to Twyford High School. Then, in April 2000, Oak Tree was offered a home in South Acton at The Church of St Albans on South Parade.
In 2005, it was felt that the time had come to go back to meeting nearer the centre of Acton, so from January 2006, we began to meet back in Twyford High School.
The exciting cusp on which Oaktree now sits as we continue to meet in the cafe at Twyford school every Sunday at 4.30pm is the possibility of moving into a building right in the centre of Acton. A building of our own…
“….They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for display of His splendour…..”
Isaiah 61:1-6.
Prayer Ministry
November 28, 2008 by mark
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We at Oak Tree strongly believe that every time we meet together whether it be for a central meeting or in our Branch Groups, we should take time to pray for each other. It is great to meet our friends but we also expect to meet with The Living God! Every meeting is an opportunity if required, to share a problem, seek God’s wisdom or ask for his healing (Testimonies).
As part of our normal activity we at Oak Tree have a Prayer Ministry Team trained up to pray wisely and in the power and love of the Holy Spirit. We don’t want anyone to go home from one of our meetings feeling that they could not get help for something that was bothering them. On countless occasions we have seen God draw near to people in their suffering and struggle as we have prayed for them.
As a church we want to take seriously John 14:12 where Jesus himself says “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing”. This included opening the eyes of the blind and even raising the dead!
We shall be running regular training events for those on the team. Opportunities to attend training sessions are open to team members and we shall also run introductory sessions for new members from time to time. However, the church leadership does reserve the right not to use on the team all those who attend these sessions. For further details please do contact us.
Words from Team in Kenya
November 25, 2008 by mark
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Dear Oaks,
I have received two or three encouraging texts from our team out in Kenya. They have had a great day today meeting with the farm school we are supporting and giving out the letters that so many of you had written to them. They also apparently loved the photograph that we had taken in church last Sunday week. Tomorrow they are visiting the school with which Emma is making a link with her school and seeing the storehouse that Oak Tree helped to fund. All of this is such a great expression of the body of Christ working together. The bible tells us that we are all one body and members of each other.
You may also recall that Richard asked for prayer that he might see the sick healed through prayer in Jesus name. I understand that they have seen this as well although I do not have specific details. On Friday evening they are showing the Jesus video at an evangelistic event. They ask for our prayers that many will come along and be saved.
Come along this Sunday and it is hoped the team will be with us to share testimony. Come and be encouraged!
The Kingdom of God has so many aspects and in the Kenyan project we really do see the hungry fed as they are helped to help themselves. We see the orphans cared for, and assistance given to many child headed families. We see the gospel of the kingdom proclaimed with words, works and wonders.
As for me, I spent the middle part of my day at ARocha, a Christian ministry that is concerned with our stewardship of the planet. This too is an aspect of the kingdom. We are to care for this planet and guard the precious resources our Creator has given us to enjoy and use wisely. I am delighted that Dave Bookless the UK Director and the founder of this amazing work that is now in 18 different countries, will be our guest speaker at a Sunday service in February. I spent time with him getting his advice on how we can make 216 Acton High Street a “green” building as well as how we can reduce the carbon footprint of New Wine International (we flew on over 100 ministry trips last year. Not me personally!). I do encourage you to think what you personally can do to help care for this planet. Let me know your good ideas so I can share them.
On that note I am off to the airport to fly out to Guernsey and Jersey to sort some New Wine stuff out and speak at a celebration or two. I am actively working to set up an offset scheme in order to do my bit for the planet. I am back in the office on Friday morning.
For the King and His Kingdom,
Mark
obedience
November 18, 2008 by mark
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Dear Oaks,
In 1940 the Nazi’s put out an order that all were deemed insane or incurable should be gassed. Three Nazi officers went to an institution called Bethel where epileptics and the mentally ill were put together and cared for. The pastor of the institution was a man by the name of Von Bodelschwingh and the officers approached him and ordered the patients should be handed over to them.
The reply of the pastor to this request was “You can put me in to a concentration camp, if you want; that is your affair. But as long as I am free, you do not touch one of my patients. I cannot change to fit the times or the wishes of the Fuehrer. I stand under orders from our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I do not know what happened to either pastor or patients although I suspect they met a horrible death. But I do know that the pastor had great confidence in God and an obedience to match.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death – even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).
Christ was confident in his Father and Bodelschwigh was confident in his Lord.
ON WEDNESDASY EVENING AT ACTON GREEN CHURCH AT 8PM COME ALONG FOR CHURCH CENTRAL.
-WORSHIP
-MUNCHIES
-TEACHING (OUR GUEST SPEAKER IS MICK DRAKE FROM THE BAPTIST CHURCH. HIS THEME CONFIDENCE IN GOD)
-MINISTRY
Every single one of you is welcome. I hope to see you there.
Blessings,
Mark
101 blows
November 12, 2008 by mark
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Dear Oaks,
One of my favourite writers who goes by the name of A. Non once wrote the following insight. “I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”
As some of us met this morning at 7am for our weekly prayer breakfast (everyone is welcome) we began our prayer with the above words. I found them particularly helpful as we prepared to pray for the umpteenth time for the provision of 216 Acton High Street. But you may be thinking of a different context in which you are once more knocking on heavens door. It is encouraging to consider the truth that no prayer in Christ goes unheard or indeed unanswered but that at some point the boulder at which we hammer will eventually yield and a breakthrough of some kind will occur. Of course sometimes the breakthrough is not quite what we expected!
However, in the case of 216 I remain both optimistic and convinced. Just yesterday the Diocese confirmed by email that they are ready to sign the contract and that the hold up is certainly not at their end. What is more, they confirmed that the covenant which they must lift before Ealing Council can proceed with their ambitious redevelopment plans at Dickens Yard, will only be lifted in exchange for the contract for 216 being signed. To receive this written confirmation gave me just the fresh impetus to strike another blow on the rock! I should also add that Ealing are also very keen to sign but held up by works required on the replacement building for Age Concern who presently occupy 216.
This coming Sunday I shall be outlining my vision for Oak Tree. This is a vision on which I stake my leadership and of which I am totally confident in Christ. I encourage you to come along not only to listen but to strike a blow that may be the one which breaks the final resistance and delivers the prize.
Jesus said “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Every blessing,
Mark
healing in faith
November 7, 2008 by mark
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Dear Oaks,
It is often mentioned by some that they seriously doubt that God heals today. Others such as myself point to the revelation of scripture and argue that whatever our experience, or lack of it, God is indeed the same God today as revealed by Jesus Christ in the pages of the gospels.
I would be the first to admit that whilst I have seen incredible miracles, three blind people having their eyesight restored for example, it is also true that I do not see anything like the number or quality of signs and wonders as appear to be promised by Christ to his followers. Some of us have been wondering why this is and one of our present considerations is that it is due to what we call the “faith environment”. In other words even Jesus claimed difficulty in his home town of Nazareth where he only saw a few healed and likewise in places such as Bethsaida. In Nazareth people simply concluded that he was the son of Joseph and Mary and named his siblings also. In other words their belief as to whom he was and what he was therefore able to do negated the purposes of God. This is an incredible thought that our unbelief can hinder God’s work but such is the way that God has created the world and he does not seem to be up for violating it.
My own experience is that in places such as Kenya (where an OTAF team of Emma Benwell and Richard and Victoria Wells visit soon) is that healing comes easily whilst in other places it is far more difficult.
This week I was talking to a Swedish church leader whom I have know for some years. He has always longed to see the signs and wonders that authentically point people to God and his kingdom but with little evidence to support him in his desires. But in October he travelled to Bangladesh and was overwhelmed with the healing he saw of truly miraculous magnitude. He also preached and saw something like 1,000 people come to faith in Jesus. This on the face of it seems to suggest that the faith environment is important!
As you can imagine his faith has been greatly strengthened and he is now seeing many more healings back in Sweden.
So my question to you and I is how can we build a better faith environment here? At least the following should be adopted:
-a culture of testimony where we pass on every good story as to the works of God. See Psalm 78. Let us continue to talk about what God is doing and not what he is not yet doing.
-a continuation of praying for people outside of the church. For some reason this seems to attract the favour of God. I am still working hard for the restoration of Healing on the Streets.
- a perseverance on our behalf to believe God’s word and not our experiences and or our feelings.
This Sunday I shall explore this subject further as part of our healing service. I very much hope to see you there.
Every blessing,
Mark
