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The Oaks exists so that the lost are saved, the saved are sent, and the Church is built! The Mercy Hill Collaborative is sending us to plant The Oaks Community Church in the Burlington area of North Carolina. Burlington is a strategic location because of its proximity to Elon University and the many nations represented there. Perkinsville Church in Boone, NC is our parent planting church and will be equipping and aiding us in our start along with other supporting churches.

We want to be a church that is sending disciples to love and build His church because the next generations is depending on us. The Oaks is a church that sacrifices for the cause of Christ; we will choose Kingdom over comfort, sacrifice over selfishness, and eternal over easy. Most importantly, we want to let Jesus know how worthy we think He is. He is worthy of a sacrificial church because of how he laid down his life—sacrificed—for us. We want to be people who are willing to give up something we love for something we love more, the cause of Christ.

The Oaks will aim to carry out the Great Commission by equipping every generation to reach every generation and every nation. Because of our geographical location, we have a unique opportunity to reach many nations; therefore, we want to embrace ethnic diversity and choose people over prejudice. The Oaks is concerned with loving our neighbors, just as Jesus instructed us to, and we believe this is one way to do that.

In John 17:20-23 Jesus said, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word… that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.” The Oaks loves God because He loved us first! IS IT POSSIBLE for a church to be the answer to Jesus’ prayer, instead of the reason for it? That would mean being a church that loves God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; being a church that wants to make a significant difference in the lives of those around us; loving people from the womb to the tomb. Everything the Oaks will do will be an attempt to be the answer to His prayer, instead of the reason for it.