Oak City Church: Recent Episodes
Oak City Church
*Due to technical difficulties the beginning of the message has been cut out, please visit our YouTube channel for the complete service.
Warning: This conversation includes topics that may not be suitable for young listeners.
We don't see power the same way God sees power, and it took a far stronger power to keep Jesus on the cross than it did for him to call down a legion of angels.
The bible requires discernment when we read it, but we can and should trust is as the word that God wants us to have.
The crowds were a big part of Jesus' story and they are a big part of our stories as well.
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit - Jesus has known his 'hour' has been coming; how does he respond once it is here?
Lot is a case study for the reality that actions have consequence and that character is built one decision at a time.
What does Abraham's interaction with God say about how we should view justice, and about how God views us?
We are installing elders today, so I'm going to talk about church leadership and what a good shepherd looks like
Today's passage highlights the freedom, security and safety we have in our relationship with God because of who he is.
Abraham and Sarah learn early that God takes the scenic route; How will God respond to their flaws?
God gives Abraham a call and a promise, and Abraham believes him; What is our call and our promise?
Where do our sufferings come from? What is the nature of hope? How does God meet us in our suffering?
What does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit vs the things of the flesh? What do each lead to? How do we develop practices of setting our minds on the things of the Spirit without them becoming a new form of law.
No condemnation. Zero. Nada. What does condemnation do to us? How has God freed us from it? How should that change us now?
God's heart was not just to save the Jewish nation, but to save all nations and bring them together
We all take for granted God's kindness, forbearance, and patience that is meant to lead us to repentence.
God's plan has always been for the body of Christ to gather together in His presence and to be unified.
Matt had a heart transplant at 40 and we'll talk about all that went into that and how God works in teh midst of suffering
The language 'But the Lord was with Joseph' is used in the worst parts of Joseph's story; is God only with us when things are going well, or is he just as much with us when they aren't, and how does that change how we think about God's presence?
This is about how God's presence makes the "real me" present. The main idea is: God wrestles with us to deliver us from old, sinful identity, and walk humbly in our new, God-given identity.
The story of Abraham. I'll focus on God's approach and pursuit of Abraham. In the big picture, God is solving the problem. In the micro, though, being a part of the solution is hard. He promises alot, but takes a long time to deliver, and the waiting can be it's own hell sometimes.
The story of Noah. The verse I'll key on is 'Every intent of teh thoughts of man's heart was only evil all the time.' This is what happens when God leaves us alone with our sin. I'll end up preaching on hell, and obviously, the chance for salvation.
Going to talk about how Cain rejects relationship with God because it would require humility and how we do the same. And how it eventually leads to isolation.
Painting the picture of what harmony with God, each other and creation looks like and how we were made for it. I'll talk about how it sets up the whole story of the Bible and this is what we are really longing for in all our misguided efforts.
Oftentimes we find ourselves in places that look hopeless, even when we have followed where God led. But again and again in the BIble, God tells us that he is not done, and he will finish the work he started to do in us and through us.
We live in a day when truth is increasingly defined for our culture by the loudest voice, but truth in reality comes from God. Paul faced a similar situation and we have a lot to learn from how he advocated for truth in a culture that didn't want to hear it.
God frequently leads us in directions that are difficult and uncomfortable, but necessary. In a fallen world, following God is going to be hard, but it's going to be worth it. What is the hard that he's called you into?
The free grace of Jesus Christ not only saves, but it also breaks down barriers between people groups.
A healthy church provides a life-giving community you were made for and won't find anywhere else.
The work of Jesus isn't done. The mission of the gospel moves forward through the church.
We celebrate our risen Savior by looking at Easter Sunday through the disciple John's eyes.
In the fifth week of our Easter and Lent series, we learn from the story of Joseph of Arimathea.
In the third week of our series leading up to Easter, we look at Judas and examine how his heart hardened toward Christ.
Without a lot of humility on the part of both the ones leading and the ones being led, leadership doesnt work.
The problem is not Gods capacity for justice, but our problem capacity to understand God.
We are always prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in us. Our problem is probably that too much of our hope is in the wrong things
What does it mean to have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind?
We're diving back into 1 Peter with a message about a passage that can definitely cause tension. But looking at the bigger story of the Bible offers a lot of great context to what can be a hard message.
We often think our biggest problems are something different than what Jesus thinks our biggest problemsare.
The final message in our Advent series is about Bathsheba. Please note, this message would be considered PG-13, as we discuss sexual assault.
As we continue our series on the four women mentioned in Christ's lineage, we look at Rahab.
We begin our Advent series with Tamar, one of the four women mentioned in Christ's lineage in Matthew. What can we learn about God from the inclusion of Tamar in the lineage?
It would be easy to read these verses and think they don't apply to us in this day and age, but learning the history behind them shows we can learn a lot.
On Orphan Sunday, Christians stand for the orphan and vulnerable. This year we hear the story of McManus family and their journey of adoption.
While your circumstances are often out of your control, you are elect according to the foreknowledge of God, so your circumstances are never out of his control.
We learn from the Sermon on the Mount that we should love our enemies, but how exactly do we do that?
How do you forgive someone for the unforgivable? Leanne lost a brother who was abusive to her, but had to wrestle with the good side of her brother she heard about from those who knew him in the past few years. Family and forgiveness is complicated, and we need the gospel to sort it out.
Just months before the pandemic just everything down, the Quinn family moved to Portugal. During their visit back to the US, we hear more about how God has been working in their lives while in Portugal.
Timothy was raised in Egypt, converted to Christianity, and then had to move to the US because he feared for his life. He has an online ministry to Muslims across the world today.
To finish our 'Why you need the church more than ever' series, we're going to talk about why Jesus tells us to take communion, what it means and what it doesn't, and what we are remembering. The gospel is the ultimate counter-culture message and it will shape every aspect of our lives if we keep it in the forefront of our minds.
The great commission and the great commandment work to serve each other's purposes in ways only God understands. Our call is to love our neighbor well and seek to make disciples, all the while trusting that God is at work around and through us.
The church serves for the common good of the culture while serving as a counter-culture. This creates tension the church has to navigate well.
God is at work in the world in a unique way through the church. He has given us a message the people around us will get from no one else. And though at times it seems like people aren't listening, and don't want to hear it, keep praying and pressing forward. He is working throughyou!
Friendships are a key aspect of discipleship. God uses our friendships to grow us up in our faith. But we're not great at making, being, or keeping friends. Listen this week as Jeff talks about how the church is uniquely suited to facilitate the friendships we need the most.
Our purpose on Sundays, but more importantly, every day is meant to be, first and foremost, to worship our God and king.
Prayer is really easy and really hard at the same time. The core of the issue when it comes to our troubles with prayer, however, is that we think too much of ourselves and too little of God. If Jesus is truly the creator and sustainer of all things, we know our problems and have solutions.
We have a very real propensity to let our past dictate our future, whether that past was good or whether it was bad. When Paul tells the Philippian church that he is forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, he is giving us a heavy dose of wisdom that we need right now, especially in light of the past year.
From the beginning of the church, we are shown its importance. Every person plays a part, and every part needs the other parts.
We end our series, Connecting the Dots, by learning about the message found in Revelation.
Pass these things on to trustworthy men who can teach them to others; if you're not making disciples, you should wonder if you are a disciple.
These things I delivered to you that are of first importance; what changed Paul's life.
When learning about the life of Christ, the miracles can be harder for us to grasp and understand. But the purpose of miracles is to help lead us to faith.
Sometimes you know what the right thing is to do, but you just can't, or won't, get yourself to do it. In the era of the prophets, Israel seems to know they've exhausted their options, and none of their plans have succeeded, but they still can't get themselves to fully turn to God. Maybe you have gone through similar times in your life, or maybe you are there right now.
Last week we saw Israel at its height, and this week we see the fall of Israel through the story of Solomon.
'The Rise of Israel' looked like good news from a human perspective, but in reality was short-lived. The real good news was that God was at work behind the scenes in ways the Israelites never imagined. The same is true of us. When God seems quiet, know that he is working for your good.