Good morning, fellow Christ-Followers, and happy Independence Day. We hope you're able to celebrate your freedom in Christ with us in worship this morning at the barn, or virtually therefrom! We are back on our journey in John this morning , looking at the layers of meaning and wonder in Jesus' first miracle at the wedding in Cana. His life-altering presence is with us today and can manifest just as powerfully! To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Jul 21, 2021•35 min
We're continuing down the path begun last week in which he looked at our ministry through the lens of Jesus' final words to His followers in Matthew 28 . Before He charges His followers with any task, though, Jesus establishes His authority to do so. As in, He's got all of it. All authority. We've seen in John that Jesus is in the first place from the very beginning (as echoed in the Colossian and Philippian hymns), and in a few weeks He will tell us in John 8 that " if the Son sets you free, yo...
Jun 28, 2021•33 min
No distractions. Just progress. Duey brings a message inspired by The Great Commission . To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Jun 23, 2021•30 min
As we work our way out of the pandemic, it feels good to take a look at the way we continue to love one another through it. We have farther to go, and much more love to share. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Jun 23, 2021•32 min
As Jesus calls His first disciples in John’s Gospel, we see ourselves in the story and remember His call to each one of us. He is seeking us even as we seek Him. HE SEES US just as He sees Nathanial. He distills and transforms our identity, even changing our names like Simon. He is the one who does all the work in this brief cascade of disciples. All Andrew and Phillip do is invite others to “come and see” Jesus for themselves. John 1:35-51 To investigate this most important of stories further, ...
May 31, 2021•29 min
God takes a major step in His rescue plan on the day of Pentecost as He pours out His Spirit and breaks down the barriers of race and gender. The exclusivity of the previous chapter of the Abraplan gives way to the broad call and welcome to all. Jesus is at the head of the table, and has already dealt with any sin that might have kept us away. Come to the table! To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
May 25, 2021•8 min
Counting 7 weeks from Passover, this was the Sunday so many years ago that the Holy Spirit came in universe-changing power upon our fellow Christ-followers in Jerusalem as described in the book of Acts . Pray As You Go has a wonderful yet brief reflection ( find it here ) on this passage if you want to dive deeper. We will rejoice and celebrate the Spirit's presence in our lives in our time of worship together, and reflect on the coming of the Spirit as The Dove upon Jesus (and remaining upon Hi...
May 25, 2021•29 min
John's narrative hits the road running as it opens on John the Baptist already well under way with his ministry, enough so that word has reached the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that someone's up to something up in the wilderness. John gives us quick insight into how things are run in Jerusalem, as priests and Levites - those appointed by Yahveh to govern and enable the spiritual life of Israel - are sent by Pharisees, a political party that gained control in the years between the testaments. The...
May 17, 2021•37 min
John seems particularly concerned as he ends his prologue and is about to launch into narrative that we understand that the core of the Jesus Message is grace. Everything is about Jesus - everything has been building toward and pointing to Him since before time - and Jesus is about grace. Real, firm, dependable, you can count on it grace. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
May 10, 2021•17 min
We’re continuing our new study of the Gospel of John , “fleshing out” John’s amazing, dense prologue a bit more, and striving to wrap our minds and hearts around the cosmic message of God becoming human so we could look Him in the eyes, and vice versa. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
May 04, 2021•38 min
In Acts 4 , the members of the Sanhedrin find themselves confused as to how these "ordinary men," the apostles of Jesus, could be causing such a stir in their country. They failed to see that these "ordinary men" were empowered by an extraordinary God. That same God empowers each of us. See what God can do with ordinary. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Apr 28, 2021•44 min
We commence a study of John's Gospel by surveying the other 3 - Mark, Matthew and Luke, known as the Synoptic ("seen together") Gospels due to the closeness of their narratives. While the Synoptics have much in common with each other, they also each have a distinct voice, style, and message. John is clearly writing after they've all been completed and is making sure - as an eyewitness - that nothing vital has been left out of the record of Jesus' mission and call. While John will be a great stor...
Apr 19, 2021•35 min
We bring to a close our months-long “Going to Church” series seeking in part to answer the question “Why should I bother to go to church?” More importantly, though, our deliberate look at several aspects of our life together gives us the chance to be more intentional in our time together, working against a going through the motions and instead finding the living God in our midst: inhabiting our praises; sitting at the table with us; telling us stories of past, present, and future; hearing our wh...
Apr 14, 2021•27 min
A dramatic narrative sermon from one of Jesus' closest disciples helps us explore His story from a more personal point of view. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Apr 06, 2021•34 min
As Passover begins in the Jewish calendar this weekend, we know from the Gospels where Jesus was at this time of year during the final days of His mortal life among us. So much of His ministry in this final week is detailed for us in His marvelous word! The coming of King Jesus to Jerusalem as He rides upon a donkey is a singular moment in time as He makes full claim to the title KING by invoking the prophecies of Zechariah 9:9 simply by choosing his "mode of transportation" that day. His Kingsh...
Mar 30, 2021•41 min
As we continue to reflect on our walk with Jesus and the role that prayer plays in that walk, we step further through The Lord’s Prayer to focus on the most personal and challenging part: forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors . Jesus teaches further on this in His parable in Matthew 18 , putting His quick mention of OUR extending forgiveness in larger perspective. Lord, have mercy on us and give us Your grace to be like you! To investigate this most important of stories further, go here...
Mar 22, 2021•38 min
We continue our in-depth look at prayer through the lens of the prayer Jesus gave His followers in Matthew 6 . This week, we consider "Give us this day our daily bread," which seems to be a simple ask at first, but then opens our eyes and hearts to lessons on priorities, stewardship, fear, and faith. Jesus' parable in Luke 12:13-34 serves as clarifying touchstone as we learn the difference between having enough and being greedy for more than we'll ever need. Often our pursuit of the latter is gr...
Mar 15, 2021•32 min
We continue our meditations on prayer in the life of our community and as individuals through the lens of The Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 . Today we reach “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” As we seek to be agents of God’s kingdom walking in the steps of Jesus, we see that kingdom work comes in many forms, all empowered by the Spirit given to us at our baptism, just as Jesus received the Spirit at His. The breaking in of God’s kingdom is less about getting to go t...
Mar 08, 2021•37 min
As we continue our look at prayer and its role in our lives, we explore The Lord's Prayer and the way it renews our identity and reminds us of what matters most. As part of today's podcast, bonus tracks from before and after our service are included. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Mar 01, 2021•48 min
As we near the end of our sermon series, “Going to Church,” we begin a short “series within a series” and look at prayer in some of its many forms and the way it blesses us as a community. Or rather, the way GOD blesses us in and through our prayers! One of our foci is the variety of flavors prayer comes in, and to illustrate this, Psalm 147:1-11 , Philippians 4:5-7 , James 5:13-16 , and Matthew 6:7-18 were all read before the sermon. To investigate this most important of stories further, go her...
Feb 22, 2021•30 min
Giving back to God can be the most spiritually significant thing we do in worship if our head and heart are in the right place as we do it, but it's something many people are uncomfortable talking about. In today's sermon, we look back to the beginning of worship, and see the role of giving in the life of God's people across the ages. This podcast includes the special presentation made by our treasurer, Cathy, during the sermon. She's a perfect example of someone giving back to God with some of ...
Feb 17, 2021•42 min
After several (see below) messages surveying the scriptures from beginning to end, we take a step back to examine its themes together: the themes of God and His relationship with Humanity. Though we are created in His image and set in paradise, we are exiled in the very first pages of scripture because of our disobedience. God sets our rescue on course within a few chapters, and spends the rest of time crafting the course through which He will come after each one of us in order to bring us each ...
Feb 08, 2021•43 min
Today we finish our survey of the New Testament, focusing in this episode on the later chapters of the Book of Revelation and its message of encouragement and warning. The Lamb Who Was Slain has shown us the Way ahead, and written in the Book of Life the names of those who belong to Him and are faithful. He will see you through to the end, WHATEVER comes before! To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Feb 01, 2021•27 min
We’re completing our survey of the New Testament, focusing in this episode on the first chapters of the Book of Revelation and its message of encouragement and warning. The Lamb Who Was Slain has shown us the Way ahead, and written in the Book of Life the names of those who belong to Him and are faithful. He will see you through to the end, WHATEVER comes before! To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Feb 01, 2021•29 min
Welcome to worship at the barn at Oakhaven Church! On this snowy morning in Oshkosh, we are gathering to praise God for His greatness, to pray prayers of blessing and healing over one another, to sit across from each other at the table with the Risen Jesus at the head, and to reflect on His word and its message for us today. We’re continuing our survey of the New Testament, focusing on several later letters in the New Testament written by the apostles Peter and John and two of Jesus’ younger hal...
Jan 27, 2021•38 min
Our service began with a reflection on the example and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. In his powerful I Have a Dream speech, he calls for freedom to ring and spread across the land. The day's sermon serves as a sequel to last week's in which we surveyed the four Gospels, each a distinctly different portrait of Jesus and His ministry and gospel. In today's lesson, we look at how Jesus' Good News spreads across the land both in the New Testament and in our lives now through the lens of the...
Jan 19, 2021•40 min
We pivot today on the postludes to Jesus' birth in the Gospel of Luke into a brief overview of all four Gospels. While they have much in common, they are also significantly different in tone, content, and purpose. Having these factors on our radar when we read them greatly helps our understanding of Jesus as we seek to know and follow Him. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Jan 11, 2021•36 min
Happy New Year, friends! We hope that as the year has turned, the love and care of God for you has been evident and clear. As we gather together for our first time of worship in 2021, we hope that your spirit is refreshed by His Spirit, and that the hope and promise of His presence in the coming days and months is as strong a guide as the star of Bethlehem was to the magi two millennia ago. In our time of worship today, we will be putting ourselves in the sandals of those magi and looking to lea...
Jan 06, 2021•36 min
Welcome to worship with Oakhaven church! We continue our celebration of Jesus’ birth by looking at ancient traditions of faith that have marked His incarnation. (If you watch the sermon you’ll learn why Christmas isn’t over yet!) We also consider how our current culture has “borrowed” the power of Jesus’ story in ways that sometimes distract us. Then we travel to ancient Israel and find unlikely meaning and message in simple home architecture that speaks to Jesus’ mission, and to ours. Luke 2:1-...
Dec 30, 2020•32 min
Our guest speaker last week raised many themes, the primary theme being God’s long plan for our redemption: since before creation! This week we look at this and other themes through the lens of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth (as instructed by last week’s speaker) and of her song of praise to God, The Magnificat . We’ll look at Luke 1:39-56 , Galatians 4:1-7 , Exodus 34:29-35 , and 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 before we’re through. In the end see that the same Spirit that miraculously conceived Jesus in Mary ...
Dec 22, 2020•32 min
