The Gospel of Mark has turned a corner and Jesus has left Galilee on His way to Jerusalem to fulfill His destiny. Twice before today’s passage He has told the disciples that he will suffer and die there. Somehow, though, the disciples manage to think this language must be metaphoric, and they continue to believe and look for Jesus’ victorious ascendance to an earthly throne in spite of Jesus’ repeated and more detailed prediction of His death in today’s reading. James and John are so convinced o...
Nov 26, 2024•35 min
In Luke 18 and Mark 10 , Jesus makes a point of focusing on children, touching them, and blessing them - this in a culture in which children were seen more of a nuisance than anything else, as evidenced by the disciples' shooing the children away. In today's message, Cynthia Mudd connects stories of mission work in Haiti with Jesus' attention and care for children in the gospel, and in a moving gesture assembles all Oakhaven families together to pray blessings up them all. To investigate this mo...
Nov 19, 2024•44 min
Luke 15 contains 3 parables with a similar, powerful message: God delights in the salvation of His children. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Nov 11, 2024•29 min
Let's put things in a larger perspective and look at politics, money, and religion through the lens of Jesus' wise "bipartisanship" in Mark 12:13-17. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Nov 05, 2024•31 min
Mark 10:17-31 holds the story of Jesus' exchange with the rich young ruler who had lived a devoted life to that point but balked at Jesus' rigorous request that the man sell his possessions, give to the poor, and then follow Jesus. Our discussion reminds us that all we have is a gift from God, that we are blessed in order to bless, and we are merely temporary caretakers of it all. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Oct 28, 2024•39 min
Jesus tries to shift the disciples' fundamental orientation on multiple fronts in today's passage from the Gospel of Mark . Twice He uses children and their frame of reference (as the quintessential have-nots at the bottom of the day's foodchain) to convince the 12 that life is not a contest unless it be to see who serves most. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Oct 22, 2024•40 min
Mark 9:14-29 may raise more questions than it answers when the issue of having "enough" faith is raised when a man's son has got a tough to budge demon. One of Jesus' comments seems to point to "devil levels," over which He easily holds sway. Not so the disciples, though, who for some reason can't cure the kid. The ONE in Whom we have faith has got the power, but something in this instance is required of dad - and of us. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Oct 15, 2024•34 min
Jesus' transfiguration ( Mark 8:34-9:13 ) is a multi-layered moment in which Jesus is ministered to and strengthened, his disciples are schooled in glory, and we are reminded that Jesus is always present, with the imperative command from God: This is my beloved Son. LISTEN TO HIM. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Oct 10, 2024•39 min
In months with five Sundays, we forego a formal sermon in favor of hearing testimony from one of our members of how God has worked in their lives. We are blessed this week to hear from Carolyn McPherson, a longtime member of Oakhaven. Carolyn uses the story of Lazarus in the Gospel of John as part of her story. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Oct 01, 2024•22 min
As we return to the Gospel of Mark ( 8:22-33 ), we come upon the climax of the gospel so far in a double story that once again provides lenses for greater understanding past the nuts and bolts of “just” another healing. A blind man is healed in stages, from a primitive level of sight to full clarity. This process is a symbol of our own journey and that of the disciples, whose clarity of sight is evidenced in the companion story in which Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah. We are also works i...
Sep 26, 2024•40 min
Stepping off from Ephesians 2:8-10 , Vic encourages us to remember our identity and our call, and the One Who has made His home in us. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Sep 17, 2024•37 min
Oakhaven Church kicks off a new season with our annual homecoming worship service and corn roast potluck feast! We’re blessed today with an augmented worship team as well as a special “character sermon” embodying a hero from the new testament who puts life with Jesus in colorful perspective! To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Sep 09, 2024•29 min
In today’s episode of the Gospel of Mark ( 7:24-30 ), Jesus attempts an anonymous getaway in nearby territory (the region of Tyre and Sidon). It turns out He’s a rock star up there too, and as soon as He unpacks, a local woman immediately finds Him, throws herself at His feet, and asks Him to cast the unclean spirit out of her daughter. This comes directly after Jesus’ spat with the Pharisees down in Capernaum over their botched thinking about what impurity/uncleanness really is and where it com...
Sep 03, 2024•37 min
It’s practically impossible to live life without establishing traditions. They add richness, connection, and meaning to our lives. When, however, they become more important to us than the deep ways of God, or more important to us than the welfare of our fellow humans, we’ve crossed a line. In today's passage in Mark 7 , Jesus addresses some of His harshest words at those who value tradition more than anything else, and ini doing so, He reminds us of the need for a new heart that only He can give...
Aug 26, 2024•40 min
In today’s episode of Mark’s Gospel ( Mark 6:45-56 ), a crescendo of displays of power on Jesus’ part - healings, exorcisms, raising from the dead, multiplying loaves & fishes - climaxes with His walking on water. The 12 are straining at the oars in the boat - a symbol of our doing life in our own strength - when Jesus surprises them, to say the least. Because of their hard hearts, they have focused on the “what” of Jesus’ actions instead of the WHO they point to. We are in the same boat, ca...
Aug 26, 2024•33 min
As we continue our journey through the Gospel of Mark ( Mark 6:30-44 ), the 12 apostles are just returning from their own journeys on mission from Jesus, sent two by two with no resources but His provision. In their efforts to get away and get some rest, Jesus has become so popular in the area that a crowd of over 5,000 beats feet around the lake and meets Jesus’ entourage at their arrival on the opposite shore. A well-known story - the only in all four gospels excepting Jesus’ baptism and passi...
Aug 12, 2024•34 min
In today’s stories from the Gospel of Mark ( Mar 6:1-13, 30-32 ), we see how Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth, doesn’t appreciate their “local boy done good” at all. So unimpressed are they by the son of Joseph and Mary that Jesus does very few miracles among them, as all the stories we’ve seen thus far are of people asking Jesus - even literally reaching out to Him - while seeking healing. This cold reception is contrasted with the next story where the 12 are sent out to preach, cast out demons, and h...
Aug 05, 2024•35 min
In our journey through the Gospel of Mark ( 5:21-43 ) we today come upon a “sandwich” story in which we first encounter Jairus requesting Jesus’ presence in his home in order to heal his sick daughter. On the way, though, another story is begun by a woman who’s suffered a bleeding illness for 12 years (the age of Jairus’ daughter BTW). In spite of being interrupted in the midst of a very important mission, Jesus stops to engage the woman whose been healed just by touching the hem of his outer ro...
Jul 30, 2024•37 min
We continue our journey through the Gospel of Mark and today come upon one of the most dramatic stories in Jesus’ ministry in Mark 5:1-20 . A man possessed by a “legion” of demons is freed from his bondage, cleansed and made whole, and then commissioned by Jesus to tell the news of “what the Lord has done for you.” We find in this man a pattern for our own lives, as Jesus’ kingdom (on earth as it is in heaven) overcomes that of darkness; as we are made new by His steadfast love with a fresh star...
Jul 26, 2024•33 min
Using Job 38 as her text, Elder Brenda Wilusz shares a sermon entitled "Questions God Asks." To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Jul 26, 2024•26 min
Elder Max Banaszynski shares a message centered on 2 Peter 1:1-11 entitled "The Work of God." To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Jul 26, 2024•19 min
After teaching in parables in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus takes His disciples into a living parable as they cross the Sea of Galilee in Mark 4:35-41. In the midst all the symbolism of leaving the known and striking out into the unknown, a storm arises that tests these seasoned fishermen’s faith. Jesus is very human and very tired and sleeps through it, until their fear moves them to cry out to Him (and wake Him up)! Jesus is fearless because of His trust in God; the disciples are fearful because o...
Jul 03, 2024•37 min
You have been entrusted with light and life. Listen closely to Jesus and His life-giving news of His kingdom, then share it: the news itself and the mercy you’ve been shown. God will do His part when you do yours, and together (you and the Spirit) will have an amazing impact that far outweighs the sum of your efforts. Mark 4:21-34 To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
Jun 24, 2024•28 min
Since today is Father’s Day, we are paid a visit by Abraham, the most important human father of all time, who tells us his story. ( Hebrews 10:36 - 11:19 ) “The father of many nations” has many lessons from which to learn, the chief one being one of faith. God’s call to Abram is incomplete, to be generous. In spite of having very limited information, Abram trusts God’s promise and answers His call. As Abram’s journey continues, his faith (and obedience) increases in the face of circumstances tha...
Jun 17, 2024•31 min
As we resume our journey through the Gospel of Mark (3:20-35) , we come upon two intertwined stories that seem unrelated: the account of Jesus’ family’s concern for his sanity, and Jesus’ refutation of the scribes’ hypothesis that Jesus is casting out demons because He has demonic power itself. At the core of both stories, though, is Jesus’ identity: Who Jesus is. In the course of His brief exchange with the scribes and the crowd, he shares three very brief parables that speak against division b...
Jun 10, 2024•35 min
Julie Nast shares her testimony about Jesus in her life. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
Jun 03, 2024•34 min
After celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost last week, we return to our journey through the Gospel of Mark in Mark 3:7-19 . The Kingdom of God continues to break in through Jesus and His healing, and crowds have begun to follow him. So many people are pressing in on Him that He teaches from a boat near the shore. From the crowd of followers, Jesus chooses 12 of them to fill special roles in the new Kingdom: the Apostles. Among them is the quartet of fisherman He called at the be...
May 28, 2024•39 min
On Sunday, we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost . So much changes in the universe that day, the prophet Joel uses extreme language about shifts in reality that point to God’s presence within and use of all people regardless of gender, race, age, or station. The scriptures use several metaphors in describing the Spirit to help us wrap our minds and hearts around the multiple layers of His presence, power, perspective, and our partnership with Him. He uses us long be...
May 20, 2024•35 min
In our Mothers' Day worship service, we explore themes from Proverbs 31:25-31 and then hear narratives of Eve, Ruth, and Mary the mother of Jesus through the voices of Oakhaven sisters. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here .
May 20, 2024•39 min
The book of Hebrews begins with an “ocular feast” depicting Jesus in all His glory. It ends with a call to remember that we are called to the throne of the living God. In between are messages of encouragement and perseverance in the face of persecution and struggle. Larry shares highlights from this past week’s Harbor conference at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here ....
May 06, 2024•31 min
