Refuge Church Ojai Valley

What if forgiveness isn't hard because you don't know you're supposed to forgive… What if it's hard because it actually hurts? Some wounds don't disappear just because we decide to forgive. There can be grief. Anger. Loss. Consequences. And sometimes, the person who hurt you isn't sorry—or isn't safe to be around. So what does forgiveness actually mean? Because forgiveness isn't forgetting. It isn...

What happens when you’ve been wounded for so long that you start believing the wound is who you are? A wounded gazelle is vulnerable. It’s easier to isolate. Easier to deceive. Easier for the predator to convince it that there’s no way out. And sometimes, spiritually, we can find ourselves in that place too. We’ve believed the lie so long we don’t recognize it as a lie. We’ve been shaped by what h...

What if you’re carrying something you were never meant to carry?   Jesus came with a very specific mission: to set captives free. And the truth is, you don’t have to be an outsider to be stuck.   Sometimes the things holding us captive are much harder to see—strongholds, lies, patterns, and even counterfeits that promise freedom but leave us more bound than before.   This week, we’re starting a ne...

What if God isn't simply trying to fix the life you already have? What if He's inviting you into something completely new? We can spend so much of our lives asking God to repair what's broken, restore what's been lost, or make our circumstances a little better. But Scripture tells a bigger story—a God who makes all things new. This week, we’ll explore what it means to stop looking backward and sta...

What happens when we finally stop pretending? Sin has a way of convincing us that we're fine. Sometimes we hide behind our goodness. Sometimes we get stuck in the same patterns we can't seem to escape. Sometimes we say we need Jesus while quietly building a life that doesn't actually need Him. But eventually, we have to come face-to-face with the truth: Woe is me. Not because there is no hope—but...

What are you trusting to hold you up when life gets hard? We all put our trust somewhere. In our own strength. In other people. In what the world promises us. In the things we think will finally make us feel secure. But Scripture gives us a different picture: a tree planted by water, with roots reaching toward something deeper—even when the heat comes and the drought lasts longer than we expected....

What if the hardest person to be honest with… is yourself? Sin doesn’t always look like rebellion. Sometimes it looks like justification. Blaming someone else. Minimizing what we’ve done. Pointing to all the good things we do so we don’t have to face the thing we know isn’t right. We can know the truth and still find ways not to know it. But what if we didn’t have to hide? The cross gives us the c...

We spend a lot of time treating symptoms. Fear. Anger. Division. Anxiety. Addiction. Broken relationships. But what if there's something deeper beneath it all? This week we begin a new series, Savior vs. Sin, as we explore what the Bible says about sin—not as an outdated idea, but as a real enemy that quietly shapes our lives and keeps us from the freedom God desires for us. The good news? The sto...

As It Happened | The Story of Ruth and So Much More Have you ever looked back on something in your life and realized that what felt like an accident might have been something more? A moment. A meeting. A door that opened. A place you just happened to be. Ruth found herself in a field that belonged to Boaz. As it happened. But what looked ordinary was part of a story much bigger than Ruth could see...

If you've ever opened Scripture and thought, “I have no idea what I'm reading right now,” you're not alone. The Bible is a big story—and sometimes it can feel overwhelming to know where you fit into it. But what if we stepped back and saw the whole picture? From creation and the fall, through the story of Israel, all the way to Jesus, the Church, and the promise of a new creation, Scripture is tel...

From the very beginning, the enemy has planted the same question in our hearts: "Did God really say?" It's a question that still shapes the way we think, live, and follow Jesus today. This week, our Associate Pastor, Derry Brooks, begins a new series exploring the Bible—not just as an ancient book, but as the living Word of God. Together, we'll discover why Scripture can be trusted, why it still s...

What do you do when God shows mercy to someone you wouldn’t? As we close Modern Day Jonah, we arrive at one of the most surprising endings in Scripture — not a story about a city changed, but a prophet confronted by the mercy of God. Because God is always in the pursuit business. Always in the mercy business. Always in the renewal business. The hard question isn’t whether God will show mercy. The...

What if your rescue was only the beginning? Jonah’s story could have ended with grace in the fish. Instead, God spoke again: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time…” This week we look at the God who rescues, restores, and sends. Because the Gospel was never meant to stop with us. Your past doesn’t disqualify you. Your failures don’t remove your calling. We never outgrow our need for gra...

Have you ever felt completely qualified one moment… and completely unqualified the next? Jonah knew what it meant to hear God’s voice. He also knew what it meant to run from it. This week we continue our "Modern Day Jonah" series and step into one of the most honest moments in Scripture — the place where Jonah finally stops running, finds himself with nowhere left to look, and remembers the Lord....

Most of us know Jonah as the prophet who ran from God. But beneath the surface is a story about a man who struggled to trust God's heart—for others and for himself. The truth is, nobody is above running. We run from difficult conversations, difficult people, difficult callings, and sometimes from the very places where God wants to meet us. But when we run from God, we don't just leave behind our p...

We all worship something. The question isn't whether we're worshippers—it's whether we're giving our worship to someone truly worthy of it. As we conclude our 1 > 99 series, we'll explore how an encounter with the living God changes everything. When we see God for who He truly is, our minds are renewed, our hearts are transformed, our priorities shift, and our lives begin to tell a different st...

We all long for connection, purpose, and a place to belong. But the kind of life Jesus offers isn't found by simply being around people—it's found by walking through Him. This week in our 1 > 99 series, we're exploring how Jesus, the Good Shepherd, invites us into a community marked by protection, healing, purpose, and real relationships. In a culture that often settles for isolation, distracti...

Does truth actually exist? In a world full of “your truth” and “my truth,” we’ll look at what Scripture says about THE truth — Jesus himself — and what it means to be a church that refuses to compromise on it. We’ll explore how to find truth, take refuge in it, wield it as a weapon in spiritual battle, and share it with the lost sheep around us in a way that is both bold and loving. Whether you’re...

What if the life God is calling us to is bigger than the comfort we’ve settled for? This week we launch our new series, 1 is Greater than the 99, a journey through the heart of Jesus — the Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to pursue the one. As we begin, we’re asking a foundational question: Will we choose comfort, or will we answer the call? Following Jesus has never been about staying safe, st...

This Sunday, we’re looking at the powerful stories of women in Scripture whose lives reveal what it means to walk in the Spirit. Through obedience. Through surrender. Through suffering. Through faithfulness. From Eve to Hannah, Ruth to Mary, we see that God has always worked powerfully through mothers willing to trust Him—even when the road was costly. Their stories remind us that anointing isn’t...

Two big, absolutely essential words. Intercessor. Advocate. Words that reveal something powerful about the heart of God toward us. When life feels overwhelming, when anxiety is loud, when fear takes over, when you don’t even have the words to pray—the Holy Spirit is already at work. He knows. He sees. He speaks on your behalf. And when shame tells you to hide, the Holy Spirit doesn’t lead you deep...

Where do you go for comfort? Is it control? Success? Proving yourself? Or something deeper? Jesus didn’t leave us to figure life out on our own. He gave us the Holy Spirit—our Comforter. Not comfort through autonomy… but through surrender. Not comfort through ego… but through mercy and peace. He meets us with truth when we need direction, with perspective when life feels overwhelming, with a remin...

As we step into this message with our Associate Pastor, Derry Brooks, we’re reminded that the Holy Spirit is not distant or abstract—He is God with us. He is the Counselor Jesus promised. He dwells within His people and is actively at work in their lives. The Holy Spirit is personal. He is someone you can know and respond to. He guides you into truth when life feels confusing. He convicts, not to...

Do you believe the Holy Spirit is real… or just an idea? Not a force. Not energy. Not something to control. A Person. One who speaks, guides, convicts, comforts—and lives in you. So what does that actually mean for your everyday life? Who are you really relying on? And what might need to be surrendered so you can actually grow? This week, we’re diving into the person of the Holy Spirit—and why you...

Hope has a name. Today we gather to celebrate a hope that does not end at the grave — a hope that meets us in our wounds, speaks into our questions, and holds us when we feel like we are running out of strength. A hope that reaches into yesterday, steadies us in today, and stretches far beyond what we can see. A hope not built on what we can earn, but on what has already been finished. Come and be...