Oslo International Church

What does it mean to sit at the feet of Jesus? It's an unusual expression for our days! But when St. Luke tells us a story of a woman who sits at the feet of Jesus, and her sister who is invited to join, he is giving a clear message and an invitation. This week, Maicon Steuernagel explores their story, as well as our own and how we struggle in betwen anxiety and a need to slow down. Welcome to the...

Have you ever asked God for more faith? Have you ever been told that you should "grow in faith"? Questions like that are not uncommon, and emerge from all kinds of situations. But can faith be quantified? And what do we want faith for anyway? This week Maicon Steuernagel explores the disciples request for more faith in the Gospel of Luke, and asks if we might need to change aspirations for presenc...

Beatings, slaves and people being cut into pieces... it seems like the Autumn semester is off to a rough start!  After a long Summer break, we head back into our Sunday Reflections. Maicon Steuernagel spends time with a parable of uncomfortably violent language, asks what we might find out about the questions we bring to the story, and discovers the call for a faith embodied in the present. Welcom...

What's the deal with Phillip? We know very little about him. Yet he's also all over the place. Maicon Steuernagel explores how Phillip can encourage us towards a way of being, wherever we are, that is generous and full of grace. Welcome to the stories that challenge us. Welcome to OiC!

Titles are tricky. They can open the reader up for what is coming, or restrain and even mislead the reading. On this year's Sunday of the Trinity, Maicon Steuernagel talks about how headings in our Bible translations can sometimes be unhelpful, and what that has to do with how we speak about God. Welcome to the community of the divine. Welcome to OiC!

Can we own a story? Who owns the story of the Gospel? Who get's to tell it? On Pentecost Sunday, Maicon Steuernagel reflects on our tendencies to control the story, and invites us to let go of controling the story of Jesus, and each other. Welcome to the story. Welcome to OiC!

"We’re a little micro-cosmos of Babel. A little mess of our own." This week, Maicon Steuernagel reflects on his odd choice of metaphor for his own families experience as a multi-cultural, multi-lingual family, and offer a different perspective on the very odd story of the tower of Babel. Welcome to our own little mess. Welcome to the re-imagining diversity in a landscape of reconciliation. Welcome...

What is the nature of perfection and justice we aspire for? Maicon Steuernagel shares about why he sees prayer as a holy practice of spekticism, and why revisiting prayer's power to change our selves might not be a bad idea after all. Welcome to prayer not following our rules. Welcome to OiC!

What is the Kingdom of God like? We might want a clear, hard answer. Jesus gives us parables. Listening to the parables, and to the story of a prophet and a widow, Maicon Steuernagel finds the counter-narratives that upset the theo-politics of our world. Welcome to the counter-narrative. Welcome to OiC!

We like to think we know stuff. We don’t as often spend time with wondering what that knowing is for. On this Sunday reflection, Maicon Steuernagel speaks of prophetic letters and challenges of today, and questions what is essential to know and what is most dangerous to forget.  Welcome to letting go. Letting to not forgetting. Welcome to OiC!

"And God wonders... When we’ll stop this nonsense" This week, Maicon Steuernagel speaks of theology and poetry, kingdoms and kings, and why we might need to learn to hope for failure, if we are to have any real hope. Welcome to death and ressurrection. Welcome to needed failure. Welcome to OiC!  

Easter is over and gone. And what happened after Easter? Beyond the "sunday school answer", Maicon Steuernagel asks what happens now? What happened to you after Easter this year? With Peter as a companion in the questioning, we explore the challenge of loving Christ when he's gone.  Welcome to the ressurrection questions. Welcome to OiC!

A change of colour in the middle of Lent, a little girl singing as she rows a wooden cannoe in the brazilian rain forest. Maicon Steuernagel ponders memories and images as he reflects on the profound meaning of incarnation. Welcome to beauty in landscapes of struglge. Welcome to the God with us! Welcome to OiC!

Do you know why super glue is called super glue? Maicon Steuernagel speaks on how singled out verses and simplistic readings break under the pressure of living, and why it's important to name death in order to live. Welcome to honesty. Welcome ot the fractures. Welcome to OiC!

Little girl, let's get on with the living! This week Maicon Steuernagel wonders by the bed a dying girl, and finds that sometimes coming back to life is the easiest part of resurrection.  Welcome to getting on with the living. Welcome to OiC!

Forgiveness is a tricky thing, and forgiveness can be really hard. And are there instances in which forgiveness ins’t the proper response?  Maicon Steuernagel talks about when forgiving doesn't seem right, and but how we might think about forgiveness as something else than giving perpetrators a pass. Welcome to the tricky path. Welcome to forgiveness. Welcome to OiC!

This week we begin the season of Lent, and hear the reflections from our guest speaker Vidar Bakke on the story of Joseph. Welcome to OiC!

Sometimes we get stuck in a loop.. Maicon Steuernagel shares his favourite loop from Norwegian bureaucracy, and reflects on much more consequential theological loops and why we need to get rid of a few gilded crosses in order to carry the cross of Christ. Welcome to the loop. Welcome to OiC!

Our kids are not ours for the keeping... neither is the Gospel. Maicon Steuernagel reflects on Mary and Joseph's process of realizing their kid would grow into much more than their baby, and on how we might need to learn a similar lesson about the Gospel. Welcome to letting go. Welcome to letting grow. Welcome to OiC!

A bird feeder hanging under a tree. A bird feeder for messy birds. This week Maicon Steuernagels reflects on seeds, community and the Kingdom of God. What are we hoping to see grow? Welcome to the odd shrub where we find shelter. Welcome to OiC!

"She is the one who makes difficult questions that emerge from difficult realities..." Maicon Steuernagel shares from a personal pilgrimage to spend time with the story of the Samaritan by the well, and reflects on a theology of encounter. Welcome to unlikely encounters! Welcome to OiC!

Mark doesn't begin in the beginning. Or maybe he does, while it is us who tend to forget where it all starts?  This week Maicon Steuernagel jumps back on a 2020 Christmas reflection about the Gospel according to Mark, and invites us to ask about the beginnings of today. Welcome to where it begins. Welcome to where it keeps going. Welcome to OiC!

Welcome to a new year and a new season!  On the first Sunday of 2024, Maicon Steuernagel joins Joseph, Mary and the magi from the East as they set out looking for Jesus to find that the places he might be found can challenge how we think about him and about ourselves.   Welcome to 2024! Welcome to searching! Welcome to OiC!

On this last Sunday of our Advent series, we hear the story of Christmas "One more time again". This week, it comes through the story telling of Gospel writter St. Luke, and the reflections of our guest preacher Kristine Tveit. Welcome to holy memories. Welcome to OiC! P.S.: We will not have regular OiC Sunday Services on the 24th and 31st of December. The Podcast will be back January 2024.

"They will call him Immanuel, God with us", says the angel. Then Matthew wakes up, surrounded by questions and decisions.  As we tell the story of Christmas one more time again, Maicon Steuernagel explores what St. Matthew tells us about Joseph's story. With very little words, he also will tell the story of Immanuel. Welcome to embodied answers. Welcome to OiC!