Oak Pointe Church • Novi

What Does Jesus Have To Do With Me? Scripture: Matthew 8:28-34 Speaker: Brent Buttermore, Missions Pastor After Jesus calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee, he and the disciples arrive on the opposite shore and immediately encounter two demoniacs. What happens next is not surprising – Jesus drives the demons out of the men. Less predictable is the destination of the demons and the community's resp...

The Storm In The Boat Scripture: Matthew 8:23–27 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church You’ve probably seen a YouTube video of a celebrity masquerading as someone else. Maybe it’s an old dude with grey hair dunking on the young guys in a pick-up basketball game or a motley-looking but great-sounding band busking in the New York subways. They appear among ordinary people in everyda...

Easy Discipleship  Scripture: Matthew 8:18-22  Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church  We typically ascribe outcome-based definitions to the terms "easy" and "hard." When we can do something ourselves, we say it's easy. If we're unsure of our success, we call that hard. But the stuff we believe is manageable often shows we don't know what we don't know.  This week in our Outsiders...

A Restored Humanity Scripture: Matthew 8:14-17 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church “Those people!” Have you ever uttered this phrase as an exclamation or in a sentence? E.g., “I don’t know what’s wrong with those people.” When we observe the manifestation of human brokenness and its ramifications, it is easy to lose all faith in humanity. When that brokenness invades our home, i...

An Outsider’s Faith Scripture: Matthew 8:5-13 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church Football season has arrived! It's a time for fans to tune in on weekends and cheer for their alma mater or favorite team. But for some, football goes way beyond appointment viewing. Because there are fans, and then there are "the faithful." They're at every game, home and away, wearing team colors....

Willing and Able Scripture: Matthew 8:1-4 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church This week, Pastor Jon kicks off our Fall Series entitled Outsiders In: Jesus’ unique authority to make all things new. Over the next few months, we’ll study more closely Matthew 8-9, the miracle chapters, observing how Jesus established his divine authority through his connection with those living on t...

The Hopelessness of Nihilism Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church It used to be junk mail. Now it’s spam. We’re talking about the daily detritus that floats into your postal box or email inbox that you don’t want, didn’t ask for, and has no value for your life. So we’ve developed the habit of purging without even looking. But in a rush to discard all th...

The Striving of Productivism Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 Speaker: Adam Mashni, 707 High School Ministry Pastor Have you ever opened the app store of your preferred computer or phone platform and looked for productivity apps? You probably didn’t have to look far! There are dozens of calendars, to-do lists, time blockers, habit trackers, note takers, mind mappers, text editors, file organizers, a...

The Pressure of Perfectionism   Scripture: Ecclesiastes 11:1-8 Speaker: Charlie Koopman, Worship & Creative Arts Pastor   Once considered a positive trait, perfectionism is on the rise in our culture. Unsurprisingly, anxiety, fear, and depression are at an all-time high. Despite what is on display in so many curated Instagram feeds, being flawless is an unrealistic goal, an illusion driven by the...

The Virus of Materialism   Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   Most of us have stuff – plenty of stuff. And if we’re honest, we keep a list in our heads of other stuff that would make our lives better: home improvements, vehicle or technology upgrades, vacations, etc. If we had some extra cash, we know how and where we’d spend it! Planning for f...

The Anxiety of Individualism   Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:12-17 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   We all know there’s no “I” in TEAM, and things are better when we work together. But those phrases are easier said than done, especially when individualistic impulses run deep. Our culture and our hearts subtly tell us we don’t need others, and we don’t need God. While going it a...

The Transience of Hedonism   Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   Have you ever tried something just to try it? Maybe you wanted to see what it was like or what effect it had on you, and by doing so, learn if you’d ever want to try it again - like bungee jumping or eating escargot. That’s the approach the author of Ecclesiastes takes toward pleasu...

The Weariness of Intellectualism   Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   Each year, the rankings come out. The US News and World Report lists the best universities and colleges. (It even ranks the best Michigan high schools – in 2022, Novi is #7 and Northville #8). People then flock to these rankings to see where their alma mater sits or to consid...

The Striving of Naturalism   Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   How many of us work hard? Probably most of us. Why? Because life is hard work. Simply put, a certain amount of effort is required to have basic food and shelter. And depending on the quality of the food and shelter you desire, considerably more effort may be required. Therefore, it...

Feeling and Prayer   Scripture: Psalm 16 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   Emotions are tricky. For some of us, voicing the things in our hearts is effortless and done frequently. For others, it isn't easy to let our feelings show, even to those with whom we are most intimate. And all of us could probably employ a bit more emotional range when talking with God. Thankfully, t...

The Journey Is Worth It   Scripture: Psalm 84 Speaker: Adam Mashni, 707 High School Ministry Pastor   We all love trips – especially during summer vacation! Whether it's an excursion up north to the family cottage, a Disney trip with the kids, or somewhere in between, we love breaking the norm and getting away. During each trip's planning phase, the question isn't whether we'll love it but "is it...

The Presence Psalm   Scripture: Psalm 130 Speaker: Adam Schultz, Grow and Restore Ministries Pastor   We are not good at standing by. Whether waiting for something to happen or to finish, most of us struggle to bide our time. Having patience can be all the more challenging regarding our relationship with God. We typically are seeking something urgent from God rather than desiring God himself. In o...

How to Think About Prayer   Scripture: Psalm 27 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   As followers of Jesus, each of us faces stressful circumstances that could and should drive us to prayer. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen, at least not right away. Any reluctance to pray may have several reasons, but ultimately it belies something more significant – an underlying beli...

The Most Cheerful Giver   Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   God isn’t just good at doing impossible math – he loves doing it! How do we know? Throughout the pages of scripture, we continually see situations where the equation doesn’t work. These are the spots where God is quick to insert himself and do what only he can. But the important thing...

The Wind of the Spirit   Scripture: Acts 2 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   "Merry Christmas!" "Happy Easter!" As Christians, we readily celebrate these big church holidays. Twice each year, we have extra services, ask people to save seats online, create beautiful stage sets, sing particular songs, and set photo walls so everyone can share memories on social media. But ther...

Giving and Joy   Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:1-11 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   So far in our Impossible Math series, the Apostle Paul has boldly asked the more wealthy gentile Christians in Corinth to prepare a collection for impoverished Jewish believers in Jerusalem. A big ask! The Corinthians seemed eager at first, but their enthusiasm has waned. To spur them on, Paul...

Against All Odds Scripture: Various passages in the book of Acts Speakers: Maddy Bradshaw, Shane Slocum, Alli Villanueva, Carson Martin   Christianity has always been an "against all odds" kind of movement. From the church's very beginnings, people who had no business leading much of anything were standing up and preaching to thousands boldly in the name of Jesus. In this same spirit, we now turn...

Giving and Leadership   Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:10-24 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   Starting is easy. Finishing is hard. This is especially true with endeavors of consequence. Completing a critical project takes more than a plan – it takes motivation. Sometimes, a fresh reason helps us get going again if we’ve stalled. That’s precisely what the Apostle Paul provides f...

The Good Portion (Mother's Day)   Scripture: Luke 10:38-42 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   Do you struggle to regularly prioritize the important over the urgent? Of course, you do. We all do! Urgent things continually feel so pressing that important things can always wait just a little longer. But at what cost? In this special Mother’s Day edition of Impossible Math, Pasto...

The Power of Giving   Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:7–9 Speaker: Jon Morales, Lead Pastor of Oak Pointe Church   As followers of Jesus Christ, we want our faith in God to be strong! We believe that the Holy Spirit is transforming us from the inside out, but sometimes there are aspects of our lives where we don’t connect the dots. One prominent area is our finances. How we view and use our money tells...