Oakhaven Church Podcast

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 exchan...

Julie Nast shares her testimony about Jesus in her life. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here . 

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 specia...

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 . 

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 m...

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...

In this week's sermon we look at Mark 2:23-3:6 . We see a convergence of meaning in what seems to be a simple act on the part of Jesus’ disciples: grabbing a grainy snack from a nearby field. That this happens on a Sabbath puts the Pharisees on high alert, but the exceptional precedent Jesus names as an equivalent special circumstance points to David and the beginning of his journey to kingsh...

In Mark 2:13-22 , the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had trouble with His fraternizing with “tax collectors and sinners,” people far from the acceptable life of rigid obedience fostered by the scribes. Instead of judging these outcasts, Jesus welcomes them and joins them at the table. Food is the center of lots of religious law at the time, and Jesus' dining with the riff raff is a huge affr...

As we continue our journey into the Gospel of Mark, we come upon the memorable story of a lame man lowered through the ceiling in order to be healed by Jesus. The doorway was too crowded to get through, and the man’s friends had faith that Jesus would heal their friend; and so they did what had to be done in order to get Him to Jesus. This story functions on so many levels when applied to our live...

In our survey of the Gospel of Mark, we are still in Chapter 1, but Jesus has already had several opportunities in which to be identified as God's Son, the Holy One who heals diseases, teaches with authority, casts out demons...  and spends time by Himself with the Father in order to refresh and reset His Spirit.  Duey Unbehaun shares a lesson based on Mark 1:29-39 .  To investigate this most...

In his Gospel, Mark is careful to lead us to the deep meaning of Jesus’ first spoken words in Mark: "The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news." If all time has been working towards Jesus’ arrival, Jesus’ mortal life has been working towards the climax of His story and ours: the climax of His resurrection from the dead. We are in danger of...

As we gather together on Palm Sunday, we skip ahead in our young study of the Gospel of Mark to his account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Mark’s account in chapter 11 is spare in comparison to its parallels, but there is still a clear purpose in Jesus’ decisions and the reactions that flow from them. His courage, power, authority, humility, and love shine through it all. In the end, we...

The first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark are “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.” This is the theme verse of the entire gospel: all that has happened before now has been building to this moment. And how does the kingdom come near? The King brings it with Him. His first considered act upon launching his mission in Galilee is to ca...

Mark's description of Jesus’ baptism is quick, cryptic, and powerful. The Spirit descends upon Jesus to empower the ministry He is at this instant embracing as the heavens are torn apart and the Father’s voice proclaims the most important affirming statement ever made. This statement of being beloved by the Creator, the One Who takes great pleasure in us His children, is as true for us today...

We begin our journey through the Gospel of Mark by examining his (and his gospel's) role in the New Testament and Scripture as a whole. In just a few phrases, Mark conveys the importance of the coming One Whose sandals a camel-hair-wearing John the Baptist (see Elijah for fashion notes) Whose sandals John is not worthy to untie. And Who, BTW, has a universe-changing experience in the Holy Spi...

An overview of the gospel is presented by a close friend of the apostle Peter. One particular insight involves one of Jesus' healings in which sight is restored through two ministrations by Jesus. The lesson of His staying with us through the healing process until we are healed and our sight is restored is an encouragement when things we hope and pray for do not come about immediately.  To in...

Today we finish our brief series looking more closely at the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives (and our role in His). At the end of Colossians, Paul describes a significant shift in our identity and circumstance: God has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. We look today at some of the issues surrounding these two kingdoms, and how God...

As the Spirit empowers our walk with Christ, the Apostle Paul approaches our relationship with Jesus and His Spirit from several different angles. In the book of Colossians, Paul has a straightforward discussion of living with a focus on Jesus and our gratitude to him. In Romans, Paul examines the role the law has had in suggesting disobedience Paul would never have considered in what we’re callin...

When the waters of judgment  receded from the earth in the time of Noah, it was a dove that brought back the sign that the judgment was over. And so it is a dove that descends on Jesus at His baptism, a sign of the peace and peaceable kingdom that Jesus is bringing ( Isaiah 11 ). The dove rests and stays on Jesus as a sign of abiding presence. Then when the Spirit is poured out on Christ-followers...

We are seeking to learn more about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives as individuals and as a church. We began at the very beginning last week, from the opening sentence of Genesis, and found the Spirit at work from then until now. As Christians we benefit from a drastically different experience of the Spirit than even the prophets of the Old Testament. Ezekiel prophecies that God will put...

There are at least three different historic and significant meals invoked by The Lord's Table, each of them bringing added meaning to our taking of communion together.  To investigate this most important of stories further, go here . 

The Spirit of God is present at creation, hovering over the waters in Genesis 1:2. Ages later, John in His Gospel tells us that Jesus is also present at creation, that all things are made through Him. And so the Trinity is together before time, the “family” of God united in this most important work. Then in Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul says that God has chosen us since before creation. So that as...

We turn our thoughts to the turn of the year today since we spent last Sunday with the magi and the layers of theme in their story.  In the Book of Lamentations we are reminded that God’s mercies are new every morning, providing a fresh start with each rising of the sun; however, the seam of the calendar is a chance to be more intentional and aware of new beginnings. Paul talks often about putting...

The season of Christmas comes to an end in Matthew 2 with the arrival of the magi at the Bethlehem home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  There are several themes of consequence in Matthew's account of matters concerning the magi, the stars, the king, Egypt, incarnation, exaltation, Pax Romana, the Prince of Peace, the way of the cross - not to mention gold, frankincense, or myrrh (we won't)....

Jesus' birth in a stable  puts Him beside animals destined to be sacrificed. He is not simply "born to die," though, but to establish His kingdom, to set the captive free, preach good news to the poor, and to commission followers to continue in His steps* once His days of incarnation are finished.  *That includes us! And on the outside chance you're seeing this bottom paragraph...