Sermons from Oak Church

12/17/2017 Psalm 126 & Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Chris Breslin “And I knew that the Spirit that had gone forth to shape the world and make it live was still alive in it. I just had no doubt. I could see that I lived in the created world, and it was still being created. I would be part of it forever. […]

12/10/2017 Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2; 8-13 Sarah Neff “The peace between God and man and the salvation which comes to us men is not something general, but the specific thing itself: that concrete thing which is indicated by the name of Jesus Christ and not by any other name. For He who bears this name is Himself the peace and […]

12/03/2017 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Isaiah 64:1-9 Curt Lowndes Rev. Curt Lowndes is the Associate Pastor of the Gathering Church. He’s a graduate of Georgetown College (KY) and Duke Divinity School. He and his wife Jenny are both from small towns in Kentucky. Jenny graduated from the University of Kentucky’s Nursing School and is an experienced neonatal nurse (including in the […]

11/26/2017 Romans 15:3-11 Chris Breslin   “Advent is an invitation to plunge into the deep, dark waters of our worst world, knowing that when we re-surface for air we will encounter the hopeful, hovering Spirit of God. For when we dive into the depths of our worst world, we reach a critical point at which our chocolate and pageants no […]

11/19/2017 Mark 9:36-37; 10:13-16 Meg Hoffman   ‘Welcome’, the word is always on your lips, Each welcome warms another one inside, An interleaving of relationships, An open door where arms are open wide. First welcome to the child and through the child A welcome to the Saviour of the world And through the Saviour’s welcome all are called Home to […]

11/12/2017 Matthew 25:31-46 Chris Breslin “When we allow ourselves to be disarmed, we become both vulnerable and strong. The only weapons then at our disposal are those of the Spirit. We choose the way of Jesus laying aside all the earthly resources that give us power- in order to be present to those we love.” –Chris Heuertz When you can […]

11/05/2017 John 9:1-17 Chris Breslin “To proclaim the Gospel is to proclaim that it is at last possible to be properly human.” –Rowan Williams “The good news brings us to God, and it also brings life and healing to a broken, dying and divided world. Anything less is not the gospel.” –Brenda Salter McNeill “The task of prophetic ministry is […]

10/29/17 Matthew 6:1-13 Kate Hamman   “The Lord’s Prayer, along with the Eucharist, forms the liturgical equivalent to what Eastern Orthodox church architecture portrays and western Gothic architecture depicts—both developing, each in its own way, the central temple theology of Judaism. The God worshiped here, says this architecture…is both intimately present within the world and utterly beyo...

10/22/2017 Luke 14:12-24 Norman Wirzba Dr. Norman Wirzba was raised on a farm in Southern Alberta, and went on to study history at the University of Lethbridge, theology at Yale University Divinity School, and philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. Since then he has taught at Saint Thomas More College/University of Saskatchewan, Georgetown College (KY), and Duke University Divinity School. He’s...

10/15/2017 Ephesians 4:1-16 Chris Breslin “Being a Christian was always about living by faith in Jesus’ sovereign Lordship in a world which didn’t much look as if he was in charge.” –N.T. Wright “The church is nothing less than Christ’s availability to the world.” –Robert Jensen “’I submit to you,’ is an act of leadership.” -David Fitch Slides for this […]

10/01/2017 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 Sarah Neff “When God sets out to embrace the enemy, the result is the cross.” –Miroslav Volf “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” -John Steinbeck, East of Eden “Blame is simply the discharging of discomfort and pain. It has an inverse relationship with accountability.” -Brené Brown “If you can’t […]

10/1/17 Psalm 46 Chris Breslin “Silence is not the absence of something, but the presence of everything.” –Gordon Hempton “God’s presence is the central fact of Christianity.” –A.W. Tozer “The Psalms not only insist that we are called to live at the intersection of God’s space and our space, of heaven and earth, to be (in other words) Temple people. […]

09/24/2017 Philippians 4:10-23 Chris Breslin “’This present world is a perfectly safe place for us to be.’ That certainly is what Jesus, and the Bible as a whole, has to say to us. ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever’ (Ps 23).” –Dallas […]

09/17/2017 Acts 16:16-28 Dewey Williams Rev. Dewey Williams is a minister at Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, where he serves with the Prison Ministry, Voices of Praise, Male Chorus, as a teacher of the Marriage Ministry, and as Executive Director of the Mt. Level Community Haven. He also chairs the Board of Jubilee Home. A series of his […]

09/10/2017 Philippians 4:1-9 “Thanksgiving means giving God the glory in everything, making room for him, casting our care on him, letting it be his care. The troubles that exercise us then cease to be hidden and bottled up. They are so to speak laid open towards God, spread out before him.” –Karl Barth Scripture: Matthew 5:9 Matthew 8:23-27 John 8:1-11 […]

09/03/2017 Philippians 3:17-21 Chris Breslin Testimony by Bryan Diver & Blake “Slowly, I started to enter more fully into the world of my refugee friends. As the days and months blended into years, I experienced strange paradoxes. The more I failed to communicate the love of God to my friends, the more I experienced it for myself. The more overwhelmed […]

8/27/2017 Philippians 2:1-11 Charlene Brown Rev. Charlene Brown is the National Director of Black Campus Ministries for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Empty Me Out by White/Vice Hail to the Lord’s Anointed by Montgomery/McCracken 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) by Redman/Myrin Steadfast by McCracken/Jordan/Silverberg Jesus, What a Beautiful Name by Riches J...

08/20/2017 Philippians 3:1-16 Chris Breslin “Faith in its decisive act is the collapse of every effort of our own capacity and will, and the recognition of the absolute necessity of that collapse.” –Karl Barth “Disciples live with not only renouncing their own rights, but even renouncing their own righteousness. They get no credit themselves for what they do and sacrifice. […]

8/20/2017 Stephanie Holmer, Joe Longarino, Nate Hood, Erin Victor, Elizabeth Christenson & Chris Breslin

08/13/2017 Philippians 2:19-30 Chris Breslin A Congregational Prayer for Churches after Charlottesville by Rich Villodas (Missio Alliance) “Hitherto I have served you as a soldier; allow me now to become a soldier to God…I am a soldier of Christ; it is not permissible for me to fight.” –Martin of Tours (4th Century Bishop) “We who formerly treasured money and possessions […]

8/6/2017 Philippians 2:12-18 Chris Breslin   “Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.” -Wendell Berry   “Salvation is not only something we receive but also something we do.” –Gordon Fee   Urban Church Planting Plantations by Christena Cleveland (blogpost) Hillsong Church: Do Not Colonize San Francisco by Nate...

07/30/2017 Philippians 2:1-11 Chris Breslin “We can increasingly resemble Christ in character and in power by following him in his overall style of life … This was the method of his earliest disciples, and it is as valid today as it was then.” –Dallas Willard “Humility in abstracto can be the grossest pride.” –Karl Barth “The missionary must be the […]

07/23/2017 Philippians 1:27-30 Chris Breslin It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings. –Wendell […]

07/16/2017 Philippians 1:12-26 Dr. Richard B. Hays   Songs for Today’s Worship Gathering: Leave it There by Tindley Rejoice the Lord is King by Wesley/Darwall Hail to the Lord’s Anointed by Montgomery/McCracken Jesus, What a Beautiful Name by Riches Take My Life and Let it Be by Havergal/Herold We Are Not Overcome by Heiskell/Wardell Doxology   This Week’s Memory Scripture: […]

07/09/2017 Philippians 1:1-11 Chris Breslin “All Joy reminds. It is never a possession, always a desire for something longer ago or further away or still ‘about to be’.” –C.S. Lewis “The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable.” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer “Cancer, as it […]