Oakhaven Church Podcast

In Luke 18 and Mark 10, Jesus makes a point of focusing on children, touching them, and blessing them - this in a culture in which children were seen more of a nuisance than anything else, as evidenced by the disciples' shooing the children away. In today's message, Cynthia Mudd connects stories of mission work in Haiti with Jesus' attention and care for children in the gospel, and in a moving gesture assembles all Oakhaven families together to pray blessings up them all. 

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Luke 15 contains 3 parables with a similar, powerful message: God delights in the salvation of His children. 

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Let's put things in a larger perspective and look at politics, money, and religion through the lens of Jesus' wise "bipartisanship" in Mark 12:13-17. 

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Mark 10:17-31 holds the story of Jesus' exchange with the rich young ruler who had lived a devoted life to that point but balked at Jesus' rigorous request that the man sell his possessions, give to the poor, and then follow Jesus. Our discussion reminds us that all we have is a gift from God, that we are blessed in order to bless, and we are merely temporary caretakers of it all. 

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Jesus tries to shift the disciples' fundamental orientation on multiple fronts in today's passage from the Gospel of Mark. Twice He uses children and their frame of reference (as the quintessential have-nots at the bottom of the day's foodchain) to convince the 12 that life is not a contest unless it be to see who serves most. 

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Mark 9:14-29 may raise more questions than it answers when the issue of having "enough" faith is raised when a man's son has got a tough to budge demon. One of Jesus' comments seems to point to "devil levels," over which He easily holds sway. Not so the disciples, though, who for some reason can't cure the kid. The ONE in Whom we have faith has got the power, but something in this instance is required of dad - and of us. 

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Jesus' transfiguration (Mark 8:34-9:13) is a multi-layered moment in which Jesus is ministered to and strengthened, his disciples are schooled in glory, and we are reminded that Jesus is always present, with the imperative command from God: This is my beloved Son. LISTEN TO HIM.

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In months with five Sundays, we forego a formal sermon in favor of hearing testimony from one of our members of how God has worked in their lives. We are blessed this week to hear from Carolyn McPherson, a longtime member of Oakhaven. Carolyn uses the story of Lazarus in the Gospel of John as part of her story. 

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As we return to the Gospel of Mark (8:22-33), we come upon the climax of the gospel so far in a double story that once again provides lenses for greater understanding past the nuts and bolts of “just” another healing. A blind man is healed in stages, from a primitive level of sight to full clarity. This process is a symbol of our own journey and that of the disciples, whose clarity of sight is evidenced in the companion story in which Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah. We are also works in progress, with the truth of Jesus’ identity (and ours) ever evolving at His hands.

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Stepping off from Ephesians 2:8-10, Vic encourages us to remember our identity and our call, and the One Who has made His home in us. 

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