Greenville Oaks Church Message Podcast
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Ancient kings typically established their kingdoms by defeating their enemies, not by letting their enemies defeat them. What kind of king is Jesus? And what difference does it make in our lives?
As one of my favorite writers likes to say, “When Jesus wanted to explain the meaning of his death, he didnt give his disciples a theory. He gave them a meal.” Likewise, whenever we eat this meal, we retell an old story given new meaning by Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection.
When James and John ask Jesus for powerful positions in his Kingdom, he teaches them a philosophy of power unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Jesus calls his disciples to embrace a paradoxical philosophy of life and death that initially seems like nonsense. But once we begin to listen to Jesus and put his teachings into practice, we discover he is actually the wisest person who ever lived.
Almost every scene in the Gospel of Mark focuses on Jesus. One exception is the story of John the Baptists death in Mark 6. This week we’ll explore how this story serves as a warning to Mark’s original readers and to us.
Mark 5 includes a detailed story about a man tormented by unclean spirits. His encounter with Jesus reveals both the work evil aims to do in the world and Jesus’s power to overcome it. The challenge when reading this story today is to correctly locate ourselves within it.
Guest speaker Dan Bouchelle presents a message called "The Rhythm of Jesus Life".
Mark includes very little of Jesus’s actual teaching in his gospel. The teachings he does include usually generate more questions than answers, which seems to be Jesus’s intention. Sometimes clarify is overrated.
In Mark 3 Jesus goes up on a mountain and calls twelve disciples to him for a special purpose. The list of names of those he called is pregnant with gospel and helps us understand what the “ideal” church might look like.
Early in his ministry Jesus enjoys tremendous success. As his popularity grows, so does the danger of having his ministry hijacked by others. This Sunday we’ll explore a sequence from Mark 1 in which Jesus shows us how to stay focused and on mission when others are tempting us with a competing agenda.
The Gospel of Mark tells us that immediately after his baptism, Jesus is sent into the wilderness to be tested by Satan. The sequence of these events not only gives us a clue about Jesus’s mission as the Son of God, it also shapes our expectations for what it means to be a Christ-follower.
Over the next several months we’ll be working through some of the key events in Jesus’s ministry as depicted in the Gospel of Mark. The first thing we see Jesus do in Mark’s gospel is show up at the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Why did Jesus step into the water? How does his baptism shape the way we view ours?
Our Next Steps Minister, Wes Rasbury, delivers a message on ways we can renew our heart moving into a new year.
We celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve as we complete the final candles of Advent.
As we draw nearer to our celebration of Christ’s birth, we’ll contemplate the stunning implications of John’s declaration that “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:14)
As he does with many other elements of the gospel story, John gives us a slightly different perspective on John the Baptist when he describes him as the man who was not. Clarity around who John (and we) are not, can help simplify our purpose during the busiest and most hectic time of year.
As we prepare to celebrate Christ coming into creation as a baby, let’s zoom out and contemplate how creation comes into being through Christ.
Sometimes giving thanks comes easy. Sometimes it’s a struggle to praise God while drowning in deep disappointment. This Sunday well listen in on a dialogue between God and a disappointed man who resolves to praise God anyway.
Since Thanksgiving marks the official beginning of the holiday eating season, let us develop a robust theology of food so we are thoroughly equipped to eat and drink to the glory of God.
We wrap up our study of Philippians by digging into the final section of the letter, in which Paul expresses his gratitude to the Philippians for the financial gift they sent him while hes in prison. What could have been a simple "thank you" turns out to be much more complex, and for good reason.
Managing our anxiety when faced with trouble is an essential skill for a follower of Jesus. Chronic anxiety keeps us from making wise decisions and destroys relationships. In Philippians 4:1-9, Paul names several practices that can help us become a less-anxious presence in the midst of difficult circumstances.
At the end of Philippians 3, Paul drops a thought bomb on our understanding how to live the Christian life, when he describes Christ-followers as "citizens of heaven." The implications from understanding our primary citizenship in this way are staggering.
In Philippians 3, Paul uses shocking language to describe his past religious achievements. Perhaps because he knows how destructive and divisive building an identity on human achievement can be. He then reminds his friends in Philippi of the true and lasting source of his (and their) new identity.
Some passages of Scripture are easy to skim over. Especially when theyre filled with ancient names, travel plans, and mundane details having no real contemporary significance. Tucked into the middle of Philippians is one such passage. Instead of skipping it, were going to slow down and read it carefully, for it demonstrates an essential practice for becoming a more skillful follower of Christ.
Today we hear from Kevin Vance and the Mission work him and his wife do in Regina, Saskatchewan.
In Philippians 2, Paul encourages his friends in Philippi to cultivate a certain mindset that will enable them to maintain their unity. Weve become so familiar with what he says that it’s difficult to appreciate how radical and challenging his instructions were (and still are).
This Sunday we’ll explore the implications of the image Paul uses to illustrate what he means when he implores his friends in Philippi to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
In Philippians 1, when Paul reflects on his imprisonment and possible execution, he shows us what really matters when facing adversity.
When Paul writes a letter of appreciation to the church in Philippi, he shows us both how Christian friendship works and why we all need friends who can help us see what really matters.
Join us this week as we consider why hospitality is an essential Christian practice.
