Oaks Parish

by Oaks Parish

Season 3

Sermon: Following Jesus (November 3, 2024)

Scripture Text: Luke 5 Quincy Robinson

Sermon: Conquering Temptation (October 27, 2024)

Scripture Text: Luke 4:1-30 Bryan Buck Quotes for Reflection J.C. Ryle, The Gospel of Luke The first event recorded in our Lord’s history, after His baptism, is His temptation by the devil. From a season of honor and glory He passed immediately to a season of conflict and suffering. First came the testimony of God the Father: “You are My beloved Son.” Then came the sneering suggestion of Satan: “If You are the Son of God.” The portion of Christ will often prove the portion of Christians. From great privilege to great trial, there will often be but a step. C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters Nearly all vices are rooted in the Future. Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone It is a central part of Christian vocation to learn to recognize the voices that whisper attractive lies, to distinguish them from the voice of God, and to use the simple but direct weapons provided in scripture to rebut the lies with truth. The Christian discipline of fighting temptation is not about self-hatred, or rejecting parts of our God-given humanity. It is about celebrating God’s gift of full humanity and, like someone learning a musical instrument, discovering how to tune it and play it to its best possibility. At the heart of our resistance to temptation is love and loyalty to the God who has already called us his beloved children in Christ, and who holds out before us the calling to follow him in the path which leads to the true glory. In that glory lies the true happiness, the true fulfilment, which neither world, nor flesh, nor devil can begin to imitate. Henri Nowen, Life of the Beloved You have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry, and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: 'These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting belief. Application Questions 1. How have you recently experienced temptation and why this challenge? 2. What is the meaning of Jesus’s victory for your own spiritual battles? 3. What do you learn from this passage that gives you hope in the face of temptation?

Sermon: Preparing the Way (October 20, 2024)

Please note: A couple minutes are missing from the beginning of this replay, but jump right in for the majority of the sermon! Sermon Text: Luke 3:1-21 Bryan Buck N.T. Wright, Simply Good News Many people today assume that Christianity is one or more of these things – a religion, a moral system, a philosophy. In other words, they assume that Christianity is about advice. But it wasn’t and isn’t. Christianity is, simply, good news. It is the news that something has happened as a result of which the world is a different place. J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke Let us work on, and believe that help will come from heaven when it is most needed. In the very hour when a Roman emperor and ignorant priests seemed to have everything at their feet, the Lamb of God was about to come forth from Nazareth and set up the beginnings of His kingdom! What He has done once He can do again. In a moment He can turn His church’s midnight into the blaze of noonday. Michael Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement Luke devotes sixteen verses to John the Baptist and his followers beside the Jordan, yet only two for the unexplainable baptism of Jesus. It is unexplainable because One who has never and would never sin submits to a baptism that is a sign of repentance. He is not repenting; he is identifying. It is the first step toward an eventual death on the cross. Here, with John, he submits to a baptism of repentance for sins he never committed. On Golgotha he will die for sins he never committed so that he can forgive each and every sin. Application Questions 1. How does Luke 3:1-2 situate us in the world of John and Jesus and how does this give us hope for our own time? 2. How is baptism a form of imperial rebellion? 3. Follow the through line of Luke’s point in chapter three. Where do you need to repent of your own “small-scale injustices” so that your life is aligned the coming of God’s kingdom?

Sermon: A Gospel of Amazement Continued.... (October 13, 2024)

Scripture Text: Luke 2:1-21 Andy Tobin Quotes for Reflection Frederick Danke The faith of the shepherds is revealed by their decision to proceed to Bethlehem to see this thing. Like Mary in an earlier recital (Luke 1:39) they went with haste. What they found at Bethlehem is spelled out in detail in order to emphasize the nature of the response that follows. Depth of spiritual commitment is determined by the quality of one's fidelity after the majestic voice is no longer heard. They find an ordinary Jewish couple and the child who lies in the manger. Instead of being disappointed they published the angelic interpretation of this child. Thus they are the first evangelists. Alfred Edersheim To the question, whether this hope has ever been realised—or rather, whether One has appeared Whose claims to the Messiahship have stood the test of investigation and of time—impartial history can make only one answer. It points to Bethlehem and to Nazareth. . . . Admittedly, He was the One perfect Man—the ideal of humanity; His doctrine the one absolute teaching. The world has known none other, none equal. And the world has owned it, if not by the testimony of words, yet by the evidence of facts. Springing from such a people; born, living, and dying in circumstances, and using means, the most unlikely of such results—the Man of Nazareth has, by universal consent, been the mightiest Factor in our world’s history: alike politically, socially, intellectually, and morally. If He be not the Messiah, He has at least thus far done the Messiah’s work. If He be not the Messiah, there has at least been none other, before or after Him. If He be not the Messiah, the world has not, and never can have, a Messiah. Bishop John Hooper Read the second chapter of St Luke, and there ye shall see how the shepherds that watched their sheep all night, as soon as they heard that Christ was born at Bethlehem, by and bye must go to see him. They did not reason nor debate with themselves who should keep the wolf from the sheep in the meantime, but did as they were commanded and committed their sheep to him whose pleasure they obeyed. So let us do, now we be called; let us commit all other things unto him that called us. He will take heed that all things shall be well. He will help the husband; he will comfort the wife. He will guide the servants; he will keep the house; he will preserve the goods; yea, rather than it should be undone, he will wash the dishes, and rock the cradle. Cast, therefore, all your care upon God. Application Questions 1. When was the last time you experienced the good news about Jesus as “great joy”? 2. How might you make space to treasure and ponder the truth about Jesus? 3. What about the shepherds’ response challenges you?

Sermon: A Gospel of Amazement (October 6, 2024)

Scripture Text: Luke 1:39-56 Bryan Buck Quotes for Reflection Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship Bewilderment is true comprehension. Michael Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement They were, all of them, quite simply amazed. Zechariah’s friends, the shepherds, all who heard the shepherds, Joseph and Mary, the people in his hometown of Nazareth, those in Capernaum, those who heard the boy Jesus in the temple, the disciples, the parents of the girl who had died, even the Pharisees: all were amazed, astonished, in awe and afraid. Three decades later, as Luke interviews the ever-decreasing group of eyewitnesses, he finds them still amazed, still struggling to put into words just what it was like to encounter the rabbi from Nazareth. And thirty years away from the event that was Jesus’ life, Luke still finds himself amazed as well. Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly The dominant note left ringing in our ears after reading the Gospels, the most vivid and arresting element of the portrait, is the way the Holy Son of God moves toward, touches, heals, embraces, and forgives those who least deserve it yet truly desire it. J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke Let us learn from this holy woman’s example to lay firm hold on Bible promises. It is of the deepest importance to our peace to do so. Promises are, in fact, the manna that we should daily eat and the water that we should daily drink as we travel through the wilderness of this world. We do not yet see all things put in subjection under us. We do not yet see Christ, and heaven, and the Book of Life, and the mansions prepared for us. We walk by faith, and this faith leans on promises. But on those promises we may lean confidently. They will bear all the weight we can lay on them. We shall find one day, like Mary, that God keeps His word, and that what He has spoken, so He will always in due time perform. Application Questions 1. What good news have you received recently, and why did it bring you joy? 2. What amazes you about Jesus, and how might these insights refresh your faith? 3. How is faith an extension of belief? In what specific way can your history with God strengthen your faith this week?

Sermon: Faithful Presence (September 29, 2024)

Scripture Text: Matthew 5:13-16 Bryan Buck Quotes for Reflection Pliny the Elder, Natural History But of all the things that are necessary to the life of man, nothing is more useful than salt and sunshine. Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are. George Elliot (Mary Ann Evans), Middle March For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs. N.T. Wright, Matthew for Everyone Our present passage, then, is a kind of gateway to all that will follow, and its theme is clear. Jesus is calling the Israel of his day to be Israel indeed, now that he is there. What he says here can now be applied to all Christians, but its original meaning was a challenge to Jesus’ own contemporaries. God had called Israel to be the salt of the earth; but Israel was behaving like everyone else, with its power politics, its factional squabbles, its militant revolutions. How could God keep the world from going bad – the main function of salt in the ancient world – if Israel, his chosen ‘salt’, had lost its distinctive taste? Application Questions 1. In what ways has the church lost its saltiness in our culture? How might we reclaim our identity as salt and light in a way that impacts our society? 2. Why is our physical presence in a place essential to understanding God’s ongoing work in the world? 3. Faithful presence embraces limitations and includes staying close to the light, being rooted in place, and discerning with commitments. Which of these areas is God inviting you to focus on in your current season of life?

Sermon: Extended Family (September 22, 2024)

Scripture Text: Ephesians 2:11-22 Bryan Buck Quotes for Reflection David Brooks, How to Know a Person People need social skills. We talk about the importance of “relationships,” “community,” “friendship,” “social connection,” but these words are too abstract. The real act of, say, building a friendship or creating a community involves performing a series of small, concrete social actions well: disagreeing without poisoning the relationship; revealing vulnerability at the appropriate pace; being a good listener; knowing how to end a conversation gracefully; knowing how to ask for and offer forgiveness; knowing how to let someone down without breaking their heart; knowing how to sit with someone who is suffering; knowing how to host a gathering where everyone feels embraced; knowing how to see things from another’s point of view. Tim Keller, Prodigal God Christians commonly say they want a relationship with Jesus, that they want to “get to know Jesus better.” You will never be able to do that by yourself. You must be deeply involved in the church, in Christian community, with strong relationships of love and accountability. Only if you are part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve, and love Jesus will you ever get to know him and grow into his likeness. N.T. Wright, Ephesians for Everyone For Christians a church building is not a ‘Temple’ in the strict sense. It is the people themselves who are the ‘place’ where God is now deciding to live. One might almost say that God himself has, in a sense, become a stranger and asylum-seeker within his own world, the more so since, as the early Christians knew, the Jerusalem Temple itself had been solemnly condemned by Jesus. The living God was now seeking to make his home in the hearts and lives, and particularly the communities, that had declared their loyalty to Jesus, and were determined to live by the gospel. Application Questions 1. Why do you think it’s so difficult to experience unity in our culture today? 2. What can it mean that Christ makes us into a new community, the dwelling place of God himself? 3. Consider the David Brooks quote from his work How to Know a Person. Among the social skills listed, what stands out for your growth as an “illuminator”?

Sermon: Formative Rhythms (September 15, 2024)

Scripture Text: Colossians 3:1-17 Bryan Buck Quotes for Reflection Robert M Thune and Will Walker, The Gospel-Centered Life Every good story has a hero. And the hero of the Gospel Story is Jesus. Humanity needs a Savior, a Redeemer, a Deliverer to free us from the bondage and condemnation of sin and to restore the world to its original good. This Rescuer must be truly human in order to pay the debt we owe to God. But he can’t be merely human because he must conquer sin. We need a substitute-one who can live the life of obedience we’ve failed to live, and who can stand in our place to bear the punishment we deserve for our disobedience and sin. This is why God sent Jesus into the world to be our substitute. Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees There is a good reason for this ideal appearance: stability. The large crowns of mature trees are exposed to turbulent winds, torrential rains, and heavy loads of snow. The tree must cushion the impact of these forces, which travel down the trunk to the roots. The roots must hold out under the onslaught so that the tree doesn’t topple over. If there is a weak spot anywhere in the tree, it will crack. In the worst-case scenario, the trunk breaks off completely and the whole crown tumbles down. Evenly formed trees absorb the shock of buffeting forces, using their shape to direct and divide these forces throughout their structure. N.T. Wright, Colossians for Everyone Learning to think, rather than merely going with the flow of the world on the one hand, or blindly obeying what look like stringent regulations on the other, is part of the key to it all. One aspect of Christian maturity, and certainly one of the road signs on the surprising route to Christian holiness, is that the mind must grasp the truth: ‘you died, and your life has been hidden with the king, in God!’ Once the mind has grasped it, the heart and will may start to come on board. And once that happens the way lies open to joyful Christian holiness. Application Questions 1. How does who/what we love shape who we become? 2. In what particular ways does Colossians 3:1-17 reveal the uniqueness of the gospel compared to other approaches to personal change and transformation? 3. What earthly patterns or behaviors need to be put to death in your life, and how might a shift in your spiritual rhythms lead to lasting transformation?

Sermon: The Gospel of Grace (September 8, 2024)

Scripture Text: John 15:1-17 Bryan Buck Quotes for Reflection T.S. Elliot, “Little Gidding”, Four Quartets We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Tim Keller, Prodigal God The prerequisite for receiving the grace of God is to know you need it. Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly He astounds and sustains us with his endless kindness. Only as we walk ever deeper into this tender kindness can we live the Christian life the New Testament calls us to. Only as we drink down the kindness of the heart of Christ will we leave in our wake, everywhere we go, the aroma of heaven, and die one day having startled the world with glimpses of a divine kindness too great to be boxed in by what we deserve. D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John Jesus insists that his own obedience to the Father is the ground of his joy; and he promises that those who obey him will share the same joy–indeed, that his very purpose in laying down such demands is that their joy may be complete (cf. 1 Jn. 1:4). What is presupposed is that human joy in a fallen world will at best be ephemeral, shallow, incomplete, until human existence is overtaken by an experience of the love of God in Christ Jesus, the love for which we were created, a mutual love that issues in obedience without reserve. The Son does not give his disciples his joy as a discrete package; he shares his joy insofar as they share his obedience, the obedience that willingly faces death to self-interest (12:24–26). Application Questions 1. In what ways does the anatomy of a tree illustrate the gospel of grace available to us in Christ? Consider the roots, branches, and fruit in your reflection. 2. Grace is the paradoxical means by which God produces fruit in our lives. As you reflect on your heart, what attitudes, habits, or distractions might God be calling you to prune so that the fruit of His grace can flourish? 3. As we embark on a new ministry year, what intentional step can you take to deepen your relationship with Jesus and experience His grace more fully?

Season 2

Sermon: The Coming of a Kingdom (September 1, 2024)

Scripture Text: 1 Samuel 30 Bryan Buck Quotes for Reflection Roger Ellsworth, The Shepherd King: Learning from the Life of David To strengthen ourselves in God means we remind ourselves of what Scripture says about God and his promises, and we bring those truths to bear on the situation. Every trial causes opposing voices to ring in the ears of the child of God. One is the voice of our circumstances, telling us that our situation is hopeless. The other is the voice of faith, telling us that our God is sufficient for the trial. Ralph David, 1 Samuel Here is a sobering and disturbing picture for God’s people. Are there not times when you think it cannot get any worse? And 1 Samuel 30 says, Yes, it can. There are times when you conclude that your present trouble is the last straw; you simply cannot take any more. Then comes Ziklag, the last straw after the last straw. John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom When you send love out from the bountifulness of your own love, it reaches other people. This love is the deepest power of prayer. Prayer is the act and presence of sending this light from the bountifulness of your love to other people to heal, free, and bless them. Application Questions 1. How have you experienced “the last straw after the last straw”? 2. Why does the victory of Jesus lead to the restoration of life? 3. What’s one thing you can change about your habits in order to be strengthened in the Lord?

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