Looking at Jesus' Kingdom through the lens of Romans 5, we are encouraged to remain faithful and confident in our salvation because of the lengths to which God, Jesus, and the Spirit have gone to rescue us from sin and death and restore us to eternal friendship with our Creator.

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Being a Christian doesn’t remove us from the hardship in our lives. Far from it. However, because of the Kingdom of God (and its King), we take strength and comfort from three things: His past faithfulness: His current indwelling (and PERMANENT) presence, and the perspective established for us by Jesus' resurrection and the promise of His return. Until He does, His presence beside us brings us comfort.

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The Book of Psalms is sometimes called “The Little Bible.” It mirrors the five books of law, and Blake Adams tells us “We should read it not as an assortment of poems and songs but as a single rhapsody on God’s covenant promises.” This year’s Midwest Preachers’ Retreat was held this past week, led by Hebrew scholar and former Oakhaven member, Dr. Lance Hawley, focusing on the psalms as a deep, remarkable resource in our walk with God. In addition to an overview of the book, we examine more closely Psalm 103. The final sentence of Psalm 103 is the one upon which all else in heaven and earth turns: YHVH has established His throne in the heavens; His kingdom rules over all. If all these things are true then…”

Technical note: center third of sermon was without sound and so has been cut from podcast. You'll barely miss it.

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According to the standards of the world, Jesus assumes a very low profile in His ministry that launches the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God not by edict, governmental action, or human might, but by compassion that drives Him to recover the helpless sheep that need a shepherd. Through it all, though, Jesus is the glorious King revealed as the Son of Man to Daniel, not a wolf in sheep’s clothing but a king in shepherd’s clothing. He is the same to us, invoking His authority to assure us that His death is His choice, and then invokes His authority one last time to spur us to share the amazing news of what He has done.

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Recent sermon themes converge today as we see the arc of God’s interactions with humans adapting over time as He matures the human race to have the capacity to receive His greatest self-revelation: Jesus. We note again how Moses’ and the hebrews’ experience of Yahveh met them “where they were at” and moved on from there, spiritually and literally! Then God reveals Himself most fully in Jesus, who intones the inbreaking of the kingdom of God here and now. Peter joins the story as our representative, and Jesus calls him in a way tailored to Peter’s sensibilities in a huge catch of fish in impossibly hot water. Then as this fisherman turns into an ambassador of the kingdom fishing for people, our example is set to follow in his footsteps and fish for people ourselves. This is all the result of who Jesus has made us: His brothers and sisters, the sons and daughters of the king. Cultivating awareness of our identity and call are essential if we are going to walk them out in every day life, for “if we aim for nothing, we’ll hit it every time.”

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It’s a mighty special day at Oakhaven Church: our annual homecoming corn roast! Today’s message will be in a creative vein as we hear one of Jesus’ followers describe some of the highlights of their years of ministry together.

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Scripture says that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. However, humans are not. We are on a huge learning curve when it comes to understanding God and His ways, and we examine how He customizes his revelation and relationship with us on levels far beneath Him but right on our wheelhouse. Take, for instance, the story of the burning bush...

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God sets a pattern of revealing Himself in ways that are simple enough for His children to understand. These revelations are far from where He will eventually “arrive.” The sense of where God is begins with Him being distant and separate and VERY gradually grows toward a sense of His nearness, even though at the beginning He is thought to be in specific places. We also cannot understand everything about God. (!!!) Each one of us is on a similar journey of learning and maturing. HOW is He revealing Himself to you? Where is He leading you?

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