Oakhurst Baptist Church

Listen as Oakhurst member Cindy M Brown talks about kings with strings, kings with no strings, and the kind of “Kin-dom” God envisions for us.

It doesn’t take an A+ parent to tell you that a stable and a feeding trough are no place for a newborn baby, and yet that is where Jesus, “God with Us,” began his life. A second glance reveals that maybe those were the perfect places after all for the defender of the marginalized. Listen as Minister of Music Karen Bryant Shipp takes a closer look.

Wake-up calls come and go, and they are accompanied by a multitude of emotions…excitement, fear, hope, despair, loneliness, grief, amazement, and so many more. They can encourage us forward or leave us stuck. The turning point, the great reversal, comes in saying “yes.” Listen as Pastor Lauren Colwell talks about Joseph’s “yes” and his potential “no.” What will call your name when the sun rises again? And what will you say?

We celebrated the life of Walker L. Knight on Saturday, December 14. Click to watch the service.

Appointments seem to be a constant in life…doctor’s offices, meetings, projects due, social gatherings, major life events, mundane errands to check-off a to-do list…the list goes on. They also get interrupted, often. And what happens when they do? What do we do? And who is doing the interrupting? Listen as Pastor Melanie Vaughn-West takes a look at Mary and the appointment she chose to keep.

“Now is the time!” Romans 13:11 tells us, “Now is the time, to wake from sleep!” In the monotony of the everyday, many of us find ourselves sleepwalking through life, doing things the way we have always done them without question. This Advent season, we are being called to wake up and pay attention. What are we missing? What questions do we need to ask? Listen as Pastor Melanie Vaughn-West talks about our need to wake up.

In the next week someone will likely ask, “What are you thankful for?” Some of us may have a ready-made response for just such an occasion. Others may struggle with what to say, and some may have trouble naming just one. No matter the answer, the question is a singular one, directed at one person and invites a singular response. But how does the community in Deuteronomy call us to think about thanksgiving and gratitude not individually, but communally? Listen as Pastor Lauren Colwell asks this question.

When we talk about being made in the image of God, we oftentimes forget that that means we are called to be creators as well. As we join God in making all things new, how do we become joyful imitators of the creative nature of God? Listen as Pastor Melanie Vaughn-West helps us explore Isaiah 65 and we continue to seek to be co-creators with God.

In the book of Haggai God asks, “Is there anyone here who saw the Temple the way it used to be, all glorious? And what do you see now? Not much, right?” It sounds a lot like how progressive Christians might be seeing and experiencing the church these days – as not much. The good news is that God promises the temple will end up far better than it started. How are we called to get to work and participate? Listen as Pastor Melanie Vaughn-West reflects on this passage and how God is speaking to Oakhurst Baptist Church today.

Why on earth, of all the people gathered in Jericho to see Jesus, did Jesus choose to stay at Zaccheus’ house? What did Jesus see in Zaccheus that all those who knew him had missed? What does Christ see in those we condemn, that we miss? What does Christ see in us that we cannot see in ourselves? Listen as Pastor Melanie Vaughn-West talks about how we can try to claim some of our own unrecognized sainthood.