Oasis: College & Young Adult Ministry

42. Summer Suggestions

When it comes to the summertime, there are a lot of awesome perks! Nice weather, more free time, vacations. But, there are also some struggles that can come with it...

What struggles are common? How can I overcome those? What are our go-to summer suggestions?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on sunshine and silly struggles

MESSAGE: Rediscovering Presence

Week Two of our series had Brennen bringing a message about Silence and Solitude. This practice of Jesus is one our culture has lost in the busyness of life today, but we don't have to stay that way. If we are willing to slow down, be silent, and get away in life, then we can begin to rediscover a presence to ourselves, to others, and to God.

What really are the practices of silence and solitude? Why are they important? What do they do for me? How do I practice them?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - Rediscovering Presence

Message Delivered: 04/28/2021

MESSAGE: Slowing to the Pace of Love

Kicking off our new and last series of the semester, Ben starts to push back against the hustle and hurry culture we find ourselves in. Are you tired, worn out, burned out? The way of Jesus isn't supposed to be like that. Jesus changed the whole world in his time on Earth, yet he never seemed to be overly busy. So, let's learn how to slow down to love and live like Jesus did.

How does hustle culture impact me? Does Jesus really speak about something like that? How can I change to be like him?

Find all that and more when you watch this week's message - Slowing to the Pace of Love

Message Delivered: 04/18/2021

41. Grey Areas

When it comes to the Bible and Christian life, there are definitely some things that are black and white. Butttt, there are also some things that are grey and we want to talk about that! 

What are some of these grey areas? How do we decide what God would have us do? How do I invite others into the process? Should I help other people discern their convictions?

7 Questions for Grey Area Discernment:

1. Is there negative long-term effects?

2. Does it cause harm to my body?

3. Does it bring guilt or shame into my life?

4. Will it cause other people to stumble?

5. Does it hurt my witness to others?

6. Are there benefits to myself and others?

7. Does it glorify God?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on that shade between black and white and life with Jesus. 

MESSAGE: Greed to Generosity

Closing our Bridge to Becoming series, Brennen brings it home with the vice of greed and the virtue of generosity. Yet, to get to generosity, we must take the bridge that is Hope. Hoping in God leads us to a place where we can be generous with all we are and have as Christians.

What actually is greed? Where does it show up in our lives? How do I deal with it? What does it mean to be generous?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - Greed to Generosity

Message Delivered: 04/11/2021 

40. Self-Love/Care

Ever heard of self-love, self-care, self-worth, self.... the list goes on and on. But, are these all beneficial? Many times culture is teaching one thing when the Bible is teaching another. 

Are all of these self-... important? How do the Bible and culture differ? Do they overlap? Where do we go from here?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on you how you think and treat yourself

39. Rest

After hitting Work in episode 37, we wanted to fill you in on the other side of life - Rest. Resting can be weird and hard for us as people. Often times we struggle to know if we need a nap, a snack, or something totally different. In this, we are looking at the whole array of rest.

Why is rest important? Is rest just physical? How I rest well? Am I believing a lie about rest?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on Netflix and napping

MESSAGE: Pride to Humility

B2B Week 6 here with a guest speaker! Pastor Aaron Cloud is stepping in to knock out the vice of Pride and the virtue of Humility. Through the life of King Uzziah, Aaron shows how God brings low the proud and exalts the humble.

What is pride? How does it show up in different ways in our lives? Where does the Spirit show up to move us to humility? Now, how do we live as different people?

Find all that and more when you listen this week's message - Pride to Humility

Message Delivered: 03/28/2021

MESSAGE: Gluttony to Self-Control

Bridge To Becoming is still rolling with Week Four and the vice of Gluttony and the virtue of Self-Control. Some aspects of our lives are just pivoted towards gluttony, so how can we change that and be people of self-control.

What is gluttony? How does it impact us? How does the Spirit move us to self-control? What does this look like in actual life?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - Gluttony to Self-Control

Message Delivered: 03/21/2021

38. Praying Through Scripture

This week, we are opening up the Bible in order to pray through it! Using two different passages of scripture, we want to teach you about how sections of the Bible can be a template for prayer!

How is the Lord's Prayer a template? Does Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 work like that too? Are there other sections of the Bible that are like that?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say about God's word linking with ours

MESSAGE: Envy to Kindness

Week four of B2B is live and you should give it a listen! Ben brought us the vice of Envy and the virtue of Kindness this week. Envy sneaks into our lives and hurts us and those around us.

What is envy? How does it impact us? How do we move to Kindness? What's healing look like?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - Envy to Kindness.

Message Delivered: 03/14/2021

37. Work

Like Ben, we hope this title triggers songs to flow (Work, work, work...). But really, work's been around forever and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. The Creation account gives us work and Paul refines that. So, let's get to work.

Where does Work come from? Why can it be such a bummer? How are we supposed to go about working now? Does Rest play into this at all?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say about songs from 2016

36. Finishing Well

Here's the thing, we are always finishing things! Big or small, that's just what we do. You probably finished a school or work assignment recently or you maybe even finished a commitment or job. In all of that, we want to FINISH WELL. So, let's learn how to do that.

What does finishing well mean? Why is it important? How do you finish well?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say about finishing school or quitting your job

MESSAGE: Anger to Patience

It's week three of Bridge to Becoming and we aren't slowing down. This week, Brennen is leading us through the vice of Anger to the virtue of Patience. The question is "Are you an angry person?" While you might initially answer no, you might want to listen to this first. 

Do I struggle with anger? Where does that anger come from? How can we fix our anger problem?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - Anger to Diligence.

Message Delivered: 02/28/2021

35. Family

Everybody has a different family dynamic, but because of that, we can learn from each other. We hope with this episode, you can learn from some of our stories!

Why is family important? How can I serve and love them better? What advice would we give to our people about interacting with their family?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on those people you are stuck with

MESSAGE: Laziness To Diligence

Week Two of Bridge to Becoming takes us to the vice of Laziness and the virtue of Diligence. Many of us would not label ourselves as lazy, but what's our definition of laziness? This week's message will challenge you to go deeper in your relationships and walk with Jesus.

Where do I see laziness in my life? Do I make excuses to get out of hard things? How do we get from laziness to diligence? What's it mean to have courage?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - Laziness to Diligence.

Message Delivered: 02/21/2021

34. Lent

The classic Church calendar has a period before Easter that is commonly referred to as Lent. Some churches strictly follow this, while others do nothing with it. GracePoint and Oasis fall somewhere in between that. So, let's talk about that!

What is Lent? Where does it come from? Why should we practice it? How do we practice it?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on a couple week's without Sundays.

MESSAGE: Lust to Purity

Opening up our new series, Ben uses Valentine's Day to talk about Lust. One of the seven deadly sins that we are called to move away from. However, we are not just moving away, but moving towards Purity. Through it all, the Holy Spirit is moving in us to bring us there by LOVE.

What is lust? Is it just sexual desires? How do I live a pure life? Is love really the answer?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - Lust to Purity.

Message Delivered: 02/14/2021

33. Grief

Unfortunately, grief is one of those things we probably will all experience in this life. However, faith in Jesus can play a role in that too. Tune in as we talk about that!

What is grief? How are Christians supposed to navigate it? Are there any helpful tips or tricks? What about dos and don'ts?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on some of life's hardest moments. 

32. Idols

Idolatry is something we see all through the scriptures. From Genesis to Revelation, there are times where idols can be seen impacting peoples' relationship with God. 

What are idols? Do we still have them today? How do I know if I struggle with idolatry? If so, how can I fix it??

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on stone gods and house fires. 

MESSAGE: Jesus is THE way

To close out our series "True or False," Ben brought the truth that Jesus is THE way to God. Our culture wants to believe many paths lead to God, but Jesus says otherwise. Jesus was about loving people and he did that with his life, death, and teachings.

Is Jesus really the only way to God and Heaven? Is that unloving for Christians to say? What about other religions and their claims about God?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - Jesus is THE way.

Message Delivered: 01/31/2021

MESSAGE: God is Good

In the second week of our "True or False" series, Brennen stepped in to ask some questions about evil in the world and the goodness of God. 

Is God even good when so many bad things happen? Are bad things always going to happen? Is there any hope?

Find all that and more when you listen to this week's message - God is Good.

Message Delivered: 01/24/2021

31. Why Serving Is Important

If you've ever come to Oasis, maybe you noticed the people giving high-fives at the door or the people at the info desk, or maybe even the people behind the scenes making the coffee. Well, those people are all serving Jesus! Yep, all of them!

Do you have to serve in church? Are there bad sides of serving in church? What kind of jobs could I even do to serve?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say about you getting into the game

MESSAGE: Science and Faith

Kicking off our new series "True or False," Ben wades through the seemingly rocky relationship between science and Christianity. The two camps can feel worlds apart and look to butt heads, but are they and do they?

Does science oppose faith or is there a way the two can work together? 

Big questions are going being discussed in this series, so you should tune in to hear on this week's message - Science and Faith.

Message Delivered: 01/17/2021

30. "True or False" Sneak Peek

Starting Jan 17th, Oasis is doing a new series called "True or False"! At its core, this is an apologetics series where we seek to answer difficult questions about faith. Soooo, in this podcast, we are giving you a behind-the-scenes look as to why we chose this series!

What is apologetics? Why is it important? How have we experienced it apart from our ministry jobs? 

The three topics we will address in our series are God and Evil, Science and Faith, and World Religions.

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on defending your faith against the toughest of questions.

MESSAGE: Uncomfortable Christianity

Ben opens up the first Oasis of the year with a challenge to pursue being uncomfortable...

The American church has often simplified Christianity to only the title of Christian. However, Jesus and the Word call us to something much deeper and greater. We are called to walk with Jesus and live life as he did. This path is anything but comfortable, yet so very worth it.

What does comfortability look like in faith? Why should I be uncomfortable? How do I choose to be uncomfortable for Jesus?

Find these answers and more as you listen to this week's message - Uncomfortable Christianity.

Message Delivered: 01/10/2021 

29. Scripture Memorization

There are over 30,000 verses in the Bible that paint the picture between God and us. Out of those 30,000, some are more popular than others. Some people even memorize a chunk of those 30,000. But, should you?

When it comes to scripture memorizing, most people stop after one (John 3:16) or maybe two (Philippians 4:13) verses. While both of these are great to have in your mind, the Bible holds a lot more for us to think about.

Why is this important? Where should you start? Are they tips to help you better memorize everything you want to? 

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on "the sword" and mind tricks. 

28. New Year's Resolutions

GOODBYE 2020!! And hello, 2021. Now, for those New Year's Resolution ideas. Let's talk about that.

Why are these so emphasized in our culture? How do we approach these in a healthy and helpful way as Christians? Are there things we need to avoid or watch out for when it comes to this goal setting season? All these questions and more on this week's episode!

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on turning the calendar and changing your life.

27. Materialism

With Christmas just right around the corner, we wanted to talk about all those gifts you asked for!  Don't worry, you can still ask for them, just think about this first...

What the heck even is materialism? What does Jesus and the rest of the Bible teach about material possessions? Is there practical advice we'd give when it comes to this topic?

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on Apple products and Santa deliveries.

26. Music

Music is everywhere! So, we better talk about it.

First, we talk all about music as it plays out in the Christian walk such as musical worship! Praising Jesus is so much of what we do! Then, we move to answer some questions about other types of music. 

Should Christians listen to only Christian music? Should they listen to secular music too? Maybe, even rap??? 

Tune in to hear what the Oasis staff (Ben, Jaena, and Brennen) has to say on spitting bars with our Savior.