Summer Art Classes

This summer the media ministry tried something new, we started weekly classes on different art forms to train students how to use their artistic gifting to serve at Oasis.

We asked Amber, Summer, and Wilson some questions about their summer in office.

What was the most difficult project?

W: Natural paint, mashing stuff for paint.

A: There was no blue!

S: The biggest challenge was getting used to fonts and putting them on slides.

What was the easiest project?

A: I think, they are all challenging in different ways. The easiest was… no they were all hard. Digital was easier, I’m gonna say because it was just a sketch.

W: Probably the same thing

S: Probably the thumbnails

What was your favorite project?

W: Mashing the different materials for paint.

A: The stamp made of the eraser, my bear was so cute.

S: I liked all of it, I might of been challenging but it was fun.

Favorite part of your time in office?

W: Being in this class, it was pretty fun.

A: being back for a second time, I was more comfortable being myself. I’m like wat up yo.

S: I had fun working with Jackie, doing extra stuff and hanging with the pastors.

What would you add to this class?

A: rocking chairs made out of Popsicle sticks.

W: Something having to do with splatter paint

S: I can’t thinking of anything

What will you take away from this summer?

W: Artistic abilities

A: learned that it is okay to be yourself, Because non of y’all have been rude about it.

S: Basically everything in this class. This summer I can take it and use it in the future. Special the devos we had.

Any other comments?

A: Hi!

W: We should do it again next summer!

S: I just really enjoyed the class. I want to thank everyone for letting us come taking the time to put stuff together.

Spring Interns – Final Thougths

I meet with our Spring Interns on their last week to ask a few questions about their time at Oasis… these two have brought so much joy, laughter, and energy to the church office during their time here. Here’s a glimpse into their time with us, their hearts for ministry, and there future hopes. Below K is used for Kaylee, T for Tiffany, and A for Angel Alvarado (all questions are asked by me).

What was your favorite experience while interning at Oasis?

K: “You first”

T: I really enjoyed getting to know all the people… the staff and people on Sundays… and seeing Christ in them… and working with the kids

A: Can you pick one?

T: Getting to know the people.

K: It will probably change Fri case it’s the girls event but I really loved working with the students in the Wave.

What was your least favorite experience?

K: ummmm…  when I’m thinking of the good things it’s hard to remember the bad…  idk like emptying the dishwasher

T: When it snowed and I had to get home.

K: Like when it only snowed 2 inches and we told Kameish we couldn’t get out of the parking lot and she laughed at us. (Laughing)

T: No it was another time when it started snowing while I was here and I was ok but Kameish got worried cause I had never driven in the snow and then I got a little scared.

K: Can I change my answer… I didn’t like it when Kameish had the heater on in April… I would take off my jacket and shoes and she would be like “What are you doing?” lol

Describe our team dynamic in 10 words or less.

T: Encouraging.  Unified.  Loves Christ and people.  Fun and exciting.

K: Passionate about the Bible. Family (It’s like a big family reunion with the crazy uncle… and aunt too… that’s Kameish… in a good way).

What will be the memory that will mark this internship for you?

K: Probably sitting with the middle school small group after the Gospel was presented, one of the girls said she wasn’t saved yet and we got to talk to her about salvation being a personal relationship.

T: How much everyone loves God and how they live out the Bible… I have never been in a church that was so friendly before… it has really impacted me… and how during staff devos everyone is so eternally minded.

What experience did you not get to do; you think we should add to the process?

T: It would have been nice to spend more time with the Ministry Director and learn more from her.

K: Serving in the community with the youth or church in general.

If you took over the ministry tomorrow, what would be the first thing you would change?

K: (Youth) I would try to get more involved with the schools in the county in order to invite more students to The Wave.

T: (Kids) For the lesson plans, I would probably make copies and send them out electronically (and still keep the paper ones) so that the teachers would have them sooner and when someone needs to sub in they can get the lesson quickly via email.

What will you miss most?

T: The people. Really everyone that I have met and been able to build relationships with… staff, congregation… children.

K: I’m coming back next semester but not as an intern so I guess I will miss being involved with the student ministry behind the scenes and being mentored by Kameish.

T: It stinks that right when we start to get to know everyone we have to leave…  like on Sunday I went into the Rapids and the kids came running over excited to see me.

It has been such a pleasure to work with both of these young ladies and we hope that if you were not able to get to know them you will take the opportunity to get to know our summer interns. Each semester we have interns that play a vital part in helping us serve your children and youth in both creative and practical ways.

Are you a sideliner?

Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

1 Samuel 14:6

Where are the men and women today who live like this? With boldness and surrender, courage and decisiveness… aggressively accomplishing God’s purposes here on Earth! When God tells us that he will never leave us, that promise is not meant to leave us trying to figure out God’s hidden will for every decision we make, rather, it is meant to give us a fearless boldness to seize every opportunity we can that God sends our way. Maybe things will turn out great, maybe they won’t (like Jonathan said) but if life is short (and it is) and God is waiting for us in heaven (and He is) then what a GREAT way to go out!! Daring great and small things for God!

How many of us consider the work of Christ our personal responsibility? I have a suspicion that there are far more sideliner Christians than we could ever imagine. People who look as if they’re in the game, but in reality are watching from up close. To follow Jesus is to move with God. When you become a part of God’s movement, you are a missionary.

“Every missionary has a mission. The mission gives him both intentionality and purpose. He has no minutes to waste. He is required to seize every moment that God gives him. Is it possible that God longs for this for all of us?

Maybe you’ve been afraid to get in the game because you’re afraid to lose. In the Kingdom of God, victory comes the instant you refuse to simply watch life happen and you get in the game. For too many of us, because we fear failure, we are afraid to try. Sometimes we live vicariously through the lives of others. Instead of being life voyagers, we become life voyeurs. I think it’s one of the reasons we entertain ourselves to death. We find our romance in You’ve Got Mail, and we fight our battles through William Wallace and Maximus Aurelius. And there might as well be a glass screen between real life and us because the closest we get to fulfilling our life’s dreams is watching them. We’ve accepted our place, our lot in life, as sidelines.”

When someone near us seizes his divine moment, it stirs something within us. A lifetime of passivity only makes dormant our longing for adventure. A life where endless moments are left buried in the cemetery of unfulfilled opportunities may grow cold, but not dead. Until our bodies return to dust, there will always be a voice crying out within us to move from existence to life. The possibilities that await us in each moment are fueled by the potential God has placed within us. Seizing your divine moment is not simply about opportunity; at the core it is about essence. It’s about the kind of life you live as a result of the person you are becoming. The challenges you are willing to face will rise in proportion to the character you are willing to develop. With the depth of godly character comes an intensity of godly passion. It is in this process of transformation that we find the fuel to engage with confidence the opportunities placed before us.”

Seizing Your Divine Moment

In the End, mature Christianity is realizing that WE ARE GOD’S WILL. WE are the representatives of Christ in this world. So we can dream, take action, be bold, make decisions, and God promises to empower us and to bless what we do in His name! So let’s seize these “Divine Moments” that God sends our way…maybe it’s a kind work here, or selling something to give the money to someone who just lost their job, or opening up your home, or going overseas on your first mission trip, or listening to that hurting person, etc…whatever it is, realize that most big things in the kingdom starts with small things here…or at least, what appears to be a small thing. The Word tells us to “Despise not the day of small things”. Need I remind you that the feeding of the 5,000 started with 2 loaves and some fish.

Brady N. Rose
Pastor of Mobilization

Desiring God – Pastor’s Conference 2015

Each year the Oasis Pastors take the time to travel to a Pastor’s Conference, this year they traveled to Minnesota to attend the Desiring God conference. Here an inside look at why the trip is an important one and what the Lord had for our Pastoral Team.

Pastor Bubba, why do Oasis Pastors take the venture out to Minnesota each year to attend the Desiring God conference?

Every year the Oasis pastors look forward to sharing together  a time of fellowship, prayer, brain storming, vision casting and in/depth teaching from the Scriptures with other visionary pastors and church planters from across the across the country and around the world.  It is always a time of much needed spiritual refreshment, encouragement and rest…..A Time for Refueling for our mission in Amherst County and Central Virginia!

Pastor Brady, what was the focus of this year’s Desiring God conference? And how did it impact your time there?

Where sin increased; the rebellion of man; & the abundance of grace. It addressed false teachings in churches in American today and encouraged us to realize we are more sinful that we could ever imagine and more loved than we could ever fathom.

Pastor Jonathan, what session impacted you the most? Who was the speaker and how can you apply his message?

Dr. John Piper’s session Make War: The Pastor and His People in the Battle Against Sin was the most impactful message of the conference for me. One quote in particular stuck out to me:

All human suffering, especially the suffering of the Son of God, is meant by God to portray, for dull souls like ours, the unimaginable ugliness and offensiveness of sin — That’s why God subjected the world to this horrible futility (Romans 8:20) — to make plain how ugly and offensive sin is.

I was reminded of how dim my view of sin is. Each day is given to allow us to see the wretchedness and insanity of sin specifically in our hearts. We cannot take sin seriously until we see it for what it is and we can only see it for what it is when we see it in light of God’s holiness. We cannot go into the violent war against sin without a proper view of God’s holiness. Without this view we are blind. In fact, without this view of the holiness of God we are not even fighting. I left with a renewed desperation for God to show me the ugliness and offensiveness of my sin. May the slightest bend of my heart towards self be repulsive to me as it is to God.

Pastor Steve, what was the most memorable moment of this trip?

The friendship we developed with the taxi drive who picked us up from the airport who we found out was a fellow brother in Christ. We called him later and invited him to dinner where he shared his testimony with us.

Jared, why would you consider conferences like these vital to church pastors?

Even Jesus needed times of silence and aloneness with God the Father away from the crowds and chaos. “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone” Matthew 14:23. My natural rhythm as a man is to be constantly on the go, constantly doing. Pastors especially need to “be still and know that he is God”. We must acknowledge our desperate need for him in life and ministry. Conferences and retreats are vital for pastors to deliberately carve out multiple days throughout the year to seek the face of God for vision and clarity amongst the chaos that comes with ministry.

Kameish, while the Pastoral Team was out, what did you do to get renewed and revived??

We had some much needed time of fun (nails!), relaxation (movie night!), bonding (Barnes & Noble), AND digging into the Word! Nedra took us through an introspective study on the Book of James, especially viewing ministry life through the lens of Biblical truth. I most significantly recall the correlation made between James 1:11 and 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, a reminder that any works not done purely for Christ will be burned. It was certainly a time that allowed me to refocus my energies and the priorities of my heart.”