Proverbs 31 – A Guide on Biblical Womanhood or a Universal Note on Godly Wisdom?  Having had “The Proverb’s 31 Woman” jotted down on my list of passages to further explore for some time now, I was curious about what other people thought. The reflection’s I’ve found are varied, especially in women – some feel inspired by the sheer scope of the woman’s commitment and capabilities; while others feel demoralised by a sense of personal failure in never quite reaching the wife- and motherhood standards themselves; and still others disregard her altogether as an outdated depiction of a ‘perfect Christian woman’. And what of the men, some of whom are bound to see her as the benchmark for an excellent wife, while others write her off as too precious a jewel to find?  Where do you fall? As a woman? As a man? As married? As single? It seems that often this passage is best thought of as a useful guide for women aspiring to marriage or as a tool best used in the context of women’s bible studies… but is this all that we are meant to glean from Proverbs

In Exile  Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in? Maybe all your friends are really into running. And it’s all they talk about. And none of it sounds remotely fun to you. Getting up before the sun? Getting all sweaty? Losing your toe nails? Needing to carefully schedule your toilet visits? No way! Maybe you’ve even quoted Proverbs 21:1 to them. You know the one about ‘only the wicked flee when no one pursues.’    But seriously, it doesn’t feel great to not fit in. And as Christians we can often feel this way. Like we just can’t relate to this world. Like we’re walking a different path. Like we don’t really belong here. And maybe that’s because we don’t.  In the opening verse of 1 Peter, Peter addresses his letter ‘to those who are elect exiles…..’ That’s us. We are in exile, living in a land that is not our home. No

Story Behind the Song: O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus  This Sunday we are singing a hymn I haven’t heard or sung for a long, long time. As soon as I started reading the words again, I was reminded just how rich they are. They’re packed with truth, drawing our hearts to reflect on the greatest love we will ever know: the deep, deep love of Jesus. Even better, these beautiful lyrics are paired with the well known tune Ebenezer, making it a hymn that’s both theologically rich and easy to sing.  Much can be said about this poem, which later became a hymn. Research reveals that the writer was Samuel Trevor Francis (1834-1925), an English businessman, lay preacher, poet, and hymn writer (what a resume!) While many modern retellings claim he battled depression and wrote this poem following a dramatic personal experience, there is little historical

Why Do We Serve?  Every Sunday, something remarkable happens at Oasis. Before many of us arrive, people are already here. Coffee is being made. Musicians are rehearsing. Kids rooms are being prepared. Sound systems are being switched on. Welcome teams are ready at the doors. After the service finishes, people stay behind. They stack chairs, wash dishes, pray with others, clean up, and lock up.  And that's just Sunday! Across our church, almost 290 people are serving on a team in some capacity—nearly half of our adult church family.  But why? Why serve? Why give up evenings? Why arrive early? Why stay late? Wouldn’t life be easier if we didn’t serve?  The Bible gives us at least three reasons why we serve.  We Serve Because God Has Served Us The most important reason we serve is simple: we

Remembering God’s Faithfulness in Unfruitful Times Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. Habakkuk 3:17-19, ESV How often have you wondered whether God is really faithful? Is He really in control? Can I really trust Him? Having doubts like this is not uncommon. When we are stuck in the rut, in times of hardship or sorrow, and

Reflections on Spiritual Disciplines  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy. (2 Timothy 3:2)  Hi! My name is Josh, and I am one of the interns here at Oasis Church this year. In my time as an intern, my mentor, John Hoogenhout, and I have been reading an amazing book by Richard Foster called The Celebration of Discipline, and I wanted to talk about a particular part in the early chapters that speaks to our daily attitude toward resisting sin and living out our Christian walk.   I think we can all agree that it’s a common cycle for some of us, if not all of us, to go through a great season with God, where we are praying as much as we can, attending church every Sunday, and reading our Bibles every day. We feel the love of God in full force through blessings and life generally going well for us. While all this is well and good, and I think we should be practising these things regularly, we

Slow to remember and quick to forget  Do you have a good memory? How are you at remembering your wedding anniversary (that’s important)? Your mum’s birthday (that’s possibly even more important!)? Do you remember your first day of school? Or the first time you saw the ocean?   My husband has a ridiculously good memory. Well maybe I should rephrase that. He is very good at remembering lots of seemingly random bits of trivia, especially if it’s to do with sport, music, flags or planes. He’s not so good at remembering where his keys are.   I have a terrible memory. And I don’t just mean I forget dates, or grocery items (even when they’re written on the list right in front of me!) or who I was just about to message (with phone already in hand).   I am so forgetful when it comes to remembering God’s faithfulness and goodness to me. Oh, how quickly I

Our Children and the Lord’s Supper  Last Sunday, as part of our series through 1 Corinthians, we came to 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, which explores the Lord’s Supper in detail; what it is, why it matters and how we should participate. Towards the end of the sermon, I spoke directly to parents to address the question of our children and the Lord’s Supper. Specifically, how do they fit in and can they participate?  We believe that the children of believers are part of the covenant community and therefore, they should be active participants in the life of the church and its means of grace. One of the church’s means of grace is the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. In recent years, our denomination (the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia) made the decision to remove any age limit for participation in the Lord’s Supper.   The following guidelines are offered to parents to