Oasis Church Birmingham: Talks

In the next part of our series exploring the Gospel of John, Alice takes us through chapter 10, highlighting two of Jesus's famous "I Am" statements - "I am the Good Shepherd", and "I am the Gate". What does it mean to follow Jesus in the light of these revelations about who He is? The reading this week is from the NIV recordings by GANATLEBA TV on Youtube, as our live version didn't record properly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn13W7EBV9M

In the next part of our series exploring the Gospel of John, Adrian explores the story of the man born blind - again forming part of an extended series of dialogue and events at the Festival of Tabernacles. Together, we look at what it is to "see" Jesus, and how that seeing is to transform our life and the lives of those around us.

In the next part of our series exploring the Gospel of John, David takes us through another of Jesus's interactions at a key Jewish festival. In particular, we look at the spotlight that falls upon a woman caught in adultery,upon Jesus himself, upon all of humanity, and upon us.

In the latest part of our series exploring the Gospel of John, Adrian walks us through Chapter 7. Together, we see the invitation that Jesus offers - an invitation to all who are thirsty to come and drink - and the depth of that when considered in the light of Israel's history and their annual Festivals.

In the latest part of our series exploring the gospel of John, Mike tackles Chapter 6 - one of the longest passages in the book, and one of the most complex! As we explore together the miracles of the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus's walking on the water, we see how they lead to his incredible claim "I am the Bread of Life", and what that means for us.

In the latest part of our series exploring the Gospel of John, Rich takes us through Chapter 5 - which features an incredible healing followed by a complicated conversation! Within it, we see that John is wanting us to get hold of not just what Jesus does, but who He says He is, and the evidence He gives to support that. Ultimately, whilst others will later judge him and condemn him to death, He is the just judge who has the last word, bringing justice, freedom, and life that is available to all.

Adrian continues our series in the gospel of John as we explore Jesus's interaction with a Samaritan woman at a well. Together we unpack some of the cultural context that makes this encounter so significant, and the radical call that Jesus has for us to live lives that are "wells" for everyone to come and encounter him.

After a break over Christmas and the New Year, Mike picks up our series exploring the Gospel of John once again. This time, we look at the interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus - a passage that contains one of the most famous verses in the whole Bible, John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life". We also go deeper into the phrase "born again" or "born from above", exploring it's origins in the Old Testament, and what it means to find new life in Jesus.

Adrian shares about our vision for this coming year: The Well. A WELL TO ENJOY John 4:14 - Jesus answered "whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Personally | Together A WELL TO SHARE John 4:39 - “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” Alpha | South Street | 20:20 – 20 acts that demonstrate Jesus QUOTE “There is an old tradition on large Australian ranches located on often-dry land that there are two ways of keeping cattle on the ranch. One is to build a fence; the other is to dig a well. What a gift it might be to a world that has become increasingly polarised and politicised if the church would be utterly committed to Jesus as our centre. No fences to keep others out, just the life-giving water of Jesus, drawing people ever closer to his presence” - John Ortberg

In our first message of 2020, Adrian explores what Jesus means when he promises us "life to the full" - highlighting the life we have in him that we are to receive daily.

A poem by Rich Bowpitt, performed at the Oasis Church Christmas Eve Communion Service in 2019. ----- Into the night, light. A universe stirred by a word heard across the ages. Home’s life outgoing to overflowing, galaxies growing and showing the love they’ve been knowing. Big bang bursting into brilliant brightness and birthing billions of beings. Into the night, light. Creator crafts from cosmic chaos, home honed from formless to flawless, from empty to plenty, from mess to finesse; an extravagant excess to confess the kindness of this kind of God. Into the night, light. From the triune comes a garden in bloom, bride and groom with room to roam and rest and reign; just refrain from tasting that tree. Slippery serpent softly suggests the word that conferred had been misheard. Man concurred, lines blurred, fruit preferred. Judgement incurred. Home deferred. Out of the light, night. Home deferred, but God undeterred. A word heard across the ages echoes again: He’s coming. He’s coming. Look for sig

In the final part of our three-week mini-series exploring the season of advent, Mike and Jean consider what it is to live knowing "home coming". What does the reality that Jesus will return to renew and restore everything mean for how we are to live now? How do we live in the "now and not yet", the "here and the near" of the kingdom?

A poem by Emma Knight, performed at the Oasis Church Evening Carol Service in 2019. ----- Home. Sorry, there's no room There's not enough to go around you see So please stop knocking on our doors Let go of the oars. I suppose you can come in for a bit But don't talk about this, this and this. There's too much going on right now I'm not sure if you'll fit. Can't you read? The sign says ‘No Room’ Not for you. This is our home. A baby cries below the night sky The sky he flung the stars into A baby lies in a manger In a room he doesn’t belong to In a room he's welcomed home to Because this thing about the manger And forgive me because it gets a little stranger Is that it’s not on the outside or outskirts As the story we’ve been told and retold But there’s so much more to behold For the manger lies at the centre of the home A place to behold To make room for and gather around. For whilst we hear there was no room in the inn Bar humbug what a way for life to begin What that meant was that they had to make ro

In the second part of our 2019 Advent series, Rich explores the theme of "Home Revealed". Together we track the idea of home through the Old Testament and see how it comes to its fulfilment in Jesus, before exploring how we are to respond with "action while waiting" in the now.

As we head towards the Christmas season, Adrian kicks off a three-week mini-series exploring advent - the time of waiting and preparation that looks back at Jesus's coming and looks forward to His return. In this first week, we "stare down the darkness", seeing how our world is crying out for the true home that Jesus comes to bring.

A few weeks into our new series in the Gospel of John, we pause to hear seven stories of what it looks like to seek to live lives that are "all about Jesus". None of us get this totally right, and all of us are a work in progress, but as we seek to centre our lives on Him, we find that He is enough for whatever situations we are facing. In this podcast, we hear stories from Vince, Alice, Theo, Emily, Anna, Janet and Tom.

In the next part of our series exploring Jesus in the Gospel of John, Mike takes us through Jesus's cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem - overturning tables and driving out the money changers. He tracks the history of the temple through the Old Testament, showing why this was such a radical act, and asks what tables might need to be overturned in our lives and our society as we seek to now live as temples of the Holy Spirit.

In the fifth part of our series exploring the Gospel of John, Adrian looks at the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. This is the first of Jesus's "signs" - seven miracles placed within the gospel that are all leading us to his resurrection; the seventh sign. In it, we see a portrait of God's generous abundance, His eternally loving character, and the magnitude of what He has achieved by His life, death and resurrection.

In the fourth part of our series exploring the Gospel of John, Sarah takes us through the calling of the first disciples, and what we can learn from that encounter about the kind of disciples that we are to be.

In the third part of our series exploring the Gospel of John, Adrian introduces us to John the Baptist - a man who chooses to define himself not by who he is, but by who he is pointing to...Jesus. As we meet him, we see how Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Dove, and the Son, and what that means for how we are to respond to him today.