Refuge Church Ojai Valley

Stir it Up

Our Guest Speaker, Zack Totten, breaks down with us what it looks like to spend time with Jesus and have a relationship with him. This is a super practical message where he lays out how to walk through a time of study and prayer in a way that actually helps us hear from God. 

Elusive Community | Kyle Costello

Community centered around Jesus is radical because it's a community that's not centered around you. Most of us say we want community, but often we want an echo chamber or a group that exists to serve our own wants. Jesus community is different; it says we really find what we need and we really serve ourselves and others when we are 100% focused on him.

Stir it up: "You Must Start Here"

For way too long, the church has been understood as a boring, sterile place. The reality is, the bible describes the church as something far different. The book of Hebrews says we are even supposed to gather so that we can stir one another up! That's right - we are supposed to meet together to encourage, cheer, applaud, and ignite one another to live a life sold out to Jesus. So what does that look like? This week we kick off our series "Stir it up" and find our starting point.

Born for Revolution - "Two Gifts Equals a Whole Lot of Grace"

From the beginning, Jesus has no interest in ever being separated from grace. From the beginning, grace is given as a gift. No one earned Him. No one deserved Him. Once he is on the scene, he shows us what grace in the flesh looks like. He fulfills the prophecy about him that says he will be a Mighty God. This means he is on a mission and nothing will stop Him. He also fulfills the prophecy that says he will be an Everlasting Father. This means he will eternally be serving, leading, and attending to His people. This Christmas, what would it mean to us if we truly received everything Jesus is? What would it mean if we trusted and said yes to Him being our everyday Mighty God and our eternal Everlasting Father? 
 
#sermons #advent #christmas #christmassermons #nativitystory

Born for Revolution - "The Burden is His"

When Jesus was born, he was born for a mission and a purpose. The Prophet Isaiah knew this and told people about this hundreds of years before Jesus’s birth. This Jesus would be monumental and one of the things he would bring with him is a completely new way to live, to love, and to worship. Don’t tolerate a tame Christmas, listen to how Jesus brings a message at Christmas that is nothing short of a revolution. 
 
#sermon #sermons #onlinechurch 

Upon this Rock

The church is important and we all need it, blemishes and all! Jesus died for her and one day he is coming back for her. But while we wait she serves as the first line of defense here on earth and she teaches us and counsels us in times of need. Thank you to Juan Fallas from Real Life Church in Valencia for bringing the word this morning!

The Greatest Way to Live

When someone tells you to be thankful or grateful how do you respond? Does it bother you? Does it feel forced? What if gratitude and thanksgiving was the key to living life well? What if God actually designed us to find joy, love, and fulfillment but that those came out of postures of gratitude? This week we celebrate a holiday on a calendar, but in reality we see that God has created us to be thankful, and at the heart of our gratitude lies our path to living life to the full.
 
#thankfulness #gratitude #sermons #thanksgivingsermon #thankfulnesssermon #church #online church

Living in the land of Glustony

Words like lust and gluttony sound like they come from long ago, but we live in a world that is soaked in both of them. Every day, every one of us is invited to indulge in both. As followers of Jesus we must be discipled well here. We must be discipled by Jesus and not tradition, popular opinion, or by what we feel. The prison of gluttony and lust is real and the only hope is found in Christ. #sermons #sermon #onlinechurch 

"I'm So Glad I'm Not Like _________" Pride and Humility

It doesn’t matter who you are, it's likely that you want to feel approved and accepted by someone or some group. It's hard wired into us as humans. For thousands of years and within thousands of cultures we have been trying to earn and prove our worthiness for approval and acceptance. When Jesus comes on the scene he solves the problem. He reveals our blindness, affirms our need, and then calls us to know an approval and acceptance that far surpases anything our minds or hands can come up with. 

He is in the Fire

What would inspire us to go against the comfort and norms of this world and choose the fire instead? This week, is an important message for the life of Refuge Church as we look at what it looks like to worship the one true God. We see how the fire refines us, and ultimately causes us to find the greatest HOPE in the one who is more than able. #trials #faith