Refuge Church Ojai Valley

Finding Freedom from Our Vows

No matter who we are and where we come from it's likely we have made vows in our lives to try and gain control in our lives or insulate us from pain. Often, its those vows that keep us from fully giving our lives to God. When Jesus comes he exposes our vows and shows us how only he can heal our pain and only he can save us from our need to control.  

Our Story

We live in a world where we wait to be used by God because we are terrified we don't have all the answers. If we are being honest we don't see a world where God wants anything to do with us in the first place. Today we will take a look at how God takes our mess and turns into our message. Our sermon today comes from our guest speaker, Conor Le Blanc from Real Life Church in Valencia. #sermons #hope #redemption #churchplanting 

God of the Cross - "Conquering Lies"

It all started with the Lie. When Adam and Eve bought into Satan’s lie it started a cycle to our world and our lives where deceit assults us and invites us day after day. Thankfully, God did not watch this without acting. From that first lie, He put a plan into motion that would eventually expose and conquer all lies. This week we look closely at his invitation to each one of us to join him in fighting, exposing, and conquering lies. #healing #sermons #doyouwantobehealed #lies #conqueringlies

God of the Cross- "Do You Want to be Healed?"

This week, we launched a brand new series called "God of the Cross". There isn’t a person who has ever lived who hasn’t been wounded or hurt. Wounds are are a reality in our world, but they aren’t something we talk about in church much. Why? This week we will talk about our reluctance to name our wounds and will look at Jesus and see how he exposes, addresses, and heals our wounds. #healing #sermons 

Start with Prayer: "The Battle Against Temptation and Evil"

Jesus ends his teaching about prayer dealing with tempation and evil. Everyone is tempted and everyone knows there is evil in this world. Jesus agrees with this and in his prayer gives us a way to trust God in our fight against these two powerful enemies. #sermons #ojai

Start with Prayer: "Daily Bread" Part 2

Within the church walls we talk a lot about God’s forgiveness, but we don’t often talk about what that means for our true identity. When Jesus invites us to pray for our daily bread and then immediately follows it with a prayer asking for forgivness he gives us not only the truth that our God forgives but an invitation to live into a completely new identity as a forgiven child of God. #sermons 

Start with Prayer- "Daily Bread"

When we get to this part of the Lord’s prayer it seems pretty simple. Right? But is it just about food? Is there something besides physical food that we need daily and it's something that only God can provide? This week we dig deep into Jesus inviting all of us to pray “Give us today our daily bread". #prayer #sermons #church #sermonpodcast #ojai 

Start with Prayer: "In Ojai as it is in Heaven"

When Jesus teaches us to pray he also teaches us that God’s mission is active and working right now. When we follow Jesus we don’t just kill time on earth and wait for heaven, we join God in his Mission to bring His Kingdom here right now! #sermon #ojai #ojaivalley #church #churchpodcast #mission

Start With Prayer: ”Our Father”

It can be easy to slide right by the first two words that Jesus teaches us to pray with and not give it much thought, but that would be a mistake.  When Jesus says “Our Father,” he is inviting us into a revolutionary way to approach God and to see ourselves. In this message we dive deep into Jesus’ prayer instructions specifcally ask why would he tell us to begin with the words, “Our Father.” #prayer #sermon

Christmas Eve - ”God Does His Best Work in the Dark”

Darkness is a very real thing in our lives. Every day the sun goes down and every night we have to somehow deal with darkness. Outside of literal light and dark we also have to deal with ways evil and sin have hurt us or how we have hurt ourselves and others. At Christmas, God sends us a solution. He sends us his son prophesied as Light and who self proclaims to be the Light of the World. This light isn’t just a metaphor. He is a reality that comes to comfort us with mercy, expose and deal with sin and evil, and invite us towards a new destination where there will never be darkness. #christmaseve #christmassermon #christmasmessage #ojaivalley