Oakhaven Church Podcast Larry Mudd

In our Mothers' Day worship service, we explore themes from Proverbs 31:25-31 and then hear narratives of Eve, Ruth, and Mary the mother of Jesus through the voices of Oakhaven sisters. To investigate this most important of stories further, go here.

On Sunday, we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. So much changes in the universe that day, the prophet Joel uses extreme language about shifts in reality that point to God’s presence within and use of all people regardless of gender, race, age, or station. The scriptures use several metaphors in describing the Spirit to help us wrap our minds and hearts around the multiple layers of His presence, power, perspective, and our partnership with Him. He uses us long ...

The book of Hebrews begins with an “ocular feast” depicting Jesus in all His glory. It ends with a call to remember that we are called to the throne of the living God. In between are messages of encouragement and perseverance in the face of persecution and struggle. Larry shares highlights from this past week’s Harbor conference at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures.To investigate this most important of stories further, go here.

In this week's sermon we look at Mark 2:23-3:6. We see a convergence of meaning in what seems to be a simple act on the part of Jesus’ disciples: grabbing a grainy snack from a nearby field. That this happens on a Sabbath puts the Pharisees on high alert, but the exceptional precedent Jesus names as an equivalent special circumstance points to David and the beginning of his journey to kingship. Jesus claims the mantle of kingship, invokes the Son of Man from Daniel 7, and makes clear that one...

In Mark 2:13-22, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had trouble with His fraternizing with “tax collectors and sinners,” people far from the acceptable life of rigid obedience fostered by the scribes. Instead of judging these outcasts, Jesus welcomes them and joins them at the table. Food is the center of lots of religious law at the time, and Jesus' dining with the riff raff is a huge affront to the religious. When Jesus spreads the table, though, everyone is welcome. The sinners are known ...

As we continue our journey into the Gospel of Mark, we come upon the memorable story of a lame man lowered through the ceiling in order to be healed by Jesus. The doorway was too crowded to get through, and the man’s friends had faith that Jesus would heal their friend; and so they did what had to be done in order to get Him to Jesus. This story functions on so many levels when applied to our lives. We too face barriers to Jesus, whether put there by circumstance or actively erected by the en...