When Christians think of a God worthy of worship, praise, adoration, submission, service, and imitation, there are certain divine characteristics that are likely more at the top of the list than others. For example, his love, mercy, wisdom, pow

163 How to Trust More the One Worthy of All Trust

Sep 20th, 2023 25m 35s

"Trust the Lord!" "Give him your cares!" "Cast your anxieties on him!"If you've been around God's people for any amount of time you'll almost certainly have heard statements like these. On one hand, they are all very true and desirable. Many p

162 Preparing To Unveil and Understand Revelation

Sep 13th, 2023 37m 4s

If you were to poll your Christian friends as to what they thought was the most confusing, daunting, or intimidating book of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ would likely be near (or at!) the top of the list. Maybe it's because of the

161 The Spirit's Leading to Lucan

Aug 30th, 2023 22m 50s

On this episode, Andrew Longmire returns. While previously serving at Oakridge Bible Chapel as an associate pastor, Andrew has recently accepted the call to a lead pastor position at Community Bible Church in Lucan, Ontario. Fitting neatly wit

160 How To Follow the (Holy) Leader

Aug 23rd, 2023 21m 34s

Every growing Christians wants to know the will of the Lord, to be led by the Spirit, and to be used by God for his glory in the arenas in which he wants to use them. It sounds wonderful! The problem isn't usually one of motivation but of execu

159 Celebrating Holiness, Pursuing Holiness

Aug 16th, 2023 26m 39s

Sanctification is a heavy concept, but one with which every Christian must grapple because it is God's will for every Christian (1 Thes 4:3). The Bible declares that all in Christ have been sanctified, set apart, declared righteous (1 Cor 1:30)

158 Knowing Wholly the Holy Helper

Jul 5th, 2023 18m 23s

George Whitfield was an evangelist and preacher who is often credited with helping ignite the Great Awakening in the 18th-century America. He was a powerful communicator, said to be able to captivate people with his "unrivaled preaching ability

157 Living Today Like Eternal Life is True

Jun 28th, 2023 26m 15s

Speaking of his sheep, Jesus said "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. ... and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:10, 28). It is the Lord's pleasure

156 Hugging Porcupines, Serve Selflessly, and Loving As We're Loved

Jun 21st, 2023 26m 58s

When reading the fourth chapter of John's first letter, it would be tough for the author to be more clear with what he wants God's people to do: "Beloved, let us love one another" (4:7), "we also ought to love one another" (4:11), "if we love o

155 Truth Testing

Jun 14th, 2023 24m 34s

We're back in 1 John, and this time it's a warning about what can get in the way of our usefulness and our intimacy with Christ: false teaching. While it may seem a little easier to notice in the world, this is a very real problem in churches t

154 Endings and Beginnings

Jun 7th, 2023 25m 10s

After 4 weeks in the book of Joel in our corporate worship gatherings, we're finally going to take some time to talk about it. But as some things come to an end, other things are just getting ready to begin. On this episode of the podcast, Josi

153 All in the Family: A Conversation with Brett Harris

May 31st, 2023 19m 28s

As a local church grows in size, it can become increasingly difficult to actually know everyone in the community and, thus, to be blessed by everyone in the community. This is unfortunate because there are no unnecessary members (1 Corinthian

152 I Vow...

May 17th, 2023 21m 27s

Many times throughout the Bible we see people making a vow or swearing an oath—sometimes to God or before God, sometimes in the name of God. But what does it actually mean to make a vow, what was the purpose, why is it so serious, and is this s

151 All is Vanity!

May 10th, 2023 22m 5s

"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." This is the way that "the preacher" starts his exploration of life and purpose in Ecclesiastes 1. It's a fascinating, philosophical book in the middle of the Old Testament where the author wrestles through t

150 Sin: What's the Big Deal?

May 3rd, 2023 25m 37s

As Christians, we know that sin is bad, right? It's wrong, it's opposed to God, it ruins everything, and ultimately it is why Jesus had to die. But even with all that head-knowledge, it's not uncommon to find ourselves in situations where we do

149 Feeling Distant

Apr 26th, 2023 26m 42s

It's an all-too-common issue: we go through a season of suffering (or perhaps the opposite) and find ourselves feeling far from God. Maybe it feels like he's abandoned us, or muted us out, or perhaps we've been operating in our own self-suffici

148 Be on the Lookout!

Apr 19th, 2023 25m 1s

We're back in 1 John, and this week it's all about keeping our eyes open for the obstacles that get in the way of truly enjoying the light. But what does it mean to be distracted by worldliness, or to be deceived in a way that hinders our intim

147 Expectations of Easter

Apr 12th, 2023 23m 15s

Every year we have a Good Friday service and another on Easter Sunday, and, as expected, we talk about Christ's death and resurrection. But what does it look like to be on the planning end, behind the scenes every single Easter? How do we decid

146 Ministering to Children

Apr 5th, 2023 21m 41s

We were inspired today by the yells and cheers of kids in the building to take some time to talk about ministry to children. What is children's ministry? What is the biblical precedent? What does the church have to do with it all? How can non-p

145 Walk in the Light

Mar 29th, 2023 22m 27s

As we start into the meat of 1 John we quickly see that it is practical and filled with encouraging yet convicting words. In particular, as we finish chapter 1 and begin chapter 2, John calls followers of Jesus to avoid hypocrisy and live in a

144 When He Saw Him, He Felt Compassion

Mar 22nd, 2023 22m 55s

We had a special Sunday at Oakridge this week, and a special Sunday begets a special podcast. This week Andrew sat down with Dean Billings from Compassion Canada to learn a little bit more about his experiences, what drew him to working with Co

143 Eternal Yet Knowable

Mar 15th, 2023 23m 44s

It's a brand new sermon series at Oakridge as we start making our way through the book of 1 John. And while we started with only four verses this week, they certainly weren't short on content! But why 1 John, and what is so special about this o

142 Sight and Sovereignty

Mar 1st, 2023 26m 4s

We've talked about God's sovereignty before on this podcast, but understanding and appreciating it is an issue we often continue to wrestle with, especially when the going gets tough. In John 9 we meet a man who was blind from birth "so that th

141 The Office of Overseer

Feb 22nd, 2023 25m 13s

In the past year at Oakridge, we have seen four more step into the role of Elder, being commissioned to the task of leading and shepherding the flock that is this local expression of the body of Christ. But we also recognize that in the past fe

140 A Final Covenant

Feb 15th, 2023 19m 37s

While the first five covenants set the stage for God's plan for the redemption of his creation, without the final covenant, the new covenant, they would all just be logs in a fireplace waiting to be lit. The new covenant offered more than the o