TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - The Delight of Fresh Vision
Our relationship with Christ completely changes our perspective and vision of the world, but have you ever imagined God’s vision of you? Each one of us is a unique and fresh vision created with purpose, love, and care. Do you delight in the vision God created you as?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Comfort Abounds
Our Spark 3 Retreat was fantastic! God worked in and through everyone who attended and 18 teens decided to follow Christ and to make Him their Savior. I hope you will join me in praying for the seeds that have been planted to sprout and thrive. Their act of faith and choice to enter into a relationship is now a marker in their walk with the Lord. What is your story and how can you show the love and comfort of God to others?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - An Unexpected Solution for Stress
Between work responsibilities, family commitments, spending time with friends, or serving in your community or church, life is never dull. Our complicated and busy schedules can be stressful, but Jesus invites us to take up the yoke of our life alongside Him so that we are never alone or burdened by our experiences.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - A Good Sabbath
Has the unexpected caught you off-guard or given you the initial reaction of disappointment? That was my initial reaction to the postponement of our Spark 3 Retreat due to over 4 feet of snow. But knowing that God's plan is the best, I am grateful that despite these delays, our speaker, worship team, and 19 out of 21 volunteer are willing, able, and excited to serve 300+ teens from March 10-12. Is there somewhere in your life where you might be overlooking God's design and plan for your life? Let's discover how practicing the Sabbath can help us discover these areas in our lives.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Cultivating Hope and Confidence: Psalm 71
Our Spark 3 Retreat is this weekend and in addition to over 310 people joining us, we are expecting 1-2 feet of snow! While this weather prediction is a surprise, we are placing our hope and confidence in the Lord and know that despite the changing weather, He remains constant and ever-present beside us.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Hardship as an Opportunity for Grace
Jesus is the light of the world, which means that our world is darkness. A night where we can not work unless we have light to see what we are doing. Can you see Jesus' light and the good work He has done?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - The Wisdom of Peace, Contentment, and Simplicity
As we prepare to speak into the lives of 300 urban teens and leaders, I am super excited to have them learn how to apply Proverbs to their life in our "Be Yoda!" seminar, however, for those of us in the second half of our lives, the wisdom in Ecclesiastes is often more relevant. See if you agree
February Newsletter
Hear how Jenny’s dream to bring her students to camp was fulfilled last year and has grown this year, plus how God has provided for this retreat. Learn how many weeks we will offer in the summer, and what our new charity rating for CANDID is!
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Psalm 95: Gratitude in God’s Presence
No matter how the first month of 2023 has turned out for you, the abundance of God's kingdom is all around us. Maybe it is hard to see in this season, but even the small graces of God are a victory. Isn't that empowering? Let's praise and thank the Lord together as we observe, investigate, and identify the glory that surrounds us.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Obedience: An Unexpected Path to Freedom
Obedience is not always the easiest behavior to emulate. It can feel restricting and frustrating, but the reality is it frees us. If we trust God, our Creator who has our best intentions in mind, we are able to depend and love Him more every day we choose to obey Him.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Following Christ's Unhurried Way
As disciples of Christ we are called to do God's work, speak His words, and follow His way. We know His work and words, but what about His way? The first adjective that comes to mind probably is not unhurried, but today we discover just how Jesus encourages us to withdraw and learn the His unhurried rhythm.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Love and Presence Are Central to Life
Living in the information age can cause us stress and anxiety. There can be many things for us to do in response to the chaos, but what if we focused on what we could be instead? Could becoming more loving and present through Christ help relieve not only our stress and anxiety caused by the chaos, but relieve the chaos itself?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - The Gift of Scripture
My relationship with Scripture varies throughout the year. This year I really dug into an advent devotional. It was refreshing. Also, about every three years, I switch my translation to keep helping me see the Scriptures in a fresh way. I also like changing my way of digesting the Scriptures. I most enjoy the S.O.A.P. method of journaling from The Divine Mentor by Cordiero, but also enjoy the headier Tabletalk devotional from Ligonier ministries in certain seasons. What is your relationship right now? Are you ready for something fresh in the New Year?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Kindness: An Engine for Change
With the New Year right around the corner many of us are developing new goals and strategies about how we want to improve for 2023. But what is driving the development of your goals? Is it a critical eye of yourself or God's kindness that shines a light on a potential change?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
With Christmas right around the corner it has been a whirlwind of a month. While the hustle and bustle of the holidays brings anticipation for fun holiday gatherings and time with family, the hustle and bustle on top of all of the regular business can be exhausting. Has the hurry of the holidays been wearing on you or pulling you away rather the closer to Christ? Let's look at how the hurries of the holidays can impact our spiritual health.
End of Year Update from Sean
Sean McFeely, Executive Director of Oasis Minsitry Ventures, shares the year in review and a look ahead to 2023. Thank you to everyone who made this first year of active ministry possible coming out of COVID. We saw over 100 sparks of faith ignited. Please text 'OMV' to (661) 465-3637 to keep informed | get involved.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Light Has Come to the World
My wife and youngest daughter have recently been watching the newest season of The Crown on Netflix. One of the episodes captures the Queen's sorrow for not only failing her family, but her sorrow in how this failure impacted the nation as a whole. She expresses this tragedy of a year, though her Ruby Jubilee, as annus horribilis, a horrible year. Has your year been an annus horribilis instead of a Ruby Jubilee? We are reminded today that no matter what our emotion, circumstance, or feelings, that God knows us and he sees us. He is waiting with open arms. Will you run into them?
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Why Wait?
In this holiday season we are drawn closer to Christ through our reflections of the Christmas Miracle, the fulfillment of God's prophecy, and the hope of salvation found in the manger. In the Christmas story the wait is over, Christ is here to save all of humanity! When the wait is over, we feel inspired, we have hope, but when we are waiting how do we find the same joy and hope?
December Newsletter
What we have done together with God's grace and provision is frankly incredible - bringing a camp ministry back to life coming out of COVID! To see over 100 sparks of faith ignited is even more amazing. We are excited as we look to 2023.
TAKE FIVE | Mini-Retreat - Choosing Better Stories
This year 4.5 million Americans traveled to celebrated Thanksgiving. Most of the time when we think of Thanksgiving we think of the good food and happy times shared with family, but we know that families aren't perfect and travel can be difficult. With these conflicting experiences, we are posed with a choice, do we focus on the challenges of the day, or do we celebrate that small moments of joy and victory? What story will you tell today?