Oakdale Community Church - West St. Paul

07/13/2008 “Bathed In Forgiveness” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Luke 7:36-50

SUMMARY:    A woman interrupts a feast at a Pharisee’s house to thank Jesus for the love and forgiveness he has shown her.

APPLICATION:  This woman is overwhelmed that forgiveness has been given her.  How overwhelmed are we for the forgiveness that God has given us through Christ?

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07/6/2008 “A Biblical Look at Freedom” - Pastor Dan Vesta

SUMMARY:    An overview at some of the Biblical perspectives on freedom.

APPLICATION:  We celebrate freedom as a country.  But what does freedom mean in Biblical times?  We take a look at some of the Bible’s key words on the subject, and what they mean in the real world.

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06/29/2008 “A Compassionate Christ” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Luke 7:11-17

SUMMARY:    Interrupting the funeral of a widow’s son, Jesus brings the young man back to life, restoring him to his mother.

APPLICATION:  Two aspects of Christ are on display here — the greatness of his power, and the infinite depth of his compassion.  Do we have that same measure of empathy, of compassion, as we confront the world around us?  If we claim to represent Christ, then we claim to represent his character.

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06/22/2008 “An Unexpected Faith” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 8:5-13

SUMMARY:    A Roman centurion displays an amazing understanding of the kind of faith that Jesus is teaching

APPLICATION:  While this story is, on the one hand, a story of one man’s faith in Christ, it is also the story of Christ’s example of loving “outside the box,” outside the bounds of normal cultural standards, all to connect this man to God, and to remind us all that God’s love (and his plan of salvation) is for all people.

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06/15/2008 “Closing Argument” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 5-7

SUMMARY:    We conclude our study of the Sermon on the Mount by reviewing the keys to membership in the kingdom of God.

APPLICATION:  The Sermon on the Mount laid the groundwork for all that Christ would represent, teach and live out by example.  It is no less foundational today, and the key to how the church needs to represent him to the world in which we live.  If we claim the kingdom of heaven, this is what our churches and our lives must look like.

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06/08/2008 “The Only Way To Live” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 7:13-23

SUMMARY:    Jesus Christ winds up the Sermon on the Mount with the point that there is only way to come to God.

APPLICATION:  The pluralistic society in which we live proclaims that all lifestyles lead to God.  Biblical Christianity points to Christ’s words to the contrary, declaring in no uncertain terms there is only one way in which to please the Father.  The tragedy is found in the world’s missing what God has lovingly, freely provided in Jesus Christ.

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06/01/2008 “A Golden Rule, A Priceless Impact” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 7:12

SUMMARY:    The “golden rule” is a foundational principle in the kingdom of God.

APPLICATION:  It is the love expressed by the “golden rule” that is one of the great distinctives of the Christian faith.  It is also one of the greatest challenges of the Christian faith.  For the church to impact the world, it must reflect Christ.  That begins with love.

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05/25/2008 “Basking In Asking” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 7:7-11

SUMMARY:    Jesus encourages us to ask God for whatever we need.

APPLICATION:  Asking God through prayer is also a trust statement, a reflection of who and what we believe him to be.  Jesus gives us the portrait of a good Father, loving us perfectly and responding to us out of that love.

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05/11/2008 “Here Comes The Judge” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 7:1-5

SUMMARY:    Jesus gives us the command not to judge one another.

APPLICATION:  None of us are in any position to judge one another, according to Christ, but each one of us have our own issues which make us imperfect.  Judging divides, while the great message of Christ to his church is to come together in his love.

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05/04/2008 “Secure Investment” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 6:19-34

SUMMARY:    What God offers to us when our lives are given to him.

APPLICATION:  Living life in anxiousness is nothing new.  Christ offers to change that, based on living life in relationship with God.  He refocuses his audience (and us) not on ourselves, but on the God who loves us.

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04/27/2008 “For My Next Trick” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 6:1-18

SUMMARY:  Examples Christ gives for what the life pleasing to God does NOT look like.

APPLICATION:  Life is to be lived from the basis of a heart seeking to please God, not an outward performance seeking to please man.

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04/20/2008 “Inside Out” - Pastor Dan Vesta

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04/13/2008 “The Main Ingredients” - Pastor Dan Vesta

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04/06/2008 “Beautiful Blessings” - Pastor Dan Vesta

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03/30/2008 “The Wisdom Of His Words” - Pastor Dan Vesta

APPLICATION:  Christ’s teachings are not simply a body of knowledge, but words designed to be put into practice in our everyday lives.

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03/23/2008 “Facing The Facts” - Pastor Dan Vesta

APPLICATION:  Anyone can say they are God.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most significant event in human history because it proves his claims to deity, and it is the foundation upon which Christianity itself is built.  If there is no resurrection, Christianity is just another false road to God.

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03/21/2008 “Crossroads” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Luke 23:35-49

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03/16/2008 “Getting Exactly What He Deserves” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 21:1-17, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, John 12:12-19

SUMMARY:    A look at some key words, phrases and pictures from Christ’s Triumphal Entry.

APPLICATION:  Christ’s triumphal entry is a moment of celebration for the church — and it was when it happened, too.  What did the people of Jerusalem understand was happening?  What were they shouting at the Lord?  What did that moment mean to them?

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03/09/2008 “Starting Lineup” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-16

SUMMARY:    A look at the men who became Jesus’ disciples.

APPLICATION:  The disciples may have looked ordinary to us, but they were perfect in Christ’s eyes.  Sometimes we may see ourselves as awfully ordinary as well, yet we need to understand that Christ may see us as indispensably perfect for his plans.  It’s not what we are in ourselves, but what we can become in him.

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03/02/2008 “How Are We Alike?” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6, Luke 6:6-11

SUMMARY:    Jesus, in healing a man with a withered hand, confronts Pharasaic concepts of sin.

APPLICATION:  Our concepts of sin has often been used as a means of separating people from the grace and mercy of Christ.  We are ALL sinners, and ALL in need of the same grace offered us in the person of Jesus Christ.

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02/24/2008 “Do You Want To Get Well?” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Luke 5:1-9

SUMMARY:  Jesus heals a man who had been an invalid for 38 years.

APPLICATION:  Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to get well,” a seemingly silly question in view of his condition.  Yet we often put conditions on what following Christ is going to cost us.  So, how fully do we want Christ to take our lives?

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02/17/2008 “Party Hearty” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Luke 5:27 - 32

SUMMARY:    Matthew is called away from his life as a tax collector to follow Jesus.  He later gives a banquet for Jesus that both attracts people to Christ and draw complaints about Christ.

APPLICATION:  Matthew found a new purpose for life when he began to follow Jesus, so he shared Christ with those around him.  That is one of the most basic purposes of the Christian life — to share Christ with those around us.  Do our lives translate how incredibly important Jesus Christ is?  Is Jesus Christ simply one option on a religious menu, or he is very genuinely the only option for eternal life?  How we feel about him immediately translates into how we share him.

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02/3/2008 “The Great Physician” - Pastor Dan Vesta

SUMMARY:    Jesus demonstrates his authority and power in the physical world by healing a great many people in a great many circumstances.

APPLICATION:  There are a great many things we can learn from Christ’s healing ministry — like the love for others that Christ showed, and the passion to bring people to Jesus, that they could experience his healing.

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01/27/2008 “Screamin’ Demon” - Pastor Dan Vesta

Luke 4:31 - 37

SUMMARY: Jesus demonstrates his authority by freeing a demon-possessed man.

APPLICATION: It is God — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit — whose power is limitless. Satan, for all he can do, is the one who is limited.

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