Blue Oaks Church Weekend Services

This message is about the importance of an authoritative warning. We learn from Paul that one of the great tests of health and maturity in a church is appropriate, effective confrontation without judgment, superiority or spiritual pride; and the ability to receive it openly without getting defensive. When confrontation is offered in the right spirit, at the right time, in the right way, it’s an expression of love. We will learn four critical aspects of confrontation from Titus 1:10-16. Next The post The Importance of a Warning appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

This is week one of a four part series in the Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus, where he teaches Titus about becoming a church of irresistible influence. Titus is really one of the most profound books of the Bible to help us understand what makes churches healthy and strong. This week we look at what spiritual influence is, how we can have it in our community, and the standard God holds spiritual leaders to. Next Steps I will seek to The post The Power of Influence appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

In the second half of this story Jesus focuses on the older brother. You will either identify with the prodigal son or you will identify with the older brother, who didn’t share his father’s joy at his brother’s return. In this message we’ll look at the resentment, complaints and spirit of judgment from the older brother. God longs for a church where prodigal sons can come home, and people inside the church embrace them. Next Steps I will let go The post Find Freedom From Resentment appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

The prodigal son is one of the most famous stories Jesus ever told. In this two part series you will learn more about the character and heart of the father than the rebellion of the son. Jesus compares the father in the story to the heart of God the Father. The father’s response reflects the heart of God toward you. In this first week we will look at the father’s reaction to the prodigal’s actions, and how similarly God allows The post Come Home to the Father appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

The deep down dark is the place you get to when you’re stuck. It’s when you realize human sufficiency isn’t going to cut it. It’s the place you realize, “I need God.” In the book Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is in Nazi-occupied Germany with a little underground crew of guys, and they discover, in danger and risk, an intensity of community they never knew when they were safe. Someone struggles with addiction, or gets cancer, or suffers a loss, or The post Community in the Deep Down Dark appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

The words, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” are quite familiar. However, in this message we focus on words that maybe you didn’t realize are in the Bible, “Rebuke your neighbor frankly.” We will talk about why you need to rebuke your neighbor frankly and how to do it. There’s a terrific book called Crucial Conversations, and it really gets at the need to do what the writer of Scripture describes as rebuking your neighbor frankly. The idea is in any The post Crucial Conversations appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

For some people, relational breakdown is a source of constant, unrelenting pain. Maybe you have a treasured friendship that has been scarred. Maybe you have a brother or sister with whom you are no longer speaking. Maybe you have a son or daughter, or mother or father, and where there ought to be bonds of love, there is this gaping wound or distance between you. There is no pain in the world like the pain of relational breakdown. That’s why The post Relational Breakdown appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

The number one resource God generally uses to grow you, to make you better, to shape you and mold you, is people. So it’s important to ask, “Am I in community? Am I in relationship with some people who will evoke my best self, who will help me grow in ways God really wants?” About 2,000 years ago, Jesus started his first small group. He chose 12 people to be in it. In this message we look at why each The post Life Is Better Together appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

The Blue Oaks vision for the Next Generation is that young people would grow in their faith, return every Sunday, and are excited to invite their friends. By the time a student graduates High School, they are fully integrated into the life of Blue Oaks through serving, worshipping, and committed to their personal spiritual growth. Parents view Blue Oaks as a vital partner in the development of their kids. How do we do that? Find out this Sunday! NEXT STEPS The post NextGen appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

God generously gives gifts, talents, and abilities to his followers. And we have a responsibility to be productive with those gifts. God is good to us by the gifts he gives, but he expects us to be accountable for how we use them. And nothing will compare to what we have coming to us because we are wise in how we use the gifts God has given to us. Next Steps I will not compare my gifts to others. I The post Get In The Game appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

Throughout the Bible, water is used by God to bring about new beginnings. From the creation account to the story of the Israelites and into the church’s history, we see God leading His people safely through water, away from what held them captive to a new beginning. He established a pattern of redemption that would ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus and demonstrated in our lives through water baptism. This Sunday we see how baptism connects us to a bigger story, The post The Waters of Baptism appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

This week we look at one of the most powerful aspects of learning to live a Christ-centered life. We’ll look at eight more spiritual gifts that are given to us by the Holy Spirit that enable us to do remarkable things for God in the church. In Ephesians, Paul writes that the reason God has given spiritual gifts to us is so that the Body, or the church, may be built up and strong. That’s a significant purpose for spiritual The post Serve According to Your Giftedness Part 2 appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

What we talk about the next two weeks is possibly one of the most powerful aspects of learning to live a Christ-centered life. We’re going to look at the spiritual gifts that are given to us by the Holy Spirit that enable us to do remarkable things for God in the church. In Ephesians, Paul writes that the reason God has given spiritual gifts to us is so that the Body, or the church, may be built up and strong. The post Serve According to Your Giftedness appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

There’s a fundamental truth about the church, and that is: the church will always frustrate you if you approach it as a consumer who is trying to get something back from it. That’s why the writers of Scripture describe the church as a community of servants. In this message we will look at the reasons we are to serve, including: God created you to serve. God called you to serve. God gifted you to serve. God changes you when you The post Get Your Hands Dirty appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

Do you face a mountain in your life today? A mountain of fear? A mountain of failure? A mountain of guilt? A mountain of opposition? A mountain of brokenness? “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for The post Mountain Moving Prayer appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth because they had been abusing the Lord’s supper. There were divisions within that church. Instead of it being a celebration of the unity of the body, Communion had become a fractious thing. It had turned into the Haves versus the Have-nots. It had become an act of dismembering the body of Christ. Paul wanted to bring them back to the essential heart of what Communion is about. Join us this week The post Remember appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

Have you ever known someone who knew a lot about the Bible but was not very loving? Biblical teaching is one of our core values at Blue Oaks. We believe the authentic, Spirit-led teaching of God’s Word is the catalyst for life transformation. The purpose of biblical teaching is not just to inform people. It’s not just to have people who are real smart about the Bible, although it’s necessary and important to be informed deeply about the Bible. But The post Learning To Be Formed Spiritually appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

To start this series we looked at signs of spiritual health from Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” This week we focus in on the importance of devoting ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the Word of God. We will look at how the early church was transformed by the Word of God, and then look very practically at how we can be transformed by it The post Devoted To The Word appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

What is the most important thing in your life; relationships, career, your health, or faith? What often doesn’t make a list is your legacy. Legacy is the story of your life that lives beyond you, and everyone is in the process of creating and leaving a legacy. The question is not, “Will you leave one?” but “What kind of legacy will you leave?” It’s what we’ll talk about this Sunday. NEXT STEPS I will check my focus in light of The post Living Your Legacy appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.

Never before has there been a day or a culture in which fathers have faced greater obstacles than in our day. It has never been more difficult to be a good father than it is now. Look at our culture and you’ll see evidence of this everywhere. The crisis is not just that there is an absence of fathers, it’s that there is an absence of a belief in the importance and nature of fatherhood. So this Father’s Day we The post Fatherhood Myths appeared first on Blue Oaks Church - Pleasanton, CA.