Oaks Parish

Scripture Text: Psalm 122Bryan BuckWe apologize that the first few minutes of this sermon replay are missing, where Bryan reads from the Wall Street Journal article, “Young New Yorkers Have a New Hot Spot: Sunday Mass.”Quotes for ReflectionAnyee Bhutani, “Young New Yorkers Have a New Hot Spot: Sunday Mass, WSJ May 3, 2026 Gen Z Christians attend church more often than millennials, Gen X and baby boomers, according to the Barna Group, a firm that studies U.S. faith trends. In 2025, the typical Gen Z churchgoer attended nearly two weekends a month, the highest level since the firm began tracking, and up from around one weekend a month in 2020. Young men in particular are more interested in faith. A Gallup poll released in April found that in 2025, 42% of young men said religion is very important to them, up sharply from 28% in 2023, and overtaking young women. C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself. It is for a very different reason that religion cannot occupy the whole of life in the sense of excluding all our natural activities. For, of course, in some sense, it must occupy the whole of life. There is no question of a compromise between the claims of God and the claims of culture, or politics, or anything else. God’s claim is infinite and inexorable. You can refuse it, or you can begin to try to grant it. There is no middle way.Steven Lawson, Holman Old Testament Commentary Jerusalem was the center for justice, equity, and the reinforcement of what is right. It was the place where thrones for judgment stood, where right was rewarded and wrong was punished. It was the place where the innocent were defended and the guilty were prosecuted. Jerusalem was called the house of David because it was the royal city of Israel where David sat enthroned, presiding over the people and dispensing justice. Thus, Jerusalem was not only the central place for worship but also the site where civil judgments and legal decisions were made. It was the seat of government, the place where the king of Israel presided. Not only was the Word of God taught here, but it was reinforced here.Application Questions1. Consider your own story with the church. What’s been life-giving and what’s been discouraging? How do you explain this mix of experience? 2. Why are people in our day making a return to the church? What do you think God is up to in this movement of renewal? 3. Read Psalm 122 in an unhurried fashion. What’s one aspect that can become your prayer for the church?

Scripture Text: Exodus 15:22-27 and Matthew 17:1-23Bryan BuckQuotes for ReflectionRoss Douthout, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be ReligiousIf mind might well precede matter, and the laws of the universe indicate that some intelligence created and sustains existence, and human reason seems to have the privileged ability to unlock existence’s mysterious underlying order, and the seemingly supernatural intrudes upon the natural as often in the modern world as in the past-well, then, you, as a man or a woman trying to chart the best course through a finite lifespan, with difficult moral choices at every turn and death awaiting sooner rather than later, have every reason to take a pretty strong interest in the story you’ve found yourself inside, what part you might be asked to play in it, and how, for you and everyone, it might ultimately end. N.T. Wright, Matthew for EveryoneThe secret, of course, is that the size of the faith isn’t important; what’s important is the God in whom you believe. If you want to see the moon, the size of the window you’re looking through isn’t important; what matters is that it’s facing in the right direction. A tiny slit in the wall will do if the moon is that side of the house. A huge window facing in the wrong direction will be no good at all. That’s what true faith is like.John Calvin, The Institutes (III.2.7) Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if we call it a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.Charles Spurgeon, Sermon No. 979 “Strong Faith” Little faith will take your soul to heaven; great faith will bring heaven to your soul.Application Questions1. Reflect on a time when you experienced the nearness or power of God in a way that strengthened your faith. How did that moment sustain you in the season that followed?2. In Matthew 17, the disciples—who had previously ministered with authority—suddenly falter. What tends to contribute to your own “malfunctions of faith”? Fatigue? Self-reliance? Fear? Distraction? Unconfessed sin?3. What might God be calling you to in this season that requires deeper trust and obedience? Share this with a few others, and spend time praying together for the faith to follow where he leads.