Oasis: College & Young Adult Ministry

The second week of the “Last Words” series focuses on Jesus’ final words in the Gospel of Mark, revealing the depth and purpose of His suffering on the cross. Centered on His cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, the passage highlights not only the physical pain Jesus endured, but the emotional, relational, and spiritual weight He carried in fulfilling His mission. By echoing Psalm 22, Jesus’ words connect His present suffering to God’s redemptive plan, showing that even in apparent abandonment, God’s purposes are being accomplished. Ultimately, these final words are not just an expression of anguish, but a declaration of fulfillment—revealing that through His suffering, Jesus has secured victory and made a way for redemption for all people. Note Guide: https://gpw.churchcenter.com/episodes/654416/notes

This week of the “Don’t Be Dumb” series explores Speaking & Silence, revealing that both our words and our restraint carry the power to bring life or death. Drawing from Proverbs and the life of Jesus during Holy Week, the message shows that wisdom is not just about what we say, but when we speak and when we remain silent. Careless words can wound deeply, while wise restraint can prevent harm and create space for truth, healing, and restoration. Jesus models both—speaking boldly when truth is needed and remaining silent when words would only fuel conflict—demonstrating that both speech and silence must flow from a transformed heart. Ultimately, through His death and resurrection, Jesus redeems our failures in both, inviting us to live with intentionality so that our words and our silence reflect His life-giving grace. Note Guide: https://gpw.churchcenter.com/episodes/630874/notes

In this standalone sermon, Pastor Jacob Engen teaches on God’s heart for all nations and our role in sharing the gospel with the world. Grounded in passages like Romans 10 and the Great Commission, he emphasizes that a barrier to people believing in Jesus is their access to hear about Him. The responsibility to share the gospel has been entrusted to Jesus' followers. With billions still unreached, the call is both global and personal: to pray for the nations, to engage the diverse people around us, and to go wherever God leads, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Whether across the world or in our own community, missions is not optional but central to God’s plan, inviting us to participate in His work of bringing people from every nation, tribe, and language into His kingdom. Note Guide: https://gpw.churchcenter.com/episodes/630872/notes

The third week of the “Don’t Be Dumb” series focuses on Generosity, revealing that money is not just a resource but a powerful competitor for our hearts. Through Jesus’ teaching in Mark 12, the message contrasts outward generosity with inward surrender, showing that God values not the amount we give but the sacrifice and trust behind it. While the wealthy gave from abundance for recognition, the widow gave everything in quiet dependence on God, illustrating that true generosity is an act of faith, not finance. Ultimately, the call is not about giving more money, but about trusting God more deeply—choosing Him over security, control, or status. In this way, generosity becomes a pathway to freedom, where surrendering our resources leads to a life shaped by trust, not by what we have or lack. Note Guide: https://gpw.churchcenter.com/episodes/626890/notes

The opening week of the “Don’t Be Dumb” series centers on Community as the space where we both receive and are transformed by God’s grace. Drawing from Proverbs, it reframes community as something we are given—not chosen—calling us to steward a wide web of relationships that shape who we become. Like Jesus, who invested deeply in a few while still engaging the crowds, we are formed through influence, sharpened through relational friction, and healed through honest, loving conversations. Rather than avoiding tension or chasing idealized friendships, wisdom invites us to remain present, committed, and faithful—especially in adversity. In this way, community becomes a living reflection of God’s love, where His grace forms us and flows through us to others. Note Guide: https://gpw.churchcenter.com/episodes/616942/notes

Week 3 of the series " Beneath the Surface", contrasts the destructive power of shame with the redemptive purpose of conviction, showing that shame tells us we are wrong while conviction lovingly reveals that something we did was wrong and invites us toward life with Jesus. Through John 8 and the story of the woman caught in adultery, we see how Jesus responds to both self-righteous religious leaders and exposed sinners with conviction—not condemnation—offering freedom, honesty, and transformation. Shame isolates, distorts identity, and drives us to hide, but conviction is evidence of God’s love, calling us out of hiding and into grace, repentance, and restored relationship. Jesus ultimately absorbs our shame on the cross, putting it to death so we no longer have to live under its weight. The core invitation is clear: reject the spiral of shame, respond to conviction with humility, and step into the abundant life of grace that Jesus offers. Note Guide: https://gpw.churchcenter.com/episodes/605168/notes

The first week of the "Beneath the Surface" series addresses "Fear vs. Faith". The story of Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14:22–33 shows how fear and faith act like competing lenses that shape how we interpret our circumstances. Just as glasses clarify physical vision, faith allows us to see God’s character and power clearly, while fear distorts reality by convincing us we are abandoned, forgotten, or beyond rescue. The disciples’ terror causes them to misinterpret Jesus as a threat, but when Jesus speaks, Peter steps out in faith and experiences God’s power—until fear again shifts his focus and he begins to sink. But Jesus was never absent: He had sent the disciples away for their protection, was praying for them through the storm, and revealed His divine authority by walking on the water, showing He is Lord over chaos and creation. In the same way, we are called to keep “putting on” the glasses of faith by meeting with Jesus, trusting His unseen work, and stepping out of the boat toward Him, knowing that even when we stumble, He will always reach out and catch us. Note Guide: https://gpw.churchcenter.com/episodes/596651/notes

The second week of the "Foreshadowing: From Symbols to Savior" series looks at the difference between the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden and the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5. The fruit that God forbid in the garden brought about destruction and brokenness. But God's plan of redemption, healing, and growth would come through the gift of the Fruit of the Spirit, empowering the people of God to live in relationship with Him and others. Starting from the key idea that we often grab what looks good, scripture reminds us that "sin always overpromises and underdeliver", while God "grows what is truly good".

In Psalm 23, David portrays God as a Good Shepherd who provides, protects, and remains present with His people. He describes God leading him to rest, restoring his soul, guiding him toward righteousness, and staying close even in life’s darkest valleys. God defends him against enemies, blesses him abundantly, and promises His goodness and presence for all his days. The psalm emphasizes God’s care, provision, guidance, and unfailing companionship. The God who leads, protects, and provides in Psalm 23 is the same Jesus who knows His people personally and gives His life for them. In John 10:14–15, Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd, claiming a personal and intimate knowledge of His followers—just as He knows the Father and the Father knows Him. He demonstrates the depth of His love by stating that He lays down His life for His sheep, revealing the sacrificial nature of His care.

This stand-alone message explores what true, biblical friendship looks like through the example of Jesus and his closest friends—Peter, James, and John. Deep friendships go beyond fun memories to shared spiritual experiences, vulnerability, and loyalty. These three friends witnessed Jesus in his highest moments—the Transfiguration, where they experienced his divinity together—and in his lowest moments, like Gethsemane, where they shared in his grief. Genuine friendships are marked by depth, honesty, celebration without jealousy, and faithfulness through both joy and pain.

The final week of the series, "The Lord’s Prayer", focuses on the phrase "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." This is a reminder of God’s protection as we respond to spiritual testing. Testing is both real and necessary—God doesn’t tempt us, but He allows tests to strengthen our faith, reveal our weaknesses, and teach us dependence on Him. Examples from Jesus’s wilderness temptation and the Israelites’ trials we can see that trials are opportunities for growth and perseverance, not punishment. Ultimately, God is faithful—He provides strength and a way to endure.

Week two of the series, "The Lord's Prayer" explores the meaning and structure of the Lord’s Prayer within Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, emphasizing prayer as the central hinge of Christian life and discipleship. Jesus contrasts genuine, humble prayer with performative religiosity and teaches prayer as relational communication with God rather than rote recitation. The Lord’s Prayer is a progression from adoration (“Our Father in heaven”) to surrender (“Your will be done”) to provision (“Give us today our daily bread”), and stresses that prayer should be communal, rooted in daily dependence on God, and reflective of trust in His provision. We are invited to adopt prayer as a daily rhythm of relationship, humility, and reliance on God.