Ekklesia Church Oceanside

Ekklesia Church Oceanside "Through our love and the lives we lead, people will experience hope and be transformed by the knowl

The vision of Ekklesia Church Oceanside is to be a gathered people, a congregation, brought together for the purpose of joining God where he is already at work in the City of Oceanside and the world. For Ekklesia, the action God is calling us to is that of “being the church,” which is rooted in Christ being bound to God and one another through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. The church is

fundamentally transformative—transforming the lives of its members, who, in turn, seek the transformation of people, systems and structures in the world, which we live.

Sporting the blue today for a couple of really amazing surf groms--Thomas Halls and Cormac McCarty. Stay salty my friend...
04/02/2017

Sporting the blue today for a couple of really amazing surf groms--Thomas Halls and Cormac McCarty. Stay salty my friends. Light it up blue people! World Autism Awareness Day

Join us this morning, Sunday, April 2 at 10:30am First Christian Church Oceanside, 204 Freeman Street in Oceanside. Stat...
04/02/2017

Join us this morning, Sunday, April 2 at 10:30am First Christian Church Oceanside, 204 Freeman Street in Oceanside. Station XI completed; faithfulness can be costly; movements seem to be activated and gain momentum by those who characterize integrity and can be trusted in both the cause and by their actions; text from Matthew, check; check; Understanding faithfulness in a different light, check; "Lets get a little crazy here." Getting involved, check.

Movements seem to be activated and gain momentum by those who characterize integrity and can be trusted in both the caus...
03/30/2017

Movements seem to be activated and gain momentum by those who characterize integrity and can be trusted in both the cause and by their actions. Sermon prep for this Sunday, April 2, at Oside First Christian Church: Text from Matthew, check; check; Understanding faithfulness in a different light, check; "Lets get a little crazy here." Getting involved, check.

We are helping out FCC next week by putting on an Art Camp. Join us if you can and be in prayer for those who will help ...
06/07/2016

We are helping out FCC next week by putting on an Art Camp. Join us if you can and be in prayer for those who will help as well as those who will attend.

Thankful.
05/08/2016

Thankful.

March 28, 2016: A Gospel for All Nations Luke 24:36-52 And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed ...
03/28/2016

March 28, 2016: A Gospel for All Nations

Luke 24:36-52

And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (v. 47).

As he completes his gospel, Luke reiterates one more time where the good news comes from and where it is going.

When on Easter Day the risen Christ speaks of “all things...written...concerning me,” he means the whole Old Testament, not just the bits that obviously refer to a coming Messiah. Everything in it converges on him.

To put it another way, the message comes out of the Hebrew world of Zechariah and Mary and Simeon and Anna, and nowhere else. To Israel belong the promises; from Israel comes the Messiah (Romans 9:1-5). There’s no avoiding the Old Testament story, however much its presentation may be adapted for modern people.

Then, having come into focus in the events that the New Testament records and explains, the gospel message fans out across the world. Intended from the outset for “all the nations,” its early spread among them will be the theme of Luke’s second volume. But he has been showing us—even before the death and resurrection of Jesus—one incident after another that demonstrates why the good news is for everyone.

All that Old Testament preparation, all this New Testament outreach: deep roots and wide vision—the kind of faith to which the risen Lord challenges us today.

Prayer: Thank you for all that lies behind the resurrection story, and all that flows from it.


Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

Artwork: "Festival of Lights" by John August Swanson

March 27, 2016: Christ Is Risen! Luke 24:1-12 He is not here, but has risen (v. 5).Everything we treasure most about the...
03/27/2016

March 27, 2016: Christ Is Risen!

Luke 24:1-12

He is not here, but has risen (v. 5).

Everything we treasure most about the Christian faith hangs on the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus rose from the grave it is proof positive of all the staggering claims he made about himself and all those that have been subsequently made about him. If he did not burst the bands of death as the gospels report, then our treasured faith is as silly as a sitcom episode, our sins are in fact the controlling reality of our sorry lives, and those whom we have loved and lost are nothing more than smudges on the window of our fading memories. All of this was the logic of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins [and] those also who have died in Christ have perished” (vv. 17-18).

Think about this for just a moment. The women who first came to the tomb finally grasped the significance of the new life that was breaking in on them when they remembered what Jesus had taught them: “Then they remembered his words” (v. 8). You might say they moved forward by looking back. Christians interpret their experiences through the word, and not the other way around. Remember that, please, the next time your personal experience is at odds with the expressed teaching of scripture. Revelation always trumps experience.

Prayer: Give us the grace to interpret our lives through the promise of your word.

Today’s devotional was written by Tim Brown, president and Henry Bast professor of preaching at Western Theological Seminary. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

Artwork: "Sonday" by William Schickel

March 26, 2016: BuriedLuke 23:44-56I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you (John 14:18).All four gospel writer...
03/26/2016

March 26, 2016: Buried

Luke 23:44-56

I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you (John 14:18).

All four gospel writers tell us that Jesus was buried. Our most prominent creeds, the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, do the same. Why? Why is it necessary to be reminded that the lifeless body of Jesus of Nazareth was buried? On one level this fact is emphasized to underscore that Jesus actually did die. Early critics of the resurrection of Jesus argued that he did not die, but instead fell into a coma from which he was later revived. His three-day burial disproves that theory.

There is another reason why his burial is an article of the Christian faith, one that brings enormous comfort for anyone who has stood at a loved one’s graveside. Jesus Christ has been even there. One of the funeral prayers of the Reformed Church says: “Almighty God, by the death of your Son Jesus Christ you destroyed death; by his rest in the tomb you sanctified the graves of the saints...” Jesus was laid in Joseph’s borrowed tomb, and in so doing he made even our darkest and loneliest place holy ground.

This, at least in part, is how Jesus makes good on his promise: I will not leave you orphaned, I am coming to you. (John 14:18)

Prayer: We bless you, Lord Jesus, for even going to the grave with us.

Today’s devotional was written by Tim Brown, president and Henry Bast professor of preaching at Western Theological Seminary. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

Sculpture: "Lamentation Over the Dead Christ" by Donatello

March 25, 2016: DyingLuke 23:32-49Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture... (1 Corinthians 15:3)The H...
03/25/2016

March 25, 2016: Dying

Luke 23:32-49

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture... (1 Corinthians 15:3)

The Heidelberg Catechism, a treasured statement of faith for many Reformed Christians, contains a series of four powerful questions and answers about Christ’s suffering. The first of them concerns the death of Jesus: “Why did Christ have to suffer ‘death’?”

Understanding the answer ought to shield our hearts against an avalanche of guilt: “Because the righteousness and truth of God are such that nothing else could pay for our sins except the death of the Son of God.”

Hear it again, friends: Nothing else could pay for our sins except the death of the Son of God.

But, I hasten to add, the Son of God did indeed die for our sins! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I once heard a preacher give tremendous counsel to a sanctuary filled with college students. He told them, “When the devil assaults you with a barrage of accusations concerning your sinfulness, don’t argue with him. He has good evidence. Simply tell him you have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and therefore his accusations are now irrelevant.” The sense of relief in the room was palpable—including the sense of relief in my own soul.

Prayer: We bless you, Lord Jesus, for your saving blood!


Today’s devotional was written by Tim Brown, president and Henry Bast professor of preaching at Western Theological Seminary. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

Artwork: "The Crucifixion" by Graham Sutherland

March 24, 2016: FeastingLuke 22:14-23When the hour came, he took his place at the table... (v. 14)John Calvin, one of th...
03/24/2016

March 24, 2016: Feasting

Luke 22:14-23

When the hour came, he took his place at the table... (v. 14)

John Calvin, one of the spiritual fathers of Reformed Christians, once argued vehemently for the Lord’s Supper to be celebrated every time Christians gathered. He felt this way because he believed that the Lord’s Supper was not merely a feast of remembrance, but of communion and hope as well. He believed in Jesus’ real presence at the table, and that was enough to persuade Calvin that we should eat the bread and drink the cup with the Lord every week.

Calvin meditated upon the meaning of that Last Supper scene for the longest possible time. The fruit of his deep contemplation is this moving statement:

Here at the Table Christ himself grows into one with us...There is nothing more incredible than that things severed and removed from one another by the whole space between heaven and earth should not only be connected across such a great distance but also to be united, so that souls may receive nourishment from Christ [himself].

You can find Calvin’s full description of this communion experience in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (4.17.24). But more profoundly, you can receive such nourishment from Christ yourself the next time you respond in faith to your pastor’s invitation, “Come, for all things are now ready.”

Prayer: We come to your table hungry, O Lord; feed us until we want no more!


Today’s devotional was written by Tim Brown, president and Henry Bast professor of preaching at Western Theological Seminary. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

Artwork: "The Last Supper" by Tintoretto

March 23, 2016: CounselingLuke 22:31-34Simon, Simon, listen! (v. 31)Jesus’ warning to Peter that he would betray him is ...
03/23/2016

March 23, 2016: Counseling

Luke 22:31-34

Simon, Simon, listen! (v. 31)

Jesus’ warning to Peter that he would betray him is a commentary on a verse from Proverbs. There the wise man says, “Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts, but profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6). How painful it must have been for Peter to have his beloved Lord level such a terrible accusation. How hopeful it must have been for Peter to live into Jesus’ promise to him of restoration.

I learn three things from the Lord Jesus that I need to bear in mind if I am ever called to speak to a friend in spiritual trouble. First, speak personally. Jesus calling out “Simon, Simon...” counteracts the evil one’s dehumanizing ways. Peter was a real person, headed for a real fall, but he still belonged to the Lord.

Second, speak truthfully. Speak the truth in love, but by all means speak the truth. “Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat...” Peter would be pitted against the Prince of Darkness and Jesus told him so.

Third, speak hopefully. A world of hope must have dawned in Peter’s hurting heart when Jesus said, “And when once you have turned...” Our failures, however terrible they are, are never final! Human failure is temporary; God’s grace is eternal.

Is there someone you need to speak to this way?

Prayer: Lord, help us speak the truth in love!


Today’s devotional was written by Tim Brown, president and Henry Bast professor of preaching at Western Theological Seminary. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

Artwork: "The Denial of St Peter" by Gerard van Honthorst

Address

Oceanside, CA
92049, 92051, 92052, 92054, 92056–92058

Telephone

5598276917

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ekklesia Church Oceanside posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to Ekklesia Church Oceanside:

Shortcuts

Share

Category