On Tuesday, temple leaders challenged Jesus by putting him to the test. Literally. They raised a number of theological debates with him and questioned both his teaching and his God-given authority.
Read Psalm 118:19-27
Read Psalm 110
Read Luke 20
Month: April 2023
Monday readings
On Monday, Jesus asserted his authority by throwing out anyone and everyone who was doing business inside the temple complex. The Jewish leaders were less than impressed with the display of power.
Read Isaiah 56:1-8
Read Luke 19:41-48
Palm Sunday readings
On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem with his disciples riding a borrowed donkey. He arrived to much celebration, but it was the beginning of the end of his human life.
Read Zechariah 9:9
Read Luke 19:28-40
2 April 2023 | Confidence | Competence
you for joining us on-line.
OCC is made up of people who are meeting in-person and who are meeting on-line.
Welcome to OCC online | 2 April 2023
God calls all of us into his presence;
- He calls us to be together both with him and with one another;
- He calls us to wait with and for him;
- He calls us to serve & bless others – those who are part of God’s kingdom and those who have not yet responded to God’s grace
As you prepare to watch our service video, we encourage you to take a few moments…
- Get your coffee or tea. Settle in, be still…
- Take some deep breaths… in and out… breathe,
- Invite the Lord to make himself present with you as you watch – he is with you – it’s just that often we are not aware that he is.
- Focus on the reality of God’s Holy Spirit not just with you but in you.
We are continuing our Lenten series on growing in Confidence on the Frontlines. Today we are looking at competence
Here is the link to the PowerPoint Show and the Notes.
Sunday Evening
6:30 Sunday evening prayer 
Reading the NT
In 2023 we are reading through the New Testament together.
This plan by the Navigators takes us through all 260 chapters at the pace of a chapter a day (about 5 minutes a day).
It’s a 5-day/week plan, recognising that there are always times when we need a day or two to catch up.
Click on the link to download the reading schedule and join us in seeing the New Testament come alive in 2023.
Small Groups
Everyone needs and desires to be in relationship, in community. Being involved in one of our Small Groups is a great opportunity for you to find friendship, accountability, and a group of people you can do life with. Currently, our groups are meeting online, Wednesday or Thursday evening at 7 pm, although some groups will start to meet in person soon.
ONE
This Week
watch for new posts each day as we travel from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday
Click the events tab to discover what is coming up.
Click on news & updates to get other updates.
why pray
Sunday night – 2 April – 6:30-7:30pm @ OCC
Join us as we pray.
We are in spiritual warfare, and in a war, if a soldier or officer disobeys an order from a superior, that person will be punished.
We need to take prayer for workers seriously.
Why?
Because we have “marching orders” from our supreme commander.
The prayer step is critical because prayer is one of the most powerful weapons that God has given to his church.
Satan knows this truth better than we do and it seems that he regularly always attacks when we are praying.
How does he do it?
One of his favourite tactics is to try to distort who Jesus is and our dependence on him.
Satan tries to get us to stop depending on Christ.
We begin to allow the “selfish I,” which is always on the lookout, to occupy –even if it is for a short time –the place of command and control.
When the believer allows Christ to be displaced from his central place, the objectives that are united to the Lord—
prayer,
the salvation of souls,
witness, and evangelizing the world
are also weakened.
Then prayer,
instead of being used to conquer, advance, & extend the Kingdom,
becomes egocentric,
and very soon, the requests we pray for refer only to our own needs.
Many churches hold prayer meetings to only pray for their own needs:
“my person,”
my work,
my illness,
my family,
my mother-in-law, etc.
And what James 4.2-3 says is fulfilled:
“You ask with wrong motivations, to enhance your pleasures” (or personal interests).
Prayers for the extension of the Kingdom—for the sending of workers, that is, for the interests of the Lord—often occupies the last place.
The Lord never asked his followers to do what he did not practice.
“In those days he went to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night praying to God.
And when he went by day, he called his disciples, and he took twelve of them, whom he also called apostles ” Luke 6.12-13.
Jesus prayed and asked for workers.
Prayer is essential gear in God’s action & providence.
We won’t necessarily know how or when it works, but we know that it works and is essential.
When the disciples got up in the morning, and Jesus was not with them, they knew where to find him:
“in a deserted place, and there he prayed” Mark 1.35.
Are we following the example of Jesus
when we pray?
Let’s pray for unreached people,
and the workers needed to finish the task.
Praying for the unreached will keep us focused on his desire that “the gospel is preached to every people and nation” Matthew 24.14.