Austin Oaks Church

At AOC, we want you to meet, know, and follow Jesus. But if you are a follower of Jesus, then what are you to do now? What does following Jesus look like? This week Pastor Brandon digs into Jesus’s mission for the church and how we are to develop disciples of all generations.

Sometimes its assumed that being "All in" for Jesus means that we're just doing all of the things that we think we should. But what if, in doing all of these things, we actually start to forget our purpose? What if we just start running on autopilot? What if our heart isn't really in it? This week we're looking at Jesus's message to the Ephesian church to remind us that the core of our faith has always been being loved by Jesus and then living out his love for others.

Here at Austin Oaks Church, we believe that God has given us a mission to fulfill that's much bigger than anything we can do on our own. This week Pastor Brandon explains what we believe God has created us to do, and also how we plan on accomplishing it--though we are small and insignificant in ourselves, we serve a great God who empowers us to do His will!

Pastor Brandon Zieske kicks off our new series "All In" with a look at the apostle Paul's testimony of what it means to follow Jesus. He didn't shy away from using some pretty strong metaphors in his day to describe what it is like to live as a follower of Christ, but he also promised that Jesus will reign victorious. Are you all in?

Sometimes it sneaks up on you little by little until you feel like an entirely different person. Other times its a fog you just can't seem to get away from. The church hasn't always been very good at addressing issues of anxiety and depression, but if you search for a bit, the Bible actually has a lot to say about times when we lose hope. This week Pastor Chad takes a candid look at depression; what causes it and how we can deal with it, all while recognizing the complex nature of who we are and what God says about us.

We all experience guilt in our lives. Sometimes it lies just beneath the surface of our lives, and other times it overflows into whole batch of bad habits and destructive behaviors. So how do we face the things that we've done, or even the things that have been done to us? Join us this week as Pastor Brandon shows us how faith holds on to what God says about us instead of relying on our own sinful tendencies.

This week marks the first message in our series "I'm (not) okay", a examination of mental health and what the Bible has to say about it. Today Pastor Brandon looks at the origins of shame and our tendency to hide from the things that we are ashamed of that we see in ourselves. If shame is a universal experience that leads us to damage our mental health, then what are we supposed to do with it?

The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most popular in all of the Bible, but what does it really mean to be a Prodigal? Is it right to call God a Prodigal? In what ways does He show us His prodigality? Join us this week as Pastor Brandon dives into this parable to show the depth of God's love for His sons and daughters.

One of the most foundational practices of the Christian life is prayer. But are we really as excited about prayer as we should be? Does it even do anything? If God already knows everything, then why do I have to pray? This week Pastor Brandon looks at Jesus's teaching on prayer in Luke 11 to see how we ought pray, and even more important, who is it that we are praying to.

If our purpose as the church is to make disciples, how are we to do that in everyday life? Well, join us this week as JJ Plasencio takes us to the parable of the sower and the seeds, and how it has impacted the way he speaks with others and shares the gospel.