I have sought to provide for you the answers to several of the Oasis’ most frequently asked questions. Enjoy your reading and let me know if I can serve you in any way!
1) “Why is it called the Oasis?”
An oasis is a “refuge” or “place of rest” and our prayer is that our students and leaders will find their rest in the Lord Jesus as we worship Him in our hearts based on the truth of who He has revealed Himself to be in creation and in His Word.
2) “What does the Oasis believe?”
For a more detailed explanation of what we believe, check out What We Believe. The core of what we believe may be best summarized in the following: “According to the divinely inspired, perfectly inerrant, and completely authoritative Word of God, the Bible, God has chosen to reconcile sinners to Himself by grace alone through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Therefore, the Oasis believes that God alone deserves all glory and honor and praise forever and we believe our lives should and must be spent delighting ourselves in Him and reflecting back to Him and to the rest of the world the beauty and greatness of who He is.”
3) “What is the purpose of the Oasis and how is that purpose being accomplished?”
Check out the Oasis Purpose and Philosophy page.
4) “What does the Oasis do outside of the weekly meetings?”
The Oasis calendar can be seen by clicking here. It includes the dates for our events and service projects and also includes the times of our weekly meetings and the dates of our spring and summer camp dates for your future planning enjoyment!
5) “How does the Oasis help parents fulfill their God-given responsibilities?”
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6:4-9, ESV; also see Deut. 11:18-21, Deut. 4:9-10, Joshua 4:19-24).
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6, ESV).
I quote these passages to illustrate from Scripture the fact that God has called parents more so than anyone else to be the primary spiritual guides for their children. While there are many points that can be made from the above passages, a common denominator between them all is the implication that mom and dad know the Word of God. Therefore, to train up a child in the way he should go, parents must model for their children a love for God’s Word, continual meditation on it, and a deep love for God Himself based on the truth of His Word.
Therefore the goal for the Oasis is not to replace, but to assist you in the fulfillment of your God-given responsibilities as parents. We want to equip you with whatever resources, prayer, encouragement, and love you may need along the way. If you have questions, please ask me, and if I don’t know, I’ll do my best to at least point you in the right direction. The bottom line is that we want to love you and serve you in any way we can so that you can most adequately train up your child in the way he/she should go so that he/she will grow to know and love and delight in Christ both here and forever!
6) “How can parents be part of what is going on in the Oasis?”
There are almost always opportunities to serve in the Oasis, so please contact me by phone at (903) 592-1591 or by email at c...@sylvaniachurch.com if you’re interested. For starters, one of the greatest ways you can serve us is to commit yourself to praying for us both privately on your own time and corporately during the Wednesday night prayer meetings. We have seen God do some incredible things in the lives of our students as direct result of things prayed during our adult prayer meetings, which is not shocking since God has made known to us in His Word that the prayers of those whom He has made righteous are both powerful and effective (James 5:16) when those praying do so for His glory (James 4:3). Thanks again for your interest and I hope to hear from you soon!
7) “Who can sign-up on our email list?”
All Oasis parents & students are encouraged to sign-up on this email list, although any one else is welcome to sign-up if they like. To subscribe to the Oasis email list, scroll to the bottom of the page, fill out the info under “Subscribe Via Email,” check the box that says, “JH & HS (Oasis)” and any other ministries from which you’d like to receive information, and click “Subscribe.”
So maybe you’re thinking, “Why would I sign up for this email list?”
8) “If I subscribe to a Sylvania email list, I’m not going to get cheesy forwards, am I?”
No. We won’t send you cheesy/annoying forwards or even send you absurb amounts of email. I typically send out 1 email or so per week to accomplish the following purposes: 1) letting Oasis students & parents know what is coming up in the Oasis and, 2) sending out the occasional devotional, most of which are aimed at helping facilitate family worship or prepare students’ hearts and minds for upcoming Oasis sermons or Bible studies.
If you have any questions or if I can serve you in any way, feel free to contact me by phone @ (903)592-1591 or by email @ chad@sylvaniachurch.com. I hope to see you here!
