Barry’s Blog

Dear partners in the ministry,

Last week I got a little discouraged. After serving as a pastor in traditional church settings for over 20 years there were things that I began to miss. I missed the steady long-term relationships that develop. When you pastor a church for a long time you make lifetime relationships that grow even generationally. You may even have the privilege of leading someone to Christ, conducting their wedding, dedicating their babies and in time even conducting their babies wedding, if you are there long enough. I missed the security of a piece of land with a permanent building dedicated to the meeting place of the members with its designated spaces for children, youth and adults, worship, eating, playing, etc. I missed the organized ministry teams that focus on a specific area of ministry and see that all in that realm is taken care of. These are all things that take years to develop and are strong positives of an established local church.

As I reflected on past blessings and began to get a little sad the Lord showed me something in my spirit while driving to share my weekly message with the Beach Club residents. Pastoring a traditional local church is kind of like ministering in a lake while planting a new church or ministry is more like ministering in a river. In a lake things remain relatively the same and change slowly. There will be some new fish, ducks, turtles, etc. that come in periodically and there will be some that fly away or slip over the dam. However, in a river the fish, ducks, turtles and water is always moving and changing. In a lake, you can invest years of discipleship and ministry in a group of people but in a river, you may only have minutes to share the gospel or plant a seed or help someone to the next step in their walk with Jesus. The Lord is showing me that both ministries are important and have a place in the kingdom. I believe the river is the place where most of the lost and unchurched believers are living their lives today and that is where God has called me and my family to serve or “fish” for now. It has been an exciting adventure and every week is a new surprise. Literally every week we are seeing fruit from being in this unique position. There are locals that come to worship and serve regularly and they are both precious and faithful as they join with us as a new body of believers called Oasis Church. They too immediately take on a river ministry mentality and it has been so fun to serve with them!

We are so blessed and thankful for those of you who have partnered with us in this new work. I cannot express enough our appreciation for First Baptist Gulf Shores for being our sponsor church; Spring Valley Baptist Church in Springville Al. for being our praying church; Eastpointe Baptist Church in Spanish Fort for supporting us with a financial gift each month for 2017; the NAMB and Al. State Board of missions for the start up support; and the incredible individuals who have so richly blessed us through financial gifts, prayer and help over these last 15 months.

Check out our new website http://www.oasischurchsbc.org to see what’s going on. Also like us on Facebook at Oasis Church at the Wharf and watch one of our services live or recorded.

Thank you for being our friends, partners, and encouragers as we serve in this new ministry!

Barry, Lisa, and Houston Britt

This coming Wednesday night, June 14, we are having an open house for the visitors at the Wharf. We will have balloons and crafts for the kids and refreshments for all. Come by and hang out for a little while from 5:30-7:30 pm.

We have concluded our bible studies for the 2016-2017 season.  We plan to start bible studies again in August for children, youth, men and women. Stay tuned for future announcements.

Beginning Sunday, June 18, we will begin a new sermon series entitled, How to Live a Blessed Life in a Broken World — A study of Matthew chapters 5-7, also known as the Beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus Christ is the author and the creator of life. If anyone knows how life should be lived it is Jesus. This world is not as it should be. It is not as it was created to be and that is why He came, to redeem us from our sins. Even though we can be saved and delivered from the penalty of sin in this world we still have to live in the presence of sin all around us. Jesus tells us how to live so that we can be blessed in a broken world until things are set back right when He returns. Join us as we study the words Jesus shared about how to live a blessed life.How

Dear partners in the ministry,

Today is May 11, 2017 and I wanted to give you a brief update as to what the Lord has been doing through Oasis Church and in our lives. Over the past couple of months, we have been able to serve others in Jesus Name at a Mardi Gras parade (my first one to ever attend) and a giant Easter egg hunt at the Wharf. It is an amazing opportunity to be a Christian witness at these completely secular events. At the Easter egg hunt we saw hundreds of kids, and Lisa made gospel bracelets with many of them. As I filled up and gave out balloons I would ask people if they knew what Easter was about. Some of them had no idea or took no thought that it was a celebration of the resurrection of the Savior of the world. As we serve in these venues I am made aware that we are quickly heading in the direction of being a post-Christian Nation if we are not already there.

One of our highlights was having our youngest son Hunter come down and serve with us over the Easter weekend. He and I had the opportunity to lead a resurrection worship service on the beach where we saw over 150 people gather to hear the gospel. He led in music and singing and I shared about the resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us.

In just a couple of weeks the crowds down at the coast will swell as vacationers come from all over the southeast and other parts of the country. Some of them will join us for worship and Bible study — some of them for the first time or for the first time in a long time. We have seen and heard more people say that before worshiping at Oasis they had not been to church for many years. I believe the setting and the atmosphere that we are in can be more inviting and less threatening to lost and unchurched people than a regular traditional church building. A traditional church building has its advantages but so does a venue like this for reaching the lost and making disciples. We know that the church is not a building but we are the church. Our next big ministry event will be on May 26th at the Pepsi Beach Ball drop at the Wharf. Please continue to pray for us to be effective in sowing the seed of the Word of God in hearts and that many will be receptive and come to know Jesus Christ, abide in Him and produce more fruit. Pray for Houston as he leads the music and the youth and college age Bible study on Tuesday nights and Lisa and I as we lead the Wednesday Bible studies for children and adults.

God is using one of our regular worshippers at Oasis in a big way to help get the good news out. She has put us on Facebook live every Sunday at 10:15 so people can watch our worship service from anywhere. Many who worship with us for a while and then travel back to another state are able to still worship with us on Oasis church at the wharf. Also, we have a new website at oasischurchsbc.org. It looks awesome and is much more user friendly.

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on May 1. I can’t believe it has already been one whole year. We thank God for His faithfulness and provision and for your support through prayer, giving and serving. Please consider praying for Oasis ministry on a regular basis, giving a one time or regular offering to support this work for the Kingdom (You may give online through our website) and or coming to worship and serve with us some time.

Thank you for being our friends, partners, and encouragers as we serve in this new ministry!

Barry, Lisa, and Houston Britt