Oslo International Church

What does it mean to sit at the feet of Jesus? It's an unusual expression for our days! But when St. Luke tells us a story of a woman who sits at the feet of Jesus, and her sister who is invited to join, he is giving a clear message and an invitation. This week, Maicon Steuernagel explores their story, as well as our own and how we struggle in betwen anxiety and a need to slow down. Welcome to the moving feet. Welcome to OiC!

Have you ever asked God for more faith? Have you ever been told that you should "grow in faith"? Questions like that are not uncommon, and emerge from all kinds of situations. But can faith be quantified? And what do we want faith for anyway? This week Maicon Steuernagel explores the disciples request for more faith in the Gospel of Luke, and asks if we might need to change aspirations for presence Welcome to the daily work of faith. Welcome to embodied belief. Welcome to OiC!

Beatings, slaves and people being cut into pieces... it seems like the Autumn semester is off to a rough start!  After a long Summer break, we head back into our Sunday Reflections. Maicon Steuernagel spends time with a parable of uncomfortably violent language, asks what we might find out about the questions we bring to the story, and discovers the call for a faith embodied in the present. Welcome to uncomfortable language we need to address. Welcome to difficult questions about ourselves. Welcome to OiC!  

What's the deal with Phillip? We know very little about him. Yet he's also all over the place. Maicon Steuernagel explores how Phillip can encourage us towards a way of being, wherever we are, that is generous and full of grace. Welcome to the stories that challenge us. Welcome to OiC!

Titles are tricky. They can open the reader up for what is coming, or restrain and even mislead the reading. On this year's Sunday of the Trinity, Maicon Steuernagel talks about how headings in our Bible translations can sometimes be unhelpful, and what that has to do with how we speak about God. Welcome to the community of the divine. Welcome to OiC!

Can we own a story? Who owns the story of the Gospel? Who get's to tell it? On Pentecost Sunday, Maicon Steuernagel reflects on our tendencies to control the story, and invites us to let go of controling the story of Jesus, and each other. Welcome to the story. Welcome to OiC!

"We’re a little micro-cosmos of Babel. A little mess of our own." This week, Maicon Steuernagel reflects on his odd choice of metaphor for his own families experience as a multi-cultural, multi-lingual family, and offer a different perspective on the very odd story of the tower of Babel. Welcome to our own little mess. Welcome to the re-imagining diversity in a landscape of reconciliation. Welcome to OiC!

What is the nature of perfection and justice we aspire for? Maicon Steuernagel shares about why he sees prayer as a holy practice of spekticism, and why revisiting prayer's power to change our selves might not be a bad idea after all. Welcome to prayer not following our rules. Welcome to OiC!

What is the Kingdom of God like? We might want a clear, hard answer. Jesus gives us parables. Listening to the parables, and to the story of a prophet and a widow, Maicon Steuernagel finds the counter-narratives that upset the theo-politics of our world. Welcome to the counter-narrative. Welcome to OiC!

We like to think we know stuff. We don’t as often spend time with wondering what that knowing is for. On this Sunday reflection, Maicon Steuernagel speaks of prophetic letters and challenges of today, and questions what is essential to know and what is most dangerous to forget.  Welcome to letting go. Letting to not forgetting. Welcome to OiC!