The Branch Church

<p>This weekend, we consider what it means to worship or minister to the Lord (Acts 13:2). You might be thinking, "Really? We minister to the Lord? I thought it was just to other people!”</p>

<p>180 million people in more than 2,000 languages are Bibleless. This weekend we’ve asked Greg Pruett, the President of Pioneer Bible Translators to bring us a special message from the work they’re doing to translate the Gospel into every language, and bring it to every tribe and tongue around the world.</p>

<p>This weekend we focus on another key description of the church in Antioch that is a theme for us to lean into as individuals, and as a church.</p>

<p>Sometimes you have to go backward in order to move forward.</p>

<p>There is something else “better left said” and it’s only three words. They aren’t “I love you.” They are three words that were actually the only creed of the early church, and in fact appear in quotes in multiple places in the New Testament.<br><br>“Jesus is Lord.”<br><br>These words can actually make some people angry when taking into account what we are witnessing around us right now. For others, they can be consoling. For others, they can actually be a compass helping us to navigate our way forward. And for all of us they are “saving” words in more ways than appear on the surface.<br><br>It is better left said, and often.</p>

<p>What would it be like for the confession, "Jesus is Lord" to be the lens through which we process life – with all of its wonder, complexities, mystery, and adversities? And how does this shape how we respond to others around us?</p>

<p>Jesus says in Matthew 18 to be humble like a child.<br>This weekend, our Kids Ministry Director, Alexis Hall, teaches us what it means to have complete dependence and trust in God. Being reliant on God to tell us who He is and who we are. This means realizing who’s who -- who is the child and who is the parent.</p>

<p>Elton John said it was the hardest word to say. The band Chicago sang about it, too. We’ll talk about what “it” is this weekend in a message that’s been brewing in Chris for a little while.<br><br>You’ve probably heard it said that “some things are better left unsaid.” This weekend, Chris tells us there are some things “better left said.” But the things better left said are often the hardest to say.</p>

<p>This weekend we’ll cross the finish line of our “By Faith” series and our journey through Hebrews 11. We’ll be in Hebrews 11:32-40. The journey of faith features two kinds of faith experiences. Both will be present in our lives when it comes to walking out our faith.<br><br>People and churches tend to build belief systems around one or the other, instead of acknowledging both. When we do this with one, to the exclusion of the other, it makes the journey harder than it has to be. And, if we're honest, it’s challenging enough!</p>

<p>This weekend, Chris Seidman is back to help us draw wisdom and inspiration from the story of Rahab.</p>

<p>Ryan Rainey helps us draw wisdom and inspiration from the story of Jericho.</p>

<p>Hunter Wheatcraft helps us draw wisdom and inspiration from the life of Enoch.</p>

<p>This weekend, Ryan Rainey helps us draw wisdom and inspiration from the crossing of the Red Sea.</p>

<p>Tim Ketchersid helps us draw wisdom and inspiration from the faith of Amram & Jochebed, the parents of Moses.</p>

<p>This weekend, Josh Brake, helps us draw wisdom and inspiration from the faith of Sarah.</p>

<p>This weekend our special guest, Mitch Wilburn, helps us draw wisdom and inspiration from the faith of Noah.</p>

<p>Come along as Ryan Rainey helps us draw wisdom and inspiration from the faith of Joseph.</p>

<p>Tim Ketchersid helps us draw wisdom and inspiration from the faith of Abel.</p>

<p>A NEW SERIES BEGINS TODAY!<br><br>This weekend we kick off a new series that will carry us through a chunk of the summer: “By Faith.” Chris Seidman brings us the first message in a tour through the great “hall of faith,” Hebrews 11. This series isn’t a history lesson. His name is I Am, not I Was.<br><br>There is wisdom and inspiration to be drawn from the lives of people distinguished by their faith in that great chapter. It’s there to be walked through so that we might come out different on the other end of the tour.</p>

<p>In the last message in our “After-Life” series, we'll ask the question: What do you do when you “hit a wall” in your spiritual journey – even after you’ve walked with the Lord for some time? <br><br>This theme arises often in Scripture. So what do you do when you’ve hit a wall?</p>

<p>Of all things, it’s like a virus.<br><br>Today we consider another common theme Jesus and the rest of the New Testament writers often addressed in the lives of those who were already following Him and experiencing the “after-life.”<br><br>Sometimes you don’t know it’s operational in your life until after you see symptoms of it. Paul acknowledged it as the reason some “wander from the faith” after they’ve had an encounter with Jesus. And yet, both Jesus and Paul give counsel as to how to inoculate ourselves from such a virus. Most of us have probably dealt with it at one time or another. What is it?</p>

<p>Intermittent Explosive Disorder. That’s what some therapists call it. We read of soldiers being injured or worse by IEDs overseas. Some of us have been taken out by a different kind of IED over here.<br><br>Someone wise once said, “Speak when you’re angry, and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” I think a lot of us have been there. Acting in anger can often lead to more regret. Over and over in Scripture, we find the subject of anger being brought up. In fact, it’s a theme in Jesus’ teaching to His disciples and Paul’s writings to believers. This weekend in our “After-Life” series, we’ll consider how to handle anger before it handles us. It’s actually the fruit of something else. To deal with it, we have to get underneath it.<br><br>Of course, not all anger is wrong. The Scriptures tell us God is slow to anger and we are called to be slow to anger as well. Love isn’t easily angered. But nowhere does it say that God is never angry and that we are never to be angry. But even anger when it’s “right” can quickly go “wrong” when it’s not processed appropriately.</p>

<p>We’ve all had “What was I thinking?” moments in our lives. It’s striking how much Scripture speaks to this trap. Jesus spoke to this often, as did the apostle Paul in the rest of the New Testament. <br><br>Walking in the freedom found in Christ involves addressing the desire for approval/fear of rejection dynamic in our lives. Walking in freedom doesn’t mean we don’t regard what others are thinking or how they are responding to us. In fact, loving people for their sake and the sake of the gospel involves those very things. But the reasons why we do these things are different. And the “why” is transformed by the “who” – Jesus. John 5:42, John 12:42, 2 Corinthians 5:7-9, and Galatians 1:9-10.</p>

<p>Today we consider what Jesus meant when He talked about God pruning our lives so that we might be more fruitful. He doesn’t stop working on us after we’ve found life in Christ. The idea of pruning shears and “cutting away” things doesn’t leave us with warm, fuzzy feelings. But there’s such a thing as “shear grace.” John 15:1-8</p>

<p>“The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God.” This is powerful revelation found in Galatians 2:20 is very much the essence of the “after-life.” So what does it look like to live by faith in Jesus while occupying these bodies that we have and in the variety of contexts we find ourselves in?</p>