The Branch Church

<p>This weekend is the final (and possibly the most important) message of our series on the Holy Spirit. The thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is often used to speak into marriages, but it’s not really about marriage. It’s about life with the Spirit!</p>

<p>This weekend, we find out what the Holy Spirit has to do with “body-building.” We also explore how the spirits of inferiority and superiority so often get in the way of us growing together in the ways and work of the Holy Spirit.</p>

<p>Do you have a Christmas gift list? Did you know there’s such a thing as a Spirit gift list? And did you know you can ask for the gifts on the list?<br><br>We’re spending some time in 1 Corinthians 12-14 over the next couple of weekends. We’re called to be more than open to the ways the Holy Spirit operates in our lives. We’re called to eagerly desire and pursue such things by the grace of God. Let’s grow together!</p>

<p>One of the most common references to the Holy Spirit in Scripture is as a “deposit.” This has implications both for our attitude and our mindset about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives today, but also how the work of the Spirit points us to a future day.</p>

<p>There were varied opinions and reactions to the move of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2... but no one was indifferent about it. Something is happening. Come and see.</p>

<p>This weekend, some will be challenged and stretched by this particular part of the series. We are considering the power of the Holy Spirit.<br><br>The power of the Spirit doesn't always work to get us out of a jam, or make our life easier or more comfortable. The One who walked in it more than anyone else ever has — Jesus — still had a cross in His future. But He also had a resurrection! The power of the Spirit was involved in both. (see Hebrews 9:14 and Romans 8:11)</p>

<p>This weekend we consider what Scripture has to reveal about the Holy Spirit as a person, and why that matters.</p>

<p>This weekend we begin a new series: Holy Spirit: Person, Power, and Presence. We’ll consider what Scripture has to tell us about the reality, mystery, and practical need for the Spirit of God in our lives. By God’s grace, we’ll grow in our understanding of what it means to be a Spirit-led people with Spirit-empowered lives.</p>

<p>There are no “finished products” for God to work through. Though God works through us, He is still working on us. This weekend we wrap up our Ancient Future series on the church in Antioch with one final message about ongoing change. Antioch was a place where not just new believers were emerging, but seasoned believers were being changed in an ongoing way.<br><br>Have you ever believed something in your mind and yet you had trouble living it out – as if there was a gap between how you thought and how you lived? We’ll talk about it this weekend and even see this dynamic at work in the lives of the spiritual leaders of the early church. We’re all under construction!</p>

<p>“When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done….” (Acts 11:23)<br><br>This weekend, we focus on what the church in Antioch has to teach us about being a person and a church rooted in grace. The presence and absence of grace impacts every realm of life — marriage, parenting, business, friendships, relationships, etc…. And then there’s the grace of God in our own lives.</p>

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

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

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

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

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

<p>Of the more than 31,000 verses in the Bible, Galatians 2:20 would be one of my candidates for a “life-verse.” It’s dense with powerful revelations for what it means to live “the after-life.” The gospel tells the story of two of the greatest substitutions there have ever been. Christ dying in our place upon the cross, and Christ living in our place within our hearts. This week, we’ll consider the significance of this phrase: “but Christ lives in me.”</p>

<p>What in the world does it mean that we’ve been “crucified with Christ?” It's all over the New Testament, but most of us probably don’t think about it much. <br><br>You’re not just “raised with Christ,” you’ve “died with Him.” Really? When did this happen? And what difference does considering myself a “dead man” or “dead woman” make practically in my life today?</p>

<p>The gospels are full of some powerful before/after stories... And in every one of those before/after’s Jesus is the difference.<br><br>When you read the rest of the New Testament, one of the most common phrases the writers use to talk about the life of a Christian is the phrase “you’ve been raised with Christ.”<br><br>Raised from what?</p>

<p>The after-life isn’t just about heaven.<br>It’s about the resurrected life HERE and NOW on earth. When Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, is on the scene in someone’s life – get ready for different.</p>

<p>It’s one thing to be spiritually lost or “off-course.” It’s another to realize it. One of the first steps to us being “found” is when we become aware that we are off-course and ask for help. The Spirit of God is often involved in bringing about this awareness. John 15:26-16:11</p>

<p>This weekend we're exploring what Jesus has to say about the “help” that the Spirit of God brings into our lives. John 14:15-27</p>

<p>In week three of “Until Then” we’ll be in John 14:15-31.</p>

<p>In week two of “Until Then,” we’ll be in four verses that are “ants in the pants” of my faith. They can be uncomfortable and challenging, yet they keep it moving. Our journey continues through Jesus’ parting words to His disciples in John 14-16.</p>

<p>A new series begins this weekend at The Branch!<br><br>If you had a few days left to live would you want to know? Suppose you weren’t given the choice as to whether or not you would know it. You just knew it. How would you spend those few days? What would you want to say to those you were closest to? <br><br>This weekend we kick off a new series that will take us all the way up to Easter. We’ll be spending some time in the last extended conversation Jesus has with His disciples before His arrest, trial, and crucifixion. You could consider this conversation His “parting words.” This is the stuff He wants His disciples, including us, to know and to live out until He returns. We’ll be walking through passages from John 14-16 over the next five weekends.</p>

<p>The final message in a series that has become an increasingly appropriate series with every week that rolls by in 2021. This week has been a terribly difficult week for so very many, all over the state and in the communities where we live. <br><br>In the midst of it all, we’ve heard story after story of many who’ve been able to open up their homes and share their resources with strangers and neighborhood acquaintances.<br><br>This message shines a light on how there are always opportunities for the love of Christ to be shown.</p>

<p>This weekend we’ll explore the one question that’s not always at the top of our minds when faced with a decision. It’s a question that represents counsel that Scripture gives us repeatedly from the Old Testament through the New Testament.<br><br>Decision-making isn’t simply about determining whether something is right or wrong. Nor is it about having enough information. And no, the question isn’t “What will glorify God?” (Good guess, though!) Asking this question will, though, often bear fruit that will give you an opportunity to point to God, no doubt!<br><br>So what’s the question?</p>

<p>Think of your conscience as like an organ in your body that has a sense of right and wrong... like a red flag that waves back and forth telling us we’ve done something wrong, or are about to do something wrong, or that something is wrong in the situation we’re in.<br><br>It’s a reflection of us being made in the image of a holy and just God.</p>

<p>Some decisions you see coming from miles away. Other decisions, not so much. Have you ever found yourself in the middle of something that you didn’t see coming, but now you’re faced with having to make some decisions?<br><br>We’ll explore this challenge this weekend and draw from the story of a person in Scripture who faced one situation after another – and he didn’t see them coming! The decisions he made in the midst of those situations became part of a story worth telling for generations.</p>

<p>When decisions are being made, we often hear the phrase:<br><br>“What’s your heart telling you? Follow your heart.”<br><br>What is a biblical perspective of this? It may not be what you were expecting!</p>

<p>Where you are today has something to do with the decisions you made yesterday. And where you will be tomorrow has something to do with <br>decisions made today. <br><br>This weekend, Chris kicks off a new series through some passages of Scripture that will serve as a guide to helping us make better decisions. This week we focus on Galatians 6:7-8.<br><br>As a helpful and practical partner resource for this series, we recommend the book, “Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets” by Andy Stanley.</p>