Podcast by Branches OC
Does this mean I have to go on more service or mission trips? No. This discipline is a lifestyle of seeing a need and filling a need.
You can submit from a place of weakness. That's giving up. You submit like Jesus, from a place of strength. We choose to treat others as more valuable than ourselves. Phil 2:3-8
Simplicity is meant to set us free. It takes time, but there is reward immediately.
Confession is a spiritual discipline that has gone off the rails over the years. Why should we do it and what does it look like?
We take on what we focus our mind upon. But, how can we study Bible if I'm not an academic or scholar?
If your direct tv service stops working in your home and you know you paid the bill, you don't assume the waves from the company aren't surrounding your dish. Something is wrong on our end. It's not that God is not whispering, it's that we're not listening.
Ryan continues the spiritual disciplines series, with a deep dive into what it means to worship.
We are terrified of being alone with God without distractions. We also don't know what to do. Let's answer those 2 questions by looking at Jesus and people that have gone before us.
1/14/2023 "Are you good at praying?" by Branches OC
1/7/2023 New Year's Resolutions by Branches OC
It's not the most wonderful time of the year because of what's happening. It's wonderful because of what happened.
It's not the most wonderful time of the year because of what's happening. It's wonderful because of what happened.
It's not the most wonderful time of the year because of what's happening. It's wonderful because of what happened.
On this Sunday morning, Derek Ketchum shares with us.
The Gospel Message of Jesus' resurrection is usually reserved to talk about only on Easter. But, moving forward, we see that it was the foundation of the early church's message and faith.
There is one term, one overpowering element that is used to describe being in Heaven - Love. It is so overwhelming that scripture and other witnesses lead with that when describing being in the presence of God. God is love.
For those who have been in Heaven or the presence of our God, the question they always get is, “Now that you've seen God, been to Heaven - how are you living your life differently.” Let's answer that question.
Will my dog be in heaven? Will I not know my spouse or children? What will we look like? Let's listen in to God's Word so the picture becomes clearer.
Heaven won't have everything. And you will be glad of that. Let's take a deeper dive.
Can we know what Heaven is like? Does it really matter? Let's take a quick dive on what God says Heaven is like in Revelation and in Hebrews. It is so freeing and exciting to see how much our God loves us by what He has created!
We talk more about Hell then Heaven. Why? There is so much more detail and description concerning Heaven and we ignore it. We look away? But, Jesus thought Heaven was important enough too.
This Sunday morning, we sit down with the worship team to learn about worship and its meaning.
Maybe God is more complicated than we think. By looking at these two habits, characteristics that define Jesus we see that we need to stay in a state of curiosity and wonder on the complexity and beauty of God. Maybe we don't know as much as we think we know.
He is always speaking. He has, He is, and He will. The difficulty is that we have tendency to turn away from His Word. We don't stay planted like a tree at a stream of water. Let's look closer at hearing from God for the purpose of obeying. The result is that we will bear much fruit!
We are always in a hurry. We attribute it to scheduling too much, not often enough, or saying 'yes' when we should be saying 'no' to a request. But, when we look at the unhurried life of Jesus we see that it is something much simpler that will bring about the unhurried life.
Exploring the deep truths found in Jesus' response to this simple request.
There are 10 occasions where Jesus was in synagogue in the New Testament. Most of us have no idea what ‘synagogue' was like and how significant it was to the people of Israel. But, there is a reason Jesus (and Paul) chose the synagogue for much of getting the Message out via the spoken word. But, there is so much more to this habit than ‘hearing a good sermon.'
We all have a list in our heads, like Santa, of who is bad and who is good. Yet, maybe our confidence in that should be questioned looking at Jesus' choices.
It's difficult if not impossible to keep a habit if you don't feel confident that you know how to do that habit. Let's make it clearer on "how" to pray.
It's the time of year when most people consider making changes to their life. A diet is popular change. But, when you get older you realize a diet is more than just mood, it's the lifestyle of what you watch, consume, follow, relationships, hobbies, routines, etc. To help guide us, let's look at Jesus' #1 habit that we could adopt.
Special people and powerful moments should not be forgotten. That's why we have birthdays, anniversaries and Holy Days. The Holy Days of Christmas is meant for us to remember the faithfulness of God. To not remember creates an environment for doubt to grow.
Christmas is branded with the idea of Joy. Then, why do so few people experience joy at this time? Let's look together to unlock the joy that is promised to all of us.
Is it possible for us to return to the hope, peace, joy, and love this season was born from? What does that look like?
I can't really get through to what God has for me if I'm stuck in a loop of what I think He wants from me. My only hope to navigate is this crazy unexplainable faith. Sometimes it's hard work and in my opinion, it can't be done alone. Scripture Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ...”My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ's power over me. I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
To Witness is simply to tell true stories. It's been God's pattern from the beginning. We are part of a Legacy of storytelling that originates from love and finds it's purpose in love.
In this short message we look at the Biblical example of what it is to witness and what it looks like for us today to 'bear witness.'
Following Jesus is more caught than taught. When you start a job, what they tell you doesn't teach you how to do the job as much as what those at work do. Jesus makes it clear he is not calling people to join the club but to follow Him.
When it comes to sharing our faith, most people think it is awkward. We feel we have to talk about things we don't understand to people we don't know. That is awkward. Don't do it. As we look at the way Jesus shared the Truth and the way those who trusted Him shared about Him we see a pattern that is natural for us. We only have to remember two words. We invite you to listen in to John 1:35-42 to discover these two words.
What if the character of Christ was reducible to two elements? What if we, in sharing our faith, require just two ingredients? In fact there are 2 qualities that are necessary in being the sincere, transparent witnesses of Jesus.
When the topic of sharing our faith is brought up, more than 90% of people who have a faith in Jesus are struck with fear or guilt. Something so beautiful as sharing a life changing understanding of Jesus an His love should not be so awkward and uncomfortable. Therefore, we must be wrong in our understanding of what is expected of us and what it can look like to be a part of Changed Lives.
There is a lie. “Since I'm following Jesus why am I not getting any better with my issues? I must be doing something wrong." You are not doing something wrong. Come listen in.
Who is Good and Who is Bad? Fortunately for us, we don't have to be in the business of deciding that. We are not experts and we shouldn't really want that job. We leave that to The Expert. Our call, our job, our lane is Love Anyway. In Luke 10 we see and “expert” approach Jesus to test Him on who is worthy of us loving. How do we determine the neighbor who is Good or Bad so we can discern who to love. Jesus, however, turns the question and asks instead, “Are you a neighbor?”
Jesus chose disciples that He knew would not get along. We are expected to learn how to be with and work with difficult people - because we are also difficult people.
We continue in our series "Love God. Love People." We need to be forewarned that when we love like Jesus, we will be persecuted like He was. But, we are also set free from the burden to fail as 'experts' in what is right and wrong.
"What do we do to prepare for those who will join us during the re-plant? You shall love. We will be looking at this closely over the next few weeks so that it will stick in our hearts, and minds, and efforts."
Michael Bischof shares with us on this Sunday Morning.
Derek Ketcham joins us and elaborates on our purpose as Christians.
Ryan shares with us about the importance of good news.
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