Branch Church

How can two people hear the same message of Jesus and one receive it and another reject it? How can one believer be so on fire for God and His Kingdom and another believer is apathetic? In Mark 4, Jesus shares "the parable of the 4 soils." He describes 4 responses to the Gospel and why people respond the way they do.

You were not born an accident. You were not born out of chance. You were formed in your mother's womb ON PURPOSE AND FOR A PURPOSE. A life created to have significance, worth, joy, fulfillment and hope. BUT... until OUR STORY & GOD'S STORY collide we are left to figure out life on our own - constantly searching for meaning, purpose, peace and true fulfillment.

So many stories fill the pages of our lives. Some chapters we love to revisit and share. Others, we would rather skip. Some stories are filled with pain, betrayal, abuse, neglect and despair. This message looks at how "MY STORY MATTERS" to God!

In Romans 7:14-25, Paul allows us into a portion of his life that most would think did not exist. Paul struggled with sin... just like we all do.

Paul has shared overwhelming evidence that we are now "dead to the Law." If the Law does not have the power to save us - what purpose does the Law serve? In Romans 7:7-13, Paul states how the Law is good.

In Romans 7, Paul uses the analogy of marriage to describe our past relationship with the Law and our new relationship with Jesus.

In Romans 6:15-23, Paul states that we become a slave to whatever we choose to obey - sin or God. To be a slave for God is to give up ownership to God.

In Christ, we are dead to sin! The problem is when we do not understand this truth! We act and live out what we perceive to be truth. In Romans 6:5-13, Paul explains how we are FREE IN CHRIST - we are no longer slaves to sin!

In Romans 6:1-4, Paul says that we have died to sin... not dying to sin but died to sin. He then states that for us to understand sins domain in our lives post salvation is us understanding what happened to Jesus on the cross.

In Romans 5:1-2, Paul speaks on the peace we have WITH GOD. It is important that we understand this peace we have WITH GOD. Our lack of understanding of this peace creates a lack of spiritual intimacy with God and a suppressed joy in life.

Many do not understand the foundational concept of salvation and consequently the spiritual formation of their life is less than it ought to be. And in doing so get caught up in a "works-righteousness" or go through spiritual turmoil. As a result, they struggle with guilt, shame and feel unworthy because they do not understand salvation. In Romans 4:1-8, Paul explains justification by faith alone.

We are in a very strategic time in the life of our church. God is creating a passion, hunger and realization to DO, GIVE, and BE more for God's Kingdom. This message looks at big vision and how we're going to get there.

Why does God want my money? All throughout scripture - God requires people to give - why? The truth is... God doesn't want something FROM YOU, He wants something FOR YOU. Giving is the conduit that God uses to minister TO and THROUGH us.

In Romans 3, Paul concludes that we are all guilty.

In Romans 2:17-29, Paul speaks directly to people who believe their religious rituals and activity will save them. We're calling it religious redemption. Religious redemption is when we believe our own religious activities make us right with God. Paul's case is that only Jesus can save us and make us right with God.

A common belief about heaven and hell is that "good people" go to heaven and "bad people" go to hell. In Romans 2:1-16, Paul addresses 4 ways in which God will judge the moralist.

Many people don't think they need the GOOD NEWS because they don't understand the BAD NEWS. In Romans 1:18-32, the Apostle Paul built a case against not just SIN but SINNERS and comes to the conclusion that WE ALL FALL SHORT OF GOD'S GLORY.

If we are going to proclaim the Gospel unashamedely, we must believe it. But to believe it we must understand it. In Romans 1:14-17, Paul shares his motivation for sharing the Gospel.

It has been well said that the Apostle Paul was the greatest Christian who ever lived! In Romans 1:8-12, we get a glimpse of Paul's heart and soul - in doing so we'll extract qualities found in the servant of God.

The book of Romans touches on every major theological theme of the New Testament. It deals with our foundational beliefs (sin, righteousness, faith, hope, peace, suffering, service, submission) as well as the practical outcomes of these beliefs. Together we'll explore the depths of this book and ask the Spirit of God to increase our understanding and broaden our faith.

God as our WAYMAKER paved THE WAY for us to be made right with Him. In Numbers 21, many of the children of Israel were bitten and died from poisonous snakes. God provides a remedy and many others were healed. This account was mentioned by Jesus to Nicodemus in John 3. Jesus said, And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that every...

God provides for all of our needs; nothing is coincidental. The children of Israel face another brutal enemy - THE DESERT. It was a huge challenge to feed 2 million nomads but over and over again - God provided for His people. Just as He provided for Israel in the desert - He will provide for us and NOTHING IS COINCIDENTAL.

Oftentimes, what costs us from experiencing our destiny, purpose and God's will for our lives is fear. Being brave doesn't mean we have no fear - it means we refuse to be overcome by it!

Have you ever had a "NO WAY EXPERIENCE?" There is no way this could happen! All throughout scripture you see God turning the IMPOSSIBLE - POSSIBLE! But that was then this is now and it's different... OR IS IT?

We live in a current culture where the idea of love has been so greatly transformed, wrongly applied, misused, misunderstood, and muddied by common usage that it's lost its true meaning. If we're going to understand love, experience love, be loved and give love. We need to reprogram what culture has taught us and grasp the love that comes from God.