The Branch

After Jesus tells his followers of the authority that he has been given, he tells them to go. How did they hear that? How should we hear it? What do we do with that instruction?

Jesus' last words to his followers before he ascended to heaven have become known as the Great Commission. What do those words mean to us? As we kick off this new series, we look at these last words of Jesus one phrase at a time.

What happens when things don't go the way we'd like them to? Do we trust that God's ways are higher than our own and that his plan will endure forever? We ask these questions and see how the truth of God's sovereignty is illustrated through the film Father of the Bride.

Proverbs says that our lives reflect our hearts. How are our lives reflecting our hearts? Continuing our Summer at the Movies series, we look at these and other questions through the film Stranger Than Fiction.

What happens when government authorities conflict with the Law of God? With the backdrop of Nazi Germany in A Hidden Life, we look at our duty and responsibility, the cost of following Jesus, and the metrics of making a difference.

We kick off our summer at the movies series looking at the Disney Pixar film "Cars" and learning from the transformation that takes place in Lightning McQueen.

In this episode, we recap our Where Life and Faith Meet series and respond to some questions that were raised along the way.

What do we do when life gets messy? What does grace have to do with it? We look to Ephesians and James to answer these questions.

In the Body of Christ, there are no extraneous parts, no parts that simply sit on the sidelines and watch. We all have a role to play to build up the body and to reach the fullness of Christ together. We look at this through Paul's words in Ephesians 4.

How do we seek comfort in others when we may not naturally lean towards their comfort rather than our own? This week we look to the story of The Good Samaritan to see how Jesus calls us to give up our own comfort for the sake of others.

Jesus met us where we were and continues to meet us where we are. How do we embody Christ more fully by meeting people where they need the love of Christ, just like how Christ continues to meet us? In this episode, we look at how Jesus showed up for the woman at the well in John 4.

How do we places others needs above our own when it doesn't come naturally? How do we become more like Christ and willingly sacrifice for others? In this episode, we look to Philippians to see what Paul has to say about placing relationships above our preferences.

What do we do when we want answers, ask God, and don't hear a response? Is the silence an answer in itself? Looking at the story of Job, in this episode we look to better understand what it looks like for us to sit in the unknown.

What does it look like to disagree but stay united? Is it even possible? In Paul's letter to Ephesus, we see how unity does not come at the cost uniformity and how God made a way to experience it.

Are you tired? Are you weary? Where do you turn for rest? In this episode we look to Hebrews 4 and hear how God leads us into rest.

After David is confronted by Nathan the prophet, he writes Psalm 51. It is a picture of the Lord's forgiveness to us.

What does it look like to love others as Christ first loved us? What do we do with the limitless love of Christ that has been given to us?

David sees the Lord as his salvation in Psalm 27. Do we see the Lord as our salvation? As our light? Do we believe that we simply need a one-time salvation or are we being saved and will we be saved?

When we look at the Lord as our teacher, what posture do we take? David gives us a picture in Psalm 25 of how we approach the Lord as our teacher.

In Psalm 16, David looks to the Lord to be his guide. How do we see the Lord as our guide?

Although the Lord is righteous and holy, David was able to approach him with boldness and confidence. What does the righteousness of the Lord mean to us? How do we approach him in his righteousness and how do we live out that righteousness?

As we enter into the season of Lent, we look at the Psalms to learn more about the character of God. In Psalm 3, David sees God as his protector.

As we come to the end of our series on the life of Joseph, we look at some of the big takeaways and respond to a few questions that have been asked.

In this episode, we come to the conclusion of our look at Joseph's story. We see how God has been sovereign the whole way and that he was putting the pieces together to achieve the exact purpose that he wanted.

Sometimes, God uses our circumstances to teach us lessons and sometimes he uses our circumstances to teach lessons to others. God used the circumstances of Joseph to help him and his brothers grow.