The Branch Church

Our second 'special' podcast that goes along with our Lenten series on vocation. We take a look back at Sunday's sermon and discuss one or two things we didn't get to cover on Sunday.

As we continue a look at the the idea vocation, we consider the end goal. What is every calling and vocation leading us toward? (Luke 4:1-21)

There's a lot to say about vocation -- more than we can cover in worship.  So join us each week for this brief recap of Sunday's message as well as an additional thought or two that we didn't get to on Sunday. Music: Answered by Ketsa https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

As we begin Lent we begin a conversation about vocation. Vocation is often thought of quite narrowly -- as something that applies to only a select few. But vocation, or calling, is something the Scriptures tell us we all have. But what does that mean? And what is our calling? We begin by remembering that our vocation, whatever it may be, must be rooted in who we are. Music: Summer-Sessions by Kets...

In our final week of this series we look back on the last four weeks and consider an idea that makes all the others possible: I need you.

One of the most destructive voices in our lives is the voice of shame. Shame tells us that we'll never be enough -- that there's no way we are worthy of love. If people only knew the real us... The Scriptures speak to us not with a voice of shame, but compassion. In a story from Luke 15, we see shame at work in the lives of two brothers. The way out is to listen to the words of their father. Can w...

This week we look at Acts 15 and 1 Corinthians 18 -- windows into how some of the first Jesus followers navigated disagreement. This is a critical topic as today, our handling of disagreement, both personally and societally is far too often dysfunctional at best. Where do we need to grow so that disagreement becomes a transformative opportunity?

Showing up is an incredible act of strength. To show up as we are, with what we have, takes great courage and vulnerability. And...and...showing up is what is required to grow, heal and be changed.

Strength is typically through of as muscle and grit -- it leads to success -- it's powerful and bold. And while that is true, this view of strength is one-dimensional. What makes a person strong is more than muscle or a superior intellect. Strength comes in unexpected ways; ways our world may even tell us are weakness. Join us as we look at a number of stories from the Scriptures of (unexpected) S...

Week 4 of our Advent Series: Those who Dream

Week 3 of Advent brings the theme of joy, something that has often felt in short supply this year. The lectionary text (Luke 1:39-55) invites us to consider how joy might find its beginnings in anticipation of what is to come; in faith and trust in a promise made. 

Those who dream God's dreams not only heed the call to stay awake (week 1) but also to prepare the way. We look at Isaiah 40 and Psalm 85 (two of this week's lectionary texts) and then reflect together what it might mean for us to make straight a highway for God.

The first week of Advent brought a Sunday filled with the art of A Sanctified Art and the lectionary texts of Mark 13 and Psalm 80 as we focused on the need to stay awake through the practice of lament.

We've been talking a lot about love - love of our neighbor, love of enemy. This week we consider love from a different angle, viewing as a creative force for redemption. What would it mean to love creatively ? What new, innovative ways do we need to think about love? 

The election is over. Now what? One thing is clear: a new humanity is needed now more than ever.  So, what do we hold onto -- what do we need to focus on in the weeks ahead? This week we consider seeds, stones and sparrows.

Those we disagree with -- those who offend us -- those who are our 'enemy' -- create great discomfort, unease and even hurt. And it seems quite human to try to avoid those emotions. To do our best to wall ourselves off from the discomfort. But what would happen if we did exactly the opposite? As we look at sections of Matthew 7 and 5 we see Jesus calling us to look inward. To ask what the discomfo...

During this fourth week we consider how we might work to find commonality -- a transformative work that can lead us to greater compassion for our enemy/other, and even open the door to collaboration.

This week we lean into Luke 10:25-35 and Christena Cleveland’s book, Disunity in Christ, to consider the ways we categorize each other, how it causes so much damage, and a possible alternative as we work to live into God’s new humanity.

Last week we considered our shared identity as a starting point for loving our enemies. This week, we build on that identity by considering  the call to humility. What does humility look actually like? What might we do and say if we embodied humility more greatly?

Liminal Spaces Recording of Zoom Meeting from May 5th 2020

Teresa teaches on Mark Chapter 10

Chris teaches on Mark 9:2-13

Mark Chapter 8 - Teacher - Ricardo Talverez

Chris teaches on Mark Chapter 7

Kelly Buist teaches on Mark chapter 6