The Olive Branch Markham • Audio Podcast

New 3-part series, “King of Hearts — Hope for the Broken” Each and every single one of us are broken in some way, and we all try to fix or hide our brokenness with some kind of band-aid solution. But Jesus continually offers us something far greater: true healing — and hope.

Mature people know how to clean up their messes. Yet, relationally, some never do. Once we break trust with those around us, it’s so hard to gain that back. But what is the main thing that keeps us from being able to gain back trust from others—what is it that makes it impossibly hard to even get started? 

There are always some sticky questions around forgiveness. Most of us can agree on the generic, every day kinds of forgiveness are necessary. But what about when an offence is so horrible, it’s impossible to forget, lest forgive! What about justice? Is forgiveness about just rolling over? This is hard, but with God, He promises it’s possible.

An important thought to consider: God offers us forgiveness by paying for our guilt with His Son’s sacrifice.  Then it’s up to us—do we extend this forgiveness to others? In some way, according to God’s word, if we have chosen to accept His forgiveness, then we have also chosen to be forgivers ourselves. Let’s take a look to see how this plays out.

We want it for ourselves, but we have a hard time giving it to others.⁠ When we have messed up and hurt someone, we want their forgiveness... we want things to be right again. But, turn the tables and we're the ones who have been injured, it's not so easy to GIVE that forgiveness. But if we want a heart that is healed of its pain, we've got to figure this out.⁠

Jesus, who worked as a carpenter or construction worker knew all about splinters. And He knew - splinters hurt like crazy! When someone wounds us, leaves angry words in us, betrays us, criticizes us unfairly, it’s like a splinter. It’s lodged in us and reminds us constantly, "Hey! I’m here!” And there's only one way to stop and heal the pain of a splinter...

The central focus of this story is understanding the real heart of God the Father. It's not just about what we do in response to Him. It's about really understanding God’s inexhaustible love for you. His love will draw a center line down your highway for direction - and its guardrails will keep you from wandering off the road.

The older son in this story illustrates that when we expect to be rewarded for the good things we have done, we've missed the point. When we do good things with the wrong motives - thinking we deserve God's favour, we miss His free gift of grace. That's a gift you don't want to miss.

We all run… do we come home?

Okay, in this series we’ve learned that it’s clear that we can’t do anything if we’re not connected to Jesus: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5. But then Jesus says that the Father, who is the Gardener, ‘cuts off every branch that doesn’t bear fruit’! This is confusing: if we get cut off,...

So, guys, let’s just admit it: women are way, way, way better at helping each other and staying connected than we are. But for life to work — in any sense of that word — we need to stay connected to Jesus and to each other. This is our only hope for making a difference in our world. Jesus said, "Come on! Be the branch! Stay connected!" And the great news is that when we feel like we'...

Anguish. When all of darkness seems inescapable. If you're experiencing this right now, please know, you're not alone. In the Bible, a man named Job is in the middle of an eclipse of life that leaves him questioning everything he believes in. His life was not working. And his friends were no help. Let's look at what happens when God shows up.

Most of us don’t realize that Moses struggled with anxiety, forcing God to kind of push him into the role of leadership. But when you see what he was up against, you can understand why he was afraid! Now, to deal with anxiety, you don't need to already be a hero where you’re strong, courageous and unyielding, and you don’t need to be fearless… let’s look at the story of Moses to see how God us...

If you trace anger throughout the Scriptures, it really doesn’t have a great reputation. Paul says, "Don’t let it sit inside and rot you from the inside out!" And yet, when our way isn’t working, frustration and anger can be our default setting. If that sounds like you... don't be mad. There is a BETTER WAY!

We all have expectations about what life will hold for us...especially when it comes to having children. That’s exactly where Hannah’s life hit the wall and dropped to the floor! In an Old Testament world where having kids proved your worth, Hannah’s lot in life left her deeply discouraged. Broken, even. When our lives are not working it’s like our hope tank gets punctured. But God meets us right...

Most of us have a formula for how our life should go — and, in general, it seems to work until it doesn’t! And when it doesn’t we have a few options: 1) We can just keep pounding ourselves against the obstacles in our path 2) We can pull a tantrum and blame others, God, our parents, our boss or anyone else who seems to be in our way 3) Turn to what Jesus said His disciples on the night before His...

This is the final message of a special focus series, “Good News Give Back”. As a response to God’s great sacrifice of love at Easter, we are intentionally challenging ourselves to LOVE, to SERVE and to GIVE. This week, we’re focusing on what it means to GIVE.

We are in the middle of a special focus series, “Good News Give Back”. As a response to God’s great sacrifice of love at Easter, we are intentionally challenging ourselves to LOVE, to SERVE and to GIVE. This week, we’re focusing on SERVE. Get involved! We want to understand that: • Your time WILL make a difference. • You can help our community partners accomplish more. • Your time gives our commun...

Welcome to Week 1 of Good News Give Back, where for the next 3 weeks, we'll be intentionally engaging in ways to get into action — where we increase our capacity and willingness to be a blessing to those around us.

We come out of Easter thrilled that Jesus made it past the grave. He is who He claimed to be! He’s building a Kingdom that will last forever and overtakes all the kingdoms of this world. He’s the master of quality, the master of time and space, the master of quantity, the master over nature — and even the master over life and death! So here's the question: Where is He in your world?

What do you call a group of people who hate someone who’s innocent, plan for almost 3 years how they’re going to kill him — and then finally pull it off? They're called murderers, even if they are never convicted in a court of law. And that's what happened to Jesus on April 7, 30 A.D. The worst day in history. But within three days, the absolute worst that humans could do was followed by t...

Jesus' intentional journey to Samaria risked the devotion of His followers and the violence of the Samaritans — all to meet one thirsty, but scandalous, woman says it all. This is the conclusion of a special series based on the incredible, hit show, “The Chosen”. This Sunday’s message is based on Episode 8, from Season 1. Give it a watch!

Jesus shocked everyone when He chose Matthew. Surely, Mary was loaded with issues from her past. But Matthew? The tax collector? He was the guy who had it all... and he left all of it to follow Jesus. We’re in the middle of a special series based on the incredible, hit show, “The Chosen”. This Sunday’s message is based on Episode 7, from Season 1. Give it a watch!

Jesus treated everyone as image-bearers of God. What did this look like? With great compassion. Times when others would run the other way, or reject you as less than equal and without usefulness, Jesus leans in, sees us, and meets us in our need.

It’s a very human setting: a wedding where the family is about to be humiliated until Jesus steps in and changes 5 stone jars of water into the best wine! Just from this one situation, what Jesus chooses to do, we learn about how deep the love and care of Jesus is when it comes to our concerns. We’re in the middle of a special series based on the incredible, hit show, “The Chosen”. This Sunday’s m...