The Branch Church: Recent Episodes
The Branch
The spaces through which we are changed tend to be experiences of great love or great suffering. Peter's life is an example of both.
It may seem like growing in our faith would mean that we would end up more certain. That may be true of some things (for example, God's love for us). But an important part of transformation involves putting on humility; admitting that we don't have all the answers (and may never have them); even embracing mystery.
God is always present.
And it is in the present moment - no where else - that we experience God (and, each other).
Growing, maturing, deepening our faith requires us, therefore, to be present - a very very difficult challenge for humans to believe and live.
The created world is a gift, teaching us things that are true about God and about ourselves. This week we consider what trees teach us about our growth and maturity.
The six stories we've considered so far fall short of their promise. They give us something, but it is not what we really want. We need a seventh story.
We see aspects of the seventh story in the hours before and after Christ's death and resurrection -- and we see it clearly in the resurrection itself. This story is hard to believe, if we're honest, but it is the story that leads to life.
The Story of Accumulation is everywhere. There isn't a day that we're not inundated with the message that we'll find our happiness and security in more (fill in the blank).
But does this story give us what it promises? What is the alternative?
The Story of Victimization is a challenging one. It tells us that when we've been harmed we should let our pain define us. It's a story that encourages us to get stuck in our pain -- sometimes even fueling us to harm others while feeling righteous in doing so.
But this story does not move us toward life. Instead, we must courageously face our pain -- almost certainly with the help and care of others.
Teresa and Chris (from Palestine) share thoughts on the third story in our series -- the Story of Purification.
We consider the story of revolution/revenge -- the story that tells us that the only way to happiness and security is to repay pain for pain.
We begin a series for Lent that considers six stories we encounter regularly in our day to day lives -- a series that ends on Easter, which is a seventh story of sorts.
These six stories promise us happiness, security and fulfillment but rarely deliver. As we move through Lent we'll be asking ourselves which of these stories do we believe and might we want to leave them behind for a better story.
Week 1 is the story of Domination.
We are choosing to be bold -- to take risks, to purposefully keep a compelling vision close to our heart, and to lean into each other.
Jesus is our example, and at every turn Jesus extends welcome to all. Those on the margins, those society considered 'last', those disregarded are all included.
Within the community Jesus creates, we find significant difference (socio-economic, political, gender). This is by choice. Jesus chooses to include those who he knew would disagree -- those who would see the world very differently -- those who the world would say should be opponents, if not enemies.
What happens when we choose to include? What happens to us? What happens to the world? We consider these questions together.
Who do we want to be?
Who will we choose to be?
These are questions often asked at the beginning of a new year. And while related, they are not the same.
We may want to be many things -- or to change much -- but without a choice (likely, many, daily choices) those desires will go unrealized.
We must be intentional - purposeful.
Together we consider three choices Jesus invites us to make. This week, that choice is humility.
Luke 18:9-14
From moving trucks to our hope for reconciliation to an inn (or house) in Bethlehem, it often feels like there is no room. No room for repair. No hope of things getting better. No space for this or that group. But the Christmas story reminds us that God is able to make room, to make the last first, to find space for all, to open our often-closed hearts.
For the final Sunday of Advent we consider the power of song - especially the way in which it can help rekindle hope.
As we sing multiple carols, hear poetry and consider what lyrics to our own song of hope might sound like, we work together to find strength and resolve to move toward the lives and world we are invited to by God.
As we considered last week, it is possible for joy to surprise us and show up at any moment, in any circumstance.
This week, Elliott shares the story of the days following John the Baptist's birth - a story in which Zachariah's muteness ends and he breaks into a song of sorts -- a blessing for the world and for his son.
In this story, awe and wonder are prevalent. In fact, they are prevalent in all of the stories surrounding Jesus' birth. What do we make of this? Is there a connection between awe and joy? And is it possible to cultivate awe in our everyday lives?
"Choose joy!"
This phrase has become an anthem of sorts, but is it true? Is joy something we choose? Can we, therefore, do certain things to create or manufacture joy?
We look at the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah and explore these questions, working to clarify what joy is and how it arrives in our lives.
The good news is that joy can be present in any circumstance, at any time. Even when we are weary and worn.
Our theme this year is "a weary world rejoices".
We're borrowing that line from the Christmas carol, O Holy Night. It's a line that holds tension and hope. Tension because both weariness and joy are present at the same time and hope because...well...weariness and joy are present at the same time.
This morning we consider the ways in which we doubt joy and even resist it. We explore the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth - a story of both weariness and joy -- and let it inspire us to consider how we might more and more become people ready to receive joy when it sneaks "into the cracks of our imperfect life".
Teresa follows up on the conversation we had about Israel/Palestine (on 10/29) by asking the question - what is ours to do? How do we move toward wholeness in the face of constant pressure to perform, achieve and fix all things?
The attacks by Hamas, as well as Israel's response, have created so much pain and destruction. Our hearts are heavy with the weight of this war and the decades long conflict that has preceded it.
What are we to do in the face of such violence and loss? What can we do, if anything?
Chris shares some of his wrestlings from the last few weeks and invites us to wrestle too -- not just with this war on the other side of the world, but with the way vengeance and demonization can easily took root in our own lives.
After our gathering, folks stuck around to ask questions about the current war, the larger Israel/Palestine conflict and what it might mean for our lives.
This is a moment in history full of change, questions, uncertainty and loss. So much is shifting so quickly -- including what it means to be Christian (not to mention...if...I want to be Christian).
A moment like this calls for courage. Courage to dream new dreams; to allow our imaginations to be reignited. To admit our limitations let go of old patterns that no longer work. We are committed to being that kind of a community.
Presence is one of God's greatest gift to us, and in turn, it is one of the greatest gifts we can offer to each other. We consider this core value -- an intentional choice we can make to be present in our world, here and now.
Our final Sunday in Acts considers the last chapters of this book - chapters that show us the promising reality that God's Spirit is given to us precisely in our gritty, messy humanness.
One of the consistent themes in Acts (and the Bible) is conflict. From the very beginning of the story (Acts 6), we find rumblings of discontent.
How do we overcome difference? Acts 15 doesn't give us a 1-2-3 step plan, but it does offer insight to steps we can take to help conflict become something that grows us.
We all know what it is to feel the tension between our differences. At the center of the stories in Acts is the tension between Jew and Gentile. Those first Christians were constantly having to work out what it means to not just tolerate 'the other', but to be their brother and sister.
Our dear friend Deborah leads us through the stories of Stephen. His life is the first witness to the scattering of those following Jesus -- out from Jerusalem to Samaria to the ends of the earth. Stephen is willing and able -- and that open posture leads to changed lives, including his own.
We consider Acts 3 and 4 - a story of boldness and courage, including a willingness to speak truth to those in power. How do we do the same?
Something has happened in Jerusalem -- a pouring out of the Sacred Breath (Holy Spirit) -- and it has begun to change people's lives. Today we look at the end of Acts 2 where we see the impact of this revolution of intimacy.
The disciples pose a question to Jesus in the days following his resurrection - a question that exposes their longings and hopes. Jesus' response to their question was not what they expected. This week we consider this story and what it might mean for us.
We begin a summer long journey through the story of Christianity's beginnings. This week, we consider the larger context and themes of the book.
Our last installment in this series explores John 4 - a story of an ordinary, everyday encounter that ends up leading to a transformative connection — a connection rooted in vulnerability.
Could it be possible that our everyday, ordinary connections offer the same possibility for change?
John 9 is a chapter full of questions, and to be honest, some are better than others.
We take a look at the host of questions asked in this story and consider what makes a lesser and better question? What mistaken assumptions often undergird our questions? And how might we follow the example of Jesus in this story who invites us to not just ask, but act.
It's a story we know well. Perhaps too well. Can we listen with fresh ears -- like that time we first heard encountered the unbelievable world of chemistry, poetry or jazz.
When Mary meets Jesus in the garden she doesn't recognize him. The disciples who ran with her to the tomb don't understand. Questions abound. Confusion is everywhere. Into the fray steps the risen Christ - meeting Mary and the disciples where they were and calling them by name.
In Ezekiel 37 the prophet (by the same name) is given a vision -- a vision that not only captures the hopelessness of his world, but perhaps of his own life as well. And yet, this same vision also breathes hope and possibility. In our world, there is no shortage of hopelessness. What might this ancient vision offer us and our context today?
Our second week in this series (from March-May we'll be preaching roughly every other week and having Group Sundays on the other weeks - see our blog for more) considers the story of Nicodemus. This religious, pious and seeking leader is confronted with an idea that confuses and shakes him: you must be born again.
To be willing to 'begin again' seems to be a consistent message in Jesus' life. Whether it's having the faith of a child, letting go of an old wineskin, or putting a seed in the ground, Christ consistently teaches us that growth and transformation only happen when we are willing to begin again.
Our final week in the series considers what Sabbath has to teach us about our relationship with the rest of the created world.
Teresa invites us to consider what Sabbath might mean for our work -- and our identity.
Joseph had a choice to make. Would he separate from Mary or stand with her? It, no doubt, was a difficult choice.
While our circumstances are certainly different, we too face the same type of choice: will we separate from those in need - those we disagree with - those who are on the edges of society -- or will we move toward and stand with?
Joseph's story invites us to choose a better way.
When Mary is visited by Gabriel and told that she will give birth to the long awaited Messiah, she is understandably afraid and troubled.
What does Mary's response to this visit have to teach us about our response to fear? And what might Gabriel's words prompt us to remember about God's promises?
The genealogy of Jesus (in Matthew 1) is often overlooked. But what does this long list of names have to tell us?
As we consider it together we find an unlikely lineage full of unexpected characters. But perhaps that's the point. Even Jesus' beginning is through and through marked by those we continually dismiss or try to explain away.
Not only is our gathering move to 10am starting September 11, but we're also experimenting with and exploring new ways of practicing our faith and connecting with each other on Sundays. This podcast lays out what to expect and how you can be involved.
Both the Old and New Testaments use the same word for Spirit and wind. Elliot helps us reflect on this as a valuable metaphor to teach us about what God is like.
The beginning of our story (Genesis 1 and 2) is a story of utmost goodness. So is the end of our story (Revelation 21 and 22). Between these bookends comes God's call to care for, tend to, serve and guard the created world so that it might be good, whole and complete.
The beginning of a story matters, and Genesis is a beginning of profound goodness. This tells us something fundamentally important about the Creator and about ourselves.
Our second week in Genesis 1 invites us to consider how deeply connected we are to the creation and how God's 'first language' can draw us more deeply into relationship with the Creator
Our final week in this series considers the overall goal: deeper and more meaningful connections with those in our lives. Which begs the question, what exactly does it mean to be connected and how do we connect? Jesus shows us a compelling way (Mark 10:46-52).
The Scriptures ask us to do a difficult thing -- to live in a way that both honors every person's individuality and intentionally integrates their lives in the larger body. This week we talk about that both/and and give time to consider what it might mean for us.
Easter is a paradox: death leads to life. Emptying ourselves leads to a filling -- a renewal. It is only by descending that we are lifted up. Philippians 2:5-11
The last Sunday in Lent points us to the story of the prodigal sons and father (Luke 15) as a way to explore the common experiences of shame, guilt, humiliation and perfectionism.
We continue to expand our vocabulary of the heart by considering an all to common human behavior: comparison.
Envy and jealousy -- and two German words - schadenfreude and freudenfreude -- are emotions and experiences connected to comparison. We see them in action in a story from Mark 10:35-45.
This week we expand our vocabulary of the heart by considering wonder and awe -- what they are, what they feel like and what they often help lead us toward.
What's the difference between joy and happiness? And what are the costs of choosing foreboding joy? We explore these parts of our heart while looking at a great story from Luke 15.
Teresa and Chris sit down to debrief our final week of conversation about where we are headed and how we might get there.
As you'll hear in this short podcast (just 11 minutes), we not only took away some important things from Sunday's dialogue, but we're also inviting everyone to continue the conversation in some specific ways in the coming weeks.
This Lent, we'll follow Jesus' lead and look inward -- tending to our heart.
How might these forty days of Lent propel us to live more wholeheartedly?
Teresa and Chris share a summary of Sunday's conversation on "Grow", including what stood out to them and what we will be paying attention as we move forward.
For the next three weeks we won't be releasing a podcast from Sunday since most of the morning is being spent in small groups, discussing various questions about our core values. But - we will be releasing these DEBRIEF podcasts -- short summaries and take-aways from the morning.
Here's a few thoughts from our first Sunday of conversation.
This short, 13-minute podcast, takes a look back at Sunday's big ideas, and shares some insights we gained from the survey people took during worship.
If you have not taken the survey yet, you can do so here: https://forms.gle/yBFULNVzmmagu2ZP6
We're taking the month of February to map our future together.
Any good map shows you three things: where you are, where you are going, and some options for how to get there. Sundays in February will center around these three things.
To begin, we took a look at a story from John 4 - a story that gives us a sense of where we are called to go. We are called to become people who receive and offer embrace, who are growing, and who participate in the renewal of God in the world.
Our final week in the Detour series considers the regret that can come when things don't go according to plan. What do we do with that regret? Is it possible that regret can be a 'call to courage and a path toward wisdom?' (Brene Brown, Atlas of the Heart).
One of the emotions we encounter when life gets detoured is disappointment. And while we may be able to move beyond some disappointment fairly easily, some disappointment carries deep pain, confusion and even shame. We consider this emotion -- and what is behind it -- this week as we also consider stories found in Mark 3 and 10.
As challenging and disorienting as disruptions and detours are, this week we consider what opportunities detours might offer us as we take a look at the story of Saul's detour in Acts 9.
Our first week in Advent did not include a typical sermon, but a mixture of music, prayer and reflection. There were two main sections of reflection, both introduced by Chris. The first one set up the series, inviting us to consider what the idea of "home" might mean to us and how we might be homesick. The second reflected on one of the lectionary texts for this Sunday in which hope is found in the midst of separation and distance.
Our final week of the series invites us to interrogate what vision we have built our lives on. We close by focusing on something as simple and stunning as a flower to help us remember who we are and what we are invited to do.
What does it mean to be blessed? And how do we experiencing the blessing Christ talks about? By accumulating power? Putting on a good face? By protecting our interest? What if openness, humility and vulnerability were the door through which we experience a blessed life?
To see the google doc we created together in worship, click here.
Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with three passages that carry a similar theme: a life of faith, life in the Kingdom, is more than just lip service or idle listening. We are called to bear fruit. Which perhaps begs a question: how? How does one bear fruit? Together we consider some ideas and encourage each other to be intentional this week.
See the google doc we created at the end of the message.
Presence, Not Performance
Matthew 6:1-18 (The Message)
In the second week of this series we consider the temptation to turn faith into a performance. We can so easily try to leverage gifts like prayer and generosity for our own benefit -- to gain the attention of others or the approval of God. Jesus is clear: this is an upside down way to live. The call is not to perform, but to be present. To go away to a solitary place, shut the door, put away the pretense and open ourselves us as best we can to the grace God always offers us.
Here is a link to the google doc we created together.
Our final week looks at a core value that pushes against one of the strongest currents in modern day life.
Good news: this week's podcast is nice and short.
Bad news: it's nice and short because only the first half got recorded.
Back to the good news: the 2nd half was really just us giving time for people to reflect on Romans 16:1-15, write their thoughts in a google doc (which you can find here) and then mention a few notes to finish up.
If you're giving this a listen, we invite you to add to the google doc. What did you notice in the passage, especially around partnerships. And...what partnerships are currently in your life, or do you feel called to form?
Week three brings us to the core value of simplicity. Yes, the world is in need of renewal; and yet, God does not intend for us to burn out as we try to be everything to everyone. Instead, we must choose simplicity. We must discern what is ours to do and not to do.
Here is a link to the google doc we created.
And here is the link to the blog post Chris references from Nadia Bolz Weber.
Week 2 of our series on our core values takes us through the value of incarnation. We consider what it means to be incarnational and what we might do to embody the presence of Christ in our everyday lives.
Our first week in a series on our core values takes a look at Liberty -- a commitment we have made to practice humility, proximity and curiosity when we encounter those who we disagree with, dislike or are different from.
Here is the google doc we created together.
And here is an excellent podcast that covers some of the same ground we did.
Our final Sunday in our series. Together, we look back at the series as a whole, and consider three themes we see in the collective of characters.
This week, instead of focusing on one or two biblical characters, we're looking at 28. Most of these folks, from Romans 16, are never mentioned again in the biblical text, and yet this passage (Romans 16:1-16) helps to remind us of how God calls us to live, and how that might differ from the current of our culture.
Guest preacher Deborah McCreary invites us to consider what Shiphra and Puah's story may have to say to us today.
Elliot leads us through the extremely short, and often overlooked book of Philemon - inviting us to ask what Onesimus, Philemon and Paul may have to teach us about our vocation.
After considering the 'After-Times' in the month of May, we pick up a series we started in April: Faces of Our Faith. This week, we look at Priscilla and Aquila. They are only mentioned in four places in the NT - and yet their story instructs and challenges us for what our lives might look like today.
What do we want our lives to look like in the After-Times? As the pandemic wanes and we move out of a period of disorder, how will we re-order our lives? We continue that conversation in week 3 of our series.
The pandemic is not over and yet things are beginning to change. This raises a number of questions, including: what have we learned and who do we want to become on the other side of the pandemic? Week 2 of this series invites us to look inward and ask questions about what we've gained and what we've lost and how that might inform that kinds of people we want to become in the After-Times.
We begin our series in which we'll look at a number of often-overlooked biblical characters. Yet, despite their lack of notoriety and short screen time, these people are examples to us -- providing insight, wisdom and instruction for what our lives might look like today.
The promise of peace. This is what Jesus offers. And not just peace in the sense of an absence of tension or conflict -- but peace in the sense of wholeness and restoration. We consider the resurrection and what it means for us as we wrestle with the fears of our everyday lives, and how that fear is put in its proper place in light of what Jesus has done.
Our final week (for now) of debriefing on our look into vocation. We've enjoyed this six week journey, and your participation with us! Stay tuned as we consider how/when to keep this conversation going.
Our final week in this Lenten series, we consider two of the gifts Jesus gives to us as he sends us out to be people of shalom in the world.
Our fifth week of looking back on Sunday's sermon (what it means to walk together when we live out our vocation) and saying a few things we didn't have time for (just how hard it can be to walk together).
Jesus sends out his disciples in pairs. This was not an accident. To be people of shalom - people who live out our vocation - we will need each other.
Discerning our vocation can be aided by considering a unique intersection. Where does our deep gladness, the world's deep hunger and the work of God's Spirit intersect? We explore this together by looking at Luke 10 and the sending of the 70.
A quick look back at Sunday's sermon and a discussion about a cycle that can all too easily show up when we try to live out our vocation.
Did you miss Sunday? Or, want to go a bit deeper on vocation?
You can do both in the time it takes you to get to the grocery store (this week - the episode is just over 7.5 minutes!).
We're having fun looking back on Sunday's sermon, and sharing one thing we didn't get to cover. Thanks for listening!
Last week we considered this truth: that when we live out our vocation we are joining in God's work of restoring shalom to the world. This week, we take the idea of shalom and look inward. Could living out our vocation not only change the world, but us as well?
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 Ketsa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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 we do the same?
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) Strength.
Week 1 in a five-week series.
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 discomfort may have to teach us. To carefully reflect on what may be in our 'eye' -- to pray for our enemy (an act that does a great deal to change us). Yes, it's radical, but if lived into, it could change us, and the world.
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?
Guest preacher Deborah McCreary led us through the first six verses of Mark 3, inviting us to consider how Jesus might be asking us to take a bold step of obedience.
If we’re honest, we often work hard to maintain the status quo. And yet, when we look at Jesus of Nazareth, he seems to be disrupting the status quo. Regularly. What might that mean for our lives? We consider Mark 2 and that question together.
We begin our 16 week journey through the Gospel of Mark in Chapter 1, focusing especially on the 1st half of the chapter.