Faith and Politics – Week 1 (10.13.24)
Week 1: Fear Fear is often leveraged in politics. Campaigns try to play off of our fears and use our fears to pit us against each other. There is a better way.
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Week 1: Fear Fear is often leveraged in politics. Campaigns try to play off of our fears and use our fears to pit us against each other. There is a better way.
Teresa helps us consider the end product of a life of love — a picture of who we could be and how we might move through the world if love is our primary aim.
We consider the often neglected and ignored command to love ourselves.
Everything — everything — hangs on love – including loving our neighbor. What might that look like today?
Everything important and consequential in this life hangs on love. And our capacity to express love is fundamentally tied to our willingness to receive it. Yes – we are called to love God, but equally, we are invited (and must heed that invitation) to receive and experience love. It sounds simple, but is not easy. […]
What is the greatest commandment? It was a question meant to stump Jesus, but it didn’t trip him up: Love God. Love Neighbor. Love Yourself. But that wasn’t all Jesus said. He went on to say that all of the commandments and religious laws and every word of the prophets hangs on love. Boil this […]
We end our summer series by looking at one of the few stories found in all four of the New Testament Gospels. It’s typically called the feeding of the 5000, but the text tells us there were many more than that. What do we learn from this story about the way we approach life’s problems […]
Deb shares her story – including what it is like to navigate a life filled with many moves, loss, and belonging. The audio quality is lacking in parts; you can also view the live video on our YouTube page.
Three of our recent graduates share some of their spiritual journey – what it has been like to grow up in the church, what their personal journey’s have been like and what they might hope for in the future as they move away from home and begin their adult lives.
Dale shares his recent adventure (in retirement) of starting a new company focused on building net-zero homes. What is a net-zero house? Dale will fill us in — and share something about how we remain hopeful in the midst of overwhelming challenges.
CJ and Elizabeth share their experience of growing up in the church, falling in love, and coming out as an LGBTQ couple.
Sundays in July and August will feature the stories of different Branch folks – stories of challenge, hope, discovery and growth. As these stories are shared, we believe we’ll not only find the delight of learning new things about each other, but we’ll also see that each person’s story is a part of a larger […]
You may be wondering where June’s podcasts are. In June we are engaged in Group Sundays, which do not include a sermon — hence, no podcasts in June 🙂 We’ll be back in July with stories from the lives and experiences of Branch folks. If you want to learn more about Group Sundays, click here.
It’s time to celebrate! After months of discernment and work, we are celebrating becoming owners of the building at 973 28th St. SE! Join us on June 2 as we reflect on our nearly 20 years at this location (as renters), mark this important transition, and dream together about how we might leverage this facility […]
On Sunday, September 1, we’re meeting at Garfield Park for a morning of slowing down and reflection. We’ll begin our time near the parking lot off of Madison Ave. at 10am. Younger kids will be able to spend time with one of our staff, playing on playground equipment and considering a story from the Scriptures […]
On 5/19 we took a good part of the morning to have a conversation about our vision – breaking into groups, debriefing each other, and collectively identifying what it could look like if we worked together to see our vision become a reality. Because of the unique nature of the morning, we do not have […]
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 […]
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 Branch Church
973 28th Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49508
We meet at 10:00am at 973 28th St. SE in Grand Rapids, MI. For a map, click here
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