The Branches - First Sermon Series

Our first series of messages at The Branches Community Church is called "Stretched". (By the way Nathan Harris did an excellent job with the series image!)

We live in a culture that pushes us to the limits. Buy more, do more, accomplish more, conquer more and the result is, we are stretched thin. The push from this world is: bigger homes, nicer cars, better clothes, perfect bodies, perfect marriages, and perfect kids. And if we don’t have these things we pretend we do, or we push it to the limit to get them and we’ve lost the space in the middle. It's insane and it's killing marriages and families and people are hurting. Many people are living life at an unsustainable pace and it is not what God intended.

You need to have space between where you are and where you need to be. God invites us to do life differently... to have some margin and to begin to re-prioritize our lives around Him. Matthew 11:28-29

Imagine the practicality of reorienting your life around God and the things that are most important in life. What would it be like creating some space in your life? What would it be like showing up 5 or 10 minutes early to a meeting so you’re not stressed? Imagine having money left over at the end of the month. What if we had such a large space between us and temptation that the pull of doing wrong was significantly reduced? What if we had large reserves of emotional capacity to deal with the inevitable problems that come our way? Imagine having 3 or 4 nights a week, where you don't have anything at all on your schedule. What would it be like in our homes and in our church if we had extra time and extra money to invest and give to people in need around us? What would happen to you spiritually if you finally had space for significant time with God?

The Branches - First Sermon Series

Our first series of messages at The Branches Community Church is called "Stretched". (By the way Nathan Harris did an excellent job with the series image!)

We live in a culture that pushes us to the limits. Buy more, do more, accomplish more, conquer more and the result is, we are stretched thin. The push from this world is: bigger homes, nicer cars, better clothes, perfect bodies, perfect marriages, and perfect kids. And if we don’t have these things we pretend we do, or we push it to the limit to get them and we’ve lost the space in the middle. It's insane and it's killing marriages and families and people are hurting. Many people are living life at an unsustainable pace and it is not what God intended.

You need to have space between where you are and where you need to be. God invites us to do life differently... to have some margin and to begin to re-prioritize our lives around Him. Matthew 11:28-29

Imagine the practicality of reorienting your life around God and the things that are most important in life. What would it be like creating some space in your life? What would it be like showing up 5 or 10 minutes early to a meeting so you’re not stressed? Imagine having money left over at the end of the month. What if we had such a large space between us and temptation that the pull of doing wrong was significantly reduced? What if we had large reserves of emotional capacity to deal with the inevitable problems that come our way? Imagine having 3 or 4 nights a week, where you don't have anything at all on your schedule. What would it be like in our homes and in our church if we had extra time and extra money to invest and give to people in need around us? What would happen to you spiritually if you finally had space for significant time with God?

First Service Photos

Be sure to check out Nathan Harris' blog for photos of our first service. You can check it out HERE.

First Service Photos

Be sure to check out Nathan Harris' blog for photos of our first service. You can check it out HERE.

The Branches First Public Service

We had our first public worship service last Sunday (1/9/11). I think we all walked away from service Sunday feeling very blessed. There was excitement in the air and we were glad to see so many people show up to our first service [we had an attendance of 86]. Everything went very very smoothly. We have a few minor things that we can work on for the upcoming preview services, but overall I was really impressed with how well everything went.

We had a large number of guests from Round Table Pizza (where James and I work) and it was great to see so many of our friends there. We had an added blessing of having one of the pastors from Brookville Road Community Church join us. Andy Flink just happened to be in California for a couple of weeks taking classes at Talbot and was able to catch a train down toward Escondido; it was great having Andy lend a hand and get to experience our first service. Our launch team did a great job of getting everything set up and everyone who took part in the worship service did fantastic! Everyone gave their best for the Lord and I believe He was pleased.

Thank you all for your prayers they mean so much to us. Please continue to pray that this young church will be a blessing to the community of Escondido for the glory of God.

Our next preview service will be Sunday February 6th.

The Branches First Public Service

We had our first public worship service last Sunday (1/9/11). I think we all walked away from service Sunday feeling very blessed. There was excitement in the air and we were glad to see so many people show up to our first service [we had an attendance of 86]. Everything went very very smoothly. We have a few minor things that we can work on for the upcoming preview services, but overall I was really impressed with how well everything went.

We had a large number of guests from Round Table Pizza (where James and I work) and it was great to see so many of our friends there. We had an added blessing of having one of the pastors from Brookville Road Community Church join us. Andy Flink just happened to be in California for a couple of weeks taking classes at Talbot and was able to catch a train down toward Escondido; it was great having Andy lend a hand and get to experience our first service. Our launch team did a great job of getting everything set up and everyone who took part in the worship service did fantastic! Everyone gave their best for the Lord and I believe He was pleased.

Thank you all for your prayers they mean so much to us. Please continue to pray that this young church will be a blessing to the community of Escondido for the glory of God.

Our next preview service will be Sunday February 6th.

The Countdown is ON

We are just a few days away from the launch of The Branches Community Church. It seems as though we are swimming in details right now but there is a sense of anticipation as we wade through the minutia. We have a great launch team, some terrific churches, and loving Christians lifting us up in prayer and support. All of the prayers and support can definitely be felt.

We would really appreciate your prayers as we prepare for our first public worship service this Sunday. If you could pray that God is glorified in this young church and that lives in Escondido are impacted by the gospel that would be great!

The Countdown is ON

We are just a few days away from the launch of The Branches Community Church. It seems as though we are swimming in details right now but there is a sense of anticipation as we wade through the minutia. We have a great launch team, some terrific churches, and loving Christians lifting us up in prayer and support. All of the prayers and support can definitely be felt.

We would really appreciate your prayers as we prepare for our first public worship service this Sunday. If you could pray that God is glorified in this young church and that lives in Escondido are impacted by the gospel that would be great!